 Hey, what's up guys today? We have a special guest on the show. This is one of my first students one of the first coaches that I helped back in 2015 and his name is Jose Gamara and Jose is the owner and director of Suda Soccer Academy. It's based in Wisconsin and And I can't wait to interview him. I can't wait to have him share his story And this is a great interview for you if you're either just getting started or if you've been wanting to coach full-time Jose has a really cool story and we're gonna unpack that here in today's episode So sit back relax and enjoy the episode. All right. What's up, Jose? Thanks for being on the show today I've been looking forward to this for a really long time and I know we got in contact. I think it was around 2015 So we're just gonna get a year. Yeah. Yeah, it's It's crazy. Yeah, it's 2019 now. I Know a lot. Yeah a lot has changed for you. I know a lot has changed for me, too Like during that time But what we're gonna do here is just kind of unpack Your story We'll talk about you know, where you started where things are right now But one of the questions I always have for coaches when I interview them is like just tell me about your childhood and Like when you started playing soccer and just kind of like back in the in the young days Wow, you want to go that back, huh? Yeah My childhood well, I was born and raised in Peru to begin with I I didn't really move to the United States until I was 18 Gotcha. Yeah, I was 18. That was nine years ago already. And Yeah, my childhood, I mean, I love playing soccer. I was that kid that Would just go in the parks and just start kicking the ball really Yeah, when I had nothing to do there was no smartphones back then really Right, that was what was fun somehow I've always been You know playing the sport just seem in really involved with the sport even even when I I didn't I didn't really have much room, you know to play soccer. I mean, I didn't go to school here I was you know things like that. So I would just go and play on I'm a true and That's kind of when I realized there was a need for a you know for good soccer programs around the area where I live in variable Because I made a bunch of parents that wanted their one of their kids playing a plane Then again, there was no Academies there was a I think there was one club around the area for all, you know So that's when I decided, you know to start Helping out really without it. I wouldn't even charge people any any any any kind of money You know to just train their kids and see where that would take me because that's something I always wanted to do as well Right. Yeah, that's that's one of the questions I had was and it was very similar to me when when I first started I Did everything for free. I just wanted to to help and yeah, and I've seen You know a lot of coaches now when they start I Don't want to say every coach but a lot of coaches out there when they do start They're they're just trying to make money at the beginning and then they see that that's hard to do and then they just quit But with with that mindset of wanting just to give and help Really what it does is it it allows you to meet a lot of parents. There's no pressure and you're just doing it because you want to help and I know you're still That's that's reason why you're still in business because you've been wanting to help rather than take and and I know that's that's a big problem that I know some coaches have when they first start and And I know that's that's how you started and I know when you were younger. So when you were back Growing up obviously you played the game all the time. Did did you see yourself when you were like a kid? We did you see yourself like wanting to coach or did you find that out later on when you when you moved here the US? Yeah, I see myself to become a coach. You said I'm sorry. Yeah, yeah I've always thought about it To be completely honest with you. I Remember tell myself, you know, if I if I wouldn't make it to a pro league, I would I would have probably go for coaching Right. Was that something you wanted to do is play a pro? Definitely Gotcha Did you was that something when you got to the States? Were you like trying to do that? No, it was mostly when I was younger though from From, you know, I I really I I can't even remember when I first started playing but I I really enjoyed playing the sport and You know, I tried out up until I was 16 17 What I basically didn't get recruited by any club and back at home and you know You got you have to get a job. You have to start going to school. Mom was pressured. Mom was always on my ear about, you know going to school and I Actually moved up here as a exchange of student. Oh, okay You know, but nothing to do with soccer at that time that that was mostly the time when I like stopped playing really when I was 18 up until I was 21 22. I didn't have Anywhere to play really, you know, right? So how was it? How was it when you first got to America? What was that feeling like was it? weird did it feel like Completely different life definitely a different life. That's for sure, but I Don't know. I was young. I adapted pretty quick. I guess gotcha Um, the language is always a big thing still Right. I mean sounds like you speak really good English. Oh, thank you, man But I get better every day, you know, we're anything you do, right? That's funny How did that that's a question that? You know, there's another there's a couple other guys I've talked to that came from different countries, but Like how hard was that learning the language? I mean, I still learn it every day There's new words that I literally learned every single day, but I guess it wasn't It wasn't as hard for me because I I grew up in I grew up going to a private school, right? and We would have about three hours of English every Every week Gotcha. So, you know, so that's something I grew up with You I mean, I it's you know, it's obviously not the same thing about speaking the language three hours a week, right? You know, right compared to someone that lives here. That was the main thing for me to break that That shyness I guess because you know when you know you have an accent when you know people's don't even understand What you're saying because your accent is that thick that was the biggest thing for me to overcome that That barrier, right? Even though I spoke the language, but you know right when I first got here my accent was was thicker than now and There's people I wouldn't know what the hell was I say? Right, it was funny man. I have a funny story. So this was before I met you, but I Went to Portugal Okay, I went by myself I actually went with a friend, but he was only there for a couple days and I spent some time there in In a city called Lisbon Right when I landed I was so naive I thought everyone there spoke Spanish and And I grew up like my mom was a Spanish teacher. So I Grew up like understanding it. I could speak it really well and right when I got there I was like, oh, everyone's gonna speak Spanish. Like I'll be fine, but they all speak Portuguese and different yeah, and I found out to like right when I got there. I was in the taxi and I started speaking in Spanish the taxi driver and He like just stopped the car and like told me to get out And then I was like what and then I started talking to some people and they're like, yeah No one in Portugal likes to speak Spanish. I was like great They don't like speaking Spanish. Yeah, yeah, and they said a lot of the people that I met too said that they don't Get along with anyone who speaks Spanish. I was like what? That's crazy. Yeah, and I was like, all right. Well, I'm not gonna go talk to anyone then But the next one in English. Yeah It was funny So what one of the questions I like asking to because everybody has a different answer What was the first? Like job That you had like after you got to America Like what was the one of the first things that you started doing to make some money? I I was doing housekeeping for a little while. That was the first thing I ever did Gotcha after you did that did you what other types of jobs? Did you have it after that? I just I started working on a few restaurants here and there and I Realized that, you know, there was more money to be made by serving and bartending, right? So I did that for a last Up until I first met you I guess I After I met you I obviously took me a little while to start getting you know things running on the stuff, but For about five years. I did I that's all I did serving on bartending. Gotcha Gotcha, and when you were doing This might be kind of hard to answer it But when you were doing the bartending Stuff like that When you would get done with your day, would you be like man like I? Want to try to do something else or like what was your thought process went like after you did every single day? Really that what you just said that that was every single day after I'll come back from work Even you know even on the good days when you're making quite some good money, right? I'll just go home and be like, you know, I You know this this is definitely not something I I Even seen myself doing forever or like I you know, don't take me wrong. It's not that I You know that I look down at that job or anything, but that was something I didn't really want to I didn't really enjoy doing Right, you know, it was paying the bills, but that was about it right Gotcha and What what was what do you think for you was the thing that Initially drove you to be like, alright, I want to start this soccer thing on the side So like I obviously you were doing bartending at that time But was there anything that was that just made you be like, alright, I need it I need to put myself out there and just try to do something Yeah, when I Really when I when I'm just a couple parents that got together and asked me if I wanted to You know to help out with a team of kids And I did obviously I was just coaching and we would not train we would just go on the weekends and play And you know, I realized that there was people that you know wanted to do that and I Obviously grew up in an environment where I would always play soccer so my parents took me to Academies camps and you know, I played club my whole life so So I know what you know what what then How how important is For kids to train since they're young and that's what I started doing it That's when I started doing it back then right and I realized, you know, there was a need for for good coaches There was a need for good soccer programs and I really that was my thing I really wanted to to show people that this was You know, this was something doable around here, right? And I wanted to help the kids around here because they really love this board I want the one the few kids that I met they really love playing it and they were just having a blast You know, even though we're losing every single game Remember, right, right there. They were having fun. They're learning Yeah, I just brought back so many memories Right Seriously, that's that's kind of when it clicked Right, yeah, I know it's funny man. I know for me one of the most fun years. I had I Was in college and I was coaching this team and they're they were terrible But like everyone showed up they they were all eager to learn and I just remember like going to games and we would be losing like five or six zero and In my head like at the beginning I would get so frustrated because like I'm competitive and I don't want to lose But I realized like, you know at the these kids Like technically they have gotten a lot better Because they've put in some work and they're still further behind But I just remember that just being a fun year even though we lost But it showed me that like man if I can put something together for kids That's fun. They can learn like if it really helps them then I know I've done my job because a lot of those kids I Know that you know if I was really hard on them if they didn't like coming to practice. They probably would just quit and And I know a lot of those kids I haven't kept in touch with all of them because I mean that was like 10 years ago But I know a lot of those kids ended up going to plant high school and stuff like that and And I know that no matter like how good or bad the players are if they're having fun and They respect you and they show up and they work hard Like, you know, they're getting something out of it and as a coach that makes you feel good too Because you're like, all right, like that makes me feel respected at the end of the day because they're coming and learning for me Mm-hmm. Oh And so I know again this this is one of those questions where I Could talk about it for like five hours on my end But when you like the day you officially started your business Like what was going through your head that day when you're like, all right, like I'm gonna take this for real This is gonna be a serious thing Like explain that feeling that you had like that first day when you did it Well, let's start with I Think there was two official days that there was the first time when I when I just Burn it out some some piece a bunch of pieces of papers and I went around and put them on laundry mats and gas stations Just offer in a free camp a whole free weekend camp. I remember I Just I haven't met you back then. I just wanted to start do something. I just really thought this was something that could work and So nervous. I didn't know who I who the hell was gonna show up. Who was I gonna meet? What kind of people was I gonna be training? Right? So it was pretty chaotic, but You know what I would probably do it again if I have to go then, you know, just just to just to see how you know How much more structure I needed at the time, right? So how many how many kids showed up to that? I remember there was about 15 or 15 kids Well, that's all different ages though There was some some of them were six years old some of them were 14. I remember All kinds of different levels and yeah, I was pretty chaotic on my end trying to run drills with that big of a group and Yeah, I was it was fun, but definitely Definitely a little crazy But then I set up something after I talked to you I set up What I what I ended up calling a summer school Mm-hmm. I Remember talking to you setting setting up the website setting up the payment And yeah, and I launched a summer program. I opened up 10 groups With each group being You know being confirmed by two ten players Right, you know different age groups. I separated but separated by gender, you know girls and boys and And yeah, I opened up ten groups and Mostly all of them filled up Right, that's awesome. You know and it was it was crazy to me because you know for me at that time Opening up that kind of program was you know putting my putting myself in a situation where I even though I Didn't know if they were all gonna fill up. I you know, I had a stop working because this was a Monday through Friday thing basically and Yeah, Saturdays, I remember having a lot of stuff going on back there And I I was coaching a team that I had committed on already So what I'm going with this I basically was I knew I was not gonna be able to work at you know at the restaurant, right? Right, but it ended up working out because you know just on that program. I met basically all the families that I still work out with up to this day and You know, it obviously made me a decent amount of money So that's basically where everything started, right and so The day that you like went all throughout town and you you put those I guess flyers out. Yeah When you did that Like because I did something really similar when I started but When you were doing that like were you like man? I hope Kids come like to this like what were you thinking? Were you were you just like? Kids better be here or like did you put any pressure on yourself or you just like I'm just gonna go try this I Was trying not to put pressure on myself, but it was hard, right? It was you know, there was a lot of mixed feelings Oh, not wanting to fail like I I read quite a lot about you know Not wanting to fail is the main thing that you have to overcome life. You know I and You know, I knew it could I knew anything could have happened I knew I could have just probably got one kid probably nobody would show up, but you know after overcoming that like After basically putting up the flyers you overcome that fear and you know, you you're just you just you have to do it after that Right, right. There's a lot of mixed feelings. You know, I was There was a lot of adrenaline running through. I was I know I was really Was really hoping it was gonna work I guess mm-hmm And it did Yeah, you had people show up Because I know I know a lot of people out there a lot of coaches when Because I would say most coaches who listen to this podcast. They're in one of three categories. They're either They have a job they they want to quit But they they haven't done anything about it yet And then there's the coach that has started but they're doing it like on the side And then there's the coach who's been doing this full-time and they've been doing it full-time for a while they want to go the next level but I Know a lot of coaches when they're doing a job and they're like, oh man I want to do this soccer thing or this basketball thing or whatever the sport is They have the time to go around their city to post a flyer or to talk to people or to do something on Facebook But a lot of people hesitate because just like you said they're afraid to fail But when you do it it automatically makes you overcome it because once you do it It's like all right. Well, I have to show up because if there's kids that show up today And I'm not here and I'm the one that looks bad Yeah, then you then you're never gonna be able to do this right right and so I know Again, this is one of the questions. I've asked someone recently and and I know like I can remember the feeling I had when this happened But what was the feeling like I know like after we we worked together for a couple months and We got your site set up and we talked about payments and Setting up subscriptions and stuff like that But what was the feeling like when you know after you got all that stuff set up when you got your first big client who signed up for that type of program Like did you just feel like man like I Know I can do this full-time Like what was going through your head when you when you had those systems in place and you had that first committed client That that was it like, you know, I Right there and then I knew this was something that I could do. I knew it was doable and there was See that was the first program I opened and it was a whole three month program So I knew there was way, you know, there was so many more programs I could have opened like a Just because of time now, I don't I don't have the time to do it all but I could have a you know Straightening program speed and agility program These are things that were going through my head at the time and still through to this day, you know, right? I wish I like some sometime But I then again, you don't want to kill yourself doing all, you know, try to run prior practice Seek seven days a week for four or five hours at a time, right? Gotcha, and so that that really gave you the belief and you're like man Now it's set up. I know I could get really as many kids as I want. That's everything Basically, yeah, because after that, you know, yeah, you're you're not even thinking about like About okay, who's gonna show up or anything? You're thinking about what kind of programs I could have opened, you know, right? And I knew every every one of them would have probably draw kids from maybe the even different sports for condition and all that but right You know, I there then again, there's just There's just so much you can do with the time you have, you know, right? Because then I realized I was also that first summer. I had every single group that I had was training twice a week So, you know, that meant for me to be there five days at a time. I remember Monday through Friday, basically All day Right. Were you pretty dead on Saturday? Yeah, and you know, that's another thing. I realized that it was I mean, I enjoyed it, but on on the last month of summer, you know, I was just Beat up. I mean, I was tired. My energy was not the same and I also felt like I Wasn't giving the kids, you know, what I could the My everything either, you know, I I could I know I could have done for a little better on some specific days But I was just so tired after after a whole three months doing all that, you know, right? Yeah, you probably like didn't even want to see a soccer ball. Did you for a little bit there? Right. Yeah, man, I'll never forget that. I know for me This is like in 2000 late 2013. I had this summer where It was it was like so crazy, I had coaches that were working for me, but I also had Myself I had like around 40 sessions a week and it was Monday through Friday and Basically did like eight sessions in a row every single day I was terrible at like trying to schedule like it was just all like eight sessions in a row And then I did that for three months And I remember at the end of that I was like I Was really reconsidering like coaching because I was like man, like I just don't know If I can do this like and and then I realized well, you know I have this set up in a way to work like I have to do everything Shouldn't be set up that way And also I had to go back and and change my pricing change the commitment level There's a lot of little details that happened when I got to that point, but I Know for you like if you had to go back, I know you probably wouldn't change anything about that But but now you know you can leverage your time better And I was just on your website before this interview and I was looking at the winter programs that you have set up for the different age groups and Like for you though, this is one one thing that I've wanted to ask you because I haven't talked to in a while, which is like yeah What's what's like the main age group that you train that that's part of your academy Is there like a really popular age group that you like to work with? That I like to work with usually my older kids my own older group of boys I have a U-14 group of boys. So they're all about High school. Yeah, they're almost to high school because You know, they're most some of them are 12 and 13 year old still most of them are there. I think in middle school still right none of them has it's 14 yet, but That's the group I enjoy the most then Yeah, all the groups I guess because they're not you know, then They start getting a little more right They already have the foundation they They're already serious because they're still playing You know you can probably make the sessions more intense They can handle more Yeah, totally get it What's the age group that you've found to be the hardest to train I Don't know the hardest, but I'm you know the younger groups younger groups. You have to have a lot more patience You know, you have to be careful with what you say that for with the little ones, right? So those are yeah, but I could see you could I guess you could call the hardest groups Seven eight year olds. I I am done trying to train a Five and six year olds. Oh, yeah, I can't do that either It's a little too much for me I mean, I'm I think I consider myself a nice guy and stuff, but then when you know, I Don't I don't like not to be When when I'm talking and not there's all these kids not been not been any attention Then you only have like the one minute times time frame where you know, you can get their attention and Right, it's too much. Yeah Yeah, that's what that's something I quickly realized when I started training kids was some of the first kids I started with they were that young and I was like, man, I just can't I cannot get their attention And I always thought like they didn't like me and I wasn't entertaining enough because the way I am right now It's the same way. I am all the time. Hey, yeah, I'm not this like hilarious guy That's gonna go entertain kids No, I feel the same I make sure I tell my my all my players that I'm not here to entertain you I'm you know, yeah, we're here to here to train and yeah and get better And and I know that was so difficult for me that those age groups but it also taught me to be more patient just like you said with the kids because You know every age group is so Different especially like boys and girls that are between the ages of like nine and thirteen They're so radically different and and that's one of the things. I know you said you said Like in some of your groups, you'll separate them to where it's like boys only or girls only Are you still do you still have it set up that way? The I haven't changed that just because I I honestly think you know, they The program itself helps them a little more, you know, they The way they they act around each other, you know, right? Yeah, they're more comfortable They're more comfortable. That's what I was looking for. See I still I'm still learning You got it so This might be a tough question I like to ask it though For you personally Like what was the hardest thing? That you had to overcome With with your business. I know you kind of you talked about, you know the language and stuff like that but Outside of that for you like what was really difficult something that was an obstacle that you had to overcome To like really get going with your business Yeah, the more the biggest one I think just starting, right? You know, just just going out there and being out there really I think that was the hardest thing because Like you said, you know, there's there's so many things going through your head when you even when you're putting up those flyers Right, you know, like it was it was just that sometimes it was just so awkward for me to go in 100 months and just like hang up soccer stuff Right I live in How many people's in this town? I think it's just only like 20,000, right? Yes, it's a pretty small town, right and that's I know You might not admit this but There's probably some thought in your head and you're like all this town's too small Oh, yeah to run a business like this and dude I got like five messages yesterday on Instagram from coaches that live in cities that are bigger than yours And they said the same thing. They're like, well, I haven't started because my city's too small And I can't wait till they hear this interview because like you're proving that wrong And I know that's a that's a logical fear, though It's like wow, I mean this there's not enough people That would want to do something like this but But I know that That's a that's a real thought everyone would have even if they live in a bigger city if 100,000 people Most coaches will still think that um and I know for you like The the thought process of trying to get started and you know Putting yourself out there and stuff like that Once you did that. Did you did you just feel like you had a lot more confidence? Like did it just give you a lot more confidence just to get started? Yes The first the first time was the wars But after that, you know, you just every day that you go out and you know, you you still do it and You just got if you get more comfortable with it, you know, you are more confident on yourself right and Yeah, that was the main thing and just go out there and do it really right started somehow. You don't you don't need that much right and how How much more confident do you think you are now? Compared to when you first started your business A lot more I mean just even maybe because I you know, like I said, it's basically the same family that keep coming back And you know, plus I I'll get like one or two new families, but they they already know about the academy They already know about who I am Because I the one thing I don't like doing anymore is hiring coaches Right, so any any program that I start I I make sure that I will be there, you know, if I have to have someone come help me out for one session maybe or you know, that's a different story, but I I that's the one thing I don't do anymore because I did it and it's it's not the same. So any program that I open it I I do it myself, right So families know who I am and they you know, like you said they Before they go they they they had already paid they they had already committed to the programs that I do So they yeah in a sense they you already know they respect you already know they respect the work you do That's why they're signing up. Right Exactly, that's big Right, and I know too like When you go to bed at night, it's like, all right, I have these families who are committed I don't have to worry about them paying They're not paying them at the field. They're doing it online. It's It's all streamlined and I know for me that was One of the heart that even that piece was one of the hardest things for me to overcome because um I never had like clients who never pay me They would they would say they would and then they'd come back a month later and give me half the money or like nothing or just Yeah, and and that was that was like normal for me back then and I think I know what the answer is here when I ask you but If you had to just go back to You know when you were Doing bartending for those five four or five years Like what would you go back and tell yourself? Like at that point when you were probably thinking about man, I want to start this thing or I want to do something different Like what would you go back and tell yourself knowing what you know now? Should have started earlier Right Yeah, just um If I would if I could go back, I would have probably tell myself to do it because I this is a thought I had for A few years before I before I set up the first thing, you know the first uh free camp that I did and Probably would have told myself to look check out check out your site Right and how did you because that's what basically helped me the most man. Just having the the whole system set up right And how did you Like when we first initially started talking is that how you found out about me was on youtube? How did I find out about you? I was just looking for sources online really to be honest. I just went on google and At the time that was like you said that was three or four years ago almost but uh, there was no no No many resource not many resources available, you know, right about this kind of business at least or not that I found of right Uh, I came out. I came across your website Yeah, that's right. Then it then it took me to youtube videos then um next week I I was contacting you we were on the phone and I got the book and yeah It's kind of how it went down. Yeah, man. I remember our first conversation um Because I I'll I'll actually never forget this because you were talking about how Like you were wanting to like really get started with it And I remember I asked you a lot of questions that I asked everyone still which is like Well, like why do you want to do this? like What's the real reason? And and I could I could instantly tell over the phone that You are doing this for the right reasons and I remember you telling me this you were like There's no one up here in my city who's doing anything like this and I want to be the one who does it I don't know if you remember telling me that but I just I I I do actually because that was the main thing. There was nobody doing it. There was no No structure academy, right I wasn't even thinking on forming a club. I remember talking to you about that. I do you're the one that you're the one that talked me about a kind of Not not to go down that road and right. Yeah Yeah, yeah, and I could tell That on that call you were like really genuine about just like wanting to help kids And I remember dude, like I've obviously never told you this but I was with my brother Steven and he was right next to me when I was on the phone with you and He was like, oh, who was that and I told him and and I was like dude this guy Like I know it's probably going to take maybe a couple years, but like he's going to be really successful Because he's going to do something that no one else is going to do in his area And if someone else does try to do what you do, like They're going to have a really hard time competing with you because you already have the The best program up there and you you could have that for really long as you want, but I remember I told my brother, Steve About you and I told him yesterday that we're going to do this interview and he was like, oh, yeah remember when when we were talking about you, um, this is really cool man to see that you You did something that so many people are unwilling to do which is like go away from the You know safe route and and I talked about this on another podcast with another coach. I just interviewed but you know a lot of coaches Even if they like coaching and they want to do it they They're going to stay inside their own little box and just do their their job that they have And not step outside and be like, you know what? I want to help more kids and I want to create this thing That I can do because I like it. I like helping kids And you already did that and like I would tell you if I talked to a hundred coaches today over the phone Even if they've watched some of my youtube videos Uh, and if they haven't started yet, maybe one will actually start their business 99 will just go back and you know not do it because they're afraid um, they have all these limiting beliefs and ultimately like They just they don't take action And you did that and it's really cool to see where you're at now Because I know that was we talked about four or five years ago um And just to see that you've stuck with it and I guarantee you there you probably have so many stories of Things that have happened over the last couple of years That have been good that have been crazy that have just made you learn more about what you're doing But ultimately that's how you grow your your business and how you grow yourself is by just going through the experience and If I was sitting next to a coach right now who just hasn't started his business yet and He was like you you know six seven years ago Like what would you tell him To go for it. It's doable. It really is you know Even if there's there's somebody else already doing it regardless of what the situation is You know you you can put all the excuses in your head, but If you don't try it out, you know You're never gonna know right exactly awesome, man, so I asked every coach this too Where do you think your business will be in in like five years from now? Like have you have you thought that far away from I definitely have I think um um The the academy itself I I know for sure it will just keep getting bigger and You know, we will attract more committed players every year and um, I definitely want The one the one problem like I run run into though. It's the field situation on during the winters, right? Because this being a small city. There's only about three schools around here uh And the civic center that has a field, you know, and there's basketball programs That's the one thing I run into there's there's a lot going on for me to To be able to rent fields as much as I want in the winter, right So I definitely want to have a facility of my own like, you know, um Basically a skill development facility and I know in five years that's that's kind of a Goal I put for myself, you know that I will the the business will own something like that Right, and you know, then I can have a lot more kids are in the area and I can you know There's there's there's so many more things I feel like I can do if I had a field available year on right For sure. Yeah, and I do know too um A lot of coaches that live Like in the midwest or in the northeast or the northwest because it's obviously it's a lot colder up there Like I live in texas and yeah, I think it's cold when it's like 60 degrees But uh, but I know that's a that's an obstacle. It's like, you know Because a lot of coaches will they'll do something in the summer or in the late spring and then When it starts to get cold, they just most coaches just stop their business And I know you've obviously had to either rent indoor space or negotiate space at those gyms But I know if you had to just Go back into time like on day one when you first started your business like What what do you think is I don't know. This is kind of hard to ask sometimes but What do you think is The outside of you know, the fear of failing and stuff like that What else was really just locking you From beginning like was it was there anyone that was in your social circle that was like, hey like don't do it Or were they like, oh, that's a stupid idea or Like did were people around you like supporting the idea that they wanting you to do it? Or did you even talk to anyone about it before? Yeah, um To be honest No, basically nobody that I talked to in my circle of friends really thought really thought that would work Right. So what that makes you think? I wanted to do it even more To an extent I wanted to fucking put them wrong. I'm sorry. Right Yeah, you know, I um I really did it made me upset every time Someone would tell me, you know, like what do you what are you talking about? Who's going to pay you to train soccer around here and Right, you know things like that. I mean, I was obviously probably in the wrong environment. I was I was working at a restaurant Right. Do you still do do you still see those people or no? um No Right. No, really. I mean I have I have some of them on facebook and stuff but no, I mean I guess I've been caught up with what I'm doing and you know, not paying attention to it Not paying attention really to I don't really I I thought I don't really have time to you know, like to Right many more many other things Right, right And it really is though I get home and after you know after after training for a few hours even You you are tired not not not you're physically tired. You know, you are planning on things Right now I'm planning on my summer programs already You know when once the spring hits the one thing I started doing with the whole with the with the academy is that um, I don't know for how long I'm gonna keep doing this, but um I also Offered a coaching service now for clubs Okay, cool. I didn't know that Yeah, that's something I I don't have on the website yet Gotcha, but since last spring I offered that to you know, so during the season. I'm pretty busy I I had to travel about an hour away from from my from where I live last Last spring and I have to do it again this fall But this fall I got, you know, I got hired already by an order club to coach two of their teams and So I guess I'm pretty occupied man. And on top of that, I have I I still do the you know, the skill development programs year-round right basically, right and And Here and there I try to have the the one-on-one sessions, which is something that I I think I kind of want to You know go towards now Just because of the time commitment with the other stuff. I mean, you know, it's fun to do it it's fun coaching an entire teams and doing the camps itself, but I think the the one-on-one Program is starting to call call me every call me a little more every every By every day that goes by right gotcha. That's awesome. And I mean you have You have a lot going on and It's just so cool. Like I love talking to people like you because it's so cool that you've You've made that decision To just be like, you know what? I'm gonna do it and if other people are telling me not to do it I'm just gonna want to do it even more And yeah And that's really the opposite of how most people think though like most people we're gonna go ask their parents They're gonna ask their friends whoever they hang out with and If you ask someone who doesn't own a business they're always gonna tell you not to do it That's just that's really just the way it goes and and so I know I've kind of already asked you this but If we just kind of like rewind even even a year ago so if we go back to One year ago, how much how much more do you think you've learned about your business? Just in the last year just like to how to how to value your time I know you mentioned that you're not bring on any other coaches and stuff like that So I'm assuming you've made a lot of changes in the last year But like how much more do you think you've learned just about you and your business in the last 12 months? A lot, you know Each day that goes by you you learn Even how to talk to parents, right, you know, you're you're learning something every day that goes by That's the way I feel You know because there's a lot of things that come into place And you're not even talking about the quality of your practice itself You know you're talking about things outside that right That's where that I think that's where I needed to learn the most right because I was I was really shy to talk to And I you know anyone that reads your book A lot of us are probably on the same page, you know anyone that wants to start something like this You are shy to talk to parents. You are Probably embarrassed to even start something like this because of what people can say to you, you know Stepping out of the comfort zone is huge. Not many not many people's is willing to do that Right Yeah, so in the last 12 months, man, I uh I've learned a lot. I I really have like I like I told you, you know, I don't I don't bring in new coaches now I have one or two guys that You know would randomly help me and the families that I coach already know them Right. It's basically what you know when something crazy comes up for me I have a session today and You know some some of the family gets sick or I have to go outside of town and The one thing I don't like is canceling practice So I you know, I would probably call one of these guys to Come run practice for me for the day and I'll just pay him by the day Yeah I don't I don't I don't do any more like that. That's that's the one thing I I quickly realized was not going to work out for me Mm-hmm. Yeah, and I've I've transitioned the same way man. It's probably something you don't know about me It's I I mean I used to have 12 guys that worked for me and we had I mean An unreal amount of kids that were in our program at one point and It got to a point where I My role was It was so far away from soccer. Like I wasn't even training kids anymore It was I'm just dealing with Managing people Yeah And I realized at that point I was like man this It really isn't fun. Like I wasn't waking up happy like that. I have to go Like refund this parent and deal with this problem because this coach didn't show up to the session Or this coach didn't show up to my camp. So like I mean there was a lot of problems I ran into and and I've learned since then that you know Personally, I just I need to become better at leading But that made me realize, you know back then I was like man, I'd rather just help coaches Who like me that want to do their own thing? They want to get started and that that was really once I started taking this more serious, which was helping more coaches um versus just building out this Empire here in my city where we have like hundreds of kids and all these coaches that I'm trying to manage that It just wasn't it's just not me. It's not my personality and And I know if I didn't make that decision I would have never been able to talk to you because I was way too busy trying to do 500 million things before you came into my life um but yeah, man, I first like I really appreciate you coming on here and And telling me everything and just being transparent and I know I can tell you man There's gonna be a lot of coaches out there Who were in your shoes? They're gonna listen to this and I know A lot of them are gonna be like, you know what I need to do this now And it's really the biggest thing Yeah, and it's really cool that you're able to come on here and do that because That's really the whole goal for my podcast is Is I want other coaches to realize like, you know what like Everybody out there has struggles. Everybody has obstacles And everyone's kind of have to get started at some point And only those who stick it out long term the way you have will will succeed At the end of the day um, and so what I want to do man is I At the end of every episode Um, I always ask questions where I'll ask you a question and you just have to give me a one word Answer so it's it's just a one word answer. So first one Is who is your favorite soccer team? Madrid Madrid gotcha. Have you ever seen them play live Never Gotcha. I think they're coming How far are you from Chicago? I'm only like three hours from chicago They have came the last couple times that they came to chicago to play. I Was working gotcha Yeah, dude, I watched uh It was so funny how it worked out. But when I went to lisbon when I told you earlier um, I had no idea that Uh, there was any games going on at that time and I was reading the newspaper and it said that portugal was playing Sweden and a woke up qualifying game and it was in lisbon Like all right this same year on aldon is latin. Yeah. Yeah. It was it was crazy man ronaldo's Like he's he's always been my favorite player, but like just watching him live like I just could not believe how much better he is than everybody else Like It's unbelievable. So yeah, if you ever have a chance Um, I know he's not on my drew anymore, but Um, if you ever chance to watch him It's crazy, dude. Um, yeah for sure one of my favorite players all the time. Yeah All right, cool. Here's the second question What do you think you'd be doing? if you weren't A soccer trainer like if you weren't running your business, what what would be the occupation you think you would be doing instead I'll be running some more kind of business for sure. Right, right That was always my thing. I always like thought about having my own thing right All right, cool. And then the last one here is What does the word success mean to you A lot of failing a lot of failing failings Right It's funny hearing people's response to that but That's that is the same response. I would give is I mean because you're not going to be able to succeed unless you fail a lot true Like I have yet to meet any successful person Who who has never failed like it's Virtually impossible. And I know that's if we had to really recap our talk That was the thing you talked about a lot is like just overcoming that getting used to it And doing it more because the more you do it the more you're going to learn All right, cool man. So what I'm going to do also is I'm going to post your website And stuff like that under this interview so the other coaches can go check out What you're doing, but is there anything else you want to add? Before we go here Not really coach. I'm honestly just wanted to thank you for For getting me help me getting started back then and Yeah, man, keep doing your thing. You're awesome And I know you have a lot more people to help just like just like I was I I even know people around my town and You know, some of them I I talked to some of them. I direct them to you. I but then again like you said Not all of them go for it. Right, you know, but thank you man. I really appreciated you. What do you do? That was the biggest resource I found online and It's what helped me helped me back then to to get started Right away, I guess. Yeah, that's awesome, man. Now I I appreciate you and And again, man, I'm really proud of of you and what you've been able to accomplish A lot of a lot of coaches want to be where you're at um But you know, they they got to get started just like you said and Again, it's really cool that you're able to come on here and and share your story and I know it's going to be really valuable for For the listeners To hear everything that you said so What I want to do man, I know like right now we're in March today's March 1st but I would love to have you on here um In exactly one year from now Yeah, so so at that point Yeah, 2020 it's weird to say that 2020 But uh, it'd be really cool to to have you on then so We can talk about, you know, where you're at then between, you know today and at that point Because I would love to do that and that's going to be the thing I do with all the coaches that I bring on here is I want them just to Come on here share their story and then a year from now have them on again. So you can talk about how you've grown Uh, what you're doing, um over that year, but uh, yeah, I mean thanks again for for coming on here Uh, I really appreciate your time and again. I know it's going to help out Thank you for having me though. Yeah, you got to send me uh, can I save this interview too? I'm I want to share it on