Mirwan Suwarso of Mola: Why Professional Footballers Actually Possess More Street Smarts Than Most Business Executives

As a part of our series about sports stars who are making a social impact, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mirwan Suwarso.

Mirwan runs The Mola Group a sports & entertainment company that encompasses a media network, production company, music label, international youth football development program and Italian professional soccer club Como 1907.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you share with us the “backstory” that led you to your career path in professional sports?

I’ve stumbled into this profession after years of accumulating experience in various industries including advertising, film, sports management and product marketing. One day my main advertising client approached me to run an OTT network that they were building, I said yes, and everything just took off from there.

Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your career? What were the lessons or takeaways that you took out of that story?

In 2006 I started a small events management company and managed to broker a deal to bring two soccer freestylers to attend the events held by a major cigarette company in Indonesia. After the event one of the clients heard that I used to work for an advertising agency and asked if I would develop an advertising campaign for their brand. He assumed I held a creative position which was incorrect, I was an accounts person and had never developed a creative campaign but because I needed the work I said yes anyway. I learned Photoshop and other graphics suites and proceeded to do the campaign to their satisfaction. From then on the requests grew bigger and bigger until I was asked to shoot my own TV commercial which I had no experience with. I took it on anyway and learned as much as I could from shows like project greenlight or other tutorials on YouTube. This time my enthusiasm could not hide my inexperience and the project was a disaster. Instead of firing me the client instead told me that if I didn’t know what I was doing I should hire others who could do the work for me. He gave me a second chance and this time I hired Conrad Hall, a famed Hollywood cinematographer to do the shoot for me. The ad was a massive success and ever since then, I have been entrusted with all their commercials and eventually the Mola business. Lessons learned, don’t pass on opportunities, but be sure to back yourself with people who know what they are doing.

What would you advise a young person who wants to emulate your success?

Don’t be afraid to try and fail as long as you’ve done your homework and have done everything to the best of your ability.

Is there a person that made a profound impact on your life? Can you share a story?

I’d have to say it’s that cigarette client who gave me a chance and then a second chance. Without him, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about what it is like being a professional sports player?

That football players are stupid and lazy. It’s true that a lot of professional soccer players do not go through tertiary education, however, most of them have more street smart than most people I met in the business world as they’ve had to grow up faster and learn on their feet to deal with their own business, agents, brands and people who want to take advantage of them.

Ok super. Let’s now move to the main part of our discussion. How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world? Can you share with us the meaningful or exciting causes you are working on right now?

One of the main themes of our business is to give talented people the opportunity to realize their potential. Our Garuda Select youth football program provides a career pathway for untapped talents in Indonesia, Italy and Africa and helps them to pursue a career in professional football. We have replicated this idea for MMA and sports presenters too. Another project of ours, PubTalk aims to destigmatize mental health and encourage those who need help to be unashamed and seek help. We are currently working to replicate the PubTalk format in Italy too.

What methods are you using to most effectively share your cause with the world?

Social media has been the most effective communication channel to generate awareness, but over time word of mouth conversation and media coverage has definitely aided that cause.

Can you share with us the story behind why you chose to take up this particular cause?

We are all moved by hopes and dreams, it’s probably one of the most powerful forces that can move us as human beings. As a business therefore it makes sense for us to pin our purpose on realizing people’s hopes and mending their broken dreams. It’s simply what resonates with people. We truly believe that the best way for us to grow as a business is by being involved and useful to our customers’ lives, and what’s more effective than their hopes and dreams.

Can you share with us a story about a person who was impacted by your cause?

To date, we’ve had a number of graduates from our youth development program that have moved on to become professional soccer players, at home and abroad. I’ve also heard from a number of people who told me that listening to a PubTalk episode has helped them through their own mental health struggles and encouraged them to seek help.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

1. Listen to your intuition more than other people’s opinions.
2. Don’t delegate for the sake of delegating
3. Know your weakness and find ways to address them
4. Work without ego
5. Learn to say no

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Engage the community to increase growth opportunities and share the rewards

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you explain how that was relevant in your life?

It’s a cliche, but I guess it would be “the more I see, the less I know”

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Politics, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them :-)

Michael Jordan. It would be a blessing to learn from the greatest athlete of all time.

How can our readers follow you online?

They can follow me @msuwarso on Instagram

Thank you so much for these amazing insights. This was so inspiring

About The Interviewer: Growing up in Canada, Edward Sylvan was an unlikely candidate to make a mark on the high-powered film industry based in Hollywood. But as CEO of Sycamore Entertainment Group Inc, (SEGI) Sylvan is among a select group of less than ten Black executives who have founded, own and control a publicly traded company. Now, deeply involved in the movie business, he is providing opportunities for people of color.

In 2020, he was appointed president of the Monaco International Film Festival, and was encouraged to take the festival in a new digital direction.

Raised in Toronto, he attended York University where he studied Economics and Political Science, then went to work in finance on Bay Street, (the city’s equivalent of Wall Street). After years of handling equities trading, film tax credits, options trading and mergers and acquisitions for the film, mining and technology industries, in 2008 he decided to reorient his career fully towards the entertainment business.

With the aim of helping Los Angeles filmmakers of color who were struggling to understand how to raise capital, Sylvan wanted to provide them with ways to finance their creative endeavors.

At Sycamore Entertainment he specializes in print and advertising financing, marketing, acquisition and worldwide distribution of quality feature-length motion pictures, and is concerned with acquiring, producing and promoting films about equality, diversity and other thought provoking subject matter which will also include nonviolent storytelling.

Also in 2020, Sylvan launched SEGI TV, a free OTT streaming network built on the pillars of equality, sustainability and community which is scheduled to reach 100 million U.S household televisions and 200 million mobile devices across Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Samsung Smart TV and others.

As Executive Producer he currently has several projects in production including The Trials of Eroy Brown, a story about the prison system and how it operated in Texas, based on the best-selling book, as well as a documentary called The Making of Roll Bounce, about the 2005 coming of age film which starred rapper Bow Wow and portrays roller skating culture in 1970’s Chicago.

He sits on the Board of Directors of Uplay Canada, (United Public Leadership Academy for Youth), which prepares youth to be citizen leaders and provides opportunities for Canadian high school basketball players to advance to Division 1 schools as well as the NBA.

A former competitive go kart racer with Checkered Flag Racing Ltd, he also enjoys traveling to exotic locales. Sylvan resides in Vancouver and has two adult daughters.

Sylvan has been featured in Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and has been seen on Fox Business News, CBS and NBC. Sycamore Entertainment Group Inc is headquartered in Seattle, with offices in Los Angeles and Vancouver.