Originating in 1969 in a beach resort of Acapulco in Mexico, Enrique Corcuera founded a new sport, padel. With limited space for a tennis court, he created a court that was 10 by 20 meters in size and surrounded by 3-4-meter-high walls, with a net dividing the court into two equal sides. Because of its smaller size to that of tennis, he decided to play with wooden rackets that were smaller than traditional tennis rackets.
In the early days of padel it was only played by the Mexican elite, but through Alfonso De Hohenlohe, a Spanish friend of Corcuera, it ended up in Spain. De Hohenlohe introduced the sport in Marbella, where the first European padel club was founded in 1974. The first players were all rich friends of De Hohenlohe. When Spanish King Juan Carlos and ex-Wimbledon champion Manolo Santana started promoting the sport, its popularity rose quickly. The development of the sport took another great leap as a friend of De Hohenlohe, Julio Menditengui, brought the sport to Argentina.
Now padel is a game played globally and Miguel Alejandro Farias, an international marketing engineer from Chile, and his company NOBY USA, is at the heart of it along with 4on a Swedish company.
We caught up with Miguel Alejandro Farias to talk about his fundamental involvement in 4on and the brand’s product expansion globally.
Welcome Miguel, what are some of your early business and entrepreneur experiences?
Within my businesses, I have stood out and I have created from scratch beauty salons, perfumery, sports stores, marketing agencies and I have advised more than 300 clients around the world who are starting, growing or who want to have greater success all of this no matter how small or big the company is, also my specialty is those who are going bankrupt and need to be revived. In addition, I have been able to launch all the projects to the world, through the media and important people and influencers in the field.
How would you describe the projects that you typically prefer?
Ambitious, challenging for many unattainable, but if I could say something about my projects it is that I love to leave doors open for those who follow as I am an example of real improvement.
What is your creative process when preparing for a project?
Visualize, I see how much that visualization is going to cost me in every way (value, emotion, energy, price, and cost), if I feel that the mentioned does not concern me, I throw myself in, even so, everything is against me because the only way I have achieved everything is by believing in myself. My creativity connects with experience, and when you are experienced in what you do, you know that beyond being creative, is being persistent, my way of being creative is to persist in the same idea until I achieve it.
Has there been one particular moment in your career that you’re most proud of?
I wouldn’t be able to do everything I do if I wasn’t proud of myself since I started my career, despite everything that has happened to me I’ve always been proud. What makes me the happiest besides my career and my experience is the fact that I have come so far despite I was told that I couldn’t achieve what I wanted.
4on is a global success story in the world of padel. How did you get involved in 4on?
The company sought me out in Chile to advise them because they knew about my work and how well I did it, they needed to build the brand. It was such a success that when I decided to come to the United States, the idea of raising the brand in a market that did not yet exist was an almost impossible challenge. I achieved so much, and they believed in me, that they decided to leave the brand in my hands for all of America.
What was the initial mission for you with 4on?
The brand’s goal was to grow and sell, and mine was to conquer America. I had a whole world of success, contacts, and career in Chile, but I decided that it was time to enter the most important market in the world: the United States.
How important is this product to the sporting world?
4on is the most important product in the world right now as we’re the only ones creating these types of products.
It is the only one that achieves the objective for which it was invented, and every day we do more things beyond the product to make it better, we have increased the value of the brand with elite players, a quality work team, and performance commercial policies, and all the people who work at 4on focused on the same objective.
Where do you plan to take 4on next?
I plan to make 4on one of the most important, innovative, and avant-garde products in Padel and well positioned in the American market.
Finally, have you set any 2024 goals to achieve?
Yes, I want to do a tour of all of my client’s countries in all of America and continue to make Padel grow in the United States. Create new alliances with big companies, develop new business opportunities, and help all of our clients expand and grow their businesses. But my number one priority is to make 4on the most known brand in this industry. For my team, I wish them to grow, become more successful, and maintain good health.
What’s the best way to follow you online?
For all professional inquiries visit https://4on.us/ and for 4on social media https://www.instagram.com/4on_usa/ and I can be found: https://www.instagram.com/miguelfariascl/.