Meet Marcelo Bengoechea

We recently connected with Marcelo Bengoechea and have shared our conversation below.

Marcelo, 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?
I think resilience is something we learn with time. For me resilience comes with wisdom and wisdom comes from experience. The more I learn, the more comfortable I am with the unknown. It used to be scary but now the unknown is exciting. I can dive into it feeling comfortable that everything is going to be all right at the end. Not saying it will be easy but I know that I will be able to survive it and that confidence makes me very resilient. Life can hand me the worst but I am resilient to handle it all. Once you have that confident outlook in life, being resilient is not that hard but you must trust the process.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
My professional journey intertwines the creative essence of surfing with the perseverance and discipline of competitive running. Born and raised in Argentina, Brazil, and Spain, I arrived in San Diego in 1989 with dreams of becoming an Olympic Track & Field athlete. Although my Olympic aspirations didn’t materialize, I channeled my dedication and passion into the outdoors and its business.

After refining my creative skills in the corporate sector, I became Reef’s Creative Director in 1999. For a decade, I spearheaded the company’s brand communications, elevating Reef to one of the most recognizable names in the global action sports industry.

In April 2010, my entrepreneurial spirit led me to co-found Seshday.com, an innovative e-commerce platform targeting the youth culture and action sports market. Two years later, after successfully selling Seshday.com, I took on the role of CEO at Superbrand, a Southern California surf lifestyle company. Under my leadership, Superbrand expanded its business from 3 to 23 international distributors and partners within five years.

Following a merger for Superbrand, I joined Kindhumans as COO. This visionary startup aimed to simplify sustainable shopping by curating the best products that are kind to people and the planet.

In 2019, personal experiences inspired me to launch The Studio at Fernando Bengoechea in memory of my late brother, acclaimed photographer Fernando Bengoechea, who tragically died in a tsunami in 2004. The Studio’s mission is to preserve, revive, and evolve Fernando’s unique Woven Photograph legacy. I honor my brother’s art by hand-weaving limited editions of his memorable photographs, ensuring Fernando’s work continues to inspire.

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?
Curiosity, kindness and acceptance impacted me since the beginning and continues to this day. I am curious about everything, interested in learning and recognize that we are all different but connected one way or another. Accepting the fact that we are different allows me to be kind and kindness can change the way we see the world.

I truly believe that love is the cure to all.

Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?
I believe in the millions of opportunities we have to be happy. From my experience, when I am too focused on something I end up stressed and miserable, unable to see the beauty around me. I think that going all in your strengths when you are young is a good approach but staying there too long it diminishes your full potential.

If you want to have a well lived life filled with excitement and adventure, then you must branch out, let your guard down and be vulnerable. The only way to grow and become better is by leaving your comfort zone.

In my career, I could have stayed within my designer comfort zone, but I knew it was not going to keep me motivated forever, so I open my mind and heart, took on new and different responsibilities that I had to learn from doing them.

I moved quite a bit. From athlete, to designer, to entrepreneur, to artist. Being extremely well rounded has worked for me and I feel I live a very full life.

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