![\"\"](\"https:\/\/clemson.world\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Fabio-Tambosi.jpg\")
Fabio Tambosi spent his childhood with\u00a0a soccer ball rolling at his feet. Soccer\u00a0came naturally to him, and he moved\u00a0from playing in the streets of Brazil\u00a0to playing in the youth academy of a\u00a0professional club in S\u00e3o Paulo.\nIt was here that Tambosi received\u00a0his first pair of cleats \u2014 two freshly\u00a0worn Nike Tiempos from Z\u00e9 Roberto, a\u00a0living soccer legend. \u201cI was walking out\u00a0of the locker room after practice and\u00a0[Z\u00e9 Roberto] said, \u2018Hey shorty, what\u2019re\u00a0you doing? Do you want some shoes?\u2019\u201d\u00a0Tambosi said. \u201cThat pair lasted me\u00a0another two years.\u201d
\nThese days, Tambosi isn\u2019t bumming\u00a0cleats off the most famous players in the\u00a0world \u2014 he\u2019s partnering with world-class\u00a0athletes to sell them. As the director of\u00a0global football brand marketing at Nike,\u00a0Tambosi is a leading voice for an iconic\u00a0brand.
\n[pullquote]It\u2019s a dream job, but he took a long journey to attain it.[\/pullquote] Early on, Tambosi played forward for the men\u2019s\u00a0soccer team at Clemson where he helped the team to an ACC Tournament championship in 2001. \u201cThe\u00a0atmosphere at this school, it\u2019s contagious,\u201d Tambosi said. \u201cYou get there, and on a weekend when there\u00a0are a lot of sports happening, you get a real sense of the community. You have the sense of being part of a\u00a0family.\u201d
\nTambosi hasn\u2019t left that family behind, despite his success. He stays involved as a board member at the\u00a0Erwin Center for Brand Communications, where he helps students develop advertising and marketing\u00a0skills. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing better than being recognized by my alma mater and going back and giving back\u00a0what Clemson has given to me,\u201d Tambosi said.
\nTambosi wants students to understand that it isn\u2019t possible to fulfill one\u2019s dreams without risking\u00a0failure. He knows this to be true because he has risked it all. In 2012 he was working a stable, well-paying\u00a0job in London for Nokia. But, Tambosi wasn\u2019t satisfied \u2014 he had other ideas. \u201cI wanted to go back to\u00a0sports, and I wanted to have a role in the World Cup in Brazil. And I wanted to work for Nike,\u201d Tambosi\u00a0said.
\nSo, he quit Nokia, and left for Brazil in January 2013. While he had no job offer on the table, he told\u00a0everyone he was going to work at Nike. Once in Brazil, he spent his time networking with Nike employees,\u00a0which eventually helped land him a job as Nike brand manager for the 2014 World Cup.\u00a0\u201cGrowing up playing football at a very high level in Brazil, it was a dream to play in the World Cup,\u201d\u00a0Tambosi said. \u201cI didn\u2019t have the opportunity to do it as a player. But I had the opportunity to live the\u00a0World Cup, to impact the World Cup, personally, in Brazil through my job.\u201d
\nWhen the World Cup ended, Tambosi stayed on with Nike. Now Tambosi can stay in touch with the\u00a0game he loves, the game for which he has crossed borders and risked professional failure. That passion,\u00a0that commitment, is something he wants to impart to Clemson students and young people everywhere.\u00a0\u201cKnow where you want to go,\u201d Tambosi said. [pullquote]\u201cDon\u2019t be afraid to fail, and follow your dream.\u201d[\/pullquote]
\n\u2014 Glenn Bertram \u201918<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"