Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Villegas.
Daniel, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’ve done a lot of sharing of my story via blogging and Instagram (@villegas1919).
I was born and raised in Miami, went to school @ Miami Sunset, signed a professional soccer contract my senior year and played/lived in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Spain and around the United States until I was 22. I didn’t have the most successful playing career. But, it did allow me to grow, be self-taught in a lot of ways and introduce to many people from many walks of life.
At 22, there was that “moment” where I said, I can continue playing and not making all that much money to retire at 35 or figure out what I could see myself enjoy doing for the rest of my life. I wrote down the 5 most important things to me in a career…
1. Enjoy what I do.
2. Flexibility of time.
3. Money to be earned.
4. Proximity to home.
5. Employ others.
After I did this, I browsed the internet the way any 20 some year-old would do in search of something that fits what I was looking for. I stumbled across Soccer Shots and in a few months, I became what I believe was the youngest owner ever of a Soccer Shots Franchise.
Fast forward today… we’re impacting 700 kids on a weekly basis, across two counties, with a staff larger than 10 and that includes having my wife quit her job and to work with me.
All this in just over 4 years. We’re extremely blessed and still have a long way to go, but we’re enjoying the process.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s never really a smooth road. You can be Lionel Messi and LeBron James or whoever. The struggles happen at every level they’re just different types of struggles for all of us.
I try to embrace the struggles. Some of the biggest struggles you face as an entrepreneur are almost always as a result of you.
For example, an employee messes up, you more than likely hired that employee. And sure, there are daily struggles within the business but I think more importantly are the internal struggles of doubting yourself, doubting if you can pull things off.
I remember those struggles the most. I’m happy to say that I have been able to adopt this confidence of just knowing that my faith, my work, and my staff will always pull through.
That confidence will continue to grow with our success and pull us through all of our struggles.
Please tell us about Soccer Shots .
We’re Soccer Shots, who is an engaging children’s soccer program with a focus on character development.
We positively impact children’s lives on and off the field through our best-in-class coaching, communication, and curriculum.
We are driven by the belief that positive experience with sports can make a lasting impact on a child’s life. Soccer Shots offers three different programs to meet the developmental needs of children aged 2-8.
I’m most proud of the stories shared by families. The stories of children being impacted. Parents emailing us literally saying that they were in tears because they had never seen their child be active or engaged in a group activity. It’s what makes this “job” so rewarding every day.
This is a question we get often when speaking to new preschools, that have had other programs.
What truly sets us apart from other programs is the intentional focus on children’s development. We’ve worked on our curriculum alongside soccer experts and early childhood experts. There’s a balance in teaching a child soccer, making it fun and being age appropriate. I feel that we’ve mastered that and at the end of the day, our coaches who are with these children weekly do an amazing job.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Oh wow… my childhood was awesome. My favorite memory is just playing with my brothers. Whether that was playing basketball in the driveway or football on our neighbors front yard (this beautiful nice green plush grass)!
My brothers are the best part of my childhood and happy to say we’ve created many grown-up memories to add to those childhood memories.
Contact Info:
- Website: soccershots.org/southernpalmbeach | soccershots.org/northbroward
- Phone: 305-484-9143
- Email: dvillegas@soccershots.org
- Facebook: facebook.com/soccershotssouthflorida
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