Mohamed Wasfy, CEO of Right to Dream Egypt: Each week, My Morning Routine looks at how a successful member of the community starts their day — and then throws in a couple of random business questions just for fun. Speaking to us this week is Mohamed Wasfy (LinkedIn), the CEO of Right to Dream Egypt. Edited excerpts from our conversation:

My name is Mohamed Wasfy. I go by Micho and I’m the CEO of Right to Dream Egypt.Right to Dream (RTD) is an international football academy that was acquired by the Mansour Group in June 2021. RTD runs academies in Egypt, Denmark, Ghana, and San Diego. It owns a handful of clubs: FC Nordsjælland, which is part of the Danish Superliga, Tut FC in Egypt, and the MLS club in San Diego, which will be competing in the MLS in 2025. We just inaugurated our facility in Egypt last Thursday after using a temporary facility for over a year.

I’ve always been involved in football. Growing up, I always wanted to be a professional football player. When I was 17, I got a chance to play for a football school in the UK, but my dad refused to let me go. So after I graduated, I coached for nine years at my school — CAC in Maadi. I also played for AUC, where I was the captain of my team, as well as for the Heliopolis Club.

My journey to RTD really came full circle. Before I started work here, I worked in my family’s travel and logistics business for 17 years. When COVID hit, my best friend, Loutfy Mansour, reached out and sent me a presentation about RTD. He said, “I really want to do this, and I will only go through with it if you’re on board.” Loutfy and I grew up together. We went to the same school, played football on the same team, and earned our school its first and only tournament victory in 65 years when we took first prize for ISST Varsity Boys in Vienna. Growing up, we always spoke about how we wanted to play professionally on the same team. We dreamed of bettering Egyptian football because we hated seeing our national team fail to make it to the World Cup. We knew we wanted to work together on that front in some capacity and that came to be with RTD.

At RTD, the emphasis on football and education is 50-50. We goall around the country, all the way from Alexandria to the villages of Aswan, to look for talented footballers — both boys and girls. We then assess them through football matches and give them cognitive tests to see where they stand academically. Those who qualify for our program receive full scholarships to join our academy from the age of 10 to 18. Our language school is certified by the Education Ministry. At the age of 16, some of our students go on an educational pathway in the US, where we have about 13 partner high schools on the East Coast. Then they go on to universities in the US, after which they can come back and work in Egypt or within the Mansour Group all around the world. Those who go on the football pathway end up playing in one of our clubs. In Egypt, the women’s team plays in the premier league and the men’s team plays in the third division.

I wake up at 6:00 AM and have breakfast with my kids and wife. Then I catch up on everything that’s happening locally and internationally before I head off to work. I’ve been reading Enterprise every morning since its inception. It’s my source for everything I want to know about Egypt, and I’ve recommended it to many of our colleagues around the world. After that I go to Twitter for some more news.

Two books that resonate with me where I’m at in life right now are Legacy by James Kerr and The Second Mountain by David Brooks. The former delves into team culture, leadership, and how to instill certain values in your team. The second is more personal; it explores the quest for a meaningful life, emphasizing the importance of community and relationships. I also love movies and shows that have to do with sports and working hard to get somewhere, like Friday Night Lights, Varsity Blues, Moneyball, and The Underdogs.

I stay organized by keeping a to-do list that I fill out every morning and check off throughout the day. I also love to plan. I have all my meetings slotted into my calendar — weeks, sometimes even a couple of months, in advance. It really helps me manage my workload.

It’s important to pay it forward. I’m very grateful Loutfy vouched for me and gave me this opportunity, so I do the same with the staff members on my team in Egypt. Many of them are very talented, educated individuals who love football but haven’t had the opportunity to pursue it professionally. And just like we scout for players, we identify talented staff who can add value to our organization.

The best piece of advice I’ve been given was by my late father: Hard work always pays off and God will always reward you for it. I’ve seen it first-hand over the last two and a half years. We worked very hard ahead of the launch of our academy in Egypt. I never imagined I’d be touring with the Prime Minister and Mr. Mansour, showing them the facility and explaining everything we do.

Tags: