This week: “The odds that you exist at all are basically zero.” YOU Are A Miracle So Act Like It:
A few days after accepting a scholarship offer to play basketball at the University of Michigan, Austin Hatch was involved in a plane crash that killed both his father and step mother. Austin suffered life-threatening injuries and brain trauma. He was in a coma for two months. It was a horrible tragedy made worse by the fact that Austin had lost his mother and two siblings in another crash that he and his father had survived eight years earlier.
Austin has the rare distinction of being someone who has survived two plane crashes. The odds of this happening are 11 quadrillion, 5 trillion to one. Yet as miraculous as this was, the doctors believe it was even more miraculous that Austin not only walked again but graduated high school, attended Michigan, and joined the basketball team to play for Coach Beilein who amazingly still honored his scholarship. Austin even played five games as a freshman before deciding to become a student manager for the team.
Austin couldn’t play like he used to, but his leadership was a huge asset to his coach and Michigan teammates. While talking to Austin on the phone recently, he told me about not letting circumstances define him. He said he made a decision in the hospital while trying to walk again that he would do whatever it took to walk out of that hospital. He wanted to be a miracle for others.
He said, “My life is only a miracle if I can be a miracle for others.”
Now as a graduate of Michigan, he is living with his wife in Ann Arbor and giving motivational talks about his experience and life. He is a walking, talking, living, breathing miracle. But Austin isn’t just content with being a miracle. He doesn’t just want to show what a miracle looks like. He is living to be a miracle for others through his words, inspiration and leadership.
In thinking about Austin, I realized that everyone is a miracle and has the opportunity to be a miracle for others.
Then I did a little research and found Tara Maclsaac’s article where she shared that Dr. Ali Binazir looked at the odds of your existence by calculating the odds of your parents meeting and your parent’s ancestors meeting, mating and all the right things coming together to eventually create you. He came to the conclusion that “The odds that you exist at all are basically zero.” He explains that “It is the probability of 2 million people getting together to play a game of dice with trillion-sided dice. They each roll the dice and they all come up with the exact same number – for example, 550, 343, 279, 001.”
Dr. Ali Binazir wrote, “A miracle is an event so unlikely as to be almost impossible. By that definition, I’ve just shown that you are a miracle. Now go forth and feel and act like the miracle that you are.”
I would add, AND BE A MIRACLE FOR OTHERS… like Austin.
“Bloom Where You Are Planted”
Being a Champion Means “Winning” Both On and Off the Court: Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka’s emotional joint post match interview | 2019 US Open
In an age where winning at all costs seems to be everything and where civility, courtesy and benevolence sadly seem to be values from a bygone era, here is what a real champion and real leadership looks like from this last weekend at the US Open.
While the match itself is a rich lesson in body language, seasoning, and preparation, (mindset & skillset) it’s the encore interview after the match that evokes deep insight and inspiration into what makes a champion! (Not to mention millions of hits and accolades on social media)
These amazing young women, 21 year old –Naomi and 15 year old- Coco have more maturity and character (heartset) than many that are older than both their ages combined and their grace and kindness coupled with their fierce competitive spirit moved me to tears and gives me real hope for the future… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8mJLAkXZng
Thanks this week go to Larry H, and all of you that periodically send me content that speaks to your heart for Soul Food Friday.
Please pay it forward and be that miracle for others!
This week marks the 400th anniversary of the first enslaved Americans arriving in Virginia, and the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech delivered on the National Mall at the largest political demonstration to date in American history with more than 250,000 people converging in Washington.
What have we learned over the years and what can you and I do in 2019 to advance the democratic principles and ideals that put into practice define this country and ignored or denied defile this nation?
This week: Reframing and Celebrating 1619 and the 400th Anniversary of the First Enslaved Americans Yes enslaved Americans built some of our most iconic institutions like the White House.
Equally significantly, African Americans have served as the real testing ground for Democracy in America and continue to pay a huge price as we put these democratic values into practice.
Let’s celebrate the contributions of black America and reframe the narrative with respect to their critical role in our history as a nation…
Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday helped shape American popular music with her voice and unique style. But, her legacy extends way beyond music with one song in particular — “Strange Fruit.”
The song paints an unflinching picture of racial violence, and it was an unexpected hit. But singing it brought serious consequences. https://www.npr.org/2019/08/20/752909807/strange-fruit
“The 1619 Project”: Nikole Hannah-Jones on Confronting the Truth about Slavery: The New York Times magazine is launching a series called “The 1619 Project.” It marks the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in the colony of Virginia. The series examines the ways the legacy of slavery continues to shape America and “aims to reframe American history” to place “the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of the story we tell ourselves about who we are.” https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-1619-project-nikole-hannah-jones-on-confronting-the-truth-about-slavery/vi-AAGaCQ8
Serena Vs. The Umpire: A behind the scenes in-depth look as we unpack this big moment in sport and culture through this contextual lens.
There was far more to this story… including interactions between Ramos, the Chair Umpire and Williams that were concealed from the television audience, and that happened off the court.
BTW, the U.S. Open starts this weekend, and Ramos won’t be officiating any games with either Williams sister. https://wamu.org/story/19/08/26/serena-vs-the-umpire/
If you are local… Care to Join Us for this Intimate Luncheon on September 6th?
How UCSD is influencing a kinder, gentler, and smarter San Diego
UCSD is known as the “Science School” but alumni are out making a big impact in the non-STEM fields as well. The SoCal social responsibility consciousness is certainly alive and well on campus and out in the community.
We continue our streak of great discussions with another great UCSD Connection Lunch on Friday September 6th withNeville Billimoria, Senior VP of Marketing/Membership and Chief Advocacy Officer at Mission Federal Credit Union.
Neville has accountability for all outward facing functions at the largest credit union exclusively serving San Diego County with more than $3.5B in assets. His responsibilities include leadership administration of a strategic array of crucial member-focused functions including: leading and managing the Marketing and Community Relations departments. He also has shared responsibility with the CEO for promoting Mission Federal Credit Union’s public image and brand, with active engagement in the community as part of the Credit Union’s social purpose.
San Diego Alumni Lunch September 6th, 11:30 am
750 B Street, 34th Floor
San Diego, CA 92101 Street parking is available
Thanks this week go to every American that remains committed to creating a country and culture that is caring and inclusive of everyone! Please pay it forward
Love,
Neville
“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
How A Few ‘Renegade’ Thinkers Helped Usher In A New Era Of Anthropology:
Americans are talking a lot about race these days and whether immigrants from certain regions should be welcomed into the country. Charles King, writes about a time a little more than 100 years ago when he says educated people in the U.S. believed it was established science that there is a natural hierarchy of cultures, with Western civilization at the top, and that people’s abilities and potential were defined by their race and gender.
His new work chronicles the work of a group of trailblazing anthropologists who undermined those ideas in the first half of the 20th century. They were students of German American professor Franz Boas. And some, particularly Margaret Mead, became widely read authors. Their work studying cultures around the world challenged fixed ideas about race and nationality and changed the way many Americans saw themselves and others.
What Climate Change Means for Food Production: Recently, the UN released a report warning of the long term effects of climate change on our food supply.
And there are growing concerns that climate change will make food insecurity an even bigger problem in parts of the world like Central America. https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/climate-change-food-supply-insecurity
What Machine Learning Teaches Us about CEO Leadership Style: CEOs are communicators. Studies show that CEOs spend 85 percent of their time in communication-related activities, including speeches, meetings, and phone calls with people both inside and outside the firm. Now, new research using machine learning is attempting a deep dive into the words and facial expressions of chief executives to see if leadership style can be correlated with a firm’s performance. The researchers believe their work could open new directions in big data analysis, combining image and textual analysis to create a more complete picture of how a chief executive influences firm performance. https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/machine-learning-can-help-us-understand-ceo-behavior?cid=spmailing-28653279-WK%20Newsletter%2008-21-2019%20(1)-August%2021,%202019
Get inspired by two remarkable soul-filled social justice women warriors! In stark contrast to many purported leaders who seem more than willing to compromise their core values for expediency, power or self-interest, here is the real deal.
While from different eras; one is 80 and the other is 16, each with a different cause; abolition of the death penalty and the climate crisis, you can’t help but be inspired by how each of them in their own right embody passion, purpose, authenticity and integrity- rare qualities in today’s leaders of any stripe.
Don’t miss these incredible stories by inspiring women, daring to be themselves, daring to be different, and in turn daring us to unleash our full potential attending to the broader concerns of all humanity…
Sister Helen Prejean on Fresh Air with Terry Gross “I read scripture to them. … All I knew was: I couldn’t let them die alone.” Prejean is best known for her 1993 memoir, ‘Dead Man Walking,’ about her role as a spiritual adviser to a convicted killer on death row. The story was adapted into an Oscar-winning film starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. Prejean has accompanied six prisoners to their executions and has been at the forefront of activism against the death penalty. Her new memoir, ‘River of Fire,’ details her spiritual journey up to that point.
This interview captures what real spirituality looks like when put into practice.
BTW, John Powers review of the documentary ‘Honeyland’ at the end is awesome too!
16 Year Old Greta Thunberg’s Zero Carbon Journey: ‘I might feel a bit sea sick’
“By Stopping flying you don’t only reduce your own carbon footprint, but that also sends a signal to other people around you that the climate crisis is a real thing”
Climate change activist Greta Thunberg will spend two weeks travelling across the North Atlantic on a boat with no toilets, kitchens or privacy.
Greta, 16, has stopped flying due to environmental reasons, but is due to attend a crucial climate change conference in New York.
She told the BBC that travelling by boat sends a signal that “the climate change crisis is a real thing”.
Electricity on the boat will solely come from wind turbines and solar panels, meaning the journey has a zero carbon footprint.
Thanks this week go to NPR/KPBS and the BBC for keeping me informed and inspired, and to Cathy J for helping me get this blog out to the world every week rain or shine, work or vaca!
Thanks also to Dusty for this encouraging comment on our Soul Food Friday Blog:
“It’s a shame you don’t have a donate button! I’d definitely donate to this superb blog! I guess for now I’ll settle for book-marking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account.
I look forward to brand new updates and will share this site with my Facebook group. Chat soon!”
If this blog resonates, don’t pay me but do please pay it forward!
“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Given the pain and unimaginable hurt many around the country are feeling and working to remedy, I hope we can all find solace in one another, in what we hold near and dear and in this set of pictures…
Who stops to smell the flowers?
??
Did you notice that some even closed their eyes?
If you are local and made the Purpose Party last week…
Thanks for joining our friends at Conscious Capitalism, San Diego Social Venture Partners and Mission Driven Finance along with visionaries of other organizations for the inaugural Chamber of Purpose – Corporate Alliance Purpose Party last week! It was a uplifting occasion of building community and authentic connections to advance San Diego’s reputation as America’s Kindest City. Stay tuned for details coming soon for our fall gathering where we’ll hear from San Diego’s newest purpose leaders and their bold visions for our collective future.
See you soon and thank you for all you do!
Steven & Neville & Larry
Thanks this week go to Bob C, and all the Purpose Champions in SD
“The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make
ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy.
The amount of work is the same.”– Carlos Castaneda
“Expedients are for the hour, but principles are for the ages. Just because the rains descend, and the winds blow, we cannot afford to build on shifting sands.”
– Henry Ward Beecher (1813 – 1887) American Presbyterian Minister
On Belonging…
This American Life, Sunday July 28thThe Weight of Words Act Three: Where I Came From by Ben Calhoun
If this story doesn’t move you, I would be very surprised…
The Power Of Purpose: How Peter McGuinness And Chobani Fight For ‘Better Food For More People’:
Passionate, provocative and innovative, Peter McGuinness, the Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer of Chobani is one of the leading voices championing the idea that business can be a force for good. Founded by the visionary Hamdi Ulukaya, the company starts with its employees: paying double the minimum wage in its factories, and creating a shared-equity platform which means employees own 10% of the $2 billion company…
Be a Pollinator and a Positive Energy Broadcaster!
The “Green Thing”:
Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older lady that she should bring her own grocery bags, because plastic bags are not good for …the environment. The woman apologized to the young girl and explained, “We didn’t have this ‘green thing’ back in my earlier days.”The young clerk responded, “That’s our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations.”
The older lady said that she was right our generation didn’t have the “green thing” in its day. The older lady went on to explain: Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.
But we didn’t have the “green thing” back in our day. Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags that we reused for numerous things. Most memorable besides household garbage bags was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our school books. This was to ensure that public property (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags.
But, too bad we didn’t do the “green thing” back then. We walked up stairs because we didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn’t have the “green thing” in our day.
Back then we washed the baby’s diapers because we didn’t have the throw away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts. Wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days.
Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right; we didn’t have the “green thing” back in our day.
Back then we had one TV, or radio, in the house — not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen we blended and stirred by hand because we didn’t have electric machines to do everything for us.
When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.
Back then, we didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power.
We exercised by working so we didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she’s right; we didn’t have the “green thing” back then.
We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blade in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn’t have the “green thing” back then.
Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service in the family’s $45,000 SUV or van, which cost what a whole house did before the “green thing.”
We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.
But isn’t it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn’t have the “green thing” back then?
Main Gym UC San Diego
This little plot of dirt has sat fallow and unattended for decades outside the Main Gym at UC San Diego until Laurel D, took it upon herself to create a pollinator garden for Monarch butterflies and other insects critical to our collective survival.
By simply planting, watering and creating a pit stop on their long journey, Laurel has modeled for all of us how we can contribute positively to our complex and threatened ecosystem through a constructive investment and with a caring spirit.
Maybe we can all change the world for the better if we start with small acts of intentionality and kindness…
Start your secret garden today!
Decide to be Vitamin C: In the 21st century, we tend to privilege Information and subordinate Energy
Our capacity to influence others through our energy alone is palpable and powerful…
“You are contagious! The energy you put into your team and culture determines the quality of it.”
Research from the Heart Math Institute (HeartMath.org) shows that when you have a feeling in your heart, it goes to every cell in the body, then outward – and people up to 10 feet away can sense these feelings. This means that each day you are broadcasting to your team how you feel. You are broadcasting negative energy or positive energy, apathy or passion, indifference or purpose. Research from Harvard University also supports the idea that the emotions you feel are contagious and affect the people around you.
Your team is just as likely to catch your bad mood as the flu, and on the flip side, they will catch your good mood as well.
As a team member, your attitude, energy and leadership are contagious, and has a big impact on your culture and team.
When you walk into the office, or the meeting, or into the school, hospital, or locker room, you have a decision to make. Are you going to be a germ to your team or a big dose of Vitamin C?
Please know that you don’t have to be an extrovert to be positively contagious. Sharing positive energy doesn’t mean you have to be a rah-rah person and bounce off the walls. It means that, from the heart, you simply broadcast the love, passion, positivity, and purpose that you have for your team. It means that you decide to be a fountain of energy instead of an energy drain. It means that you fuel your team with positive energy instead of being an energy vampire that sucks the life out of them.
Great teams are collectively positive and positively contagious. They give and share positive energy to each other, and the more they give, the more comes back to them.
All-Star Teachers Play The Skills Game: The 90th annual MLB All-Star Game was played on July 9th at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio. The American League won the game for the seventh straight year. Players are selected based on their SKILLS by three groups—fan voting, player voting, and the Commissioner’s office.
In schools and classrooms, we call it the SKILLS GAME taught by All-Star Teachers at all grade levels. The “fan voting” includes parents and students. “Player voting” includes teachers and staff. The “commissioner’s” selections are from school and district administrators.
What might you find on a SKILLS SCORECARD?
On one of the older cards, you will find Bloom’s Taxonomy—the “go to game” for thinking skills a few decades ago.
Many of you will remember the SCANS Scorecard, highlighting the need for employee skills in three general areas:
1) basic skills (reading, writing, math, listening, speaking);
2) thinking skills (thinking creatively, making decisions, solving problems, reasoning); and
3) personal qualities such as responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management, and honesty.
You may have seen the Business World’s Scorecard where people are talking and writing about “soft skills.” Like it or not, emotions are an intrinsic part of our biological makeup, and every morning they march into the office (and our schools and classrooms) with us and influence our behavior. Executives are starting to talk about the importance of such things as trust, confidence, empathy, adaptability and self-control.” Shari Caudron, “The Hard Case for Soft Skills”
Currently we have the 21st-Century Skills Scorecard that includes:
Ways of Thinking (creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making and learning);
Ways of Working (communication and collaboration);
Tools for Working (communications technology and information literacy); and,
Skills for Living (citizenship, life and career, and personal and social responsibility).
Two skills that cut across all four categories are “collaborative problem solving” and “learning in digital networks.”
The Fortune 500 Companies Scorecard identifies five top qualities these companies seek in employees:
Teamwork,
Problem solving
Interpersonal skills
Oral communication
Listening
Another Scorecard offered by the Pew Research Center showed that adults identified several essential skills that were most important for children and youth to learn “to get ahead in the world today.” These included communication skills as the most important, followed by reading, math, teamwork, writing and logic.
There are two other very essential Skills Scorecards. One is on the topic of Emotional Intelligence (ET) and the other is a scorecard that describes Social Intelligence (SI).
You know well the All Star for Emotional Intelligence. Psychologist Daniel Goleman hit a couple of “homeruns” with his books Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, and Working with Emotional Intelligence. His scorecard included such skills as self-confidence, self-awareness, self-control, commitment and integrity.
In discussing emotional intelligence, Daniel Goleman cites Peter Salovey, a Yale professor who categorized components of emotional and social skills into five areas:
Knowing one’s emotions
Managing emotions
Motivating oneself
Recognizing emotions in others
Handling relationships
The scorecard for Social Intelligence is also revealing and relevant.
Social intelligence [social skills] is as important as IQ when it comes to happiness, health, and success. Empathetic people are less likely to experience anxiety, depression, and addictions later in life. They are also more likely to be hired, promoted, earn more money, and have happier marriages and better-adjusted children. Mitch Prinstein, Ph.D., Board-Certified Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychologist If we increase social skills, we see commensurate increases in academic learning. That doesn’t mean that social skills (including cooperation and self-control) make you smarter; it means that these skills make you more amenable to learning. Stephen Elliott, Vanderbilt Peabody Education and Psychology Researcher and
co-author of the newly published The Social Skills Improvement System.
Lastly, there is the Ten Skills Scorecard from the work of Stephen Elliott and Frank Gresham who surveyed over 8,000 teachers and examined 20 years of research in classrooms across the country. They identified these top 10 skills that students need to succeed:
Listen to others
Follow the steps
Follow the rules
Ignore distractions
Ask for help
Take turns when you talk
Get along with others
Stay calm with others
Be responsible for your behavior
Do nice things for others
“Top 10 Social Skills Students Need to Succeed,” Research News at Vanderbilt University, 9-27-2007
Does this sound like the “skills-game“ teachers are now playing in schools and classrooms? If so, then give these teachers your vote and be sure they are rewarded for being an ALL-STAR.
Ed DeRoche, Director, Character Education Resource Center, University of San Diego.
BLOG, July 2019
How to Keep a Commonplace Book:
A commonplace book, if you’re unfamiliar, is a notebook, digital or otherwise, that you fill with information like ideas from books, notes from courses, thought-provoking quotes, and more. So, today, I learn about how to build a commonplace book. https://www.samuelthomasdavies.com/how-to-keep-a-commonplace-book/
If you are Local… Join Us at the Purpose Party Next Week on August 1st and Connect with Kindred Spirits!
Purpose Party 2019
Presented By: Corporate Alliance & Chamber of Purpose
Join the Purpose Community of San Diego at our first Annual Purpose Party on August 1st!
Come out to the Corporate Alliance Hub and mingle with Members of Corporate Alliance, Chamber of Purpose, and guests for a fun evening of socializing and networking.
Branch Out Market will be bringing a fun pop-up selection of handmade and give-back items for you to shop the night of the party. Every purchase makes a difference in the life of an artisan, woman entrepreneur, or beneficiary such as orphanage and school. Come shop and be amazed at the products which are giving back all over the world. High quality and guilt free shopping for sure!
Thanks this week go to Bob C, Laurel D, Larry H, Ed D, Moshe E, The Purpose Players, and all of you who hold the space for making our world better! Please pay it forward
Love,
Neville
A Child’s Defiance Is Often NOT a Relationship NOR a Discipline Problem: Parents beat themselves up because they assume that these conflicts are proof that they have failed to establish the authority and respect they deserve. Or, worse yet, they believe that these conflicts occur due to the selfish nastiness of their children. Often the challenges and refusals occur even around small issues and seem to go on and on.
For many parents, the repeated refusals and never-ending conflicts are a painful reminder of their failure as parents. They feel that if they communicated a strong image of their authority from the “get go” then there would be fewer arguments. They falsely assume that asserting authority better results in more positive parent-child communication and cooperation. In many homes the stress that results as a parent struggles to control what he perceives to be a defiant child seriously affects the parent-child relationship.
Why Are Many Wealthy Americans Suddenly Calling To Be Taxed More? In a recent spate of op-eds, wealthy individuals like Eli Broad, Abigail Disney and others seem to be embracing the idea of a “wealth tax” to fight economic inequity. https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2019/07/01/wealth-tax-wealthy-americans
Happy Ever After: 25 ways to Live Well into Old Age:
Determined to enjoy longer and healthier lives, two women researched the science to find the key. Here, they share what they discovered…
Montañez is a first-generation Mexican immigrant. He had a hard time in school and eventually dropped out. He eventually landed a job as a janitor in a Frito-Lay plant in California. Before he started, his grandfather gave him advice.
“Make sure that floor shines,” the man told his grandson. “And let them know that a Montañez mopped it.”
Montañez decided he was going to be the “best janitor Frito-Lay had ever seen” — and he quickly made his presence known.
“Every time someone walked into a room, it would smell fresh,” he says. “I realized there’s no such thing as ‘just a janitor’ when you believe you’re going to be the best.”
Montañez worked hard, learning everything he could about Frito-Lay. When he heard the CEO of Frito-Lay urge employees to act like an owner, something was triggered within him.
After nearly a decade mopping floors, Montañez gathered the courage to ask one of the Frito-Lay salesmen if he could tag along and learn more about the process.
They went to a convenience store in a Latino neighborhood — and while the salesman restocked inventory, Montañez made a fortuitous observation: “I saw our products on the shelves and they were all plain: Lay’s, Fritos, Ruffles,” he recalls. “And right next to these chips happened to be a shelf of Mexican spices.”
In that moment, he realized that Frito-Lay had “nothing spicy or hot.”
A few weeks later, Montañez stopped at a local vendor to get some elote, a Mexican “street corn” doused in chili powder, salt, cotija, lime juice, and crema fresca. Cob in hand, a “revelation” struck: What if I put chili on a Cheeto?
Montañez made his own prototype spicy Cheetos, and boldly set up a meeting with Frito-Lay’s CEO.
Montañez stepped into the boardroom. “Here I was,” he says, “a janitor presenting to some of the most highly qualified executives in America.”
At one point during the presentation, an executive in the room interjected: “How much market share do you think you can get?”
“It hit me that I had no idea what he was talking about, or what I was doing,” Montañez recalled. “I was shaking, and I damn near wanted to pass out…[but] I opened my arms and I said, ‘This much market share!’ I didn’t even know how ridiculous that looked.”
The room went silent as the CEO stood up and smiled. “Ladies and gentlemen, do you realize we have an opportunity to go after this much market share?” he said, stretching out his arms.
He turned to Montañez. “Put that mop away, you’re coming with us.”
Today, Montañez is the VP of multicultural sales for PepsiCo America – the holding company of Frito-Lay.
His story is remarkable. And I think it all boils down to his mindset.
Be the best at whatever you do. Be world-class. Whether with a mop. Or as a colleague. Or as a parent.
Or with a Cheeto.
A Patriotic Tribute from the American Rodeo:
Happy 4th of July! Stand Up for the Values We Hold Near and Dear…
This new edition of Mission Possible is filled with the people and programs that are part of Mission Fed’s community engagement.
Thank you for your membership, trust and loyalty!
35 Years in the Making: Mission Federal ArtWalk
Art, music, dance—all in one place—all in one weekend—all for 35 years! This is Mission Federal ArtWalk, where on April 27 and 28 the streets of Little Italy were filled with vibrancy, inspiration and whimsical fun. The community event brought more than 350 visual and performing artists into the neighborhood and reflected how friendliness, accessibility and creativity abound in San Diego. Mission Fed believes arts and culture are critical to the positive health and well-being of our region and we were honored to support this festival for the eleventh year. Read the complete newsletter to find out more!
Young Ideas Worth Spreading: TEDxYouth@SanDiego
A group of teenagers put on a day full of empowering talks, novel experiences, and profound opportunities on March 22 at Lincoln High School. As a sponsor of TEDxYouth@SanDiego, a special event focused on “Ideas Worth Spreading,” Mission Fed joined the community as local high school speakers covered topics such as bringing greater diversity into STEM, being bold when facing constant rejection, the interplay of self-image, self-identity, self-discovery and many more. The event was organized by TEDxSanDiego, a local not-for-profit, volunteer-driven organization, whose vision is to be a forum that encourages and facilitates the unleashing of ideas which have the power to change our world.
These Community Moments are just some of the ways that we support and give back to the local San Diego community—and your continued membership makes that Mission Possible!
Thanks this week goes to Debra S, Larry H and the whole team at Mission Fed.
Did you notice that some even closed their eyes?
Happy Soul Food Friday! 