November 11, 1985 dawned differently in Brazil because of the birth of a baby. But not just any baby.
João Barreto Rios Filho, a child with a well-than-average IQ, but also with a certain level of ADHD. This disorder is enough to hinder his concentration a little, but not enough to prevent him from overcoming everything that challenged him.
Son of hardworking and hardworking parents, with a Christian moral education that came from the cradle, John has always valued family, fraternity and generosity very much. The future business mentor chose, from a very early age, his greatest life mentor, Jesus Christ.
The little teenager, almost two meters tall, began to show his first entrepreneurial traits in the year 2000.
Still 14 years old, João had his first experience entrepreneurship on the internet. During a web design course, he decided to develop websites and sell advertising space to other companies.
Even with sequential projects and new business initiatives still in his youth, João graduated in civil engineering from UNICAMP, one of the most prestigious universities in the country, and chose to specialize in business administration and do an MBA in Project Management.
By that time, he had already awakened to the gift of teaching. He began to teach private lessons in physics, chemistry and mathematics in order to practice the act of serving through the transmission of knowledge.
And, of course, the classes were also a way to help pay the bills, since he did not come from a wealthy family and his parents worked hard so that João and his brothers Victor and Vinícius had a good study.
Working in large companies and leading projects of Pharaonic proportions, he chose to abandon a great salary and a high leadership position to dedicate himself to a small e-commerce in the perfume segment.
Under the weight of some criticism (some discreet, others not so discreet) from friends and family, João began in 2012 what became the largest high-luxury fractional perfumery company in the world, which today has a base of more than 80,000 customers buying over the internet.
In addition to Perfume Shopping, dozens of companies were created and invested by it, inside and outside Brazil, in the most diverse segments.
João ran everything from beauty salon chains to large open-air events for thousands of people, through schools, agencies, physical and virtual stores, factories and even barbecue food-trucks, gathering mistakes, successes and an experience difficult to accumulate in just one life.
In addition to companies, he used his appetite for investments to seek new sources of income ranging from real estate investment models to cryptocurrencies, forex and even cattle.
When asked, at different times, about his accumulated fortune, João laughed and deviated from the question, always reinforcing that his wealth is his relationship with God and his family, and that money is only a means to give comfort to his family and invest in new projects, in search of realizing new dreams.
In his journey as a serial entrepreneur and investor, João achieved his financial success very early, gathering an asset that would allow him to simply stop and rest for the rest of his life. But something was still missing. His addiction to creating new businesses and serving people had not yet been satiated.
In 2017, after going through a few dozen businesses, João Rios found his greatest purpose with the help of another great name in the Brazilian digital world, Conrado Adolpho.
Before him, John didn’t even know what mentoring meant. But it was by helping the entrepreneurs of Conrado’s mentoring groups that he discovered his great passion, where he could connect his vast experience in creating and accelerating business with the genuine desire to serve people.
After that, he created his own mentoring and business acceleration processes and began to support online entrepreneurs, from the balcony of one of his apartments, in Itatiba/SP. Since he left engineering and decided to act 100% remotely, this balcony has become his office. Mentoring, which began as fun, grew and also turned into business.
Since then, more than 1000 entrepreneurs have been mentored by him. Among them, entrepreneurs who have grown more than 150 times, entrepreneurs who have become leaders in their markets and even the Tony Robbins Brazil Project, an event for more than 11,000 people in 2018, the first time Tony came to Brazil.
“Every transformed entrepreneur is able to transform his business, his own life, the life of his family and the lives of thousands of customers. To be a business mentor is literally to change the world and the lives of millions of people, changing one world and one life at a time.” – João Rios.
In 2019, João met Celso Candido in a mastermind group with great entrepreneurs focused on digital business. This connection gave rise to a friendship that, a few years later, in mid-2021, through the union of purposes, became a society. Today, together, they create and invest in new businesses and help hundreds of entrepreneurs accelerate their companies.
“John came up in my life as a great friend, but we ended up getting closer in a complicated phase of their lives. In a short time, he became the mentor of one of my companies. But the call to “enlighten the world” together, with a new way of creating and accelerating business, which made us connect as partners and become brothers by purpose! It’s an honor to have you by my side driving Blazy!” – Celso Candido.
“I met João Rios at a time when my business was going through great challenges. As a mentor, he helped me redefine the entire strategy of my business and turn the tables. John was more than a Mentor, he stretched out his hand, his heart and his faith. It gave me back the chance to continue, to fulfill the mission. Today, I know that we will be together, to say the least, forever!” – Giulliano Esperança, entrepreneur, personal trainer, researcher and founder of Storm 12, an award-winning method of weight loss and lifestyle.
“With João’s support, my business has become a real company! Now, I’m accelerating in a direction that I didn’t think would be possible. He and Celso helped me transform my brand, create new services, create new sales strategies, structure my processes… The history of the Marcela Nunes brand can be divided into before and after Blazy.” – Marcela Nunes, influencer, fashion businesswoman and image strategist specializing in female customization and empowerment.
However, at one of the highest points of his career, John discovered that money was not able to buy what really matters or solve all the problems. Even with his financial structure, he was unable to solve one of the biggest challenges of his life.
In 2020, he was affected by a very strong depression shortly after the loss of his beloved niece, who fell asleep in death in the week he was going to be born, still in the belly of his mother, João’s sister-in-law.
“I died along with my Catalina that day, but she and her father, my beloved brother Victor, taught me a lot with that loss. I remember clearly, while I was desolate and sitting in the corner of the hospital room, my brother bending down and, even crying, said: ‘They were the happiest 9 months of my life, that’s what I want to remember.’ It was certainly one of the greatest lessons of my life and I am grateful to Jehovah for knowing that I will meet her one day.” – John said.
The emotional impact was so strong that João practically stopped acting in his business and almost abandoned mentoring.
There was no money in the world that could repair his pain. So, he and his beloved wife Angeli dedicated themselves to continuing the largest and most important project of their lives.
After two surgeries and four in vitro fertilizations, on the unforgettable morning of April 29, 2021, João received his greatest gift. At 49.5 cm and 3.5kg, little Laura came into the world, fulfilling her great dream of becoming a father. It was from this moment on that his life returned to color and, his projects, a different flavor.
“She came into the world to change mine!” – John added.
Now, business is not just for financial success or simply serving people. Every project, every mentoring, every idea are ways to make the world better so that Laura can grow up happy, safe and enlightened.
Today, João helps ordinary people transform their passions, hobbies and even problems into profitable businesses by packaging, launching and selling their products, services and knowledge on the internet.
With Blazy, whose mission is truly to illuminate the world, João is dedicated to creating and accelerating businesses that have the potential to transform lives and make the world better.
In addition to being an entrepreneur, mentor and father, John also makes a point of dedicating a few hours of his week to teach about the Bible and always bring the examples of his great mentor, Jesus Christ.
When asked about the true reason for success, John replied: “Serve people instead of serving me people.”
