.jpg)
Creative /
Growth Partner
Business Consultant
gabriel valarezo
" His passion and drive have been remarkable throughout the years, and his ability to connect and serve peers and teammates to build an amazing community has been as outstanding as it is authentic. It has been great to strategize and build journeys together to enable & inspire the Barcelona football community and beyond, creating unforgettable experiences for all of us."
Andrés Bóveda - Nike
Life is a beautiful and exciting experience. I have encountered 4 defining moments along the way that shaped me as a person and as a professional:
1. The first time I kicked a ball when I was 4 years old.
2. When I saw a Korn videoclip at age 12.
3. Going on a solo travel to Buenos Aires - Argentina when I was 18 years old.
4. My first Ayahuasca ceremony at age 28.
I grew up in the 90s in a small country in South America during the Ronaldo - O Fenômeno - era as the undisputed king of football, while Nike was drawing an incredible world for the sport with unforgettable creative pieces. It was just inevitable that my dream would be to become a professional football player.
When I started high school, my mother finally signed up for cable television. While flipping through channels I stopped on MTV absolutely shocked at what my eyes were seeing and my ears were hearing. Those aggressive sounds played by a bunch of weird, quite scary but super cool guys all wearing adidas Originals, made me fall in love with music.
It is absolutely surreal for me that by those things of fate, I ended up working with adidas Originals for music in South America and shortly after with Nike for football in Europe.
" He is a person with a great gift for people, enterprising, creative and with clear objectives. His perseverance and power of will allow him to achieve the goals he sets for himself."
Gabriela Espinoza - adidas
I learned to play drums, joined a hardcore punk band and went on tour around the world.
adidas Originals dropped a contest in Latin America where you had to upload a photo that expresses your passion for music.
Guess what! I goddamn won it!
The prize: The brand took me to Lollapalooza - Chile for a weekend that was going to change my life.
I was 23 years old, my mind and my intention was fully committed in music. Thanks to this contest, I had the opportunity to show the people at adidas what I was doing and the brand opened its doors to me. I started as an influencer and evolved in many interesting directions.
At 28 I decided to turn my life around and moved to Barcelona to see what happens. While I was trying to figure out my life, my first passion football, came back to me.
I started a Street Football project to connect with the people of the city as I was new in town. It was just for fun, but it happened to have a big impact!
Someone at Nike got to hear about what I was doing, sent me a message on instagram and the rest is history.
My three passions: Football, music and traveling, besides bringing me incredible moments full of emotions, introduced me at an early age to the creative world of the big brands. I have had the great honor to learn from them and also contribute with my vision and talent to create cool things together with elite professionals.
Areas of Expertise
Street Culture - Football - Music - Travel - Psychedelic Counterculture.
Experience
Consulting: Nike (EMEA - Spain), TRIPTK Transformation Studio (New York), Squint Consulting (Amsterdam), adidas (Ecuador), European Commission, Erasmus + Programs, Ear to the Ground (England), Ghetto Games (Latvia), Football Stories TV (Greece).
Events: Nike, adidas, Mercedes Benz, Jaggermeister, Cult, Nintendo, Malboro, Chevrolet, Skullcandy, Miller, Scala Shopping Mall, concerts, international tours, music festivals.
Media - Content - Production: Wieden+Kennedy, 24/7, Bet365, Creative Embassy, Vice Presidency of the Republic of Ecuador, akqa, whalar, underground music artists.
" A multi-talented man with unmatchable drive and great intuition."
Daniel Wood - Football Business Academy & World Freestyle Football Association
HOW I WORK:
My rules for working are the following:
1. Immerse with the Higher mind.
2. Let the energy run.
3. Stage - Story - Strategy.
4. Play in Offensive: Just Power Moves.
5. Smile - Do it simple.
6. Always Authentic - Always Truthful - Always Fucking Dope.
7. Create Art.
8. Connect with new People and new ideas Once x Day.
9. Be Generous - Be Remarkable.
MY VOICE:
I strive to make the world better by encouraging people to embrace adventure.
My aim is to ignite a spirit of exploration and purpose, to inspire people towards a life more vibrant and pure.
" His Innovative thinking with his tireless level of effort make him one of the most valuable professionals for any organization that wants to innovate, especially in the area of Marketing and Communication."
Andrés Perez Ortega - Personal Branding & Business Consultant (Madrid)
Skills
Emotional intelligence and empathy - Problem solving and critical thinking - Creativity - Strategic and systems thinking - Adaptability, flexibility and resilience -
Effective communication and collaboration - Cultural competence and global awareness - Entrepreneurial mindset and innovation - Leadership and influence -
Ethical decision making and social responsibility - Digital literacy and technology fluency - Storytelling.
Education
Master´s Degree in Marketing and Business Management - EAE Madrid Spain.
Bachelor´s Degree in Corporate Communication - UDLA Ecuador.
Cool Stuff
- Featured in the Nike Global Channels. Watch it Here
- Featured in The Architects of New Football. Nike x Copa90. Watch it Here
- Invited Participant in the Nike FC Summit - Paris 2022.
- Academic Excellence Program - Best student in the country in the Communication career (so the government kidnaped me to work with the Vice-President of the country for a while).
- University Delegate for it´s international accreditation process.
- Featured in the adidas Originals Nomad advertising campaign.
- Featured in a bunch of nice magazines and newspapers such as TimeOut, Sport, Playground, etc.
Certifications
- Innovation Through Design: Think, Make, Break, Repeat - The University of Sydney Business School
- Brand Management: Aligning Business, Brand and Behaviour - London Business School
- Creative Writing - Wesleyan University
Passions
Music! Spotify says that I listen more music than 99.9% of the people.
Travel! I have visited 90 countries by now.
Sports! Part of my every day life, from the gym to the streets and on my screens.
Reading! I read a fucking lot.
Communication! Love editing videos, taking pictures, writing stories and mixing tracks.
Areas of Curiosity
Sound
Psychedelics
Ancient Cultures
Human Performance
Art
Architecture
Multimedia Art
Sources of Inspiration
Contemporary People: Tim Ferris - David Goggins - Dan Peña - Dave Grohl - Richard Branson - Gary V - Phil Knight - Albert Hoffman - Graham Hancock- Finn Mckenty - R9 - Novak Djokovic - Rick Rubin.
All-Time legends: Pitágoras - King Leonidas - Spartacus - Marcus Aurelius - Musashi Miyamoto - Nietzche - a bunch of Buddhist Practitioners.
Music: Hardcore & Punk bands - Deep house Djs - some quite strange Hip-Hop and a lot of experimental stuff.
Books: The Art of Learning - Reality Transurfing - Shoe Dog - The Psychology of Money - Can´t Hurt Me - The Storyteller - The Heart of Buddha´s Teaching -
The Art of Impossible - Zen in the Art of Archery - The Creative Act: A Way of Being.