Did you have a great professional decade? Don’t forget to thank your partner in life

I’ve seen a number of social media posts in the last few days about people’s professional accomplishments in the last decade and how much they’re ready and wishful for more in the 2020s. And so I decided to take a moment to reflect about mine - that’s what social media does to us, isn’t it? A few paragraphs later, though, I realized that this article should not be about MY journey, but OURS, myself and my partner in life. 

Each one of us treats personal relationships differently, but one way or the other, if you have a family, there is no one’s professional accolades. Your business is family business. For the good and for the bad.

I didn’t need to go much far down my reflections to realize that. Going through year one of the last decade, I recalled being in Vancouver, Canada for 40 days for the 2010 Winter Olympics while my wife, Fernanda (and my in-laws) handled our moving to our new home.

Fernanda was carrying boxes while I was having the time of my (professional) life fulfilling a dream, reporting Olympic history in the making, having conversations with the likes of Shaun White, Apolo Ono, Shen Xue & Zhao Hongbo, Martin Brodeur, Sydney Crosby, Shani Davis, Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir.

A few weeks later, in August, I was in Turkey for the 2010 FIBA Basketball World Cup, covering a 21-year-old Kevin Durant’s rise vs the Turkoglu-led Turkey and my beloved Brazilian National team heroes when I got the news that my wife had spent 48 hours in a peregrination from hospital to hospital, trying to figure out what was going on with our 3-year-old daughter, later diagnosed with a severe infection. I had to cut that coverage short and rush back home. I later learned that if Fernanda hadn’t been hard on the doctors when she didn’t agree with the initial diagnosis, maybe our beloved Aline wouldn’t be among us today - God bless my little girl!

Later that same year, I almost missed Christmas with my family, stranded in Dubai after covering the 2010 FINA Swimming World Championships because of a snowstorm that dropped up to 12” of snow over Eastern Europe. Understandably, things like that made my wife very skeptical about my profession. I always felt like my professional growth was the best way of providing to my family, but it definitely came with a big cost in a price tag to be paid by the entire family that could not and should not be ignored by me.

A number of people helped you and me along the way. Friends, colleagues, bosses, network buddies, unknowns. But if you navigated the 2010s or part of them alongside a life partner, it’s always time to recognize her/ him. What you were able to conquer would most likely not have been possible without your companion, your helpmate. And I thank you Fernanda for that, for having my back, being the foundation of everything we did and are, but mostly for choosing to stay by my side!

In 2011, though, our seven years of emotional endurance and companionship were rewarded with a job transfer to New York City, that came with a home in North Jersey, only 15 minutes away from the town where Fernanda once fell in love with America, when she spent 2,5 years there as a kid. Her Dad was expatriated in the 1980s.

But the relocation did not come without a long trip to Russia and Ukraine before it. I was lucky enough to spend an hour with one of my childhood heroes, the best pole-vaulter of all time, Sergey Bubka, as well as the unbelievable Yelena Isinbaeva, while my wife was taking care of the arrangements for the biggest event of our lives. I was talking about Russia’s preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympics and the 2018 FIFA World Cup while Fernanda was sorting out details of our new family life in a new country.

When we finally boarded the plane to America, we knew that we were both fulfilling a common dream, even though we were flying away from family support.

I had the honor of working with names like Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal, Djokovic covering tennis, but those were 18-hour workdays in Queens, and we would barely see each other at home.

By June 2013, I had already visited 38 of the 50 American States, and produced exclusive content with the likes of Michael Phelps, Janet Evans, Kobe, LeBron, David Beckham and so many others. In the meantime, we had a son (and it was all planned for). Fernanda went sleepless for weeks - Thomas was a difficult baby in the first few months. I recall her telling me she had gone to the church in the middle of the day to ask for strength while I was in Vegas covering UFC for a week. And that made me feel really, really bad.

Then, in 2013, WE decided to leave OUR 13-year job. At its best. To live the family life we never had. The goal was to settle down and be together. And I was so ready for it.

A few weeks later though, the phone rang and it was the sports biz on the line… Again. If we accepted it, many of our planned family weekends would be gone. The “non-traditional hours” on the job description would have that traditional unwanted effect in our family. But you know what, WE decided to give it a go and see where that would take us to.

The introduction of former FIFA World Player of the Year and superstar Kaká to the U.S. market in 2014, Orlando City Soccer Club’s first major league season in 2015, the launching of the Orlando Pride in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in 2016, followed by the CONCACAF's Copa América Centenário. 

In 2017, Exploria Stadium - then Orlando City Stadium - opened its doors and amazed Major League Soccer (MLS). And it elevated the scope of my work and responsibilities to a new level. 

2018 was the year the Orlando City broadcasts became the #1 show on primetime on local TV, with the streaming rights being acquired by Google-owned YouTube TV.

2019 began with a months-long negotiation of a groundbreaking deal with local FOX, followed by its meticulous implementation, of course. Everything while my wife was taking care of our most important project for the year: Getting our daughter ready for a successful transition to middle school. And it couldn’t have gone any better!

As I celebrate the past decade and all the amazing professional opportunities I had, I realize that they’re all second to being able to keep a healthy marriage and family. Giving back to my journey partner(s) before giving back to any organizations is the only way I know of experiencing true and steady growth in life. The growth that is not measured by dollars, but by spiritual advancement - that eventually leads to a few dollars.

There were moments of uncertainty, yes, in our constant life-balance monitoring - you wouldn’t believe how often we go back to this topic. I always reassure that I wouldn’t hold on to any corporate affair if it puts our personal ones in jeopardy. 

Combatting my absence with quality time became more than a mantra to me the day I got a letter from Fernanda, back when we were newly-weds, pointing out how much she felt lonely while I was focused on professional growth. It was the day I realized that time is the most precious commodity in life.

That was the most important letter I got in the 2010s! But I want to make sure I don’t get another one in the 2020s. No, thanks! Here is to an empty mailbox in the new decade! That’s my definition for professional success.