Networking with a Side of Flamin Hot Cheetos Please!
What does networking, a whole lot of ambitious-driven professionals under 40, and Flamin Hot Cheetos have in common?
The 2019 Young Professionals Group Summit!
This last weekend I had the opportunity to attend my first-ever summit… and I picked a good one to go to! For the last four years, the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, Young Professional Group, has hosted a summit. There are vendor booths to look at (which I took advantage of and signed up for a massage), seminars to attend, and plenty of people to meet.
The one reason, however, that I really wanted to attend was the keynote speaker, Richard Montanez. You may not know his name, but you certainly know what he created - The Flamin Hot Cheetos.
Let me start by saying that Richard Montanez is a dynamic speaker. He’s energetic, logical, and above all - hilarious! He is a master at weaving in personal stories to take you on a trip through his professional journey. That’s not, however, why I’m inspired and motivated by his speech today.
Simple Beginning
My motivation by Richard Montanez comes from his beginning step in his career, and the pivotal moment when he discovered that he could be more than the beginning step. (If you haven’t read about him before - I suggest you do! His path to success is quite the story!)
His beginning wasn’t embellished with easy paths to success. A high school drop out, who struggled to speak English, he was set on the path that most individuals in his circumstance would go on during his time. He became a janitor for Frito-Lay. However, his mindset was different from the other janitors - he was determined to be more than “just the janitor”. He was going to be the BEST janitor in the world.
While working as the janitor, the CEO of Frito-Lay had voiced a challenge to all the employees to come up with something inventive for the company. While other janitors were telling him “he’s not talking to you”, he believed that the CEO WAS talking to him.
This inspiration led to a series of “ah ha” moments that ended in the creation of the Flamin Hot Cheetos. He wasn’t promoted to a fancy title when he created them, or given any special encouragement. He was instead continually discouraged by individuals in his company because he was a janitor.
However, with his determination and strong support from his wife, he honestly believed he was going to change the company with his idea. And, as we can clearly see on most convenience store shelves, he did!
My Takeaways
I was highly motivated by Richard Montanez’s story, but there were three things that still resonate with me two days later.
His attitude towards positions that most people deem “below them” was amazing. He took on the job of being the janitor with pride, ambition, and determination to be the best janitor he could possible by. WE NEED MORE PEOPLE IN THE WORLD LIKE THIS!
He didn’t wait until he had a certain title, was a certain age, or given permission to be inventive. He had an idea and he just went for it! This reminded me to stop making excuses for my ideas and just take that jump.
He continually came back to having a support system. For him, it was in the form of his grandmother, mother, and most importantly, his wife. When he couldn’t see through the stress and doubt, they were there to remind him who he was and to encourage him to see his idea through. This taught me the importance of surrounding yourself with the RIGHT people.
My Recommendation to You
Obviously, there are a lot of details I left out about his story. In no way would I be able to dynamically tell his story as inspiring as he did. However, I do want to recommend that you read about him. Or, since there is a movie in the making, watch the movie when it comes out.
The Huffington Post put out a great article that I recommend reading. It goes into more detail about his life, and talks a bit about the upcoming movie.
My second recommendation - if you live in or near Anchorage - check out the Young Professionals Group. Their summit was amazing, and I cannot wait until 2020’s summit!
