The Company

At the end of May 2001, Lesley Mattos, founder of Adesso Albums, found herself traveling to Europe for the first time. Her destination? Florence, Italy, to attend the wedding of a close friend.

At the wedding reception, the bride asked Lesley to take a Polaroid picture of each guest, put it in an Italian leather scrapbook and have each guest write a note to the bride and groom. At the end of the reception, the newlyweds were presented with the scrapbook and were then off on their honeymoon - with all the romance and excitement of their wedding captured "in the now" right there on each page.

"I think I was like most brides - insane! Before the wedding and during it, I can't remember a thing," said Clare Whitecross. "Without Lesley's album and the writings of love and good hopes from our friends - who knows? Poof! The whole wedding memory might be gone! With it, we have the whole experience forever."

On a train from Florence to Rome a few days later, Lesley reflected on the reception and her impressions of Italy. She had witnessed through firsthand experience how creating this "instant photo guest book"® brought everyone at the wedding reception together in a common activity. Their individual relationships with the bride and groom became one as they created a “Now” that would last forever. The original beautiful leather-bound book was gorgeous, but the tape and the glue and slightly lumpy component caused by the thickness of the Polaroid photos and their white frame borders made the process seem…less than elegant.

At that moment the Adesso Album was born.

As the train rolled through the Italian countryside towards Rome, Lesley sketched a drawing of what would become the first Adesso Album. When she returned to California, she embarked on a path that would create a company that could capture the "now" of every life event celebration.

Since that day thousands of wedding couples, new families, graduating seniors, prom goers, retirees, party goers, sorority sisters, summer campers have had all the help they need to capture the moment in words and pictures and save it forever in an Adesso Album.

Founder

Why would a woman making a six-figure salary in Silicon Valley choose to leave her prestigious position with Cisco to create a product that used no 21st Century technology? Ask Lesley Mattos, President and Founder of Adesso Albums. That’s exactly what she did, and for the last three years, she has been happily pursuing her dream of helping people all over the world capture the NOW in life’s most important moments.

For over 25 years, Mattos provided guidance to and developed strong and lasting relationships with some of the Valley’s most visible CEOs, CFOs, bankers, attorneys, and Wall Street analysts. By developing these strong relationships, Lesley built a diverse resume, making her a sought-after expert in the fields of finance, investor relations and executive communications.

“Working with Silicon Valley’s top technology companies can take a serious toll on a gal’s a bility to stop and see, much less smell the roses,” says Mattos. “During my trip to Italy, where I was far away from friends and family and immersed in a culture that lives in the moment, I realized what I’d lost sight of. That’s where Adesso Albums were born.”

Mattos’ brain child, the Adesso Album®, is the world’s first instant photo guest book® and it is revolutionizing the traditional guest book market. The album combines Polaroid instant photos and hand written sentiments from guests. With Polaroid photos, there is no waiting for film to be processed or digital images to be printed and the patent pending concept of the Adesso Album eliminates the need for glue, photo corners or tape. The Adesso Album is created during an event (such as a wedding, birthday, anniversary or retirement party) and presented to the honoree/s as they are leaving – memories in hand! It is the only album on the market today that specifically addresses the concept of contemporaneously capturing life’s milestone events in pictures and words, “now”, which is what the word “Adesso” means in Italian.

In 2004, Mattos secured private financing form prominent Silicon Valley figures in the fields of finance, law and philanthropy. She and her Board of Advisors are successfully executing against sales, marketing and PR initiatives.

Mattos was born and raised in Watsonville, California and is a graduate of Santa Clara University. She now lives in San Francisco, where she oversees every aspect of Adesso Albums, Inc. Lesley enjoys (and now makes time for) traveling, hiking, philanthropy, and spending time with family and friends – especially her favorite four people in the whole entire world – her kids, Derek, Adrienne, Grant and Zack!