Show Notes:

You choose the line you get into. “How dare anyone try to tell our children which line to get into? If they’re in the job line and they want to get into the career line, get in that line. It’s your choice. If they want to be lawyers, get in that line. Don’t let anybody pick your line. That’s what I learned as a young man. I was given a line of poverty, and I decided to get out of the line of poverty, and I had to learn how to live in prosperity.”

Hunger is the antidote to fear. “When you’re hungry for that position, fear will leave. When you’re hungry to open that business, fear will leave. When you’re hungry to live in that neighborhood, fear will leave. Hunger is the antidote to fear. I knew as a young man that I was hungry for more.”

Leaders are pioneers. “The first part of the word ‘pioneer’ means a foot soldier. The second part of ‘pioneer’ means a person with big feet. So the word pioneer is actually a soldier with big feet. What do big feet do? They bring balance. Some of the places that pioneers go are dangerous. Big feet help you with balance. The other thing a pioneer needs to have is the mentality of a soldier. Pioneers do not have maps. Pioneers go out and map out new territories, and they come back for what? For settlers. What do settlers do? They build infrastructure. They build companies.”

Opportunity is created. “Opportunity is never given to you. Opportunity is created. Opportunity is something that you see, that you experience. If you look at the etymology of the word ‘opportunity,’ it’s a couple thousand years old. It’s a term that sailors, captains used to use. In the tongue that they had, the word was ‘opportune’ — not opportunity, opportune. When a captain would be getting ready to launch his ship or bring it back to port and it’s coming home, he would yell that word. Every crewman would look up at the sky, and they would see the wind. They would look at the waves. Everybody went into kind of like an action mode. Is this the opportunity to launch out? Is this the right time to land? That’s what the word offers.”

Leaders blaze new trails. “What do leaders do? They go places that others can’t and others won’t. You’ve got to be willing to get into the ring.”

Great ideas are in a different dimension. “I’ve had thousands of people that reported to me, and I said, ‘Don’t bring me ideas everyone can see. Bring me ideas no one can see.’ Ideas are hidden in the 4D. We live in 3D, and sometimes we’ve got to transform ourselves into where the ideas are. The greatest minds of all time were the Greek philosophers, and they were asked this question: What is an idea? And it blows me away that they said this: An idea is that thing in the mind of God. What were they saying? They were saying that ideas are hidden in a different dimension, so if you wanted those things, you had to reach into that.”

Inspire, encourage, and remind. “She [Judy Montañez] inspired me. She encouraged me. She reminded me. And I’ve taken that from her. That’s always my intention. No matter where I go, I want to inspire you. Again, the word comes from the Greeks and it simply means to breathe life into someone. To encourage someone means to grab courage and put it in their deepest being, that they stand up and they’re never the same again. To remind somebody, remind them of what? Remind them of their value to humanity, to their family, to their company.”

The world needs you. “As much as I wanted to fit in and be like everyone else, I finally realized I was never created to fit in. I was always created to stand out. That’s what we have to teach our young people. As they go through life trying to fit in, we have to remind them you were never created to fit in. Give it up. You will never be like them because you were created to stand out. You will never be like them because you weren’t created to be them. You were created to be you. Be you. It’s the best thing that we need. We need you.”

What does being a game changer mean to you? “Being able to change the game, the score, the outcome, and getting into the game is just incredible. I want to encourage everyone out there that there’s a spot for you — especially in your organization, especially the way you put on a show. We’re looking for the next superstar. We’re looking for the next touchdown, the next field goal, the next interception, the next fumble recovery, the next whatever, man. Get into the game!”

EPISODE RESOURCES & REFERENCES
Flamin’ Hot: The Incredible True Story of One Man’s Rise from Janitor to Top Executive by Richard Montañez
Flamin’ Hot(movie)
Harvard University
University of Notre Dame
University of Southern California (USC)
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Pepperdine University
A Boy, a Burrito and a Cookie by Richard Montañez
Frito-Lay
Ford Motor Company
PepsiCo
Taco Bell
Disney+
Eva Longoria
Bob Iger
Hulu