EGQT004 – He turned his passion into his profession – Interview with German Arguelles

Posted Juni 26, 2016

Brief introduction of my today´s interview partner:

German Arguelles belongs to these lucky people, who wake up in the morning the majority of days and feel so much energy, that they want to RUN to work! And it has to be mentioned, that before he founded his own business, when he was still working in the corporate world, he didn´t know this feeling at all!

Today he has made his dream becoming true by combining football and international travelling with a clear focus on youth development. He and his partner(s) are connecting mainly America with Europe through youth development, where sport especially football plays a very important role.

It appears that becoming an entrepreneur was always in his DNA. The whole family, parents and grandparents were already entrepreneurs. His grandpa e.g. left Spain, moved to Cuba and founded there one of the most successful cigar companies. But for any reason they wanted German to be grown up in the corporate world. But already in the age of 6, he created in his rural home town his own little kiosk, where he sold the candy, which he was not going to consume by himself. With the earned money he bought then even more candy and sold even more…

So no wonder, that after his college time in the USA – which, by the way, had a massive impact on his future life – it did not take a long time and he left the corporate world, in order to follow his passion. This was definitely a big step that time, leaving on one hand a huge multinational company as Microsoft with a nice salary and on the other hand jumping into a business model, which in this form nobody has gone through before. Explaining this situation to banks and friends was by far not an easy chapter in his life, but he made it and he made it very successfully!

Please feel invited to listen here to a really inspiring person who has made his way with a clear idea in mind from the very first. An International traveller, who knows very well what he is talking about!

Profile interview partner

Name: German Arguelles

Age: 42

Residence: Gijon, Asturias, Spain

Residence: Madrid, Spain

Marital status: Married

Children: None

Professional education: Bachelor in International Economics, MSC in Agriculture and Natural Resources Economics

Current profession: Entrepreneur

Interests, hobbies: Swimming, meditation, reading, live music, football …

„If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together!“

(German Arguelles)

„No-no“ that he is unwilling to tolerate at all: Dogmatism, intolerance, prejudice

Professional career

German left his home during a very difficult time, when facing there a huge heavy industry crisis. This was a very depressing phase in his life, when even professors told their students: „You will not make it everywhere, because here are no jobs for you!“ Some friends of him ended up with abusing drugs and even committing suicide.

At that time, without having any internet access and finding find a way to get a football scholarship in the USA, he describes from his todays perspective as pure fate. Even though that it took him one year to save some money for this „adventure“ USA, he made it and took the chance to leave this quite depressive environment in Spain. This stay in the USA should give his life a 180 degree turn and has changed his life completely.

After finishing his college, he did not even work anymore 5 years in the corporate world. From one day to the other he finally decided to leave this corporate world again and to found his own business. The last push for this move he received after an act of terrorism on a train station in Madrid, a station which he was passing by on a regular base. After reflecting this terrible act and realizing that he could have been on this train, he stated for himself on the following weekend, that life is by far too short not to live your passion and that there was no reason for him to go back to his job on the next Monday…! He left the „comfort zone“ of the corporate world and found the therein made experiences very helpful in terms of teaching processes, methodologies and professional ways of doing things Nevertheless, his passion did not allow him to stay there anymore.

And today German and his partners have established a really outstanding program for international youth development. They arrange meanwhile for young people to traveling all over the world, where football is always taking centre stage. Thereby they are utilizing the facilities of the top European clubs as e.g. Bayern Munich, Real Madrid etc. as well as they are arranging travels to Africa on country side. The variety of the offered programs is tremendously huge and they are still having tons of new opportunities on their table! By listening to this interview you will get a nice taste of what this is all about!

Also the experience he is going to share in terms of the Football World Cup for homeless people might act as an eye opener for the one or other…!

Can only recommend to spend some of your precious time for listening to this interesting and inspiring interview partner, it´s definitely worth it!

You may expect here as usual a shortened version of the interview (31:47 min.) and the unabridged original version (44:11 min.). To get free access to the unabridged original version, simply click on the „VIP“ area and get your password. Then continue under „VIP“ in the corresponding podcast at minute 30:11, if you want to avoid any repetition from the shortened version.

Content abridged podcast

In the abridged version of this interview (31:47 min.) you will hear amongst others about …

how he started his „adventure“ scholarship USA without any internet
what is the perfect job for him and how he made it
how he has proven having entrepreneurship in his DNA, when he was 6 years old
his decision making process in a national park, in order to quit his job the following Monday
what is his biggest excitement in his daily entrepreneurship
why it´s not bad, when things don´t turn out as they were supposed to do
the healing power of football, with a nice experience from the World Cup of homeless people
his burn out with 14, which had taken him out from becoming a professional footballer
why passion is so important for the achievement of goals
why he feels today with more travel activities less exhausted than during his time in the corporate world, when travelling less
the „3 F“, which he is missing when travelling
the spiritual connection of football
the 2 people in his life, who inspired him most
the tough challenges of his first 4-5 years as entrepreneur in his own business

Content unabridged original version

The unabridged original version in full length (44:11 min.) opens you additionally the opportunity to hear about…

in which context the name Real Madrid, a clinic in Florida and the scientology church came together…;)
people, who have significantly influenced his life
the magic ability of Wilt Chamberlain, a magnificent former NBA player, to read in a match 3-4 seconds in advance, what the opponent is going to do next
why team spirit is for him everything in his daily life
what triggers stress for him and how is calming down again
why football means a lot more to him than only being the most fascinating sport worldwide
what quality of life means to him
his inspiring dream for the future!

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