Few executives can share a routine between council, meeting, sales and factories. Even fewer add to this daily training, international competitions and the dream of competing in a third Olympics. Marcio Appel, vice-president of , does both things at the same time.
His relationship with equestrianism began early, but without promising results. “My mother has always had a passion for animals, she even has a veterinary degree. When she took over the company, my brother and I started horse riding. We fell in love with the sport. I’ve always done horse riding since I was a kid and I was never talented”, he admits.
For years, sport for Marcio was treated as a hobby until, at the age of 34, watching the London Games on TV, he decided to turn a dream into a concrete project.
“I always wanted to be an Olympic athlete, but it was a distant reality for me until I saw a form of equestrianism in London called complete equestrian. There are 3 modalities in 1, super exciting… That day I said: ‘I’m going to try to follow my dream’. I was 34 years old, with two young children, the company was booming and I hatched a plan to become an Olympic athlete”, he remembers.
From then on, routine became method. “I wake up at 5:30 in the morning to work out,” he says. He started competing in 2013. He trained his physique, technique and mentality with high performance professionals. And the plan worked. “I was called up for Rio 2016, the Olympics in Brazil. I really fulfilled a lifelong dream there. It was beautiful!”, he says.
Marcio competed in the 2016 Rio Games, then Tokyo, he was three-time Brazilian champion and South American champion. Now, try out for the spot for Los Angeles 2028.
An experience that Marcio tells in detail in the book Executive Athlete. “I went to the Olympics balancing life as a father and an entrepreneur at the same time. So, I had to become an expert in time management. Equestrianism is my passion and I learn a lot from it. And what I learn in sport I also end up applying in the company and vice versa”, says Appel.
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Olympics X management
Sports discipline contaminated the company. “Consistency is everything, no one becomes a success overnight. The athlete seeks to improve by hundreds. In the corporate world, a lot of people get complacent. We have to always be improving, developing”, he compares.
Among the lessons he brings from sport to management, he cites nonconformity, goals, teamwork and health. “You can’t produce well if you don’t have vitality,” he says.
Conciliation requires technique. Márcio became a dedicated time management student. “People’s most common excuse is ‘I don’t have time’”, he provokes. He monitors his own agenda and advocates prioritization. “There is always time for what is a priority,” says Marcio.
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At Bom Sabor, the VP shares command with his brother and operates with clear governance, advice and metrics. Sport helped reinforce the culture of performance. “The sportsman’s discipline is really cool. For me, it’s worlds (businessman and athlete) that complement each other. I believe I can achieve my dreams in business and sport”, he says.
For the executive, the most important legacy is not just in revenue or titles. “The fun of life is to challenge yourself. It’s important to always maintain that winner’s mind, of believing that you can accomplish and achieve your dreams. It’s really cool and I use this mentality a lot in sport and also in the business world,” he says. The next challenge is outlined: grow the company, prepare the fourth generation and compete in another Olympics.
The businessman participated in the program where he also shared more details about the family company, which is already 70 years old, and the strategy for reconciling the two careers without losing performance.
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About From Zero to Top
The Do Zero ao Topo podcast is produced by InfoMoney and brings, each week, the stories of prominent women and men in the Brazilian market to tell their story, sharing the biggest challenges faced along the way and the main strategies used in building the business.
