Today we’d like to introduce you to Murillo Mello. They and their team shared their story with us below:
Murillo Mello was born in Brazil; he is 22 years old, he is a digital influencer hired by the Furia eSports Organization since September 2021. With 7 days of birth, he had jaundice, liver malfunction, leading to the development of cerebral palsy, which compromised his motor and hearing. Murillo took his first steps at the age of 5, and walked alone at 8, was literate in Libras (Brazilian sign language); in 2020, he entered the Faculty of System Analysis, which he did not complete to dedicate himself to his greatest passion producing content for the internet. During the Covid pandemic, and with the mission of inspiring people with his story, Murillo Mello saw the need for social distancing as an opportunity to transform his journey; he had already been producing online content about games for 4 years, but it was in 2020 that he started streaming on a professional platform and discovered that it could be a learning experience for him and for everyone who watches him. His passion for games began at the age of 6 when he had contact with his first video game, the PlayStation 1, where he played Tomb Raider, Spyro the Dragon, and Crash Bandicoot. Free Fire and GTA 5 became his favorite games. In less than 1 month as a streamer on Nimo TV, Murillo gained more than 2,000 followers who followed his long daily games of Free Fire and GTA 5 and learned a little more about his journey as a person with a disability in the gamer universe. That same year, he was invited to participate in the Lenovo Brasil project, called Todo Mundo Joga, which aimed to promote diversity and inclusion in the gamer universe, and soon he was hired as a streamer and digital influencer by Fúria Sports, a Brazilian esports organization that in 2022 it was named the fourth largest in the world by the North American portal Nerd Street. Murillo currently lives in the USA, where he has family, and aims to learn English and ASL and increasingly give visibility to the cause of people with disabilities.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Yes, it has been a difficult path; people with disabilities still do not have the same visibility and opportunities for work or partnerships.
In the job market, there is still a lot to be done; influencers People with disabilities are not much sought after to run campaigns or have their name linked to brands; ableism is far from over. I got in touch with several clothing brands because I like this job of modeling, and I never got a response. Despite being hired by an organization, I still don’t have high visibility to run campaigns.
I am currently using wheelchairs, as 2 years ago, I started having anxiety attacks, reducing my mobility even more because, before that period, I had more independence to walk and eat alone; today I need help. I believe that because I am physically and hearing impaired, I have few job opportunities.
I like to share life situations as they really are; the response is very positive, both for people with disabilities and not. The deaf community in Brazil supports me a lot, and I keep trying to find space as an influencer because I also realize that there are many more female influencers than men
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I produce content for the internet, with important themes about inclusion for people with disabilities, structural accessibility, gamer universe, and motivation. I believe that this inspires people not to give up on their dreams, regardless of the difficulties and limitations they have in life. I like to do work with photographic models too.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
Thank you for this incredible opportunity to show a little of my work and to invite your readers to share my fight for the inclusion of people with disabilities, without capacitism, but reinforcing our right to equality with equity, respecting our differences.
The promotion of my work can be supported by my social networks; the more visibility and engagement, the more possibilities for inclusion people with disabilities will have. I am here to be the voice of the deaf and people with cerebral palsy who cannot reach and to have your rights respected because my fight is not just mine; it belongs to all of us. Nothing about us without us because representativeness does matter!!!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/murillomellobr/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/murillomello_br
Image Credits
Sirlei Pearson
