FÁBIO QUEIROZ LIFE STORY

I will tell you a bit about my life.          Versão em Português (clique aqui) 

I was born as a result of an unwanted pregnancy.  My biological mother got pregnant when she was very young and hid her growing stomach for 9 months so that her grandfather would not find out about her pregnancy.  If he had found out about it, he would have beaten her and thrown her out of the house, as he was quite an aggressive person.  So, when I was born, she left me in a neighbour’s house so that her grandmother would not discover what had happened.  But this neighbour was not able to keep me, as their family hardly had the means to support their own family, let alone one more child.  The neighbour took care of me for about ten days, but then told my biological mother that she had to find a way to take care of me herself.

As she had no money, she picked me up and left the neighbour’s house, and went round door to door throughout the neighbourhood, offering me around, begging someone to take me in.  But all of them told her that they didn’t have the money to be able to take in a new baby.  Everyone who lived in that area was very poor.  They were families who came from various regions of the north of Brazil, and they had come to Sao Paolo to try to make a better life.  They lived in little houses in shanty-towns.  As nobody wanted to take me in, my biological mother decided to throw me in a swamp.  However, one of the neighbours, (the woman who was to bring me up) suspected that this might be what my biological mother was driven to do, and so she took me in and decided to keep me, even though their financial situation was very bad.  After this, my biological mother came to visit me on only one occasion – after which she moved away and we heard nothing from her again.  It was in this manner, with great luck, that I escaped death, right at the beginning of my life.  And, in addition, I got marvellous parents and fantastic sisters.  The family was very poor and practically illiterate, Negroes, without vices, Christians, very honest and very hard working.  My mother was a cleaning woman and my father worked as an assistant in a metalwork company.  I remember what a strict disciplinarian my father was at that time with all of us, even becoming aggressive at times. On various occasions I hid myself under the bed when he was angry to avoid getting hit with his belt.  My sisters were also beaten, and they have marks on their bodies to this day.  One time, in an effort to avoid being hit, I banged my head quite hard on a piece of furniture.  I got a big cut over my right eyebrow.  I had to have a number of stitches and I still have a scar there.  After that, my father never hit me again.  On the other hand, my father never drank, and he had no other vices.  He was a severe, reserved man from Bahia State, and a hard worker.  The neighbours all thought he was a very pleasant and helpful person.   Throughout my childhood I was educated by my sisters, who took care of the house when my parents were working.  My mother worked as a cleaner for a middle class family, so she couldn’t devote very much of her time to me.  But in the little time that she did have she was very loving and attentive.  Because we had so little money, I grew up eating lots of beans and flour.  I think that is the main reason why I still love beans today. 

I never played outside, because my father didn’t want me to mix with the other kids that hung out on the streets.  As a result, I became an avid reader of comic books, and I started to learn to read even before going to school, because I used to look at so many comic books at home.  In this way, I began to develop my mind very early on.  I also learned how to have a great friend available at all hours – and that was ME!  I would often spend the entire afternoon in our quintal playing by myself, while my sisters were going about their different activities.  I had long hair down to my shoulders and it was shiny and smooth.  Everybody thought that I looked very cute with that type of hair.  I think it was at this time that I first became conscious of my appearance, and perhaps a little vain.  Although it is true that I was shy, I also loved to be noticed. Before entering regular first grade, I was sent to pre-school.  I can still remember my school uniform: I had red shorts, second-hand shoes and a little shirt.

The first year of school was a little difficult for me, because I got sick with both catapora and the mumps.  Because of this I missed a lot of classes.  All the same, I managed to pass from 1^st grade to 2^nd grade.  Because of the problems I had had, my handwriting was quite weak and my second grade teacher wanted to keep me back.  But, as my work was good in all of the other subjects, she had to let me pass.

I always loved going to school.  I loved being with my friends.  At that time, I was very playful and had a good sense of humour (a personality that I had until the 6^th grade.)  After 3^rd grade, my hair was cut short and I starting combing it to have a parting on one side, the same hairstyle that I have today.

I had a normal childhood, but was watched over with great vigilance by my parents.  I had some friends who would sometimes come over to my house to play.  One of them is married now: we are still friends and we meet up sometimes and play chess.  My best memories of that time are from the 5^th and 6^th grade.  I was always good at maths and also was quite good at most other subjects.  I loved puzzles and maths problems and my maths teacher always set me new problems and puzzles as a challenge.  However, this gave rise to some trouble for me from the other kids in the class who didn’t have the same aptitude or interest, but who had to study more because of me.  One of my classmates, a kid who was only just managing to get by, has today become a national samba singing star, and he even has his own television show.

From early on, I was a leader type.  I liked to inspire others to do things they wanted.  I was one of the creators of the first graduation ceremony at our school, together with our history teacher.

Later on, I entered High School, and, thanks to a friend, got my first job as a general assistant in a factory that made padlocks and door locks. I started working there at the same time as two friends of mine.  I worked from 7.00 am until 5.00 pm and then went straight to school at night.  I caught the bus very early in the morning and brought my food in an aluminium container.  I have lost count of how many times my lunch box fell open by accident, or how many times the door of the bus slammed shut on my bag and crushed my lunch-box!  In those eleven months, I went through a lot of difficulties, but I had a good job.  I thought my work was going to be operating automatic machines, but, once I got there, they put me in a warehouse, where I had to load material from one department to another.  Because of these lousy working conditions, and after one incident where I almost lost one of my fingers in a machine, I decided to leave the metal factory altogether and to start my life over again in another sphere.

I managed to get another job at a different company, where I earned only a third of the money I was making before.  My family ended up suffering because they no longer had the same amount of money that I had been able to give them before to help with the household expenses.  But anyway, my mother was solidly behind me, because she herself was worried that if I stayed at the factory I might have an accident. In the new company I worked as an office boy, and therefore did not run the risk of losing any of my fingers.  The work was also alot easier.  I liked it a lot.  I made a number of friends there and this encouraged me to fulfil the expectations of the bosses and the secretaries who needed my services.  I ferried mail and packages between different internal departments in the company.  I had only one pair of trousers and two shirts, but I was always neat and presentable, with my clothes clean and ironed.  And I had a good attitude.  These things meant that in the end many people liked me, which therefore put me in a position to try for a job as an office boy at the company’s headquarters on Avenida Paulista.  I had an interview, but unfortunately I wasn’t successful.  However, the manager who interviewed me liked me very much and said there was another opening in a different company of the group.  So, I was transferred to Headquarters near Avenida Paulista.  Everything there was new for me, but I felt very happy, because I wanted a chance to go forward with my life and to grow.  In the beginning it was quite difficult for me.  I didn’t know any of the streets in that area and all of my work was done outside the company building.  My colleagues at work were always playing around with me, and I was the worst one in the group at these external jobs.  But, as time passed, I began learning all the addresses and began to be much faster than most of the others.  In a short time, I became the favourite office boy of many of the managers in the company, because I was so fast.  I also learned to earn money by saving on cab fares.  I often took the bus and sometimes I even ran, using whatever form of transport would get me to my destination in the fastest possible time.

I was always very curious and was always willing to learn new things.  At that time, I took a free typing course offered by a club in my neighbourhood during the weekends.  With my ability to type, I would help one guy in the Telex area type some of the letters whenever I had any free time.  The other office-boys made fun of me and said that I was a “puxa-saco” (apple-polisher) but I never stopped what I was doing.   The result was that, when the Telex guy went on holiday, I was asked to step in and work in his place.  I stopped doing the external deliveries and even ended up getting the office boys who used to be my colleagues do some deliveries for me!  Many of them had been in the company for 2 or 3 years and found it difficult to get used to seeing me, a new guy, in a more privileged position then they were.  In six months I got my first promotion.  One year later, I was promoted again.  I had finished my high-school studies and I wanted to enter university.  However, my salary was only just enough for me to live on and to help a bit with expenses in our family.  But anyway, I decided that I would study hard and do some specific preparation courses, believing that one day, I would manage to complete a university degree.  I took the entrance exams at two different universities for courses in Business Administration.  I passed one of them and was very pleased, but at the same time I was frustrated because I knew that the fees I needed to pay to study at this university were three times my monthly salary!  When my boss heard that I had passed the exams, he told the director of the company.   As luck would have it, the director of the company had graduated from the same university where I had passed the entrance exams.  He took the initiative to ask the Board of Directors of the company if they would authorize a study grant for me.  It was a big surprise for me when my boss advised me to matriculate, and informed me that the company would pay for 70% of the cost!!!

In this way I managed to take a big step forward in my life.  After paying 30% of the university fees, I hardly had any money left over, because my salary was very low.  But, as time passed, I got promoted twice, and as a result I managed to earn a bit more money, so that I could continue to help my parents.  Later, I was the company’s employee of the month in the travel sales section for six months in a row.  For this I was rewarded with a new motorbike as well as a study grant to study English for six months every Saturday.  I took full advantage of my Saturdays and also did a course in motor mechanics.   Also at this time, through a colleague of mine from work, I came in contact with a philosophy of life that I found very interesting, Buddhism.

I went to a first meeting together with a friend of mine who had a lot of problems (sickness, debts, difficulties within the family).  My friend had managed to solve all of his problems through the practice of Buddhism, but he stopped practising after some time.  I continued to practise and study Buddhism.  I made some fantastic friends, and, encouraged by the experienced practioners and by the visible, tangible results my Buddhist practice was having in my life, I converted.  I worked, I studied and I dedicated myself to Buddhist activities during the weekends and whenever I had some other free time.  Before becoming a Buddhist, I had followed the religion of my father (the Lutheran church) and the Seventh Day Adventist Church.  But I never really identified myself with their beliefs.  I never managed to believe in the existence of a superior, imaginary being, or in an imaginary paradise.  It was through Buddhism that I found various answers to my spiritual conflicts.  Buddhism believes in the Universal Law, and not in a personified deity.  In the beginning it was difficult for my father to accept my new beliefs, but, as time went by, he began to understand that this was the spiritual path that I was going to follow, and he stopped criticizing it.  Also the material and spiritual changes that he observed in me were further proof of the validity of my choice of life style.

With my motorbike, I managed to get to lots of places a lot faster.  I was experiencing one of the best times of my life, because I could enjoy a standard of living that I had never been able to have before.  I was always ambitious.  At this time I met someone who became my friend and we often went clubbing together at the weekends.  I helped my friend organize parties and events for famous artists.  I got interested in this type of business and I decided to leave the company where I was working and to start a discotheque together with my friend.  This was a very difficult decision for me, because I was giving up a steady, well-paid job to start an enterprise that was completely uncertain.

Against the advice of my colleagues at work and my family, I left my company after 5 years of working there.  I guess I was making a very big mistake.  Six months later my friend cheated me and made me lose all of my money and my savings.  I ended up with my reputation and my credit-rating in ruins.  My family was pressuring me to help with the expenses at home.  My father got to the point where he said I should leave the university because he raised me so that I could help the family and not so that I could harm them.  I found myself in a totally depressed and miserable situation.  I tried to restart my life in many ways, for example selling fish balls at the Largo da Matriz, selling magazines, selling computers, selling water purifiers.  All of these businesses failed.  At various times I became depressed.  I got so low that once I locked myself in my room for a whole week and stayed in bed. The only thing that gave me any energy were the concentration exercises of my Buddhist practice, and my internal will to succeed in life.  My brother-in-law, who was leading the most prosperous life of anyone in my family at that time, saw my situation and recommended me for a job in the commercial office of a friend of his.  His friend needed someone who could look after the office and close it down, as one of the workers had violated his confidence and stolen various clients and started his own, competing company.

In this way, I managed at least to get a job, but, I had no idea how the company worked, and I didn’t have any experience in this type of sales.

But, through that job, I managed to earn enough money to pay off the debts that I had from university and various other debts left from the discotheque fiasco.  For just about the entire week, I was handling the bad cheques from that time that were in my name and that had bounced.  After six months the owner of the company said that he was going to close it down and that I would only be working there for two more weeks.  By good luck, another commercial representative offered his office to me, because he needed someone with whom he could share the rental costs of the office.  In this way, I was able to start my own business.  In a short time, I managed to pay off all of my bills and restore my reputation. With the passing of time, the competition became very intense and it became too difficult to earn money through sales.  As I had already rebuilt my reputation and restored my credit rating, I decided to look for a part-time job in order to earn some more money.  I sent out my resumé and I was selected to work for a Human Resources office.  I was invited to a job interview.  I passed all the steps of the selection process without knowing exactly what type of company it was.  I was selected and I joined an airline firm connected to Varig Airlines.  At this company I started as a despatch agent.  I was promoted twice and I eventually became a check-in supervisor at the airport.

The company was in a meteoric phase of expansion.  I had the opportunity to travel to England twice, as the employees had the chance to travel for only 10% of the regular ticket price, as one of the benefits of working for the company.  During these trips I was able to improve my English.  I worked for that company for five years.  However, after the death of a very good friend of mine at the company (he died from a heart attack), I didn’t feel like working there any longer.  At this point, a childhood friend of mine, who was working as a private English teacher, encouraged me to become an English teacher myself.  He gave me the name of a friend of his who wanted to have private English lessons.  I hadn’t any experience as an English teacher, but, having taken a very good English course (with a very interesting method) when I was in England, I decided to try it, using the method I had learned with.   In this way, I became an English teacher in a short time.  The first student recommended me to other friends of hers, and, after a short time I had a number of private students.  I worked at the airport at night and during the day I gave English lessons at companies and private homes.  As I had already lost interest in working at Varig, I decided to quit and to dedicate myself solely to giving English lessons.  I informed my manager of my intention to leave.  He seized the opportunity and fired me, as he had always been jealous of me and had always been looking for a way to get rid of me.  I understood that I had finally found something substantial that I loved doing, teaching English using the same method by which I myself had learned English.  After expanding my network of students, I put an English teacher in my place and I took another trip to England to study further how to use this method, and also to take the Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English.  Before that, I had already sent a number of cassette tapes of my lessons to the creator of the Teaching Method, and he had sent me a Letter of Recommendation that stated that he had been impressed with my technical knowledge of the Method, especially since I was Brazilian.  He invited me to meet him personally.  After getting to know him, I was invited to participate for free in a Teacher’s Training Course, and I was the first non-English person to be admitted onto it.  I lived in England for about 6 months and then I returned to Brazil.  My English friend had gone to China, to work on a project related to his field, and I continued to work with my old students.   Many of my students had in fact learned to speak English quite well with my English friend.  Gradually the number of my students declined as their English improved, and this put me in a difficult financial situation.  My sister offered me the use of her house and I decided to give lessons from her sitting-room.   Bit by bit, I found new students and began to re-establish myself.  My sister was having a number of financial problems at the time and I thought I would be able to help her, taking care of her house and giving lessons there, as there had been an attempted robbery there in the past.  One day, we received formal notice to quit.  This took me by surprise, especially because I had given that address to various students.  Suddenly I had to rush around trying to find a new place, so that I would be able to carry on giving lessons to my students.  It was difficult because I didn’t have any assets (like land or a car) to serve as collateral for a loan, and with most places you had to pay a deposit before you could rent them.  For a high price I managed to rent a small room on Santa Amaro Avenue, because the owner of the building was willing to trust me.  I was able to convince my students to come to the new place for their lessons.  Even though it was much farther away, all of them decided to continue to study with me.  It was a small room, in bad condition, with the lavatory completely blocked up.  Many times I would arrive early (or leave late at night) in order to clear the drain in the toilet because it smelt awful.  After some time, I met some English people and they started giving lessons in the classroom as well, sometimes almost one on top of the other.  I helped one of them rent his own place by giving him a loan.  A bit later, he cheated me and abandoned the place he had rented via through me, and started his own company, even though he was working illegally because he didn’t have a work permit.  When I decided to send the other English guy away as well, he tried to strangle me.  A year later, both of them went bankrupt.  One was kicked out of Brazil and returned to England, leaving behind many debts in Brazil.  The other disappeared.  With the passage of time, I got more students and in one year, I rented another place with three classrooms.  The owner of that place had been robbed and was desperate for money.  For that reason, she agreed to rent me the building at below the market rate.  I had to convince my father to sign the rent contract as my guarantor, even though he was extremely hesitant to sign it.  Our house was the only thing he had of value, but, in the end, he agreed to sign at the last minute.  It was a very luxurious building and I found it incredible that I had managed to leave one very small room and come into this lovely, big place.

I began by doing all the work myself, working as a self-employed person.  Late on, I hired a young woman (a sixteen-year old) via an incentive program run by the State Government to help me with the students in the reception area.  I also managed to find a foreigner who at that time was undergoing a series of difficulties in finding a place to live and earning money.  I offered him the opportunity to work with me and he accepted, knowing that it would not be possible for me to pay him a very good salary.  He became my right hand man, managing after only a few months with me to earn four times as much as he had in the beginning.  This was how I managed to start my English School.  I soon took on four more teachers to teach and to find new students.  After a year of work, when it was time to renew the contract, something extraordinary happened.  A woman had bought the building next door (it had been falling apart), and she renovated the whole thing with the intention of putting her children to work there in a shop which sold food supplements.  After the renovation, the building was in beautiful condition, but the business wasn’t going well.  Having been robbed twice, they closed the business and put the place up for rent.  It had six rooms, two bathrooms, two corridors, a back yard with a garden and a small house at the back with one bedroom, a sitting room, a kitchen and a bathroom.  Thanks to the good relations I had established with the owners of that building, they agreed to rent it to me for a good price so I could then expand my school.  When I had the signed contract in my hands I cried with happiness. Once I had finally moved into this beautiful new building, I did a small amount of rennovation and started to live in the small house at the back during the week.  I hired a receptionist, four more teachers and raised the number of students I had.  Everyone who worked for me at that time seemed to be very satisfied.  They were earning more than before and they gained encouragement from the way the school functioned and from their future prospects.  My own quality of life improved immensely.  I could have time to go to the cinema whenever I liked, to sleep late whenever I liked, to travel to other cities and countries and dedicate myself more to support Humanist and Secularist activism, and, in general to do the things that I liked.  I could earn more money than I do, but I prefer to share what I earn, giving work, prospects and opportunities for personal growth to more people.  I prefer to live a simple life, without luxury.

I believe strongly in the inner force of people and in the will to succeed.  I believe that it is not necessary for us to look to external forces to help us overcome our problems.  All the power we need we can find inside of us, in our determination to succeed and to fight for our happiness.  When we join together with other people with a winner mentality, we can realize our potential.

My wish is to develop my knowledge and my business to help other people ‘succeed in life.’  Whether they are students or teachers, I am very happy to see them enjoy the benefits they get from being able to speak the international language - English.   I have big dreams that I am planning to realize.  My current objective is to become an internationally known business.  This is on the way to becoming a reality, as I have become the Official Consultant of the English Method that I am using, and I have already trained people from other countries.  As a Secularist, I am striving for world peace, and I am putting all my effort into reaching my goals and succeeding in life.  We are born to accomplish all of our tasks, to continually be victorious.  There will always be problems.  For this reason, we have to solve all the problems that come our way.  That is part of what makes life so interesting.  Each of us was born to make a difference in the world.  As an ancient teaching says, “If you want to understand the past, observe how it has affected the present, if you want to know what will happen in the future, pay attention to what you are doing in the present.”  Thank you very much for allowing me to share a bit of my life with you!

My email: fabioqueiroz@hotmail.com

Some pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fabioqueiroz/sets

ESTÓRIA DE VIDA: FÁBIO QUEIROZ

Vou contar-lhes um pouquinho sobre a minha vida.        English version (click here)

Nasci de uma gravidez indesejada. Minha mãe biológica engravidou-se muito jovem e escondeu a barriga durante os nove meses para que o avô não desconfiasse que ela estava grávida. Se ele desconfiasse, além de bater muito nela por ser uma pessoa agressiva, a expulsaria de casa. Dessa forma, quando nasci ela me deixou na casa de uma da vizinha sem que seu avô tivesse conhecimento. Mas esta vizinha não podia ficar comigo, pois não tinha condições financeiras nem para sustentar a própria família direito, imaginem mais uma criança. Ela cuidou de mim por aproximadamente 10 dias e depois solicitou para que minha mãe biológica desse um jeito de cuidar de mim. Como ela não tinha condições, saiu oferecendo-me de porta em porta na vizinhança, mas todos diziam que não tinham condições. Todas aquelas pessoas viviam na maior pobreza. Eram famílias que vieram do nordeste e de diferentes partes do Brasil para tentar a vida em São Paulo. Moravam em barracos e em casas de tijolinho. Como ninguém queria me criar, minha mãe biológica decidiu jogar-me num brejo. Uma das vizinhas (minha mãe de criação), ao perceber o que provavelmente iria acontecer comigo, decidiu ficar comigo, mesmo sem ter condições financeiras para tal. Depois disso, minha mãe biológica veio me visitar ainda criança uma vez, depois se mudou para o Sul e nunca mais se soube notícias dela. Foi desta forma que escapei da morte logo no início da minha vida: com muita sorte. Por outro lado, ganhei pais e irmãs maravilhosos. Uma família praticamente toda analfabeta e muito pobre, negros, sem vícios, cristãos, muito honestos e dedicados ao trabalho. Minha mãe era faxineira e o meu pai trabalhava em uma empresa metalúrgica como ajudante. Lembro-me que meu pai na época era uma pessoa bastante rigorosa com todos, chegando às vezes até a ser agressivo. Várias vezes eu me escondia debaixo da cama quando ele estava nervoso para escapar da cinta dele. Minhas irmãs também apanharam muito e carregam marcas até hoje no corpo. Uma vez, tentando escapar para não apanhar, tropecei e bati minha cabeça na quina de um móvel. Abriu-se um buraco bem na minha sobrancelha direita. Levei alguns pontos e fiquei com a cicatriz até hoje na sobrancelha, apesar de muitas pessoas não a perceberem. Depois disso meu pai nunca mais me bateu. Por outro lado meu pai não bebia, não tinha nenhum vício, era um baiano muito severo, reservado e trabalhador. Os vizinhos sempre o achavam uma pessoa muito amável e prestativa. Cresci sendo educado pelas minhas irmãs que tomavam conta de casa enquanto meus pais trabalhavam. Minha mãe era faxineira na casa de uma senhora de classe média e mal tinha tempo para me dar atenção. Mas o pouco tempo que tinha, era muito carinhosa comigo e eu sentia o quanto ela me amava. Devido a falta de dinheiro, cresci comendo bastante feijão com farinha. Acho que é por isso que adoro feijão até hoje. Eu nunca saía de dentro de casa, pois meu pai não queria que eu me misturasse com a molecada da rua.
Minha irmã sempre trazia revistas em quadrinhos para casa. Devido a esse fato, acabei tornando-me um ávido leitor de revistas em quadrinhos e quase aprendi a ler antes de ir para a escola de tanto que eu folheava as revistas observando os desenhos e imaginando o que eles falavam dentro daqueles balões. Assim, comecei a desenvolver meu intelecto muito cedo. Aprendi também a ter um grande amigo para todas as horas: Eu mesmo. Muitas vezes eu passava a tarde inteira no quintal brincando sozinho, enquanto minhas irmãs saiam ou ficavam ocupadas com os afazeres domésticos. Eu tinha os cabelos longos até o ombro e eram lisinhos. Todos achavam que eu ficava bonitinho com aquele tipo de cabelo. Acho que nessa época comecei a cultivar minha vaidade. Apesar da minha timidez, adorava quando me davam atenção e me paparicavam. Antes de entrar na escola cheguei a fazer pré-escolar. Lembro-me até hoje de usar xorts vermelho, conga, lancheira e a camiseta do uniforme. Lembro um tanto que vagamente que era uma perua bem velha que me levava e todos colecionavam tampinhas da coca-cola. Era guerra de tampinhas toda viagem, para infelicidade do motorista (o tio da perua).

Eu havia conseguido entrar em outra empresa para ganhar três vezes menos.
Minha família sofreu com a falta do dinheiro que eu costumava dar para ajudar nas despesas, mas minha mãe me deu todo o apoio, pois tinha medo que algum acidente acontecesse comigo naquela fábrica. Naquela empresa eu trabalharia como office-boy e, portanto não correria o risco de perder os meus dedos. O serviço também seria mais leve. Eu gostei muito de trabalhar naquela nova empresa. Fiz várias amizades lá e me esforçava para corresponder às expectativas dos chefes e secretárias que solicitavam meu serviço. Eu entregava malotes e correspondências nos departamentos internos da empresa. Eu ia quase que a semana inteira com a mesma calça e tinha duas camisetas. Mas sempre ia bem arrumado, com a roupa bem limpa e bem passada. Essa conduta mais a simpatia que eu conquistei de muitas pessoas, rendeu-me a oportunidade de concorrer a uma vaga de Office-boy para trabalhar na matriz da empresa, que ficava próxima a Avenida Paulista. Concorri àquela vaga, mas não passei na entrevista. Por outro lado, o gerente que me entrevistou gostou tanto de mim que me indicou para outra vaga numa outra empresa do grupo. Desta forma fui transferido, efetivado (até aquele momento eu era temporário) e passei a trabalhar no mesmo prédio da matriz da empresa. Tudo aquilo era novo para mim, e eu me sentia muito feliz, pois tudo o que queria era uma chance para projetar-me na vida e crescer. No início foi difícil para mim. Eu não conhecia nada de ruas e o trabalho era totalmente externo. Os colegas de trabalho me faziam de bobo e eu sempre realizava os piores serviços externos. Com o decorrer do tempo fui aprendendo todos os endereços e passei a realizar tudo muito mais rápido que os demais. Em pouco tempo eu me tornei o office-boy preferido de muitos na empresa, pois realizava o serviço sempre mais rápido que os demais. Aprendi também a ganhar dinheiro economizando o que recebia para tomar táxis (pois tomava ônibus e às vezes fazia os serviços a pé mesmo, buscando todo o tipo de atalhos que me fizessem chegar aos destinos de forma mais rápida).

Através daquele pequeno escritório eu consegui ir levantando dinheiro para pagar os débitos que eu tinha com a minha faculdade, e os vários outros débitos herdados da época em que eu estava envolvido com casas noturnas.
Quase toda semana eu ia negociar cheques devolvidos daquela época e faturas pendentes em meu nome no cartório. Após seis meses o dono disse que iria encerrar a empresa e eu tinha só mais duas semanas para ficar lá. Ele disse que eu poderia continuar vendendo para os poucos clientes que ainda haviam se eu desejasse. Mas teria que abrir minha própria empresa para fazer isso. Por sorte um outro representante comercial ofereceu o escritório dele para mim, pois precisava de alguém para dividir despesas como aluguel, luz, etc. Dessa forma consegui iniciar meu próprio negócio. Em pouco tempo eu fui pagando as minhas dívidas e recuperando a minha reputação. Com o decorrer do tempo a concorrência foi ficando bastante acirrada, tornando muito difícil a realização de boas vendas. Como já tinha recuperado meu crédito e reputação, decidi então procurar um emprego de meio período para reforçar meu orçamento. Enviei alguns currículos e um deles foi selecionado por um escritório de recursos humanos. Fui chamado para concorrer a uma vaga. Fiz todo o processo de seleção sem saber direito que tipo de empresa era aquela. Acabei passando e entrando em uma companhia aérea ligada a Varig, a maior empresa aérea brasileira na época. Entrei nessa empresa e cheguei a ser promovido duas vezes. A empresa estava numa fase meteórica de expansão. Muito incentivado pelo meu chefe, tive também a oportunidade de viajar duas vezes para a Inglaterra, pois os funcionários pagavam somente dez por cento do valor da passagem, como parte dos benefícios que a empresa oferecia. Nessas viagens pude aprimorar e aprender a língua inglesa. Trabalhei lá por cinco anos. Após o falecimento repentino do meu chefe, que havia se tornado meu grande amigo (faleceu de ataque do coração), fiquei muito triste e perdi toda a motivação de continuar a trabalhar lá. Na mesma época um amigo de infância, que trabalhava como professor particular de inglês, incentivou-me a dar aulas de inglês. Ele indicou uma amiga dele para estudar comigo. Eu não tinha experiência nenhuma com aquilo, mas como havia encontrado um método muito interessante de ensino da língua inglesa quando estive na Inglaterra, decidi tentar utilizá-lo aqui. Dessa forma eu acabei tornando-me um professor de inglês em pouco tempo, pois aquela primeira aluna me indicou para outras amigas. Em pouco tempo eu estava com vários alunos particulares. Eu trabalhava no aeroporto à noite e durante o dia dava aulas de inglês em empresas e residências. Como já estava desmotivado em trabalhar na empresa, decidi sair de lá para dedicar-me somente as aulas de inglês. Deixei o atual gerente ciente da minha intenção de sair. Ele despediu-me na primeira oportunidade que teve, pois tinha muita inveja de mim e sempre buscava uma oportunidade para poder me demitir. Percebi que havia encontrado algo que realmente eu adorava fazer. Ensinar inglês utilizando o mesmo método que havia me ensinado a língua. Após expandir minha rede de alunos, coloquei um professor inglês para atender meus alunos no meu lugar e viajei novamente para a Inglaterra para estudar ainda mais o Método e conseguir um certificado de proficiência da língua inglesa. Antes disso, enviei várias fitas cassete de aulas minhas para o criador do Método de ensino. Ele acabou enviando-me uma carta de recomendação por ter ficado admirado com os meus conhecimentos técnicos do Método, apesar de eu ser brasileiro. Convidou-me também para conhecê-lo pessoalmente. Após conhecê-lo, ganhei um curso de treinamento para professores gratuitamente e fui o primeiro não-inglês a realizá-lo. Morei lá por quase seis meses e retornei para o Brasil. Meu amigo inglês foi para a China trabalhar em um projeto na área dele, e eu continuei a atender meus alunos. Porém, muitos dos meus alunos já haviam dominado a língua com o meu amigo inglês. Aos poucos fui ficando praticamente sem alunos, o que me deixou numa situação financeira bem difícil. Minha irmã ofereceu a casa dela e decidi dar aulas utilizando a sala de visitas dela. Aos poucos fui encontrando alunos e me estabelecendo lá. Minha irmã estava passando por sérios problemas financeiros e achei que poderia ajudá-la cuidando da casa para ela, dando aulas lá, pois haviam tentado invadir a casa dela anteriormente. Um dia chegou uma ordem de despejo na casa dela. Isso me pegou de surpresa, pois estava atendendo vários alunos naquele endereço. Tive que procurar as pressas algum lugar para continuar a atender os meus alunos. Foi muito difícil, pois não tinha terreno, carro ou outros bens e a maioria dos proprietários de imóveis pediam garantias. Com muito custo consegui alugar uma pequena sala na Avenida Santo Amaro, pois o dono do imóvel depositou um voto de confiança na minha pessoa. Convenci então meus alunos a terem aulas comigo naquela sala. Apesar da distância, todos decidiram continuar a estudar comigo. Era uma sala pequena, super abafada e o banheiro vivia entupido. Por várias vezes, eu chegava mais cedo (ou saía tarde da noite) para desentupir o banheiro que estava com um cheiro horrível. Algum tempo depois, acabei conhecendo dois ingleses, e passamos quase um ano trabalhando juntos naquela sala, revezando-se uns com os outros. Ajudei um deles a alugar o próprio imóvel tornando-me fiador dele. Algum tempo depois ele traiu minha confiança e abandonou a parceria que tinha comigo para montar o próprio negócio, mesmo trabalhando em regime ilegal por ser estrangeiro sem visto para tal. O outro inglês chegou a tentar me estrangular quando o despedi e juntou-se ao outro. Um ano depois ambos faliram. Um foi despejado e acabou retornando para a Inglaterra deixando para trás muitas divídas no Brasil. O outro desapareceu. Com o passar do tempo consegui mais e mais alunos, e em um ano aluguei um outro imóvel com três salas. A dona do imóvel, uma dentista, havia sido roubada e estava desesperada por dinheiro e acabou me alugando o imóvel por um valor bem abaixo do mercado. Tive que convencer meu pai a ser meu fiador, apesar dele ter ficado com muito receio em assinar o contrato. A escritura da casa dele era tudo o que ele tinha de mais valor, mas acabou assinando na última hora. Consegui então alugar um imóvel super luxuoso e era inacreditável eu ter conseguido sair de uma sala super pequena para um imóvel daquele porte.

Iniciei sozinho todo o trabalho, sempre trabalhando como autônomo. Depois contratei uma jovem de 16 anos (por meio de um programa de incentivo ao emprego do governo estadual) para auxiliar-me na recepção dos alunos. Consegui encontrar também um estrangeiro que na época estava passando por sérias dificuldades de moradia e de dinheiro. Ofereci-lhe a oportunidade de trabalhar comigo e ele aceitou, mesmo sabendo que eu não poderia pagar-lhe um bom salário. Ele tornou-se meu braço direito, chegando após alguns meses comigo a ganhar quatro vezes mais do que ganhava no começo. Foi assim que consegui montar minha escola de inglês. Cheguei a empregar outros quatro professores durante um tempo para atender a procura. Após um ano de trabalho, quando estava para renovar o contrato do local onde eu estava aconteceu algo extraordinário. Uma senhora havia comprado o imóvel do lado (que era um imóvel caindo aos pedaços), reformou-o por inteiro para colocar seus filhos para trabalharem em uma loja de suplementos alimentares. Após a reforma, o imóvel ficou muito bonito, mas os negócios não iam bem. Após terem sido assaltados por duas vezes, desistiram do negócio e colocaram o imóvel para alugar. Tinha seis salas, 2 banheiros, 2 corredores, um quintal com jardim e uma casa de fundos com quarto, sala, cozinha e banheiro. Graças à boa amizade que havia estabelecido com os donos do imóvel consegui alugá-lo por um bom preço e ampliar minha escola. Quando o peguei o contrato assinado das mãos da dona do imóvel chorei muito de felicidade, muito mais do que tinha chorado quando consegui mudar para o imóvel anterior. Reformei a casa dos fundos e passei a morar na escola durante a semana. Eu passava então a morar em um dos bairros mais caros de São Paulo. Consegui contratar mais uma recepcionista, mais dois professores e ampliei o número de alunos. Todos que trabalhavam comigo estavam satisfeitos, ganhando melhor do que antes e motivados com o andamento da escola e suas perspectivas para o futuro. Minha qualidade de vida melhorou muito. Criei condições de ter tempo livre para ir ao cinema quando desejasse (adoro cinema), para dormir até tarde quando eu assim desejasse, para me dedicar à atividades altruísticas, para fazer as coisas que eu mais gostasse. Acompanhei os últimos momentos de vida da minha mãe visitando-a constantemente. E ela, após 8 anos sofrendo na cama devido a complicações geradas por várias doenças, sempre se sentia feliz em saber que eu continuava a batalhar e crescer na vida. O menino que ela tinha adotado de coração estava vencendo na vida! Eu poderia ganhar muito mais dinheiro, mas sempre preferi compartilhar meus ganhos dando emprego, perspectivas, esperanças e oportunidades de crescimento para mais pessoas. Depois de alguns anos e após alguns problemas com professores, decidi mudar a forma de trabalhar. Aguardei que os professores que não mais tinham perfil para trabalhar comigo saíssem por conta própria. Minha recepcionista que trabalhou comigo por sete anos, se tornou uma professora e com o tempo também saiu para ganhar mais em outra empresa.
Acabei ficando sozinho na escola, trabalhando muito e contratei um inglês que era chef de cozinha na Inglaterra para trabalhar comigo. Mudei a estrutura do negócio, e ao invés de ter secretária e/ou recepcionista, contratei um escritório virtual e passei a trazer professores de outros países, interessados em realizar intercâmbio cultural no Brasil. Para minha surpresa, a dona do imóvel onde eu alugava por quase 10 anos, pediu o imóvel, pois tinha vendido para uma incorporadora que iria construir um prédio comercial no lugar. Esta incorporadora já tinha comprado outros 3 imóveis ao redor. Decidi então que não sairia dali para alugar outro imóvel. Acontecesse o que tivesse que acontecer eu teria que comprar meu próprio imóvel e na mesma região. O Problema era que a região era caríssima, impossível de achar um imóvel que que pudesse comprar por financiamento. Negociei muito com o novo proprietário, visitei vários e vários imóveis. Andava por toda a região perguntando sobre imóveis, consultando antigos moradores, comerciantes, imobiliárias e qualquer pessoa que pudesse saber de algo. Por sorte, um corretor encontrou um imóvel onde o dono tinha pressas para vender, pois precisava do dinheiro para comprar outro imóvel. Consegui um empréstimo na Caixa Econômica, estourei todos os meus limites bancários, vendi algumas coisas minhas de valor e usei todas minhas economias para dar entrada. Finalmente eu conseguia comprar meu imóvel próprio! Meu pai ficou muito feliz quando contei o que tinha conseguido e uma semana antes de ele ir visitar o novo prédio comigo, infelizmente veio a falecer. Ele mesmo sem saber ler e escrever direito ensinou-me muitas coisas com sua humildade, caráter e sabedoria. Tudo o que conquistei foi baseado no amor que sempre tive dos meus pais e da minha família.

Meu desejo é desenvolver meus conhecimentos e o meu negócio para ajudar as pessoas a vencerem na vida. Sejam alunos ou professores, fico super feliz em vê-los usufruindo os benefícios de poderem usar a língua internacional: o inglês. Tenho grandes sonhos a concretizar. Meu objetivo atualmente é tornar-me um empresário de renome internacional, desenvolvendo uma corporação que possa beneficiar muitas pessoas ao redor do mundo. Isto já está se tornando realidade, pois me tornei o Consultor Oficial no Brasil do Método de inglês que estou trabalhando e já cheguei a treinar pessoas de outros países e com a ajuda da internet estou conseguindo ter clientes de todos lugares do mundo. 
Como um secularista que anseia por um mundo de paz, me esforçarei ao máximo para atingir todas minhas metas e ser sempre um vitorioso na vida. Nós nascemos para vencer todos os desafios, para buscarmos continuamente a vitória. Problemas sempre surgirão. Por isso temos que resolver o quanto antes todos aqueles que já estão diante de nós (pois outros virão!). É dessa forma que a vida torna-se muito mais interessante. Cada um de nós nasceu para fazer a diferença neste mundo. Como diz um ensinamento antigo: "Se quiseres entender o passado, observe os efeitos do presente, se quiseres saber o que acontecerá no futuro, visualize as causas que realiza no presente." Muito obrigado pela oportunidade de compartilhar um pouco da minha vida com vocês!

Meu email: fabioqueiroz@hotmail.com

Meu álbum de fotos pessoal: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fabioqueiroz/sets