We recently connected with Marcelo Ferreira 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?
Resilience is definitely one of my favorite words in the English dictionary and without a doubt a trait that one must have in order to succeed in today’s world.
I preach resilience to my players on a daily basis because I know how important being resilient was to me my entire life.
I believe that resilience is developed based on the type of environment you grow up in as well as the people you surround yourself with. We unfortunately live in a time where resilience has died down tremendously. People are softer, entitled and are afraid to confront their issues face to face since doing everything through text messages is a lot easier. In modern times we have access to everything, we live in a country that offers us so much which is obviously a blessing but at times it can also be a curse because without struggle, challenges and adversity, developing a resilient mindset becomes a much harder achievement to come by.
My upbringing gave me no option but to be resilient. Growing up in Brazil was great and I had an awesome childhood but I grew up in a very humble family and everything had to be earned. I got my first “job” as a 10 year old cleaning cars in random parking lots just to try to make a few bucks. After that, becoming a ball boy was what got me into tennis and opened all the doors that brought me to where I am today. But even though the journey has been amazing and so fullfilling it definitely wasn’t without its challenges and setbacks. Therefore, resilience had to become my best friend. As a ball boy, I was exposed to a lot of the wealthy kids in my city. Kids that were able to come to the academy and take multiple lessons per week and I couldn’t even afford a 30 minute session. Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I put on my “resilient” hat, out worked most of those kids and became a better player in less time with no lessons. At a very young age I knew I was going to have to be tougher and more determined because things were not going to come easy.
Years later I found myself in America. It was my first time out of the country. I had never gone away from my family, and the worst part was the fact that I couldn’t speak a word in English. One more time I had to be resilient, battle through the adversity of living in a new country, learning a new language and attending college classes even though I couldn’t understand a word that was being said by my professors.
Situations like the ones mentioned above and many other that happened in my life taught me that without resilience I would not have been able to rise above the clouds and succeed. Resilience is part of who I am, it drives my personality and how I approach almost everything in life. And that is why I preach it to my players and everyone around me so much.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I grew up in São Paulo, Brazil with my parents, my sister and brother. As most Brazilians soccer was my passion until tennis came into my life. And tennis is what ended up shaping my destiny. I went from being a ball boy at a small academy in São Paulo, to playing tournaments from the junior level to the Professional level. Those endeavors brought me to America to play college tennis back in 2002. I fell in love with America and college tennis and that love got me on the college coaching path with pit stops at Georgia College, Texas Tech and Pepperdine. My passion for developing players but most importantly developing people got me to leave college tennis and invest in younger juniors which is what I do now. I run the High Performance Tennis Academy at Windy Hill Athletic Club in Atlanta.
This project has been one of the most rewarding projects I have ever been part of. In less than 2 years, we have been able to establish ourselves as a power house in Atlanta and in the Southern region and it’s been so incredibly rewarding to watch our players develop as players but most importantly as human beings. Our academy is solely focused on preparing these players for college tennis and getting them to understand the importance of discipline, hard work, teamwork, selflessness, resilience, professionalism and compassion
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
This is definitely a great question but not an easy one to answer. There were so many qualities that helped me get to where I am today. And so many times we end up giving cliché answers but there is a reason why some of the same qualities keep getting repeated by multiple people. BECAUSE they are needed in order for success to be achieved.
I would say that if I had to mention 3 qualities that helped shape my path it would be determination, integrity and resilience.
We all have goals in life but so many people lack the determination and desire to pursue. It becomes simply a list on a piece of paper that never comes true. I can’t imagine going through my journey without a very determined mindset. I have always been laser focused on my goals and simply refused to back down no matter the adversity.
However, with all the determination I always possessed, doing things with integrity was of the utmost importance to me. A lot of times, determination can get out of control in a sense that someone will be willing to bulldoze people, cross lines and break rules in order to get to the ultimate prize. I always kept my determination in check by committing to always make decisions that would not jeopardize my integrity. I have always given my best to move up the ladder and succeed in life without having to push someone off the plank or pull the rug from under a peer. When relentless determination is combined with unwavering integrity great things can happen.
Last but not least, the quality that we discussed in the beginning. RESILIENCE. When you are determined but refuse to step outside of your integrity realm, you will have more set backs than someone who is willing to paint outside the lines and for that reason it is paramount that one possesses a great deal of resilience to be able to jump back up when knocked down.
Nothing in my life came easy which is the way I like. But whatever curve balls where thrown at me, whatever punches hit me straight on, I was able to get back on my feet even stronger to pursue my determined mindset with my integrity intact..
My advice to anyone starting their journey is to make sure that they embrace their dreams. That they embrace the daily battles. The ups and downs will be constant and the door to get to your goals is narrow. But if you don’t power through and fight with all your might to make sure you get to live your dreams, you will end up watching someone living your dreams for you. Don’t let that happen. Go get what belongs to you. No dream is unachievable.
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
It is hard to just come up with one specific impactful thing that my parents did for me because I am a true reflection of my dear mom and dad. They shaped me and molded me into who I am. But as I look back, I believe that one of the most impactful things that they have done for me was to encourage me and push me to come to America. I come from a humble family. Until I left for the States, none of us had ever thought about leaving the country. We are a very tightly knit family. So the idea of letting their firstborn simply move to a different country by himself without speaking the language was probably terrifying to them. Being a father now I understand these things better. But regardless of how tough it must have been they were there for me and that action, that decision triggered a domino effect that has completely changed my life in ways I could have never imagined. I have accomplished dreams that I didn’t think at first I was even allowed to have. I met my wife. I traveled the world. And I now have my most precious treasure, my son Leo.
I will be forever grateful to my parents for their selfless unwavering unconditional love for me and for putting my needs and dreams ahead of their own. I owe them so much for the life they have allowed to live.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @coachferreiratennis
- Twitter: @FerreiraTennis
