Maringá, Brazil – Young people represent a significant portion of Brazil as students, workers, dreamers and beyond.
According to Paula Montagner, the deputy secretary of statistics and labor studies at the Ministry of Labor and Employment, Brazil has approximately 35 million young people.
This number represents both statistical data and numerous dreams.
Some seek academic achievements, others crave global exploration. Others aim for financial success, career development and entrepreneurship, like Ederson Colli.
“As someone who didn’t expect to have anything 20 years ago, I say, don’t give up on your dreams,” said Colli.
When the current owner of one of Brazil’s largest bicycle manufacturers, Colli Bikes, was 16 years old, he dreamed of becoming a soccer player, but a family tragedy drastically changed his plans.
“I could have chosen to play soccer, but I thought, geez, considering everything my father did up to that point, it wouldn’t be fair to throw it all away to play ball and not know if it would work out,” said Colli, who is now 37.
About 22 years ago, Colli’s father, Adelino Colli died. He left behind his wife and two children and the Colli Bikes business, where he was a partner.
The then-15-year-old Ederson Colli was in high school, studying and working with his father when he received the worst news of his life.
“I joke that my father was my friend,” said Colli. “I didn’t have many friends my age; my friends were my father’s friends. I liked playing soccer, hanging out with him, fishing, you know? So, I say that his schooling, this friendship, was very important. It’s a pity (his death) was so early, at 42.”
Despite working with his father – one of the company’s owners – Colli recounts that his surname did not earn him any special treatment.
“I joke that when I was your age, I wanted to work more in the office. Then my father would say, ‘No, you’re going to work unloading trucks there because you need to learn their hardships,” Colli recalled.
Receiving a strict education based on hard work was what made Colli learn to manage and then lead.
As he described it, his father “wanted me to learn how to do things so I could hold others accountable,” said Colli.
According to Colli, taking on a high management position as the administrative partner of Colli Bikes was a big challenge, but not enough to make his teenage self give up.
“Even though I thought it wouldn’t work out, I always thought, I’ll work here, I’ll dedicate myself,'” said Colli.
It wasn’t always easy.
“I remember days, for example, when my friends would go out at night and I would stay alone in the company, sometimes working on welding, for example. And the guys would say, ‘Man, you’re crazy, why stay here until night? What are you going to gain from this?’ And I would always say, ‘I don’t know what I’ll gain, and I don’t even know if I’m doing the right thing here, but I don’t want to embarrass my father,” said Colli.
“It was a tragedy that pushed me to manage everything at 15 years old, let’s say, but I was already involved in the business by my father since I was 12, since I was 11. So, probably if my father hadn’t involved me, we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation today,” said Colli.
According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), 10.9 million young people aged 15 to 29 were neither studying nor employed in 2022.
“The sooner people start, even if they fail, make mistakes, they still have a lot of time to fix things. The big challenge of our generation is to not get discouraged,” Colli pointed out.
According to Colli, one of the main obstacles to starting your own business in the country is the high tax burden.
“Unfortunately, in Brazil, it’s quite complex. A person has to have resilience (and) strength not to get discouraged because taxes are very high, stimulating the illicit market. And who pays the bill is the consumer. Brazil is one of the countries with one of the highest taxes in the world. It’s a challenge… But the Brazilian people have a lot of grit, they don’t get discouraged,” said Colli.
According to Colli, it is essential for entrepreneurship to develop as soon as possible among young people, but the lack of motivation – combined with the difficulties of starting a business in the country – prevents this from happening.
“I’m crazy for these young people to start everything early. I joke like this, the young entrepreneur has to start early because there’s time to make mistakes several times,” said Colli.
“The advice is to go. Just go. If we sometimes wait for opportunities, or if we wait for favorable situations, you’ll never go. Because you’ll never have a favorable situation,” said Colli. “When we are young, we have to choose to be influenced or influencers.”
Colli represents of one of the largest companies in Sarandi, in northern Paraná, but he prefers not to boast.
“There’s not much ego business here. What moves me is being able to do new things, being able to transform people within our company,” Colli said.
Currently, Colli’s biggest dream is to ensure his employees well-being. “If people are well in the company, they will give their best,” Colli said.
“May every day the company grow because of the people themselves. Our success is also theirs, meaning that more people will have opportunities to be here,” Colli added.
Nicole Luna is a Correspondent with Youth Journalism International.
