We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jorge Rivera a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jorge, appreciate you joining us today. Have you ever had an amazing boss, mentor or leader leading you? Can you us a story or anecdote that helps illustrate why this person was such a great leader and the impact they had on you or their team?

I would love to name all of the people who have been an important part of my career and training, but without a doubt, one of the most important people has been Dr. Sharif Tabbah. He was not only the first person to give me the opportunity to work in the United States despite the many difficulties that the language difference generated, but also because he taught me that there was a lot more than just the medical part of the job. He taught me the way of understanding an athlete. He taught me that it was not just the injury of the athlete, it is more than just that. It is who has it, in what exact moment of their career, how that athlete is approaching it and how that all makes a significant difference in the way of their recovery. There are so many factors that influence it all. It goes beyond just recovering the knee or shoulder. It is recovering the athlete’s knee or shoulder at the peak or near the end of their contract with them not knowing how to feel, worried, maybe having great numbers that season or not, or just having to get through the injury to get ready again to perform at their best. The handling and the way of empathizing, even to a certain extent having to blend in with the player so that you could keep understanding them as much as possible. I think today this is one of the things that has impacted my work. Today, being where I am, I am able to understand and tell apart the actual human being from the injury. I wanted to take advantage of this interview to publicly thank Dr. Sharif Tabbah for his impact in my career, thank you.

Jorge, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

It began when I was 17 years old, studying civil engineering in college. With only one year year left to finish, I realized that it was not what I wanted to dedicate my entire life to and unfortunately , at that moment, thought that I was throwing away all those years of my life. After a lot of thought, I took the decision to switch careers and I began to study physiotherapy. At the time, the only thing I was sure about was that I wanted to dedicate myself to something r within the sports industry. In the second half of my career, I looked for an opportunity to practice what I had learned on my own city’s soccer team and was denied the opportunity because I was told that I had very little time in the field practicing. Fortunately, right across from that stadium was a stadium of what at that time was an almost unknown sport for me. A baseball stadium was the only place that would give me the opportunity to actually practice what I had previously learned and a few days later after seeing me work, and offered me a permanent job there. That became the first team I officially worked with almost ten years ago now and that was the start of my professional sports experience. Unfortunately, due to political issues with the franchise, it ended and I began to work with the basketball team which also ended due to political issues. After this, I began to work on my Masters degree at the school of osteopathy of Madrid, two years later I finished and opened a sports clinic where I put into practice a lot of the personal knowledge i gained while in the engineering career to further improve the performance of athletes right in front of the same soccer stadium where years ago I had been rejected and later, coincidentally, where most of the players would be treated at. I worked with the best players in my country from soccer, tennis, basketball, baseball, and many other sports. I came to the city of Miami due to personal circumstances and took the opportunity to study two specialties, kinesiology and athletic trainer. While I was studying that, I sent my resume to an established clinic where without speaking a single word of English and with the owner’s wife doing the work of the translator, gave me the opportunity to work with and while I was with them, did a lot of work with NFL, MLB, and NBA players. Some time later, COVID came around and the company shut down. Within my own house, because of everything closed due to the pandemic, I adapted to using what I had available. The pool, a small field, and the gym in the patio of the house became where many players from many different sports would come to train with me. This would eventually end up becoming what would be my first independent project in the United States. Once the city was adapting to the new normal, I began looking for another center to work with these players, which lasted a very short time due to my very particular way of working. It all made me feel a bit rushed to really establish my own space as soon as possible, specified to my needs, in my style, and above everything else, done 100 percent for athletes to feel comfortable at. I currently work very happily in my center with the majority of clients who have become like family after many years of working together. Many of them, ironically because of how this story begins, are MLB players, many other players from soccer, tennis, and basketball from all over the world also now travel to rehabilitate at my center and I hope to continue having these great opportunities to help different athletes throughout the world reach their goals and dreams.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

I would definitely choose the same profession. Even in the same order of study and in the same places which I studied in because it is what has made me think and work in the way that I do today and even though it might not be the best way, it is the way that worked for me and is what has made me happiest.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think I am very good at what I do and I say it with much humility. I am sure that there are many other professionals who are just as good if not better, but there are two things that I believe set me apart from the rest. The first is my ability to empathize with people. It is one of my greatest virtues which allows me to understand people from their point of view and understand everything that their problem implies both professionally and personally, which is the most important part in most cases. The second, is the fact that I have studied in many places and have learned various techniques when it comes to approaching problems which allows me to better understand the situation after evaluating it from different point of views,

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rivera.biz/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rivera.biz/

Image Credits
Sofia Sardi Instagram : @sofiasardistudio