. >> the meaning of life -- that's long been a concern of thomas biller. he set up the berlin branch of the school of life in 2016. he used to run tv production companies, until the financial crisis hit. >> i went to london and trained as a pastry chef, and there i stumbled upon a shop called the school o of life. it attracted attention, like it does here in berlin. the themes were appealing. and as an entrepreneur, i was interested to see that you can make a business out of it. >> he acquired licences for the bags, the cards, the books -- all the meaningful merchandise that can enrich a life. as do the courses on offer at the school of life franchises. it's an identifiable brand. >> the themes are the same the world over -- love, relationships, work problems. the dilemmas arere the same everywhere. so you c can address them hehen berlin or in london or in buenos aires. the enterprise is the brainchild of alain de botton. he opened the fifirst school f life in londonn 202008. now there are e 12 of themnn cities a around the world. and of course, there is a