 It's a long story. So I played, I was born in Bolivia and I moved here in fourth grade, right? And I moved to Santa Fe and I was all over the place. Like my parents were like trying to find jobs all over California. So I got to move a lot, like bounce around from apartment building to apartment building. My dad always put me into like footsault. He never wanted to put me in the club or like organized, like an organized team. So it was always just little footsault games or like pick up games or like street soccer and you know, bounced around everywhere until I got a little older. I think I was like 10 when I first started playing in an actual club. And yeah, and from there I just kind of started like getting more serious and played in high school here. The only thing was I just realized as a kid here it's obviously a lot more physical and a lot faster than it is technical. That was always things that always like caught my mind as a kid because my dad was very technical with me when he trained me. Everything was technical, either juggling or you're doing little drills and you're working on both feet and all the important stuff. And then going into a club, it was like we're doing sprints and we're doing tactical things and nobody was very technical here at least. But yeah, so there from there I got the opportunity right after high school to sign with Red Bull wingers which was like a freestyle team that got to travel all over the country and we got to play against random teams. So it was a good opportunity but the only thing was I couldn't play college because you're signing a pro contract. So with my experience and how high school was going and how I saw college going, I was like, there's no way I wanna play and end up hating the game because of, who's the biggest one or who's the fastest one which I never liked, I never enjoyed. So I ended up doing that and I got to travel so much all over the country and then I got the opportunity to go play in Bolivia which where I was born and I played for one team there, I was training there for a few months and I absolutely loved that. And that was amazing. That was a whole reality check for me coming from here, going to a different country and playing. And then on one of the summers when I came back I had a kind of like a realization where I didn't know if I was gonna stay here or go back or I didn't know what I was gonna do with my life. I was confused, you know? So I got a call from a parent and cause I used to work at a local soccer store out here and they said, hey, I heard that, used to be a player or you're currently playing I would love for you to train my daughter. And I was like, why not? Why not? I would love to try that out. And I thought nothing of it at the time and it was just like one kid a week then it went from two kids a week to three kids to having classes during the day and it would just slowly progress. This is all in 2009 by the way. So it took a long time to grow to what I have now. But yeah, it was a long process and I never really thought I was gonna be doing this. Like that was the last thing I thought of. And it just, I fell in love with it. It became a passion and I think it's the most rewarding feeling in the world to help someone and see them achieve whatever it is they wanna achieve whether it's like making a club team or a high school team or a college team or making it pro, you know? That I can never explain to someone unless they've done it themselves, you know? Yeah, love that. So what does your company and business specialize in? All technical training. So everything is technical training which is the reason I did that is because that's one thing I noticed as a kid here is it's like the first thing we skip, you know? It goes right into like, let's go into playing. Let's figure out how we get back to the team which I never agreed on. So yeah, everything is the most detailed ball mastery stuff you can think of and I've, you know learned to help kids in that way and then you can see the difference when they play obviously. That is my number one thing though. It's all technical training. Love that. So what age groups do you specialize in? So I always started, when I started it was usually like eight to high school kids. And I thought at eight years old you at least have the maturity of paying attention. Yeah. And you can listen to what I'm saying. And I did that for years. That was the longest time. Until this year, honestly I decided to work with the youngest kids. And I'm talking about like three year old kids, four year old kids, five year old kids. And I blew my mind because, you know I actually had a talk with Tom Byer, who's my mentor and he's all about, you know, starting kids at home. And when I had that conversation with them I'm like, man, that is insane how you can develop even more at that age you just gotta have the patience for it. So now I'm working with younger kids and all the way up to, you know, pro kids. So pro players. Oh, nice. I always say to coaches that if you can work with the two to three year olds you can work with any age group. Absolutely, I was so sure. Yeah. That's awesome. So how many current clients do you have in your program? Oh man, that always varies. Usually a week I'll have 100 to 150 players that come out. And that's classes, privates. I'll have like clinics on weekends, you know and then sometimes I'll have small set of games that I just host for them when they don't know nobody has games. So, but usually it's like 100 to 150 that varies throughout the week. Those are all players that I've had for years or then when new players come in, you know it's either for them or it's not. Usually it is because, you know it's something they can't do and it's frustrating for them and especially for the parents. But yeah, I ended up keeping them. Okay, that's awesome. Do you have a coaching staff at the moment with you? I did. So before COVID I had three trainers that I had. Younger, actually kids that I trained and then after high school, you know they're in college and every time they'd come back they wanted a job. So I said, you know why don't you guys start with the youngest and you can do that. And then once COVID hit, I'd all slow down and then now I'm back to looking for new staff members, anyone who wants to train and is passionate about it. And more importantly, someone who can show examples. You know, I think that's truly the most important part is kids are visual learners so they want to see what you can do. And if they see the person there like it's absolutely possible and I want to try it. So I think that's a good thing. Awesome, love that. So let me take you back to when you first started your training business then. What was the number one obstacle you faced at the beginning? I think the biggest thing was trying to have these kids learn. So what I teach is very specific and technical and that's the confidence part. But then the transition from them going to their team and listening to their coach, that was the hard part because I would say, hey, be free. You can do whatever you want as long as you work your butt off to win the ball back. But then other coaches would say otherwise, you know? Like why would you do that? Don't do that. Play very simple, play one touch. And so that was the hardest thing for me to fix or find out how I can fix that when I first started. And then it's just frustrating because obviously you can't go against what the coach says because it's their team. But you also want to develop these kids and make them as technical as possible. As comfortable with the ball as possible, you know? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. A lot of their talent can go to waste if you're on the team. So that's also where I found out is just that's the decision of the parents and the family. If they want to stay on this team, they should or they can go find somewhere where they can express themselves a lot more. Mm-hmm, yeah, absolutely. So what do you feel about this then? If there's a kid, kids out there that don't do private training, would you encourage them to do private training or do you think to get to the next level? It's club trainings enough. I think private training is very, very, very handy. And obviously it always helps so much. But I mean, I never really had private training. I never had a trainer. I had my dad. So I was very, very lucky to do that. But also not everyone has the money for it. And that's always been the thing for me growing up as well is I've always wanted to help. I want to help everybody, you know? But not everyone can afford it. And so, yeah, it's always been that, I think that was probably my biggest obstacle I've had, and just trying to sponsor kids and having them come out. Because if you're talented and you naturally can do this and your soccer IQ is very high, then I want to help you as far as possible, as far as they want to go, you know? Yeah. So that definitely is a big obstacle, but I do think private training is extremely important. And if it's not with a trainer, you should be doing it on your own, you know? Now kids have YouTube and TikTok and Instagram and you can do so much and there's apps all over the place. And that's stuff that you can do on your own. So I think it's very important. Yeah, I love that. So where do you see the private training industry going in the next two to five years? I mean, it's been blowing up in the last five years. It's crazy how much it's grown, but I see it going in either the digital way, because you know, I mean, that's what I created at least. We created with a team as an app for kids to train all over the world because you can't duplicate yourself. You can't be in multiple places at once as much as you want to. So I think it's gonna go in that after-option where kids are gonna download an app, find the drill that you do on Instagram instead of just watching it over and over and over again. It'll break it down step by step and it can help so many kids, you know? And that can go in so many ways, not basketball, boxing, football, whatever, whatever you want. So my problem with the industry is I think it's blown up, which is great and I love helping people become trainers as long as they do it for the right reasons, you know? And the wrong reasons is always like, oh, you can make a quick buck and that's the worst part. I mean, that's one and then two, what do you have to offer as a trainer, you know? What can you provide these kids? What can you do, you know? What is your background or what can you show them? And most of the time it's, I mean, well, I mean, I played in high school or I played a little bit of college or whatever it is. But I think also attitude and character as a trainer, as a coach goes such a long way, you know? Cause you're not just these kids like soccer and how to become a more technical or better player. You're also teaching them like life skills and just how to become a better person. So I think all those things are very important into becoming the next, if you want to become a trainer, if you do it for the right reason, you know? Yeah, absolutely. So talk to us about it. How did you get your first ever client then? So it was through that phone call, you know? I was at a soccer store that I used to work at and he just recommended me cause I just moved back and then that first player stuck with me for so long. And they actually stopped playing after college, but every time I see them, they're, you know, they're always so thankful. And they, you know, they said the same thing, you know? Like you showed me so much more than just being, you know, a technical player, you know? It was just a lot of life skills and comfortable with myself, confidence. So yeah, that was crazy. And I remember training that this girl and I was thinking like the first week, okay, that was a little hard. I mean, we didn't get far, but then the next week and then the next week, you just see this like small brick by brick, you know, going up and like I said, it's, you know, once she started getting better at her team, you know, more kids started gravitating towards me and, you know, where are you doing this, you know? So that was cool. That was cool how that naturally, and I never, the cool thing was as well is I never advertised at the time. I didn't have Instagram. So it kind of, it was just word, you know? Word of mouth. Yeah, word of mouth and it just blew up on its own. And then I was like, okay, well, I guess creating an Instagram would be the next thing. Now that industry is like massive, you know? Yeah. It's so interesting to see how much it's grown. But yeah, I think it's a, I think it's a, it's an industry where we can all help each other, you know, we can always help each other. Like I have another coach trainer who's actually moving into town. Our city is not that big. And he called me and asked me like, hey, I don't want to step on your boundary or, you know, none of that. And I mean, to me, the way I look at it is, I offer technical training. And if you want to offer technical training, that's even better because now we can help each other. But he's more of a tactical trainer. And I think that's amazing. Like why not? You know, the whole point is we're trying to help people. And we're trying to help these kids this next generation get better. So there's no problem with more people coming in as long as, like I said, for the right reasons. Yeah, yeah. So how important is it to network in this industry? Extremely. I think it's extremely important. Mostly because, you know, you want to, the soccer world is very small as it is. It's extremely small. And once you played at a high level, you know everybody. So the more you put yourself out there, the better your social goes. The better, you know, your clientele goes, which I don't like calling it clientele because I never did. I just thought I was, and I'm working in an office or something. So I always call them out there. But yeah, I know, I think it's extremely important, especially nowadays with the industry that we have with social media, the more you network, the more people you brand. And that's how you can connect with, you know, wanting to open up a warehouse or an investor or whatever it is that you want to do. I think that's the best way to do it. Agree, agree. So talk to us a bit about your current sales and marketing process. So how do you sell and how do you market your business currently? So right now the way I market it is, like I said, I have my website, which I recently, for the last couple of months, I've been working on this. I just turned it into a nonprofit. And you're probably the first person I've told other than my family. And I've just turned it into a nonprofit. So the way I used to do it was always through classes. So I had a beginner, intermediate, advanced class. And then privates. Privates are always like either five o'clock in the morning before school, six, seven, late afternoon after classes. So, and everything was through social media. So I have my website, send out the email with the schedule, anyone who wanted to book, would check in, go check in through the website. And then, that would be my daily schedule, Monday through Saturday. But now that I have the nonprofit and I wanna blow that up, I wanna, obviously the point of that was to reach out to more, to more players, players who can't afford it. Please don't be serious that want more private training that I can help with throughout the day. And not only that, now I can guide these kids into just a direct path to either college or pro, you know? I think that's what we laugh to. It's always like a mystery, like, how do you play pro? You go to college, you get drafted, and that's the only way that they know of, you know? So, then there's so many ways. But that's basically how I market myself, also through social media. Social media is like my goal, my bread and butter, you know, anything I post from there, that's where all my players and parents come from. Mm-hmm, I like that. So, you brought me on to the next question because this is something we get asked from a lot of coaches is about that a lot of them ask us, should I set up a nonprofit? So, the question to you is, should a coach set up a nonprofit? And why should they? Or why should they not? I think it's, I think you should, as long as you have the clientele, right? If you have the clientele, then it's great because then you're always gonna have, you're always gonna be busy. I think if you're starting off, I think you'd start off small and, you know, helping as many people as you can. But I think it's a great idea because, again, I've helped this community for years and now I can finally help that low income part of this community, which I think, personally, is where the better players come from, you know? Ones that are just, that can't afford playing at a really big club and just play Sunday Leagues, you know, in the Valley or wherever it is to play or they just play for fun down the street, which is amazing. So, I wanna reach to those kids and help those kids more. And then also the ones that are privileged, those are the ones that can help, like in privates or in classes, and they can come daily instead of just like twice a week or once a week, you know? And then just explode it from there and the girl this as much as I can. But I think a nonprofit was, I mean, honestly, before I decided to do it, I thought about it for months, almost a year, and I couldn't sleep because I'm like, should I do it? Should I not do it? What are the perks? What are none of the, you know? And one of the biggest things was like, how am I gonna get paid? Obviously, that's what everybody always asks, you know? But I've been successful with this for years. Thank God that to the point where I forgot about, it's not about the money, it's more about the passion that I have for it. And when I do help someone and I see them succeed and I see them sign another protein or college, I think that is the most rewarding thing in the entire world and I can't replicate that. So, if I do this for free and I help more people, I mean, it's more power to me, you know? It just makes my day better. So, I say, yes, 100%, I would absolutely do it as long as you have that, you already have a set business and you've done this for a good amount of time in your company where you are. If you have the connection somewhere in the city and you can do that, then all to you, you know? I think that's great. I just say not to talk to the way you go. Yeah, love that. So, Alfredo, where do you see your business in the next five years from now? I see my facility with my court, with my turf fields, with my office upstairs, league, bar inside. Some of the workings and parents all hang out and it's more of a, instead of you dropping off your kid and watching the entire time, you can enjoy it and have fun and your kid's playing or there's an adult league, very competitive, there's something very competitive and just different that I've never seen before, you know? Other than, you know, there is actually a place, the reason I got this, that idea exactly is there's a place in downtown LA that I plan and it's a footsall league and it's owned by the shoe surgeon. I don't know if you're familiar with him. Yeah, seriously, yeah. So, he created that, but it's for basketball and soccer and it does everything. And I think when you're there, it's the coolest thing. It's like you're going into a club, you know? You walk in, you have your bar, cool seating, ping pong, pool table, you have the designer's shoes and then he has this footsall core upstairs lounge to watch the field and the court. Sports paradise. Yeah, and you just wanna be there all day because all you're doing, you're watching, hanging out, you're with the kids, the kids are running around, I think it'll be, that's my goal in the next five years to have that and to give jobs to more people so that more of a soccer community. I mean, we're growing, we're growing as our community but I want more, I want more teachers and I want a lot, yeah, I wanna, like I said, I wanna start working with more younger kids that way. I can hand them off at seven years old to clubs and they're like, thank you, you know? I think that's exactly what we need, that a technical player, now you can do whatever I want with this player. Instead of at seven, eight, you're at a club and you have no ball control at all. Yeah, cool. So last question for you, it's a two-part question and it's more of a personal one. So the first one is what does failure mean to you? And then the second bit is how important is taking risks in business? Oh man, failure is, it means, I think it's a life-changing thing for sure. You know, I've had failure a lot in my life, especially in the last year, which I made a video about and it's just not knowing where you are at the moment. You're in a dark place, you don't know what you're gonna do next, what you're gonna do in the next five years. So I think failure is extremely important if you wanna be someone or if you wanna grow as a person and it's the only way to go up, you know? Cause once you hit rock bottom, there's only one way up and I think it's extremely important. It sucks, obviously it's painful, you know? But you only learn from it. And then second, I'm sorry, what was the second question? So the second one is how important is taking risks in business? Extremely important, as long as they're smart, you know? Like you gotta think about these, you can't just, cause I see, I read a lot and I have a lot of podcasts that I've always listened to and it's just, it's not just about taking a risk and being like, oh screw it, I'm gonna put $100,000 in this. We're not even thinking about it, you know? You have to do your research and take that risk. And if it's very scary and you've done your research, I say 100% you do it, you have to do it, you know? Cause you're only young once and you're only gonna do this one time in this life. So might as well just fail, create another one, you know? But always, always do your research. You know, a lot of people don't, they're always just think, you know, I'm gonna just wing it, whatever, you know? Which I'm a big, I'm that person, I am that person. I'm the person that's like, I'll figure it out. But I've messed up so many times doing that that now I'm like, you know, I researched this whole nonprofit thing. I've asked a ton of people who have nonprofits and then I'm like, I'm doing this. I'm going on a limb and so far. I mean, it's literally day two. So I'm figuring this out as we go. Yeah. I think it's about being a little bit patient with your decisions, right? Sometimes we want everything so quickly. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. And I'm that person exactly. Like I'm a very impatient person and I want the second I come up with an idea, I can't sleep. And then I research and then I look up all these videos and I listen and I read and then I want it by tomorrow and it's obviously unrealistic. But I think it's a, I think it's better to be that way than just sit on things and let them just fly past your head, you know? So I think it's much better to do that than, you know, to let it go. It's not that perfect Alfredo. Well, I want to thank you for jumping on and sharing us, sharing with us your journey, your story. I know it's going to inspire a lot of coaches that watch this. Now, if any coach wants to reach out to you or follow your business, follow your journey, what is the best way to do that? The social, the social, my social media, which is like Insane's training on Instagram. And then my regular one is, you know, Fredo Sains, which is my everyday life stuff. There's a lot of soccer stuff there, but it's just, I think that's just more of what I do on a daily basis. But yeah, that's the best way to reach out or my website is insanes.com. Okay, perfect. So what we'll do is we'll add that to the bottom of the video so anyone watching can reach out to you. So I want to wish you the best for your business and for your nonprofit. Congratulations as well for taking that leap as well. Thank you, thank you so much man, I appreciate it. And well, looking to connect again in the near future. Yeah, I'd love that. I love that, I appreciate it so much. All right, well, take care of Fredo and we'll speak soon. All right.