Soccer player Quincy Amarikwa helping kids and adult entrepreneurs

San Jose Earthquakes forward Quincy Amarikwa is a budding entrepreneur who spreads his message of embodying a strong work ethic, paving your own way and being your own champion for success.

He does this in two ways: He helps young children navigate their way through the game of soccer and he encourages adults to strive more toward entrepreneurship.

Amarikwa entered the professional soccer world in 2009. He’s contributed his expertise to five teams and is now in his second stint with his hometown team, the Earthquakes. However, it’s off the field where he makes his impact. He was raised as the oldest of four children and the only male sibling, so it was engrained in him from his Nigerian father to develop a work ethic that embodies self-sufficiency and yields results.

The 28-year-old is an entrepreneur, mentor and marketer, having recently published his first book, The Perfect Soccer Player Blueprint, which teaches aspiring players to maximize their potential when they’re not necessarily the standout. The book has a digital format as well.

“It’s our full digital physical soccer training product website, where you can get all the physical products you need to train to become the perfect soccer player as you would deem it, as well as all the information you need on how to implement the right training regimen, as well as nutritional and recovery and all that to become the perfect soccer player,” Amarikwa told The Undefeated.

In soccer, Amarikwa firmly believes that besides playing the game, you have to become a self-marketer and promoter, an idea he routinely shares.

“MLS is unique in the fact that it’s a league that is also fighting for its moment in the spotlight from a sports perspective; NBA, MLB, NFL, those are the big heavy hitters in sports in America,” Amarikwa said. “So they have only got so many advertising dollars and they pack that money behind whichever players they deemed to be the faces of their league. And early on in my career I was realizing, OK, I cannot expect the league to promote me, I need to promote myself. And who better to promote me than me?”

Amarikwa knew it was time for him to make some moves that would put him in the best light and allow him to help others do the same.

“We all want to be the big-time, big-paid player, but I also understand soccer is only for so long,” Amarikwa added. “I can leverage my ability while I am playing to start establishing relationships and partnerships that can benefit me well beyond my professional career.

“So my fiancée and I sat down and we decided we needed to start a marketing company. I needed to learn paid advertising, online advertising, social media, blogging, website creation and all that. And that kind of parlayed into anything and everything online-related. And in doing that, we started a few different things.”

He now runs a successful online store and growing consulting business, has been studying real estate and plans to get into cosmetics and beauty ventures. Amarikwa played soccer at the University of California-Davis, where he received a bachelor’s degree in biology.

He said he’s always had a keen interest for starting businesses and turning them into money-making endeavors.

According to his website, at the age of 6, he took his books and created an “in-home library,” as he liked to call it. Then he charged his sisters a fee to borrow the books.

“I had a lemonade stand at 9. I discovered a bountiful place called Costco at 13, and would buy candy in bulk and sell it between classes at a lower price than the school. They didn’t appreciate that too much and eventually shut me down. At 16, I found out that you can modify your Xbox. I sat in front of my computer for two weeks straight until I learned exactly how to do it myself. There was a line of kids out of my parents’ front door wanting me to do it for them, and their parents were paying $80 a pop to do so. Many Xbox live accounts suffered the consequences.”

Amarikwa’s passion for helping adults comes naturally to him. He believes that men should work on self-sufficiency in the business world, and he is willing to give advice on how to make this happen.

“I really like empowering people of color and I have a strong passion for education and helping black and brown men and women with their businesses and kind of really helping them to be self-sufficient, self-sustainable and not rely upon external anything,” he explained.

“So we usually end up working with a lot of people of color and underprivileged people, but I would not say that’s the only thing that I do. I like helping everyone and anyone who is passionate about something.”

Amarikwa just joined his sisters, Tyne and Haley Amarikwa, in the hair industry with their online store Maiden Era.

“Along the way I’ve learned many lessons, concepts, techniques and ways of thinking that have helped me achieve whatever it is I’ve set my mind to. I use it as a learning experience to attain my aspirations. I love sharing what I’ve learned and continue to learn and I hope to help guide you in creating your own ideal version of success, however it is you define it,” Amarikwa wrote on his website.