Meet the newest addition to the Team.

José Carlos Pedó Júnior –

 

I’m from Brazil, and in 2016 my hobby and passion became my main profession. Yes, I’m a professional Skydiver and I have a dream job. I’ve been based in the Algarve in Portugal since 2017 and already feel like a local.

 

Marital status: Married with the same lovely woman since 1998.

Children: One gorgeous daughter.

Education: Graduated in Electrical Engineering.

Sponsors: Jedi Air Wear, LB Altimeters. Other sponsorships are underway.

Ratings: I’m a USPA and FAI rated instructor, but also able to coach BS (British Skydiving) students towards their FS1, FF1, TR1, TR2 stickers.

Hobbies besides sports: cooking and traveling.

 

Total number of jumps: 5800+

Tandem: 2400+

Free-fly: 1200+

Coaching: 700+

Camera: 700+

AFF: 500+

Balloon: 2

Cutaways: 2

 

MY HISTORY

 

I used to surf very often back in 1996 and I went to the movies to watch “Point Break” because of the surf scenes. When I saw the guys jump over the water I got bitten by the skydiving bug and a couple of months later I was doing my first Static Line jump.

Not having budget for skydiving (just married and running my new own business) I kept jumping as much as I could afford to keep the dream alive. I joined several boogies in South America and I had the opportunity to meet one of the Flyboys members (Eli Thompson) in early 2000, had a lecture about free-flying and decided to start to learn the addicting and incredibly challenging discipline. Free-flying became my main passion from that moment on.

 

In 2008, after almost a one-year break from skydiving, a friend asked me to be the camera flyer for a weekend for his free-fly team. In one of the jumps, they asked me to be a performer instead of the camera flyer. Voilà, Nitro Freefly team was born. We got into Brazilian competitions in 2009/2010/2011 and our best result was a second place in 2011 (category –intermediate).

 

Still in 2011, I decided to start working on weekends for my home Drop zone called Centro Gaucho de Paraquedismo in Novo Hamburgo /Brazil and my first paid jump, as a camera flyer, happened. From then I became a “weekend warrior”, and got several ratings, coach/AFF/Tandem Instructor, from different associations like USPA, FAI, CBPQ, NZPIA, FPP.

 

In May 2016 I took the big leap to stop my “normal life”. I moved to Queenstown in New Zealand and working as a skydiving instructor became my “new normal”. It was one of the best decisions of my life. But the plans to settle in New Zealand drowned due to changes in immigration laws in that country. So, I set up a new plan to move to Europe as Brazil was not an option anymore due to the violence problems the country was going through.

Out of the blue, after a couple of e-mails, cover letters, CVs, phone calls, positive thoughts, I received an e-mail from Skydive Algarve asking if I was still available and ready to move to Portugal. Better than working just as a Tandem Instructor and camera flyer, which I was previously doing in New Zealand, the position added the chance to work as an AFF Instructor and coach for one of the biggest DZs in Europe. I was having the big chance to update my skydiving knowledge and do what I love: meet, teach, and help people eager to skydive.

“I got the dream job, and my dreams were coming true.”

Lesson: “Things happen for a reason.”

In air coaching

My life was close to perfection – family happy and settled in paradise. Even a recent investment, an apartment dedicated to short-term rentals, was running well.

And then, boom, a broken ankle on 13th September 2019, my first injury in skydiving after 5000+ jumps. Despite having been on a roller coaster of feelings and thoughts, I had precious time to think about the next steps needed and I realized a wide range of skydiving opportunities in front of me. “Things happen for a reason.”

 

I started jumping again, fully recovered, in January 2020 and after three years working for Skydive Algarve, just recovered from an injury, I resigned from the position to run a private project named “The Skydiving Therapist”. We are talking about 28th February 2020, just two weeks before the lockdown and the craziness of the new normal. A new roller coaster of feelings and thoughts, but again time for thinking and putting things together.

At this point, my project was about to take off, and I got precious support from a partnership built with my friend Paul Capsey from Skydive Euphoria.

June 2020, end of the lockdown, time for action. Yeahhhhhhh!

 

THE SKYDIVING THERAPIST PROJECT

 

After being in the sport for almost a quarter of a century, having fun, making a lot of friends around the world, and watching some of them getting hurt, or even worse, I realised:

 

1 – When you work on a regular basis doing tandem, camera, AFF, coaching, all on a single day, there’s no time to do your job properly. Teaching requires time and everyone is unique and needs full attention. It was clear to me: “I needed more time to do my job in a no-rush environment”. Believe me, I’m a slow learner therefore I truly know what that means.

 

2 – I could use all my knowledge, built with many professional & passionate skydivers during trips to several dropzones around the world, to guide people to get into the sport, and to learn & improve their FS (belly), Free-fly, or Tracking/Angle skills, by using tools and coaching methods tailor-made to suit their needs. All of that with a sharp focus on safety awareness.

 

3 – I like to deal with humans and it’s easy for me to connect people to one another. I could assist even the ones looking lost to be part of something (I can tell you doing that became an important part of my job and lifestyle). The result of doing that is more retention in the sport and a light soul.

Putting all the pieces of the puzzle together I set my mission up “Help people to build their skydiving foundations and connect them with other skydivers”.

 

José Carlos Pedó Júnior

SKYDIVING AND LIFE PHILOSOPHY

 

Skydiving is much more than jumping from airplanes. It’s life-changing.

 

It takes some time and effort to do things well. There’s no shortcut. You can achieve anything you want so don’t give up and enjoy the journey.

 

There’s no stupid question.

 

Things happen for a reason.

 

ASPIRATIONS

 

Mastering free-flying. I know it’s not easy, that’s why I love it.

 

Contribute to the improvement of skydiving safety and increase retention in the sport.

 

Create relevant content for my channels:

Instagram: the_skydidiving_therapist

Facebook: The Skydiving Therapist

YouTube: The Skydiving Therapist

 

SPONSORS

 

Important to mention I had a vote of confidence from Jedi Air Wear and LB Altimeters from the very beginning. I’ll never forget that.

 

ADVICE FOR SKYDIVERS

Choose mentors to guide you throughout your skydiving life.

 

Keep humble and never stop learning.

 

Keep fit. Special attention to your shoulders, and stretching, to avoid injuries. Remember you are going to get old one day.

 

CONTACT:

E-mail: josepedojunior@gmail.com

WhatsApp: +351 918706963

Instagram: the_skydidiving_therapist

Facebook: The Skydiving Therapist

YouTube: The Skydiving Therapist