A whole life before the warehouses: the paths that shaped Marino Mario

Mario lived with his mother and grandparents throughout his childhood. At 15, he met his father, and at 19 he was invited by him to move to Caraguatatuba, on the coast of São Paulo, to work with him.

“He owned two real estate agencies: one in Caraguá and another in Maranduba beach. I went to work with him, and obviously everything was different from what I had learned before. I had to relearn everything. In a coastal real estate agency, you deal with vacation properties and very few permanent residential ones. It was different from my previous experience. So, it was another learning process,” he explains.

After his father’s death, his half-brothers inherited the real estate agencies, and Mario moved to the capital. Because he did not carry his father’s last name, he did not inherit the businesses.

“When I came to São Paulo, I didn’t work in real estate anymore. I had to get the first job I could find. So my uncle, who lived here — my father’s brother — got me a job as a salesman at Pernambucanas,” he recalls.

After two years working as a salesman, living with a friend, and studying business administration, Mario landed his first internship at an elevator and escalator company, working in the purchasing and sales department.

Then he moved on to a bearings company. “I joined the planning department, moved to the warehouse area, and then to supplies. I was responsible for purchasing around two thousand items. I stayed there for four years and, when I left, I already had considerable experience in the metallurgical industry. Then I was invited to work at a chemical and pharmaceutical company.”

At 29, he received an invitation to work at a real estate agency and began working as a broker.

At the time, Mario was saving money and, after receiving a commission from a good deal, he made a bold proposal to the owner of the agency.

“I said: ‘Look, you can keep all my money — I want 50% of the company.’ He, being a good Brazilian “mineiro,” replied: ‘But I already have that. Why would I give you half of my company?’ And I answered: ‘Because I’m good. I know my talent, my capability. You’ll make more money with me as a partner.’ But he didn’t accept it. The next day, I left. I said: ‘Well, since you don’t want to, I’m leaving.’ I made that proposal out of loyalty: he gave me an opportunity, so I wanted to offer him one too. The next day, I didn’t show up, and I started Retha,” he says.

Unlike the real estate agency where he used to work, Retha focused exclusively on warehouses. Mario advertised properties in newspapers. He says his industrial background helped him identify an opportunity in this sector.

“At the time, logistics didn’t exist the way it does today. The company that produced also delivered. Everything was in the same place: production and storage under one roof. This process of separating the two is recent — from the last 20 years. There was no internet; people didn’t buy online, they bought in stores. It was different. And Retha went through all this evolution, all this transformation in the industry,” he explains.

In the case of condominium management, Retha began due to a client’s need — an opportunity that turned into a line of business.

“It happened naturally. It was the retrofit of a large warehouse in Santo Amaro that used to belong to an industrial company. Suddenly, we started subleasing it, and I told the owner: ‘Let’s put a security gate here, let’s split utilities like energy and water for everyone, and let’s turn this into a condominium.’ He believed in the idea, and we did it. We did everything with our own hands,” he says.

Even though he moved to São Paulo at a young age, Marino Mario says he never really explored the city’s nightlife. He was always focused on personal knowledge.

The determination that marked his journey also shaped his worldview. Mario often says he always trusted his own potential — not out of arrogance, but because he recognized early on what he did well. “My natural talent was always there,” he says.

What he did over the years was refine that talent with discipline and organization, until at 30 he realized it was time to become an entrepreneur.

For him, youth is a long period of preparation. The variety of jobs, the fast-paced routine, and the contact with different people were, according to Mario, the real school.

“Until 30, you learn. After that, you apply,” he says. Working at a fast pace and with the energy typical of the age, he absorbed everything he could — from the classroom to the restaurant floor, from improvised offices to the agricultural chores of childhood. Nothing, for Mario, was wasted; every experience was a chance to train his perception, to develop what he later called a “thick skin.”

This is the foundation of his commercial approach. In dealing with clients, he learned that it’s not enough to know how to sell — it’s essential to understand how each person wants to be served. The same goes for the product. Mario often says that knowing deeply what you offer is not a differentiator; it is an obligation.

For him, success is not something you pursue directly — it is the consequence of accumulated learning and an unwavering commitment to excellence.