He entered the auto industry at 18 and became the top salesperson in his group at a Chevrolet dealership. An offer from a new dealership chain to become a supervisor seemed like the next step, but it was a trap disguised as a promotion: with no commission, he earned less than he was already making on his own. It was the worst mistake he would make in his entire career—and the lesson stuck: trading security for control.
She started a new business, away from cars, selling costume jewelry in beauty salons until she opened her own store and sold the business in 2018 for R$ 2.4 million. He returned to the automotive market carrying a lesson he still applies today: what sustains a business is knowing how to move volume even with a small margin.
It was while building this new business, between 2018 and 2022, that he nearly ruined himself. He lost a key supplier and entered into a partnership with a group of stores in the interior of São Paulo, paying in cash without knowing that the partner was buying on credit. A phone call, eight days before Christmas, changed everything: the lawyer asked if he wanted the good news or the bad news first. The bad news—250 cars seized by the courts, a R$16 million deficit—almost overshadowed the good news, which was that twenty-three of them could be released.
He ran out of money before he could pay off his debts. He even split a packed lunch in half to stretch it between lunch and dinner. Death threats came from the creditors he owed money to—one of them included photos of his wife and daughter at the school gate. That same afternoon, he sent the two of them to his mother-in-law’s house, unable to explain why. It was a sunny day, 38 degrees, but the sky Rafael saw was gray.
What he did next didn’t come from a business plan, but from a gamble guided by faith. He approached a creditor to whom he owed one million reais and asked to borrow the building the creditor had just finished constructing, along with a few cars purchased on installment, to start over. It seemed like an absurd request—but it worked so well that, months later, the creditor himself became a partner in the business.
His wife and daughter returned home when the threats ceased. The business is called Repassa Brasil and survives on a simple choice: buying the cars that the rest of the market rejects—used cars with mechanical problems, lacking the appeal that every traditional dealer seeks. Where others say no, he decided to say yes, and found a market there with almost no competition. The company now has six stores; less than a fifth of the original debt remains, and every creditor is being paid in full.
Today, he no longer fears the business landscape—he just carries, ever since the toughest times, a knot in his stomach that the crisis didn’t take away. Five months ago, he decided to show his face on the “Acelera Rafa” channel, and watched his audience jump from zero to 270,000 followers. It wasn’t vanity: it was proof that it was possible to succeed without stepping on anyone’s toes. Within the company itself, there are now people who came from ride-hailing apps or dead-end jobs—and who now own their own homes and cars. That is the real purpose: to lift people out of situations where they couldn’t see a future for themselves.
The next chapter already has a set date—selling Repassa Brasil in 2034, valued at R$ 1 billion. It’s not the end of the story. It’s just the next destination, where the sky will shine brightly.