From tennis pitch to sports industry professional…
Today we are going to talk about Mario Navarro Bayo — a tennis player that has a great journey from an athlete to Area Manager in the Human Resources company and has already achieved great results in tennis and in his professional life in sports industry. Now he is going to share with us the story of his professional life.
Mario, before we start, can you share with us a bit about your professional and academic experience?
I started my American journey as a student-athlete in August of 2010 at Eastern Washington University, WA. The overall experience was great but after a couple of years I decided to transfer to another University. The main reason was the weather, coming from Barcelona was a huge change to me living in such a cold place and having to play indoors in tennis. I moved to Valdosta State University, GA, in 2012, and was living there until 2014, when I graduated. This time the weather was great since we were right next to Florida and also had great experiences. I finished my bachelor’s with a double major in Management (plus an HR Certificate) and International Business. After that I decided to go back to Barcelona to start my professional career, even though, in 2016, I decided to do my Masters in Marketing and Sales.
What is sport for you? How did your passion for sports come to life?
Sport is one of the most important things to me in life, it has given me many values. Thanks to sports I have grown and developed many skills that helps me a lot in my personal and professional life. Practicing sports almost in a daily basis it’s something very necessary in my weekly routine so it helps me to break with the professional stress and makes me feel good mentally and physically.
My parents always played tennis and they always took me to the tennis club. I started playing tennis when I was 5 or 6 years old and I really liked it so I just kept practicing until it almost became my main activity in live. I am very thankful my life has been involved in the tennis world so thanks to that I met many interesting people and also got the opportunity to go to United States with an athletic scholarship.
Can you share with us a bit also about your career as a professional tennis player?
When I was 15 I started studying and practicing in a High-Performance Center for athletes. I would say my tennis dream started there since I had a clear objective of becoming professional. I was there for 4/5 years and got the possibility to compete both national and international tournaments playing with great players that now a days are highly ranked in the ATP rankings. When I was 19/20 I decided that going to the United States with an athletic scholarship would be a great opportunity to me to keep competing at a high level and to study my bachelors at the same time. At the end it has been probably the most important experience in my life so I got the possibility to meet amazing people from all around the world, learned a new culture, improved my English and lived many things that here wouldn’t been possible.
You were studying in the USA… Can you share with us more about the process of studying there with an athletic scholarship? How has it helped you in your career path?
While I was under 16–18, I saw some players that decided to go to the United Stated to continue their career, and it’s something that always kept my attention and somehow started dreaming about it. When I was getting to the limit age to go I decided I couldn’t miss out this opportunity so I contacted a company specialized in helping athletes in the whole process of making this dream possible and started preparing the exams needed, presentation video, etc. After that I started receiving different offers until I finally picked Eastern Washington University.
This experience has changed my life completely, I would say is the best decision I ever made. In Barcelona I wouldn’t been able to continue competing and studying at the same time. But also, the possibility to go so far away, alone, having to learn a new culture, new language, new people are something that helps you grow as a person enormously.
You also have a master’s degree obtained in Spain… Can you explain us the academic differences between American and Spanish education from your point of view?
In United States athletes are very well considered and there is a lot of flexibility so everyone can study and compete at the same time. Here in Spain there is no way you can study your degree while competing at a high level. Also, I would say professors are way more accessible in the US than in Spain.
Did this this master change your career life?
I wouldn’t say this Master has changed my life, but I believe it helped me when trying to find new opportunities or for headhunters to find more attractive my profile. I learned many interesting things that I still use in my daily basis.
You are working in Human Resources company as an Area Manager…How did you become the part of this company and what are your professional responsibilities?
After several years working in the industrial sector I was looking for new challenges in my life and in this company gave me the opportunity to manage certain offices and teams from a region of Catalonia, which was very challenging to me and a step up in my career. As responsibilities I have to manage the main accounts of the region and the budget of the offices under my responsibility. Also, to manage the KPI’s of the members of my team and give support to them in anything they need.
What professional tips do you have for new students who are trying to find their path in the sports industry?
I believe everyone has to find what they really like and go for it. Working and doing something that you enjoy and love is the best feeling any person could have. That being said I think the best tips are to be persistent, be patient and work hard. If that happens I am sure everyone can succeed in finding their dream job in the Sports Industry.
What professional goals you have for the next 5 years?
One of my goals has always been working for a company related to the Sports Industry. I am learning a lot working in the Human Resources industry but at some point, I would like to put together everything I have learned in my professional career with my experience as an athlete. Would be great to be working for a Sports institution or company in the following years.
