September 6, 2022 • 41 mins
Alberto Esparza discusses why you should not be "Afraid to Fail", how "It's Never Personal" and why you should "Embrace Negativity" hosted by Siebe Van Der Zee
About Alberto EsparzaAlberto has served as the founder and president of Si Se Puede Foundation for 28 years. The mission of the Si Se Puede Foundation, it stands for "Yes, You Can" is to provide opportunities for underserved young people and to develop an interest and proficiency in STEM, science, technology, engineering, and math, Alberto quote, unquote retired last year.
To start his latest nonprofit, the I Rise Foundation dedicated to providing underserved and underrepresented students an opportunity to consider STEM as a career choice.
Episode Notes
Lesson 1: Don’t assume you know how to engage a community 5:12 Lesson 2: Don’t be afraid to fail 8:56 Lesson 3: Leadership is defined by the community 14:01 Lesson 4: Set goals 21:46 Lesson 5: Be willing to learn lessons from others 21:46 Lesson 6: Embrace negativity 22:58 Lesson 7: Seek out a higher power 26:46 Lesson 8: It’s never personal 29:36 Lesson 9: We live in a glass house 32:39 Lesson 10: Be careful what you ask for 35:38
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Throughout my journey.
I had failed big time
but what kept me going was, mymotivation to serve the community.
and my motivation to never give itup no matter how difficult it was.
And, and I remind people,this is your journey.
Nobody cares about yourjourney, but you, yeah.
(00:20):
So you have to make a decision.
If this, something that you want, thenyou gotta be able to overcome those
obstacles and you gotta keep, keep at it.
Eventually you'll have success.
Hello, and welcome to our program.
10 lessons learned where we talkto business people, journalists,
professors, ambassadors, leaders, andluminaries from all over the world.
(00:45):
My name is Siebe Van DerZee, and I'm your host.
I'm originally from the Netherlands.
Happily residing in thebeautiful grand canyon state of
Arizona in the United States.
I'm also known as theDutchman in the desert.
I want to thank our affiliate partner.
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(01:07):
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(01:34):
Our guest today is Alberto Esparza.
Alberto has served as thefounder and president of Si Se
Puede Foundation for 28 years.
The mission of the Si Se Puede Foundation,it stands for "Yes, You Can" is to
provide opportunities for underservedyoung people and to develop an interest
and proficiency in STEM, science,technology, engineering, and math,
(01:57):
Alberto quote, unquote retired last year.
To start his latest nonprofit, the IRise Foundation dedicated to provide
underserved and underrepresentedstudents an opportunity to
consider STEM as a career choice.
Again, very valuable.
You can learn more about Alberto Esparzaon our website, 10 lessons learned.com.
(02:23):
Buenas dias.
Alberto, how are you?
Thank you for joining us.
Good morning Siebe.
It's a pleasure to be on your platform.
And I look forward to the dialogue.
Thank you very much.
Absolutely.
I am so curious in, in the workthat you have done and I see a
beautiful picture behind you, oflooks like young girls playing soccer.
What is your, your interest and,and commitments to doing this?
(02:48):
Helping young people in underservedcommunities for now 30 years,
where is that coming from?
That's basically comingfrom where I grew up.
I grew up in a impoverished area, a lotof gang activity and gang violence, but
had a beautiful grandmother who raisedme very well, always taught me from right
from wrong and wanted me to serve othersbecause I saw how she served others.
(03:12):
She was about like 95 yearsold before she passed.
And I recall her going into theneighborhoods and making sure that, you
know, the homeless had something to eat.
And I saw that on a basis.
And we went to church every day, sevendays a week, we would walk two miles from
her home to church on a regular basis.
So she was my role model andshe meant the world to me.
(03:36):
So she taught me well.
Wonderful, wonderful.
The I Rise Foundation.
Please explain the purpose and again,the work that the foundation is doing
okay.
A couple of years agoI had prostate cancer.
So I was very ill and thatled to my decision to retire
from Si Se Puede Foundation.
When the doctor gave me the greenlight to go ahead and go back into
(03:57):
the community, I really wasn'tgonna go back into the community.
It was the communitythat was calling me up.
They wanted me to go back anddeliver soccer and deliver all the
programs that I used to deliver.
And it was a very easy decisionbecause I was at home not
doing anything crying lonely.
And I said, you know what?
I really gotta get back to the communitybecause I needed the community.
(04:20):
More than the community needed me.
So I started I Rise, but I wantedto do something very unique.
I wanted to focus on thenative American students.
And so in the past I workwith, Skyline Gila River.
Saint Peter Indian MissionSchool, The Boys & Girls Club
in the Sacaton, which are.
Predominantly native America andit was the best decision I made.
(04:42):
So I'm currently delivering thoseprograms, but I'm still in Chandler.
I'm in Chandler because I have awonderful school district, the Chandler
unified school district, withoutthem, I'm a nonprofit and search of
the Chandler unified school district.
So they have been really goodto meet these past years.
So, I want to continue toserve the Latino community, but
also expand my services to thenative American communities.
(05:04):
Very powerful indeed.
And helping young people by giving themopportunities and access to opportunities
and doing it in a way that they enjoy.
Right.
Because again, if I think about,the activities that you organize.
It's fun.
It's enjoyable.
And of course these youngpeople, they benefit from it.
(05:26):
That must, that must make youfeel good doing that for 30
years and living that life,
you know, throughout thepresentation, you're gonna hear
me discuss relationship building.
And one of the things that I did isthe first lesson that we're gonna
talk about is relationship building.
I never assumed what the community wanted.
I always built in no matter whatprogram stakeholders I built these
(05:51):
committees to let the communityexplain to me what they wanted.
So a lot of the programs that Ihave are really as a result of what
the community needs, the soccerprogram is, really, really growing.
I think this year we'regonna have close to 600.
Kids involved in our program.
It runs from September, goesall the way through May.
(06:11):
The beauty of this program isrun by the parents and is run
by our high school students.
And we have no money, butwhen you go out there to those
fields, everybody has a uniform.
We got referees, our parentsare background checked.
It runs pretty smooth.
A lot of people ask me,well, how do you do it?
It's pretty easy.
(06:32):
It's because I'm engaged in the community.
The community has told me whatprograms they wanted and that's the
reason why I've been successful.
Before that I used to assumewhat the community wanted.
And that was a big mistake.
So these programs are offered basedon what the community needs are.
Fascinating.
And at the same time, I recognizethat you have to already
(06:54):
moved to lesson number one.
Sure.
Don't assume you know howto engage the community.
That is our lesson number one today.
But I want to go one stepback if you don't mind.
Sure.
Because I know you talk aboutthe work that you're doing and
that's what we want to hear.
And the wisdom that youhave learned from that.
But just, let's say to startout, what kind of lesson would
(07:19):
you like to teach yourself?
If you would be 30 years old today?
What have you learned that you wouldlike to have learned a few years ago?
Well, when I first got into thenonprofit organizations, I didn't
really know what the nonprofit was.
I didn't know what, you know, astrategic planning was, I didn't
know, board development, I didn'tknow even know how to write a grant.
(07:43):
So I took the bull by thehorns and started a nonprofit
without really knowing.
I was pretty good in the community.
But I was pretty bad in termsof the business aspect of it.
So if I could tell a youngAlberto, the 30 years ago is to
take some classes on nonprofit.
I believe at the time they were offeringthat at Arizona state university, I
(08:05):
looked into it, but I never followed up.
So a lot of the experience Igained was because of failures.
But if I can go back,I would sit down with.
Young Alberto basically said, Hey,if you're gonna start this nonprofit,
it's gonna be a difficult journey.
My suggestion to you would take acouple classes, learn, everything
that you can learn about, grantwriting, which really killed me.
(08:28):
I didn't have a clue.
My first grant was written in pencil.
written in pencil, and I recallthat I submitted it to the
valley of the sun United way.
And basically it was a difficult,the conversation between the
valley of United way and myself.
But it was a horrible grant.
(08:50):
And I knew that I was not gonnaget it, but I would sit down with
Alberto and say, you know what,you're gonna create this nonprofit.
You have all the experience inthe community, but my suggestion
would be take a couple of classes,take a deep breath, ask a lot of
questions, go visit other nonprofits.
Other CEOs, know what you're getting into.
And that's what I wouldtell Alberto Esparza.
(09:12):
Know what you're getting into.
I like it.
Good point.
So we talked about lessonnumber one, don't assume you
know how to engage a community.
Lesson number two,don't be afraid to fail.
Throughout my journey.
I had failed big time and.
it is re a direct result thatI didn't have any experience
(09:33):
in the nonprofit world.
Mm-hmm . I had an idea that Iwanted to serve the community.
Great idea.
You have to understand that alot of nonprofits are started by
somebody in the community who reallydoesn't have that business sense.
But one of the things that I learnedand a teacher when I was in the sixth
(09:53):
grade, she taught me how to goal set.
and she taught me how to setgoals, minimum goals, medium
and goals, and long term goals.
And I remember that.
So when I started the foundation, Istarted to set those type of goals.
But my teacher reminded me that I was notgonna accomplish all the goals that I set.
(10:13):
Nobody does.
So it was important is going after them.
And it wasn't the material thingsthat was important, but your
journey in pursuit of your goals.
And she said, because you're goalsetting, it's gonna make you a better
professional, but more importantly,A better human being goals.
Keep you focused.
It gives you a sense of purpose.
(10:35):
And I truly believe I tell young peoplebecause they all want to start nonprofits.
And I said, learn how to set goals.
That's gonna be very important.
And that's what I've done throughoutmy career was set the small goals
that are gonna give me immediatesuccess and then build upon that.
And.
I think I've become anexpert in goal setting.
Now when it comes to failure,yes don't give up, keep going.
(10:59):
But let's face it.
The reality of failure, canbe very, very tough.
Right.
We can think of, of several situations,but it could be on the financial side.
Yeah.
Keep going, wait a minute.
I don't have any money.
So, how do you teach easy question,hard answer, but how do you teach
someone to overcome failure?
(11:20):
How do you motivate them tosay do it again, keep going?
Many of these nonprofits are startedby somebody in the community that
doesn't have the business sense, butwhat separates them from others is
their passion and their motivation.
And.
That helps you throughout your journeywhen I didn't have any funding,
(11:42):
you know, there was one period.
And I'm gonna talk about that.
I believe in the mid nineties, Iwas sleeping in a vacant office.
I didn't have a vehicle.
I was walking from school districtto school district to deliver my
programs and I could have easily quit.
As a matter of fact, I woke up that earlymorning wanting to quit and get away
(12:04):
from nonprofit cuz I fell out alone.
But what kept me going was, mymotivation to serve the community.
and my motivation to never give itup no matter how difficult it was.
And, and I remind people,this is your journey.
Nobody cares about yourjourney, but you, yeah.
So you have to make a decision.
(12:25):
If this, something that you want, thenyou gotta be able to overcome those
obstacles and you gotta keep, keep at it.
Eventually you'll have success.
And that's been my philosophy.
You, you mentioned the passion.
It's important perhaps as a mentor tohave the passion to guide individuals
(12:45):
and then the individuals, each individualby him or herself, they have to light
that fire and say, yes, I can do that.
They have to feel right.
And you have to in a way,help them get to that point.
You know, one thing that I liketo mention is that, years into
the foundation and my struggle.
(13:06):
I was adopted by a group ofSocial Venture Partners, Arizona.
They're a nonprofit organization inArizona, and I think they're nationally
loan that adopts five nonprofits per year.
And they reached out to me howthey found me Siebe, I have
no idea what they found me.
And they met with me.
They took me to dinner and they wanted meto come into the organization so that they
(13:32):
can give me the tools to be successful.
And I don't want to forget them becausethey were very instrumental in my success.
They gave me board training.
They helped me with my grants.
They were able to get me a CPA.
So, I believe that occurred in 1998.
(13:52):
Without them I would nothave had the success.
So, when you're doing good.
People will take notice I was doinggood and people were noticing because
I was getting a lot of calls forfolks who wanted to come into the
organization and see how I was doing this.
Back in 1998, I really didn't knowif I wanted to continue to be a
(14:12):
nonprofit, but when Social VenturePartners, Arizona brought me in and
I'm asking everybody to look them upbecause they've been phenomenal to me.
So they provided the expertisethat I needed to go forward.
Yeah, well, let's goto lesson number three.
Leadership is defined by thecommunity and I'm kind of curious.
You're gonna explain it.
(14:33):
No doubt.
What do you mean with the community?
Well, I'm focusing on the Latinocommunity because that's all
I've known throughout my career.
The Latino community is very fickle.
They're very careful onwhom they're going to.
Bessow the term leader.
A lot of these folks come from Mexicoor other Spanish speaking countries.
(14:56):
And there's a lot of, fraud within thepolitical systems where they're at.
So they see leaders in a differentlight when they come to America.
So, leadership is relationship buildingand I am an expert in relationship.
And I'm a leader that have walked besidethe community as opposed to have led
(15:20):
from above I have supported the communitywhen there's been in social injustices.
So I have marched alongsidethem for hundreds of miles.
And I think the community,when they see that.
They see how you respond to communities?
A few years back, I had a calland this is gonna define where
(15:42):
my leadership comes from.
I had a call from a parent at 2:00 AMin the morning, and, you know, Siebe
every time you get a call at 2:00 AMin the morning, you know, something
has happened that is not good.
Yeah.
And on the other line wasapparent crying profusely.
She had told me that one ofthat, one of her sons was gunned
down by a drive-by shooting.
(16:04):
Hmm.
I listened to her for about fiveminutes as she was in tears.
And after she stopped crying, Itold her, give me your address.
I'll be over there withina half hour to an hour.
When I went.
I told the parents that I would help themwith the funeral expenses right away.
(16:25):
I got the community engagement.
I said, this, this was the only child.
Of these two parents and the communityreally supported these efforts.
We were able to do that.
And not only that is that I was ableto provide food because I know that
they had a lot of people who werecoming in from different countries
(16:45):
to come in and to pay their respects.
So that's what it is when thecommunity sees that you're
willing to go above and beyond.
That's when you got the community.
I know other leaders thatreally don't do that engagement.
As a matter of fact, the NAACPabout 15 years ago, when they had
their annual dinner, they talkedabout returning to the community
(17:08):
that they have left the community.
I've never left the community.
I teach English as a second language.
I I'm in there in the soccer.
I'm there in the dance programs.
I was there for the scholars.
I was there at wedding.
Funerals.
And that's where your leadership comes up.
How engaged are you?
Relationship building.
(17:28):
They'll never forget that.
And today I'm very lucky that I have.
The community to support.
I don't have to distributeflyers for my program.
They know where I am.
They go on Facebook.
These programs are great because Ihave an opportunity to meet parents and
children in the morning and the afternoonafter every game, after every program.
(17:49):
And we talk about, you know,what issues they're having and
what problems that I can solve.
I have a question.
I have a question.
When you deal with native Americancommunities, of course, they're
different than Latino communities,building relationships with young people
and their parents and their leaders.
(18:12):
How would you describe that?
initially it wasn't too positive.
There's a lot of history between thenative American and the United States.
One of the things that they haven'tforgotten is how they've been
treated during the trail of tears.
When president Jackson forced thenative Americans to walk miles
(18:35):
and miles and miles, hundredsof miles, a lot of the native
Americans died during their journey.
It's very difficult, but I havebeen in the native American
community for five years.
They have seen me provide these services.
I'm able to talk to them.
We hosted underwater thecompetition in May, 2022.
(19:00):
And we invited the nativeAmerican communities.
And I was so happy thata lot of parents came in.
A lot of kids, theyparticipated, I provided food.
I listened to them.
I talked to them, I shook theirhands that's relationship building.
You gotta be able to do that.
I see other CEOs who don't do that.
I appreciate you.
You bring this up.
(19:21):
because it's, something that sometimesis can we say overlooked underestimated.
Exactly.
But is it is of extreme value toshow the respect for native American
cultures and in the work that youdo, you experience that and, and
I I'm glad you mentioned that.
so thank you for that.
I want to move on to lesson numberfour, you have already touched on
(19:44):
some of that, lesson number four.
Set goals.
well, my question would be, how doyou measure, do you measure goals?
It's one thing to set them,but at some point you say,
did we meet the goals or not?
Is that something that you include?
Yeah, it's very basic.
That's not rocket science.
(20:04):
I set goals.
Maybe I'm going to develop a new programthat the, that the community is asking for
and I'm engaged throughout their process.
From the beginning of the dialogue, towhen the programs are delivered, until
the end, I ask a lot of questions.
I ask the community, arewe meeting your needs?
What can we do differently?
(20:25):
And again, that goes back torelationship building and engagement.
The community wants their leaders.
To be engaged with them tonot be afraid to talk to them.
So I measure a success based on the numberof students or the number of participants
who are involved in our programs.
And I measure the successbecause I do a pre and post test.
(20:49):
Yeah.
I wanna get an idea how they feelabout this class and at the end,
what they felt that we could dobetter or what they didn't like.
They liked that.
And these committees that I have created.
Give them them opportunity and theylove it because, I really believe that,
they like to tell me what they like.
(21:09):
And, I take on that role.
I never get offended by that.
Because I know who I'm working with.
And I know that's imperative that I dothat to develop these relationships.
it creates a level of ownership, right?
When they are asked to give their opinionsand people are included, they feel they
are part of it and they are part of it.
(21:30):
Yes.
And I had to make a quick comment,cuz I know I speaking a lot, but Dr.
King said.
He said, if you build a communityand you fail to include a certain
segment of that community, thosewho feel excluded will unconsciously
destroy everything that you built.
And I remember that quote,and I tried to follow what Dr.
(21:53):
King was doing during the sixties.
He was great at it, gettingthe community engagement.
He was out there.
so.
Getting them involved and making thembecome stakeholders is very important.
So when we have strategicplanning, we invite the community
as well to give their input.
Yeah, inclusive.
I, I like it very much.
Lesson number five, be willingto learn lessons from others.
(22:14):
ha have you had a mentor inyour life or did you really
have to figure it out yourself?
One of the big mistakes thatI made is that I thought I
knew everything going into it.
you know, I mean, that was a big mistake.
I mean, I had graduated with amaster's degree in education.
I had sat on one of the largest boards inthe state of Arizona, maybe in the country
(22:37):
at Chicanos Por La Causa and I oh sure.
Would be able to emulate that.
But I.
I was always willing to learn.
When I started to fail here andthere, I began to open myself and
make myself available to learn.
I reached out to other CEOs again,Social Venture Partners of Arizona
really helped me tremendously.
(22:58):
They brought me in they taught meso much that I had gained a lot of
knowledge and that basically helpedme out and I was able to move forward.
Sure.
Sure.
We're talking today with Alberto Esparza,a very successful servant leader,
providing educational opportunities foryoung people in underserved communities,
(23:18):
sharing his 10 lessons learned.
We're moving up.
Lesson number six, you have beenso positive in everything you said.
And here you say, embracenegativity, embrace negativity.
Curious what you mean with
that?
Okay.
Throughout my journey.
I had a lot of naysayers.
I never call 'em haters.
Young people today would call 'em haters.
(23:39):
I, that was a little bit too strong.
So I had naysayers, I had aspeech impediment going in
and I stuttered profusely.
I had to go get some classes.
Because I realized that as a CEO, you needto be able to articulate your message.
So I was able to do that, but a lotof people, they pointed at me and said
that I was not gonna be successful.
(24:01):
Even family members Siebe, theywould tell me, I don't think
you're gonna be able to do it.
You don't have the business background.
You're gonna fold.
And what I tell young peopletoday is embrace negativity.
Use that as a source ofmotivation and inspiration.
Someone's opinion ofyou is not your reality.
And that's what I havemaintained throughout my career.
(24:24):
you know, it was verydifficult at the beginning.
But you just gotta keep going forward.
If this is your passion, this is what youwant to do throughout your career then you
gotta be able to embrace it, let it go.
Don't think about it.
Just use that asmotivation and inspiration.
This is what I teach to youngpeople today is someone's opinion
(24:44):
of you is not your reality.
Those people who point at you andsay, you're not gonna do this.
They're gonna be silence.
Beginning today.
You mentioned passion before and I can seethat that is a, a key driving force in who
you are dealing with adversity, helpingpeople that are dealing with adversity.
(25:05):
I'm curious, is there a rolemodel and you mentioned, Dr.
King, but I think also earlieryou referred to your grandmother.
And to have someone that perhapsreminds you from time to time, even
though you have to do it, who would youperhaps, if I can ask you, who would
you pick as, as that particular person?
(25:27):
Growing up?
It was my grandma.
she adopted me, sheraised me from a infant.
Until her passing.
When I was, I believe, age 22,a very humble grandma, always
doing things in the community.
I would see her in the kitchen Siebemaking a pot of beans, making burritos,
(25:49):
making red chili and making sure thatthe homeless near where we live,
she was out there providing food.
And she used to do that on a tray.
I mean, these homeless peoplewere getting their food served
on a tray, glass, making surethat she come back with dessert.
She was very inspirational.
(26:09):
So when I was 12 years old, I triedto raise money in my community.
I did a carnival and wehad a lot of games and I was
raising money for the homeless.
And we had quite a bitof kids come out there.
And so I started to learn whereI really learned was when I
(26:33):
got into the community college.
And I joined a club called MEChA andthat's where I learned social activism.
They were very active during that time.
And, , as a young lad, I, I mean, I readall, everything that you can possibly
read about Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
And I still know all hisspeeches today, so, but I think
(26:53):
it started with my grandma.
She was a great role model to me.
We didn't have a lot.
But man, I loved her even.
I, I mean, I think about her every timeI see homeless and what she would do to
help out the homeless and her community.
So she was my role model for sure.
Yeah.
Important.
And I appreciate you share that.
Lesson number seven.
Seek out a higher power.
(27:14):
I think I know what you'retalking about, but please explain.
In the, in the late 1990s, Ihad exhausted all my savings.
I was flat broke.
I didn't have a vehicle.
I was picking up some bottles andcans just to kind of, buy lunch
and a person in the communityallowed me to use their office.
(27:35):
They didn't have anywindows and it was vacant.
And I recall sometime in Novemberit was pretty, pretty cool cold,
and I was sleeping on the floor.
True story.
And I woke up about three o'clockand, I wasn't, I was ready to quit.
I was angry at God.
I didn't wanna talk to God anymore.
I didn't wanna pray because I feltthat he let me down that I was
(27:58):
doing his will, but I didn't seeany intervention from his end.
That night I had a dream because I wasreading, a poetry about God and how
God was always behind folks when theydidn't realize that he wasn't there.
And I had a dream that he, he told me.
You were never alone.
(28:19):
I was always there.
So that got to me andbut I was really angry.
I mean, I was all alone from 1993 to 1998.
I exhausted, I don't know, closeto a hundred thousand dollars
that I would never get back.
And.
I felt that I was a failure at thattime and, time goes so quick Siebe.
(28:42):
And so, but then I realizedthat, you know, he was behind
me throughout this period.
And.
I apologized to him and we had a chatand I told him that I was ready to go
and continue to do his work, but thatwas one of the most difficult periods
of my life is having no friends.
There's nobody to talk to when you'relaw alone and you don't have any money.
(29:05):
And but I'm grateful that the communityknew who I was and made sure that I
had some burittos or this and that.
And when you have no car, you'repretty much stuck where you're at.
And, I never shared that with anybody.
This is the first time that I'msharing this on your podcast.
Wow.
Well, I, I think it's, it's inspirationalfor many people, people that are
(29:26):
going through rough times and thereare, as we both know many people all
over the world that deal with that.
But I'm also thinking again ofyounger people that go through tough
stages also in their minds, they'redealing with adversity or sometimes
opportunities and, how to find theguidance, wherever that comes from.
(29:48):
And it could be a family member.
It could be someone's religion, butwe all need that kind of assistance.
And that's what you're talking about.
Seek out a higher power,
Lesson number eight.
It's never personal.
And my comment would be really?
(30:09):
That's a good question.
As I got older, I learnedthat it's not personal.
When I was younger,everything was personal.
I took it to heart.
I was always angry, but then itcomes to the time where you grow up.
And you said, if you take things personal,you're never gonna get things done.
You're Harbor, these illfeelings against folks.
I made a commitment that I was gonnainsulate myself from everybody, who
(30:32):
was negative or criticized others.
And I told, I tell people today is.
Be careful what you say, what you do,how you speak and what you write because
social media today will catch up to you.
Absolutely.
I made that a promise that I wasjust going to not worry about that.
(30:56):
And.
Try my best, not to be critical becauseif I'm critical for others, they're
gonna come back and find my faults.
And I never wanted that to happen.
Now.
I'm with you when you saydon't take it personal.
That's very important.
On the other hand, Are you also advisingsomeone not to, consider it personal?
(31:19):
I'm thinking of someone that, you know,for example, in traffic gets upset with
me for what I did in traffic , and weboth know, they can be quite expressive.
Don't you take it personal?
No, I keep driving at the same time.
Maybe it was meant personal.
no, that's a good comment becauseI don't even take in personal,
(31:42):
in those situations because Inever know what the other person.
Has in his vehicle, I'malways in, in today's world.
In today's news, you see alot of bad things that can
happen when you're take it.
Oh yeah.
When you get off your car andyou confront someone, I let
things go and just move forward.
(32:03):
But again, you're talking about a more.
Older person I'm more mature.
There's been through the, the ringerat an early age, and I decided that
I was not gonna be consumed by that,that I was just gonna move forward.
But I've been in some tough situationswhere I decided, well, I'm just
gonna leave this situation andmove on and I'll think about it.
(32:24):
It's really easy because I'm moremature and I've been through a
lot earlier and I don't want tocontinue to Harbor on that anymore.
It's a great point.
And that's exactly what wewant to share with people.
Not that we expect that a lot of peoplethat are aggressive, our currently
listening to our conversation, but.
It is a good reminder that weshouldn't take things personal, and,
(32:47):
you know, take some, some space.
And some time, sometimes before respondingto whatever it may be, including social
media or politics, anywhere in the world.
Right.
It's quite negative.
And we have to find a way to,create a balance and live with it.
But.
It goes into lesson number, nine Alberto.
Lersson number nine.
(33:07):
We live in a glass house.
Where do you take that conversation?
What is that all about?
Well, that goes back to social media.
That goes back to negative thinking thatgoes back to, to criticizing others.
Because, you know, if you believe you haveno faults, people are quick to find faults
and they'll post that no matter where,but I tell these young people, especially
(33:29):
these young people who are on the socialmedia and they say what they wanna say.
And they don't realize that that'sgonna come back to, to haunt them.
I deal with a lot of young engineersand I tell them is that you better best
believe that your potential employersare looking at whatever you post.
And I tell them constantly whatever youpost, no matter what your email address
(33:53):
be very careful, cuz I've seen someemail addresses that are very risque.
And these are potential engineers.
So I have to sit downand say, you know what?
You live in a glass house and peopleare always looking in there and
they're always trying to find faultand that, and that is gonna cost you
whether or not a career or that isgonna cost you something, your family.
And so I think that we have to learnthat is that we do live in a glass
(34:17):
house and being a community leader.
You know, I'm always mindful of that.
I'm always mindful orwhere I go, who I talk to.
and again, I never post anything negativeto hurt others, even if I don't agree.
I do call people up.
We can agree to disagree, but I liketalking to people and people who
(34:38):
know me, know exactly what I meanis that I would always call 'em up.
But just be careful what you do.
It's gonna be not.
It cannot be emphasized enough,I think because, obviously with
digital media, they learn about.
They're users very quickly.
We all know this when we go tocertain platforms with social media.
(35:02):
And, I think I, I agree with you, postingnegative things that follows you, you
know, for as long as it's out there.
And, it's not necessarily helpful.
of course, in some cases, people live offthe attention, for commercial reasons,
so-called influencers who are, you know,every day selling products and making
(35:23):
tons of money, they need to be visible.
So it it's, something that we have tobe aware of and the negative impact.
And, and I see that as a, businessrecruiter, attracting talent.
There is so much informationout there from many people.
And, we just have to be awareevery day that that is the case.
(35:44):
And, it is a glass house.
It is a glass house.
And it also goes to dress.
And I tell these young ladies, I said,you gotta be very careful what you post.
That's gonna stay there for a long time.
And if you're trying to get a professionaljob risk assured these employers are
looking at all your social media.
Very important.
Lesson number 10, lesson,number 10, Alberto, here we are
(36:06):
be careful what you ask for.
And that goes back to my early days whenI was first starting the foundation.
You know, I assume that thesegrants were gonna be rolling
down like a mighty stream.
I thought that it was gonna happenthat every grant that I applied
for there was gonna be funding.
(36:28):
And that cost me.
My personal situation, my financialsituation you know, I was always broke
and that goes back to the other lessonsas to, you know, learn from others.
Mm-hmm, talk to others.
So I tell people, be careful what youask for cuz that might just come around.
(36:50):
But that goes to other things too, notnecessarily nonprofit, but because.
I'm in the nonprofit business.
I usually focus on that andit was a difficult journey.
I think I shared why it was a difficultjourney, a lot, a lot earlier, but I
can't stress enough is that, you know,you gotta be careful what you asked for.
And like I said, in my case,I wanted to start a nonprofit
(37:11):
without really having that.
Educational background of whata nonprofit was, but, you know,
learn, learn from my mistakes.
One day, I hope to write a bookand it's gonna be all my failures
and the obstacles that I overcome,and it's gonna be a teaching tool.
I do talk to a lot of peopleand I do tell 'em where you're
gonna start a no nonprofit learnfrom my faults and I share.
(37:32):
Tons of faults all themistakes that I made
well, you're, you're veryhumble and I, I appreciate that.
Of course I do.
At the same time, youhave been very successful.
Yeah.
And, and right.
And so I, I hear the obstaclesthat you had to deal with.
Throughout your life, the lessonsthat you have learned and, shared with
(37:52):
our audience, and at the same time, Ithink it's fair to say you should be
very proud of what you have done andthe community should be very thankful
for the work that you have doneconsistently your whole life and dealing
with the obstacles at the same time.
It just makes it more, more relevant.
I do wanna ask you.
(38:13):
Another question though, beforewe close the program, are there
any lessons or maybe I should say,is there a lesson in life in your
career that you have unlearnedthat you decided that is not good?
I gotta do it differently.
As I gotten older and more mature,I would say if I can talk to a
(38:35):
younger Alberto at age 29, I wouldshare my experience at late fifties.
I would say not be so concerned ofwhere I will be in the, in the future,
but rather where I am today, I gave40 years of my life to the community
and I have served the community well.
(38:55):
I walked hundreds of milesalongside the community and
protests of injustices everywhere.
I provided qualityservices to the community.
I spent close to $100,000 ofearnings to keep the organization
afloat in the beginning.
And I even survived prostate cancer.
However, I never complained because Iwas, I always believed I was an instrument
(39:18):
of the Lord as I have grown older.
I now want to think.
Of me and the now and be happyfor whatever years I have left.
I am sure that the community willunderstand the community will always be in
my heart as I am, as I am the community.
I am nothing without the community,but I think that's what I would share
(39:42):
with the younger Alberto is, notbe so consumed about the future.
Take care of yourself.
Now you overcame prostate cancer.
You overcame a lot of difficultiesand you've been a big success.
Never forget that everywhereyou've gone, you've succeeded.
And that's what I wouldtell a young Alberto.
(40:04):
I like it.
I like it a lot.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for joining us today, muchas,muchas gracias and thank you for sharing
your wisdoms with our global audience.
I wanna make a few closing comments.
You have been listening tothe international program 10
lessons learned this episodeis produced by Robert Hossary.
(40:25):
And as always, we are supported bythe Professional Development Forum.
Our guest today is Alberto Esparza, avery successful servant leader, providing
educational opportunities for youngpeople in underserved communities,
sharing his 10 lessons learned.
And to our audience, don't forgetto leave as a review or a comment.
(40:46):
You can also email us atpodcast@10lessonslearned.com
that is podcast at number10, 1 0 lessons learned.com.
I hope you will subscribe so thatyou don't miss any future episodes.
And remember, this is a podcastthat makes the world wiser
and wiser lesson by lesson.
(41:08):
Muchas Garcias Hasta la Vista.
Thank you.
And stay safe.
Throughout my journey.
I had failed big time
but what kept me going was, mymotivation to serve the community.
and my motivation to never give itup no matter how difficult it was.
And, and I remind people,this is your journey.
Nobody cares about yourjourney, but you, yeah.
(00:20):
So you have to make a decision.
If this, something that you want, thenyou gotta be able to overcome those
obstacles and you gotta keep, keep at it.
Eventually you'll have success.
Hello, and welcome to our program.
10 lessons learned where we talkto business people, journalists,
professors, ambassadors, leaders, andluminaries from all over the world.
(00:45):
My name is Siebe Van DerZee, and I'm your host.
I'm originally from the Netherlands.
Happily residing in thebeautiful grand canyon state of
Arizona in the United States.
I'm also known as theDutchman in the desert.
I want to thank our affiliate partner.
Audible audible is an amazing wayto experience 10 lessons learned,
(01:07):
but also books and other, podcast,allowing you to build a library
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That is audible trial.com.
One zero lessons learned all lowercaseto get your free 30 day trial.
(01:34):
Our guest today is Alberto Esparza.
Alberto has served as thefounder and president of Si Se
Puede Foundation for 28 years.
The mission of the Si Se Puede Foundation,it stands for "Yes, You Can" is to
provide opportunities for underservedyoung people and to develop an interest
and proficiency in STEM, science,technology, engineering, and math,
(01:57):
Alberto quote, unquote retired last year.
To start his latest nonprofit, the IRise Foundation dedicated to provide
underserved and underrepresentedstudents an opportunity to
consider STEM as a career choice.
Again, very valuable.
You can learn more about Alberto Esparzaon our website, 10 lessons learned.com.
(02:23):
Buenas dias.
Alberto, how are you?
Thank you for joining us.
Good morning Siebe.
It's a pleasure to be on your platform.
And I look forward to the dialogue.
Thank you very much.
Absolutely.
I am so curious in, in the workthat you have done and I see a
beautiful picture behind you, oflooks like young girls playing soccer.
What is your, your interest and,and commitments to doing this?
(02:48):
Helping young people in underservedcommunities for now 30 years,
where is that coming from?
That's basically comingfrom where I grew up.
I grew up in a impoverished area, a lotof gang activity and gang violence, but
had a beautiful grandmother who raisedme very well, always taught me from right
from wrong and wanted me to serve othersbecause I saw how she served others.
(03:12):
She was about like 95 yearsold before she passed.
And I recall her going into theneighborhoods and making sure that, you
know, the homeless had something to eat.
And I saw that on a basis.
And we went to church every day, sevendays a week, we would walk two miles from
her home to church on a regular basis.
So she was my role model andshe meant the world to me.
(03:36):
So she taught me well.
Wonderful, wonderful.
The I Rise Foundation.
Please explain the purpose and again,the work that the foundation is doing
okay.
A couple of years agoI had prostate cancer.
So I was very ill and thatled to my decision to retire
from Si Se Puede Foundation.
When the doctor gave me the greenlight to go ahead and go back into
(03:57):
the community, I really wasn'tgonna go back into the community.
It was the communitythat was calling me up.
They wanted me to go back anddeliver soccer and deliver all the
programs that I used to deliver.
And it was a very easy decisionbecause I was at home not
doing anything crying lonely.
And I said, you know what?
I really gotta get back to the communitybecause I needed the community.
(04:20):
More than the community needed me.
So I started I Rise, but I wantedto do something very unique.
I wanted to focus on thenative American students.
And so in the past I workwith, Skyline Gila River.
Saint Peter Indian MissionSchool, The Boys & Girls Club
in the Sacaton, which are.
Predominantly native America andit was the best decision I made.
(04:42):
So I'm currently delivering thoseprograms, but I'm still in Chandler.
I'm in Chandler because I have awonderful school district, the Chandler
unified school district, withoutthem, I'm a nonprofit and search of
the Chandler unified school district.
So they have been really goodto meet these past years.
So, I want to continue toserve the Latino community, but
also expand my services to thenative American communities.
(05:04):
Very powerful indeed.
And helping young people by giving themopportunities and access to opportunities
and doing it in a way that they enjoy.
Right.
Because again, if I think about,the activities that you organize.
It's fun.
It's enjoyable.
And of course these youngpeople, they benefit from it.
(05:26):
That must, that must make youfeel good doing that for 30
years and living that life,
you know, throughout thepresentation, you're gonna hear
me discuss relationship building.
And one of the things that I did isthe first lesson that we're gonna
talk about is relationship building.
I never assumed what the community wanted.
I always built in no matter whatprogram stakeholders I built these
(05:51):
committees to let the communityexplain to me what they wanted.
So a lot of the programs that Ihave are really as a result of what
the community needs, the soccerprogram is, really, really growing.
I think this year we'regonna have close to 600.
Kids involved in our program.
It runs from September, goesall the way through May.
(06:11):
The beauty of this program isrun by the parents and is run
by our high school students.
And we have no money, butwhen you go out there to those
fields, everybody has a uniform.
We got referees, our parentsare background checked.
It runs pretty smooth.
A lot of people ask me,well, how do you do it?
It's pretty easy.
(06:32):
It's because I'm engaged in the community.
The community has told me whatprograms they wanted and that's the
reason why I've been successful.
Before that I used to assumewhat the community wanted.
And that was a big mistake.
So these programs are offered basedon what the community needs are.
Fascinating.
And at the same time, I recognizethat you have to already
(06:54):
moved to lesson number one.
Sure.
Don't assume you know howto engage the community.
That is our lesson number one today.
But I want to go one stepback if you don't mind.
Sure.
Because I know you talk aboutthe work that you're doing and
that's what we want to hear.
And the wisdom that youhave learned from that.
But just, let's say to startout, what kind of lesson would
(07:19):
you like to teach yourself?
If you would be 30 years old today?
What have you learned that you wouldlike to have learned a few years ago?
Well, when I first got into thenonprofit organizations, I didn't
really know what the nonprofit was.
I didn't know what, you know, astrategic planning was, I didn't
know, board development, I didn'tknow even know how to write a grant.
(07:43):
So I took the bull by thehorns and started a nonprofit
without really knowing.
I was pretty good in the community.
But I was pretty bad in termsof the business aspect of it.
So if I could tell a youngAlberto, the 30 years ago is to
take some classes on nonprofit.
I believe at the time they were offeringthat at Arizona state university, I
(08:05):
looked into it, but I never followed up.
So a lot of the experience Igained was because of failures.
But if I can go back,I would sit down with.
Young Alberto basically said, Hey,if you're gonna start this nonprofit,
it's gonna be a difficult journey.
My suggestion to you would take acouple classes, learn, everything
that you can learn about, grantwriting, which really killed me.
(08:28):
I didn't have a clue.
My first grant was written in pencil.
written in pencil, and I recallthat I submitted it to the
valley of the sun United way.
And basically it was a difficult,the conversation between the
valley of United way and myself.
But it was a horrible grant.
(08:50):
And I knew that I was not gonnaget it, but I would sit down with
Alberto and say, you know what,you're gonna create this nonprofit.
You have all the experience inthe community, but my suggestion
would be take a couple of classes,take a deep breath, ask a lot of
questions, go visit other nonprofits.
Other CEOs, know what you're getting into.
And that's what I wouldtell Alberto Esparza.
(09:12):
Know what you're getting into.
I like it.
Good point.
So we talked about lessonnumber one, don't assume you
know how to engage a community.
Lesson number two,don't be afraid to fail.
Throughout my journey.
I had failed big time and.
it is re a direct result thatI didn't have any experience
(09:33):
in the nonprofit world.
Mm-hmm . I had an idea that Iwanted to serve the community.
Great idea.
You have to understand that alot of nonprofits are started by
somebody in the community who reallydoesn't have that business sense.
But one of the things that I learnedand a teacher when I was in the sixth
(09:53):
grade, she taught me how to goal set.
and she taught me how to setgoals, minimum goals, medium
and goals, and long term goals.
And I remember that.
So when I started the foundation, Istarted to set those type of goals.
But my teacher reminded me that I was notgonna accomplish all the goals that I set.
(10:13):
Nobody does.
So it was important is going after them.
And it wasn't the material thingsthat was important, but your
journey in pursuit of your goals.
And she said, because you're goalsetting, it's gonna make you a better
professional, but more importantly,A better human being goals.
Keep you focused.
It gives you a sense of purpose.
(10:35):
And I truly believe I tell young peoplebecause they all want to start nonprofits.
And I said, learn how to set goals.
That's gonna be very important.
And that's what I've done throughoutmy career was set the small goals
that are gonna give me immediatesuccess and then build upon that.
And.
I think I've become anexpert in goal setting.
Now when it comes to failure,yes don't give up, keep going.
(10:59):
But let's face it.
The reality of failure, canbe very, very tough.
Right.
We can think of, of several situations,but it could be on the financial side.
Yeah.
Keep going, wait a minute.
I don't have any money.
So, how do you teach easy question,hard answer, but how do you teach
someone to overcome failure?
(11:20):
How do you motivate them tosay do it again, keep going?
Many of these nonprofits are startedby somebody in the community that
doesn't have the business sense, butwhat separates them from others is
their passion and their motivation.
And.
That helps you throughout your journeywhen I didn't have any funding,
(11:42):
you know, there was one period.
And I'm gonna talk about that.
I believe in the mid nineties, Iwas sleeping in a vacant office.
I didn't have a vehicle.
I was walking from school districtto school district to deliver my
programs and I could have easily quit.
As a matter of fact, I woke up that earlymorning wanting to quit and get away
(12:04):
from nonprofit cuz I fell out alone.
But what kept me going was, mymotivation to serve the community.
and my motivation to never give itup no matter how difficult it was.
And, and I remind people,this is your journey.
Nobody cares about yourjourney, but you, yeah.
So you have to make a decision.
(12:25):
If this, something that you want, thenyou gotta be able to overcome those
obstacles and you gotta keep, keep at it.
Eventually you'll have success.
And that's been my philosophy.
You, you mentioned the passion.
It's important perhaps as a mentor tohave the passion to guide individuals
(12:45):
and then the individuals, each individualby him or herself, they have to light
that fire and say, yes, I can do that.
They have to feel right.
And you have to in a way,help them get to that point.
You know, one thing that I liketo mention is that, years into
the foundation and my struggle.
(13:06):
I was adopted by a group ofSocial Venture Partners, Arizona.
They're a nonprofit organization inArizona, and I think they're nationally
loan that adopts five nonprofits per year.
And they reached out to me howthey found me Siebe, I have
no idea what they found me.
And they met with me.
They took me to dinner and they wanted meto come into the organization so that they
(13:32):
can give me the tools to be successful.
And I don't want to forget them becausethey were very instrumental in my success.
They gave me board training.
They helped me with my grants.
They were able to get me a CPA.
So, I believe that occurred in 1998.
(13:52):
Without them I would nothave had the success.
So, when you're doing good.
People will take notice I was doinggood and people were noticing because
I was getting a lot of calls forfolks who wanted to come into the
organization and see how I was doing this.
Back in 1998, I really didn't knowif I wanted to continue to be a
(14:12):
nonprofit, but when Social VenturePartners, Arizona brought me in and
I'm asking everybody to look them upbecause they've been phenomenal to me.
So they provided the expertisethat I needed to go forward.
Yeah, well, let's goto lesson number three.
Leadership is defined by thecommunity and I'm kind of curious.
You're gonna explain it.
(14:33):
No doubt.
What do you mean with the community?
Well, I'm focusing on the Latinocommunity because that's all
I've known throughout my career.
The Latino community is very fickle.
They're very careful onwhom they're going to.
Bessow the term leader.
A lot of these folks come from Mexicoor other Spanish speaking countries.
(14:56):
And there's a lot of, fraud within thepolitical systems where they're at.
So they see leaders in a differentlight when they come to America.
So, leadership is relationship buildingand I am an expert in relationship.
And I'm a leader that have walked besidethe community as opposed to have led
(15:20):
from above I have supported the communitywhen there's been in social injustices.
So I have marched alongsidethem for hundreds of miles.
And I think the community,when they see that.
They see how you respond to communities?
A few years back, I had a calland this is gonna define where
(15:42):
my leadership comes from.
I had a call from a parent at 2:00 AMin the morning, and, you know, Siebe
every time you get a call at 2:00 AMin the morning, you know, something
has happened that is not good.
Yeah.
And on the other line wasapparent crying profusely.
She had told me that one ofthat, one of her sons was gunned
down by a drive-by shooting.
(16:04):
Hmm.
I listened to her for about fiveminutes as she was in tears.
And after she stopped crying, Itold her, give me your address.
I'll be over there withina half hour to an hour.
When I went.
I told the parents that I would help themwith the funeral expenses right away.
(16:25):
I got the community engagement.
I said, this, this was the only child.
Of these two parents and the communityreally supported these efforts.
We were able to do that.
And not only that is that I was ableto provide food because I know that
they had a lot of people who werecoming in from different countries
(16:45):
to come in and to pay their respects.
So that's what it is when thecommunity sees that you're
willing to go above and beyond.
That's when you got the community.
I know other leaders thatreally don't do that engagement.
As a matter of fact, the NAACPabout 15 years ago, when they had
their annual dinner, they talkedabout returning to the community
(17:08):
that they have left the community.
I've never left the community.
I teach English as a second language.
I I'm in there in the soccer.
I'm there in the dance programs.
I was there for the scholars.
I was there at wedding.
Funerals.
And that's where your leadership comes up.
How engaged are you?
Relationship building.
(17:28):
They'll never forget that.
And today I'm very lucky that I have.
The community to support.
I don't have to distributeflyers for my program.
They know where I am.
They go on Facebook.
These programs are great because Ihave an opportunity to meet parents and
children in the morning and the afternoonafter every game, after every program.
(17:49):
And we talk about, you know,what issues they're having and
what problems that I can solve.
I have a question.
I have a question.
When you deal with native Americancommunities, of course, they're
different than Latino communities,building relationships with young people
and their parents and their leaders.
(18:12):
How would you describe that?
initially it wasn't too positive.
There's a lot of history between thenative American and the United States.
One of the things that they haven'tforgotten is how they've been
treated during the trail of tears.
When president Jackson forced thenative Americans to walk miles
(18:35):
and miles and miles, hundredsof miles, a lot of the native
Americans died during their journey.
It's very difficult, but I havebeen in the native American
community for five years.
They have seen me provide these services.
I'm able to talk to them.
We hosted underwater thecompetition in May, 2022.
(19:00):
And we invited the nativeAmerican communities.
And I was so happy thata lot of parents came in.
A lot of kids, theyparticipated, I provided food.
I listened to them.
I talked to them, I shook theirhands that's relationship building.
You gotta be able to do that.
I see other CEOs who don't do that.
I appreciate you.
You bring this up.
(19:21):
because it's, something that sometimesis can we say overlooked underestimated.
Exactly.
But is it is of extreme value toshow the respect for native American
cultures and in the work that youdo, you experience that and, and
I I'm glad you mentioned that.
so thank you for that.
I want to move on to lesson numberfour, you have already touched on
(19:44):
some of that, lesson number four.
Set goals.
well, my question would be, how doyou measure, do you measure goals?
It's one thing to set them,but at some point you say,
did we meet the goals or not?
Is that something that you include?
Yeah, it's very basic.
That's not rocket science.
(20:04):
I set goals.
Maybe I'm going to develop a new programthat the, that the community is asking for
and I'm engaged throughout their process.
From the beginning of the dialogue, towhen the programs are delivered, until
the end, I ask a lot of questions.
I ask the community, arewe meeting your needs?
What can we do differently?
(20:25):
And again, that goes back torelationship building and engagement.
The community wants their leaders.
To be engaged with them tonot be afraid to talk to them.
So I measure a success based on the numberof students or the number of participants
who are involved in our programs.
And I measure the successbecause I do a pre and post test.
(20:49):
Yeah.
I wanna get an idea how they feelabout this class and at the end,
what they felt that we could dobetter or what they didn't like.
They liked that.
And these committees that I have created.
Give them them opportunity and theylove it because, I really believe that,
they like to tell me what they like.
(21:09):
And, I take on that role.
I never get offended by that.
Because I know who I'm working with.
And I know that's imperative that I dothat to develop these relationships.
it creates a level of ownership, right?
When they are asked to give their opinionsand people are included, they feel they
are part of it and they are part of it.
(21:30):
Yes.
And I had to make a quick comment,cuz I know I speaking a lot, but Dr.
King said.
He said, if you build a communityand you fail to include a certain
segment of that community, thosewho feel excluded will unconsciously
destroy everything that you built.
And I remember that quote,and I tried to follow what Dr.
(21:53):
King was doing during the sixties.
He was great at it, gettingthe community engagement.
He was out there.
so.
Getting them involved and making thembecome stakeholders is very important.
So when we have strategicplanning, we invite the community
as well to give their input.
Yeah, inclusive.
I, I like it very much.
Lesson number five, be willingto learn lessons from others.
(22:14):
ha have you had a mentor inyour life or did you really
have to figure it out yourself?
One of the big mistakes thatI made is that I thought I
knew everything going into it.
you know, I mean, that was a big mistake.
I mean, I had graduated with amaster's degree in education.
I had sat on one of the largest boards inthe state of Arizona, maybe in the country
(22:37):
at Chicanos Por La Causa and I oh sure.
Would be able to emulate that.
But I.
I was always willing to learn.
When I started to fail here andthere, I began to open myself and
make myself available to learn.
I reached out to other CEOs again,Social Venture Partners of Arizona
really helped me tremendously.
(22:58):
They brought me in they taught meso much that I had gained a lot of
knowledge and that basically helpedme out and I was able to move forward.
Sure.
Sure.
We're talking today with Alberto Esparza,a very successful servant leader,
providing educational opportunities foryoung people in underserved communities,
(23:18):
sharing his 10 lessons learned.
We're moving up.
Lesson number six, you have beenso positive in everything you said.
And here you say, embracenegativity, embrace negativity.
Curious what you mean with
that?
Okay.
Throughout my journey.
I had a lot of naysayers.
I never call 'em haters.
Young people today would call 'em haters.
(23:39):
I, that was a little bit too strong.
So I had naysayers, I had aspeech impediment going in
and I stuttered profusely.
I had to go get some classes.
Because I realized that as a CEO, you needto be able to articulate your message.
So I was able to do that, but a lotof people, they pointed at me and said
that I was not gonna be successful.
(24:01):
Even family members Siebe, theywould tell me, I don't think
you're gonna be able to do it.
You don't have the business background.
You're gonna fold.
And what I tell young peopletoday is embrace negativity.
Use that as a source ofmotivation and inspiration.
Someone's opinion ofyou is not your reality.
And that's what I havemaintained throughout my career.
(24:24):
you know, it was verydifficult at the beginning.
But you just gotta keep going forward.
If this is your passion, this is what youwant to do throughout your career then you
gotta be able to embrace it, let it go.
Don't think about it.
Just use that asmotivation and inspiration.
This is what I teach to youngpeople today is someone's opinion
(24:44):
of you is not your reality.
Those people who point at you andsay, you're not gonna do this.
They're gonna be silence.
Beginning today.
You mentioned passion before and I can seethat that is a, a key driving force in who
you are dealing with adversity, helpingpeople that are dealing with adversity.
(25:05):
I'm curious, is there a rolemodel and you mentioned, Dr.
King, but I think also earlieryou referred to your grandmother.
And to have someone that perhapsreminds you from time to time, even
though you have to do it, who would youperhaps, if I can ask you, who would
you pick as, as that particular person?
(25:27):
Growing up?
It was my grandma.
she adopted me, sheraised me from a infant.
Until her passing.
When I was, I believe, age 22,a very humble grandma, always
doing things in the community.
I would see her in the kitchen Siebemaking a pot of beans, making burritos,
(25:49):
making red chili and making sure thatthe homeless near where we live,
she was out there providing food.
And she used to do that on a tray.
I mean, these homeless peoplewere getting their food served
on a tray, glass, making surethat she come back with dessert.
She was very inspirational.
(26:09):
So when I was 12 years old, I triedto raise money in my community.
I did a carnival and wehad a lot of games and I was
raising money for the homeless.
And we had quite a bitof kids come out there.
And so I started to learn whereI really learned was when I
(26:33):
got into the community college.
And I joined a club called MEChA andthat's where I learned social activism.
They were very active during that time.
And, , as a young lad, I, I mean, I readall, everything that you can possibly
read about Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
And I still know all hisspeeches today, so, but I think
(26:53):
it started with my grandma.
She was a great role model to me.
We didn't have a lot.
But man, I loved her even.
I, I mean, I think about her every timeI see homeless and what she would do to
help out the homeless and her community.
So she was my role model for sure.
Yeah.
Important.
And I appreciate you share that.
Lesson number seven.
Seek out a higher power.
(27:14):
I think I know what you'retalking about, but please explain.
In the, in the late 1990s, Ihad exhausted all my savings.
I was flat broke.
I didn't have a vehicle.
I was picking up some bottles andcans just to kind of, buy lunch
and a person in the communityallowed me to use their office.
(27:35):
They didn't have anywindows and it was vacant.
And I recall sometime in Novemberit was pretty, pretty cool cold,
and I was sleeping on the floor.
True story.
And I woke up about three o'clockand, I wasn't, I was ready to quit.
I was angry at God.
I didn't wanna talk to God anymore.
I didn't wanna pray because I feltthat he let me down that I was
(27:58):
doing his will, but I didn't seeany intervention from his end.
That night I had a dream because I wasreading, a poetry about God and how
God was always behind folks when theydidn't realize that he wasn't there.
And I had a dream that he, he told me.
You were never alone.
(28:19):
I was always there.
So that got to me andbut I was really angry.
I mean, I was all alone from 1993 to 1998.
I exhausted, I don't know, closeto a hundred thousand dollars
that I would never get back.
And.
I felt that I was a failure at thattime and, time goes so quick Siebe.
(28:42):
And so, but then I realizedthat, you know, he was behind
me throughout this period.
And.
I apologized to him and we had a chatand I told him that I was ready to go
and continue to do his work, but thatwas one of the most difficult periods
of my life is having no friends.
There's nobody to talk to when you'relaw alone and you don't have any money.
(29:05):
And but I'm grateful that the communityknew who I was and made sure that I
had some burittos or this and that.
And when you have no car, you'repretty much stuck where you're at.
And, I never shared that with anybody.
This is the first time that I'msharing this on your podcast.
Wow.
Well, I, I think it's, it's inspirationalfor many people, people that are
(29:26):
going through rough times and thereare, as we both know many people all
over the world that deal with that.
But I'm also thinking again ofyounger people that go through tough
stages also in their minds, they'redealing with adversity or sometimes
opportunities and, how to find theguidance, wherever that comes from.
(29:48):
And it could be a family member.
It could be someone's religion, butwe all need that kind of assistance.
And that's what you're talking about.
Seek out a higher power,
Lesson number eight.
It's never personal.
And my comment would be really?
(30:09):
That's a good question.
As I got older, I learnedthat it's not personal.
When I was younger,everything was personal.
I took it to heart.
I was always angry, but then itcomes to the time where you grow up.
And you said, if you take things personal,you're never gonna get things done.
You're Harbor, these illfeelings against folks.
I made a commitment that I was gonnainsulate myself from everybody, who
(30:32):
was negative or criticized others.
And I told, I tell people today is.
Be careful what you say, what you do,how you speak and what you write because
social media today will catch up to you.
Absolutely.
I made that a promise that I wasjust going to not worry about that.
(30:56):
And.
Try my best, not to be critical becauseif I'm critical for others, they're
gonna come back and find my faults.
And I never wanted that to happen.
Now.
I'm with you when you saydon't take it personal.
That's very important.
On the other hand, Are you also advisingsomeone not to, consider it personal?
(31:19):
I'm thinking of someone that, you know,for example, in traffic gets upset with
me for what I did in traffic , and weboth know, they can be quite expressive.
Don't you take it personal?
No, I keep driving at the same time.
Maybe it was meant personal.
no, that's a good comment becauseI don't even take in personal,
(31:42):
in those situations because Inever know what the other person.
Has in his vehicle, I'malways in, in today's world.
In today's news, you see alot of bad things that can
happen when you're take it.
Oh yeah.
When you get off your car andyou confront someone, I let
things go and just move forward.
(32:03):
But again, you're talking about a more.
Older person I'm more mature.
There's been through the, the ringerat an early age, and I decided that
I was not gonna be consumed by that,that I was just gonna move forward.
But I've been in some tough situationswhere I decided, well, I'm just
gonna leave this situation andmove on and I'll think about it.
(32:24):
It's really easy because I'm moremature and I've been through a
lot earlier and I don't want tocontinue to Harbor on that anymore.
It's a great point.
And that's exactly what wewant to share with people.
Not that we expect that a lot of peoplethat are aggressive, our currently
listening to our conversation, but.
It is a good reminder that weshouldn't take things personal, and,
(32:47):
you know, take some, some space.
And some time, sometimes before respondingto whatever it may be, including social
media or politics, anywhere in the world.
Right.
It's quite negative.
And we have to find a way to,create a balance and live with it.
But.
It goes into lesson number, nine Alberto.
Lersson number nine.
(33:07):
We live in a glass house.
Where do you take that conversation?
What is that all about?
Well, that goes back to social media.
That goes back to negative thinking thatgoes back to, to criticizing others.
Because, you know, if you believe you haveno faults, people are quick to find faults
and they'll post that no matter where,but I tell these young people, especially
(33:29):
these young people who are on the socialmedia and they say what they wanna say.
And they don't realize that that'sgonna come back to, to haunt them.
I deal with a lot of young engineersand I tell them is that you better best
believe that your potential employersare looking at whatever you post.
And I tell them constantly whatever youpost, no matter what your email address
(33:53):
be very careful, cuz I've seen someemail addresses that are very risque.
And these are potential engineers.
So I have to sit downand say, you know what?
You live in a glass house and peopleare always looking in there and
they're always trying to find faultand that, and that is gonna cost you
whether or not a career or that isgonna cost you something, your family.
And so I think that we have to learnthat is that we do live in a glass
(34:17):
house and being a community leader.
You know, I'm always mindful of that.
I'm always mindful orwhere I go, who I talk to.
and again, I never post anything negativeto hurt others, even if I don't agree.
I do call people up.
We can agree to disagree, but I liketalking to people and people who
(34:38):
know me, know exactly what I meanis that I would always call 'em up.
But just be careful what you do.
It's gonna be not.
It cannot be emphasized enough,I think because, obviously with
digital media, they learn about.
They're users very quickly.
We all know this when we go tocertain platforms with social media.
(35:02):
And, I think I, I agree with you, postingnegative things that follows you, you
know, for as long as it's out there.
And, it's not necessarily helpful.
of course, in some cases, people live offthe attention, for commercial reasons,
so-called influencers who are, you know,every day selling products and making
(35:23):
tons of money, they need to be visible.
So it it's, something that we have tobe aware of and the negative impact.
And, and I see that as a, businessrecruiter, attracting talent.
There is so much informationout there from many people.
And, we just have to be awareevery day that that is the case.
(35:44):
And, it is a glass house.
It is a glass house.
And it also goes to dress.
And I tell these young ladies, I said,you gotta be very careful what you post.
That's gonna stay there for a long time.
And if you're trying to get a professionaljob risk assured these employers are
looking at all your social media.
Very important.
Lesson number 10, lesson,number 10, Alberto, here we are
(36:06):
be careful what you ask for.
And that goes back to my early days whenI was first starting the foundation.
You know, I assume that thesegrants were gonna be rolling
down like a mighty stream.
I thought that it was gonna happenthat every grant that I applied
for there was gonna be funding.
(36:28):
And that cost me.
My personal situation, my financialsituation you know, I was always broke
and that goes back to the other lessonsas to, you know, learn from others.
Mm-hmm, talk to others.
So I tell people, be careful what youask for cuz that might just come around.
(36:50):
But that goes to other things too, notnecessarily nonprofit, but because.
I'm in the nonprofit business.
I usually focus on that andit was a difficult journey.
I think I shared why it was a difficultjourney, a lot, a lot earlier, but I
can't stress enough is that, you know,you gotta be careful what you asked for.
And like I said, in my case,I wanted to start a nonprofit
(37:11):
without really having that.
Educational background of whata nonprofit was, but, you know,
learn, learn from my mistakes.
One day, I hope to write a bookand it's gonna be all my failures
and the obstacles that I overcome,and it's gonna be a teaching tool.
I do talk to a lot of peopleand I do tell 'em where you're
gonna start a no nonprofit learnfrom my faults and I share.
(37:32):
Tons of faults all themistakes that I made
well, you're, you're veryhumble and I, I appreciate that.
Of course I do.
At the same time, youhave been very successful.
Yeah.
And, and right.
And so I, I hear the obstaclesthat you had to deal with.
Throughout your life, the lessonsthat you have learned and, shared with
(37:52):
our audience, and at the same time, Ithink it's fair to say you should be
very proud of what you have done andthe community should be very thankful
for the work that you have doneconsistently your whole life and dealing
with the obstacles at the same time.
It just makes it more, more relevant.
I do wanna ask you.
(38:13):
Another question though, beforewe close the program, are there
any lessons or maybe I should say,is there a lesson in life in your
career that you have unlearnedthat you decided that is not good?
I gotta do it differently.
As I gotten older and more mature,I would say if I can talk to a
(38:35):
younger Alberto at age 29, I wouldshare my experience at late fifties.
I would say not be so concerned ofwhere I will be in the, in the future,
but rather where I am today, I gave40 years of my life to the community
and I have served the community well.
(38:55):
I walked hundreds of milesalongside the community and
protests of injustices everywhere.
I provided qualityservices to the community.
I spent close to $100,000 ofearnings to keep the organization
afloat in the beginning.
And I even survived prostate cancer.
However, I never complained because Iwas, I always believed I was an instrument
(39:18):
of the Lord as I have grown older.
I now want to think.
Of me and the now and be happyfor whatever years I have left.
I am sure that the community willunderstand the community will always be in
my heart as I am, as I am the community.
I am nothing without the community,but I think that's what I would share
(39:42):
with the younger Alberto is, notbe so consumed about the future.
Take care of yourself.
Now you overcame prostate cancer.
You overcame a lot of difficultiesand you've been a big success.
Never forget that everywhereyou've gone, you've succeeded.
And that's what I wouldtell a young Alberto.
(40:04):
I like it.
I like it a lot.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for joining us today, muchas,muchas gracias and thank you for sharing
your wisdoms with our global audience.
I wanna make a few closing comments.
You have been listening tothe international program 10
lessons learned this episodeis produced by Robert Hossary.
(40:25):
And as always, we are supported bythe Professional Development Forum.
Our guest today is Alberto Esparza, avery successful servant leader, providing
educational opportunities for youngpeople in underserved communities,
sharing his 10 lessons learned.
And to our audience, don't forgetto leave as a review or a comment.
(40:46):
You can also email us atpodcast@10lessonslearned.com
that is podcast at number10, 1 0 lessons learned.com.
I hope you will subscribe so thatyou don't miss any future episodes.
And remember, this is a podcastthat makes the world wiser
and wiser lesson by lesson.
(41:08):
Muchas Garcias Hasta la Vista.
Thank you.
And stay safe.
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