Meet Gilda Doria

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Gilda Doria. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Gilda below.

Gilda , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
My resilience comes from my parents. They probably don’t even know that. My parents left Asuncion, Paraguay when I was 2 years old to move to the US for a better opportunity for their kids. Some days when I am having a moment of doubt or things aren’t going my way I think about their journey to starting a new chapter in an entirely new country not knowing what it would turn into. What a sign of resilience, adapting, and never giving up in support of their kids. I mean just imagine leaving your job, your family, and everything you know for your kids…I couldn’t think of anything more selfless. Well, everything worked out…their 3 kids, me included, all went off to get their college education and masters degrees before blossoming into incredible professionals. My dad said once to me when we were on a walk in West Palm Beach – “Maybe we didn’t accomplish everything we wanted in our careers, but my kids are educated and successful…what more could I ask for in my life. That’s a life well lived.”

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am the CEO and Co-Founder of SoccerHead. SoccerHead is on a mission to make soccer more accessible and enjoyable. SoccerHead is a vertical SaaS recruitment management platform that is designed to improve the recruiting process by helping players easily connect with coaches and programs, and in turn help coaches evaluate and keep track of their prospects in a more optimized way. We connect college coaches to aspiring soccer players through our “Player 360” and “CRM” features. We are starting with connecting high school athletes and college athletes (transfer portal) with collegiate programs. In the future, we will expand our reach in programs to youth soccer academies and professional soccer clubs. Our ultimate goal is to centralize the entire soccer community of fans, officials, players, and coaches all in one place. We are creating the LinkedIn for Soccer with the vision to centralize the entire soccer community in one place.

What I feel is most exciting about what we are doing is the roadmap for what we are building and what this could evolve into. As the #1 sport in the world creating a network for all to connect would really help all backgrounds and demographics grow in their soccer journeys. As we build the app, supporting our brand and our mission is a huge help especially as we are getting off the ground. Please follow us on Instagram @soccerhead_co and join the online community today: community.soccerhead.co

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
3 things: attitude, work ethic, and my network. Attitude – Control the controllables as you build a start up. There are many founders who face moments of doubt because the road isn’t linear, just like in life. Believing in yourself and empowering your team to buy into and believe in the vision is essential. The energy you put out is the energy you get back. Work ethic – If it was easy, everyone would do it. Take pride in the things that are difficult to navigate and work as hard as you can to make your dreams a reality. At the end of the day if it doesn’t work out, you can leave that chapter in your journey knowing you have no regrets and gave it your all. Network- Define this however you’d like – your family network, friends network, professional network. Networks drive change and bring you support to keep going. The people who surround me are everything and I am extremely grateful for them.

Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?
Self belief and confidence in myself and the organization. The journey of building a company is difficult. In the last 12 months, something has clicked. I really believe as a team that we really can do this and that we can change the soccer landscape and how people connect with each other and with the resources we need globally. I read a book recently that said – it’s easy to believe when you can see the path forward but that’s not self belief, self belief comes from believing when you have every reason to doubt yourself.

I am excited for the road ahead and the possibilities to make a big impact on the game. At the end of the day – Why not me? And why not SoccerHead?

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