The Full Story
About
Aaron Vilaubi is an authentic, charismatic communicator and is currently the youngest motivational speaker on the internationally recognized Absolute Motivation team. Like most young athletes, Aaron had dreams of becoming a professional athlete and playing Major League Baseball. After earning his way onto his collegiate team, he came to the realization his sophomore year that his major league dreams would remain dreams.
Crushed by the reality of not having what it takes to reach the pro level, he was forced to face another reality: what next? With the help & guidance of mentors, he rediscovered what it meant to be an "athlete" and that there was far more to him than his sport.
Aaron uses his own struggles with transitioning from spectated to spectator and career success & failures spanning non-profit work to start-ups to higher education to corporate America to now full-time entrepreneur to inspire a world of young athletes and let them know they are not alone. When Aaron shares his life with navigating the struggle of becoming, unbecoming, and becoming "athlete" once again, he tells completing, relatable stories from being told he would never make varsity in high school, not passing the "eye-test", suffering severe injury, believing the only career path left for him was to coach baseball, getting a job, getting fired from a job, and eventually finding entrepreneurship.
Although no longer a competitive athlete, Aaron has found peace, personal challenge, and community in long-distance running and leads a weekly group run to encourage others to "stop seeing running as a punishment".
Aaron is a sought-after athlete influencer and has delivered motivational talks across the country at private masterminds, universities, and church congregations. He is one of the few Latino male speakers under the age of 30!
For more information, follow him on Instagram where he loves to share motivational messages and fitness content and remind his audience of the greatness within them and remaining authentic.
Mission
Spark within others the desire to make change.
This is my mission because for me, it requires I be an example. It requires I model the type of person a younger me would have wanted. It serves as a reminder that this life, my trials, and my victories are not about me, but rather about the people I serve or am meant to serve.
Vision
"Athlete". I run. I jump. I dive. I slide. I tackle. I defend. I train. I chase. I pass. I miss. I lose. I score. I win. We win. This team is my family. This is who I am. "Athlete". At least, this is who I was. And every action I took or didn't take from the age of 4 was based upon the premise of being the best I could possibly be on the field or on the track.
But what happens when the identity you've spent your entire life cultivating gets taken from you? What happens when the hours you spent in the gym, on the field, or on the court in the early morning or late-night hours fueled by "one day I'll make it" amount to nothing? What happens when it's time to hang up the cleats? What do you do when you go from the spectated to the spectator?
The transition is life-altering. Collegiate athletes are faced with realities that can make them feel as if the past multiple years of their life have amounted to nothing. I know. I've been there.
This is why I am so motivated and compelled to share my story, and give these students hope for a better future. They think they are "just an athlete", but they are so much more...
