From FIFA to Founders: Alejandro Guzman on Soccer, Azul Marketing and the Business of Doing Good

What do Colombia, Coca-Cola, FIFA, nonprofits, marketing, education and startup pitches have in common?

For Alejandro Guzman, they are all part of the same story.

In this episode of Legacy Launchers, Alejandro shares a career built less around following a perfect plan and more around staying curious, saying yes to unexpected opportunities, and using his skills to create something useful for other people.

His path has taken him from Colombia to Los Angeles, from graphic design to entrepreneurship, from global brands to nonprofit work, and from the soccer pitch to helping people learn how to pitch their own ideas.

And underneath all of it is one consistent belief:

Business and purpose do not have to compete.

A Backpacking Trip That Changed Everything

Alejandro’s entrepreneurial journey did not begin with a pitch deck, an accelerator or a five-year plan.

In 2007, after feeling somewhat lost following his second job, he decided to go backpacking with his brother. They came to Los Angeles, where Alejandro happened to meet someone at a nightclub who was starting an agency.

Alejandro mentioned that he was a graphic designer.

That brief conversation turned into a professional relationship that continued for years. Within months, the agency landed Coca-Cola as a major client, and Alejandro began working with them from Colombia.

It is a good reminder that some of the biggest opportunities in a career do not look important when they first appear.

Sometimes they look like a random conversation.

Sometimes they happen while you are traveling.

Sometimes they happen before you feel ready.

The opportunity only becomes obvious later.

How Azul Marketing Was Born

As Alejandro continued working with large brands, he became increasingly interested in the intersection between corporations and social causes.

He saw companies experimenting with sustainability initiatives and programs that connected business resources with meaningful community work. That idea stuck with him.

He wanted to build marketing that did more than sell something.

He wanted to bring brands and causes together.

That idea eventually became part of the foundation for Azul Marketing, where Alejandro began combining commercial work with projects connected to sustainability, nonprofits and social impact.

Instead of choosing between mission and money, his model evolved around working in both worlds.

And that became one of the strongest themes of our conversation.

Nonprofits and Corporations Are Not Opposites

Alejandro believes people often frame the nonprofit world and private sector as if they are on opposite teams.

One side is supposedly about impact.

The other is supposedly about profit.

He does not see it that way.

Alejandro’s ideal project is a meaningful campaign where a company and nonprofit work together—allowing the business to gain visibility or accomplish a commercial goal while also directing resources toward work that creates a genuine social benefit.

That is a much more interesting question than asking whether capitalism or charity is “better.”

The better question is:

What becomes possible when organizations with resources partner with organizations already doing meaningful work?

Alejandro acknowledges that these collaborations can be difficult. Companies are under pressure to produce measurable results, so they often default to strategies they already know.

But he still believes the opportunity is worth pursuing.

He Wanted Sunshine. He Got Edinburgh.

Alejandro’s career has not exactly followed a predictable itinerary.

In 2016, he wanted to continue his education in sustainable design.

Ideally, he imagined landing somewhere warm where he could surf or scuba dive.

Instead, the programs he found led him to Edinburgh.

Not exactly beach weather.

He completed his master’s there, met people from around the world and gained a broader perspective on sustainability and design.

It is another recurring theme in his story:

The destination does not always resemble the plan.

But the detour can still move you forward.

Behind the Scenes at FIFA

Then our conversation moved to something Alejandro has loved throughout his life:

Soccer. ⚽️

His opportunity to experience FIFA operations gave him a very different view of the game.

Fans see the finished product.

They see the stadium, players, signage, excitement and spectacle.

Alejandro saw how much precision happens behind the scenes.

He described the level of detail involved in everything from timing to how visual elements appeared under different lighting conditions throughout the day. The operation had to function with an almost obsessive level of coordination.

That experience made one thing very clear:

What looks effortless from the outside is often anything but effortless behind the scenes.

That applies to FIFA.

It also applies to entrepreneurship.

The Soccer Lesson Every Founder Should Hear

When I asked Alejandro what soccer taught him about business, his answer was simple.

Talent alone is not enough.

A player can be incredibly gifted, but if they refuse to run, train and work, talent eventually stops being an advantage.

The same thing happens in business.

A founder can be brilliant.

A product can be great.

A pitch can be clever.

But execution still matters.

Alejandro’s takeaway from soccer is that you have to put in the work and keep moving—even when you are talented enough to believe you should not have to.

That may be one of the most useful entrepreneurship lessons in the entire episode.

You cannot intellectualize your way around effort.

At some point, you have to run.

Education as a Form of Freedom

Alejandro’s interest in education is also deeply personal.

He shared the story of his grandfather, who came from a farming family in Colombia and was determined that his children would attend university in Bogotá.

That commitment to education changed the trajectory of the generations that followed.

That family experience influenced Alejandro’s own view of service.

Rather than simply giving people something temporary, he is more interested in giving them tools that allow them to move forward independently.

His ideal outcome is powerful:

Help someone so effectively that eventually, they do not need your help anymore.

That philosophy led into another important part of his story: CURA.

CURA and the Skills Nobody Teaches You

Alejandro helped build CURA around a problem many people quietly experience:

School teaches plenty of academic material.

But it often does not teach people how to navigate adulthood.

How do you network?

How do you present yourself?

How do you enter a workplace?

How do you pitch an idea?

How do you communicate with people who can open doors?

These skills are often treated as if everyone somehow absorbs them automatically.

CURA works to make those skills explicit and teachable so students can enter the real world better prepared.

That is where the episode title becomes especially fitting.

Alejandro’s journey has taken him from the soccer pitch to helping people build the startup pitch.

Different arena.

Same principle.

Preparation matters.

Communication matters.

And putting in the work matters.

What Legacy Means to Alejandro Guzman

At the heart of Legacy Launchers is always the same question:

What do you want your legacy to be?

Alejandro’s answer was not about building the biggest company or becoming the most famous person in the room.

He wants people to know that he used the gifts he had as well as he could—and that when he had the opportunity to use those gifts to help someone else, he took it.

That idea ties his entire story together.

The business.

The nonprofit work.

The soccer lessons.

The education.

The unexpected career turns.

The relationships.

The legacy is not one giant final achievement.

It is the accumulation of opportunities taken, skills shared and people helped along the way.

And maybe that is one of the most useful definitions of legacy:

Use what you have. Build something meaningful. And leave other people better equipped to build something of their own.

About the Episode

In this episode of Legacy Launchers, Alejandro Guzman of Azul Marketing talks about entrepreneurship, FIFA, soccer, nonprofit partnerships, education, CURA, pitching ideas and building a career where purpose and profit can exist together.

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From FIFA to Founders: Alejandro Guzman on Soccer, Azul Marketing & Social Impact

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Alejandro Guzman shares his journey from Colombia and FIFA to Azul Marketing, nonprofit partnerships, CURA and the lessons soccer taught him about entrepreneurship.