Season 3, Episode 8: Amobi Okugo – Professional Soccer Player and Entrepreneur

Amobi Okugo

Amobi Okugo is a professional soccer player, who currently plays for Austin Bold FC in the USL Championship. Amobi’s passion and soccer talent led him to a scholarship to play collegiate soccer for UCLA. Since then, Amobi has paved out an impressive playing career, having played for several leading Major League Soccer clubs, such as the Philadelphia Union, Orlando City, Sporting Kansas City, and the Portland Timbers. Off the field, Amobi’s entrepreneurial spirit drove him into creating an athlete-based financial-literacy company, known as, A Frugal Athlete, which specializes in educating and helping athletes maximize and manage their financial assets to create long-term economic success and stability.

In this episode, Amobi shares how he was able to pursue his dream of being a professional athlete, detailing his journey into Major League Soccer. He provides a first-hand perspective regarding leadership in sports, outlining the different coaching styles he has experienced during his playing career. Amobi also describes his entrepreneurial journey as the founder of a financial literacy business, A Frugal Athlete.

Episode Notes

2:30 – The dream of becoming a professional athlete

5:30 – Leadership and leaders in soccer

9:00 – Leadership from a team perspective

11:00 – Understanding responsibility, accountability, and the meaning of resiliency

13:45 – What distinguishes great coaches from average coaches

16:00 – Different kinds of leaders and coaching styles

20:00 – Maintaining and understanding accountability from a coaching perspective, and how it translates into sports and business

25:00- Being a player under contract and what it entails

29:00- A Frugal Athlete – a financial-literacy company

30:15 – Explaining what the Frugal Athlete provides

33:30 – Inspiration and purpose to create A Frugal Athlete

37:30 – Advice on how to become a professional athlete

LINKS

Amobi Okugo on LinkedIn

Amobi’s Wikipedia page

Learn more about A Frugal Athlete

CREDITS

Produced by Emma Holmstrom

Music by Isaac Chambers – ‘Change’