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Today it is our privilege to bring you an interview with World Football Freestyle Champion and Influencer, Adrian Krog. We discuss the beginnings of Adrian’s journey with freestyle, his most notable performances to date, his advice on monetizing our passions and much more…
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How did you get into freestyle football? Is there an area of freestyle that you are most renowned for?
I was always a huge fan of the technical aspect of football and I was literally living on the pitch. Whenever having football practice I would use my time to juggle and try to land tricks, Ronaldinho was my hero and Joga bonito was blowing up during this time. Tricks that people never saw before was showcased in massive commercials produced my Nike and Pepsi, which was the main spark in my future career as football freestyler. There was also another guy in my city doing some skills and I finally met up with him to see what he could do, good thing he was involved in the freestyle football community in Norway as that led me into meeting the best in the country. Finally, I got addicted to the sport and left football behind to go out every day to perfect and improve my skills.
I am especially famous for my “lower body” tricks, which include doing difficult combinations of tricks when standing. I also have my own trick that is called “AK move or Adrian Krog Move” which is a triple revolution trick only a handful of people can replicate to this day.
Can you talk us through the journey from doing freestyle football as a hobby to becoming a professional? What various ways do you earn money as a freestyler?
I didn´t know you could make a living out of freestyle football when I first started, it was such a new sport and not many people had heard of it. As the years past got requests to perform in various events, it started with birthday parties and eventually got more serious to campaign launches and such after the word spread about my abilities. Since then I understood that I could make this my livelihood and started to work on all aspects such as marketing, filmmaking and everything in-between to make myself as attractive for potential clients as possible.
These days my main income is through shows, sponsors, commercials and my Instagram “KROGFREESTYLE” that has grown over 118, 000 followers where brands reach out about different campaigns.
Can you tell us about some of the most notable adverts, performances etc…that you’ve worked on as a freestyler? What are some of the companies, teams etc… that you have worked with?
I´ve been working with brands such as Google, Red Bull, Pepsi, Scandic Hotels and BAMA.
My most notable performance is when I travelled to Saudi Arabia to perform at their FIFA world cup qualification party in-front of their princes and most highly ranked people, but also big football players like Ronaldo, Luis Figo and Roberto Carlos. This was also broadcasted on television to millions of people.
My most notable advert is a commercial shoot for boys of Europe which is a clothing company. We flew up to Lofoten and I juggled on top of mountains such as Svolvær Geita, which is a mountain 150 meters above ground with a view over Lofoten. Probably the coolest thing I´ve done.
Are there any people, books, or experiences that you would be willing to share with us, that have really shaped your mentality?
I think I´ve been shaped a lot by YouTube, I´m pretty curious by nature and always want to improve myself. I´m a big fan of podcasts where the main subject is to improve aspects of life. I´ve also met a lot of inspiration people from doing freestyle football which has definitely been a big contributor to my mentality.
What advice would you give to someone who is demotivated or doesn’t know where to start with getting into sport and fitness?
I don´t think anybody just wakes up and all of the sudden is interested in sport or fitness. I think you need to just push yourself to try new stuff and if you enjoy it a lot it will stick with you.
What do you think are the most important characteristics to develop in order to pursue your ambitions?
I don´t have any job to push me to wake up each day, but there is a lot of different things I need to get done every day to be on track and always improve in all aspects of life. Therefore, I think routines is very important and always try to improve discipline as these are the main factors in achieving anything. That can be through cold showers, meditation etc.
What advice would you give to someone who is trying to take their passion for health and fitness, or anything else for that matter, and turn it into a successful business/ career?
Social media is like a CV, do not post cat pictures and expect you will get any career growth. Use the tools that people didn´t have before and exploit them to your advantage, I´m specifically talking about creating a website, having a solid social media and don´t be afraid to reach out to your clients through emails. Build your CV and build your career from there, even though you need to do a lot for free in the beginning.
What are you plans and goals for the future?
My future plans is to invest in properties, travel a lot and build the sport that is freestyle football.
The Health and Entrepreneur Mindset 