Carlos Wizard Martins (born 1956) is a Brazilian entrepreneur and founder of Grupo Multi, a company that offers franchises for English courses. Grupo Multi was bought out by

Pearson Pearson may refer to: Organizations Education *Lester B. Pearson College, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada *Pearson College (UK), London, owned by Pearson PLC *Lester B. Pearson High School (disambiguation) Companies *Pearson PLC, a UK-based int ...

in 2013.

Biography

He was born in

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in ...

, Paraná,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. When he was thirteen he and his parents joined

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

. It was through interactions with missionaries of the church that he learned English. At age 18 Martins went to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

where he worked in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

. In the early 1980s he went back to the United States with his wife and young family to study at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

, where he received a degree in Computer Science and Statistics. He then worked as a computer systems analyst in Brazil. He soon realized he was earning more by teaching his colleagues English, so he formed

Wizard by Pearson Wizard, the wizard, or wizards may refer to: * Wizard (fantasy), a fictional practitioner of magic * Wizard (supernatural), a practitioner of magic Art, entertainment and media Fictional characters * Wizard (Archie Comics), a comic book super ...

. Martins and his wife, the former Vania Pimentel, are the parents of six children. From 2001 to 2005 Martins served as

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of the Brazil João Pessoa Mission. Prior to this Martins had served for several years as

of the Campinas Brazil Castelo

Stake Stake may refer to: Entertainment * '' Stake: Fortune Fighters'', a 2003 video game * ''The Stake'', a 1915 silent short film * "The Stake", a 1977 song by The Steve Miller Band from '' Book of Dreams'' * ''Stakes'' (miniseries), a Cartoon Netw ...

. In 2002 Martins wrote a self-help book entitled ''Vencendo a Própria Crise'' (''Overcoming Personal Crisis''). His 2012 book ''Desperte o milionário que há em você'' (''Awake the Millionaire Inside of You'') was a Brazilian bestseller. In his recent interview for the Creating Emerging Markets project at the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

, he discusses in detail how he segmented the English language teaching market by developing a customized methodology which motivated executives and other students.

Notes

References

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article about plans for expansion by Language Wizard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martins, Carlos Wizard 1956 births Brazilian leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Brazilian Mormon missionaries Brigham Young University alumni Living people Mission presidents (LDS Church) Mormon missionaries in Brazil Mormon missionaries in Portugal People from Campinas People from Curitiba Brazilian expatriates in Portugal