March 15, 2024 • 53 mins
Imagine enduring half a decade in captivity, with only your wits and resilience to keep you company in the depths of a Venezuelan dungeon as a hostage. On today's show, I sit down with Jose Pereira, who not only survived this ordeal but has transformed his harrowing tale into a beacon of hope for anyone grappling with their own trials. Through his story, which he has now passionately captured in a book, we learn the true meaning of human endurance and the incredible strength of hope.
You'll be gripped by the routines and emotional lifelines that sustained Jose—a sanctuary of reading and writing, the steadfast support from his family, and the camaraderie that blossomed despite dire circumstances. We journey with him from that fateful day of his abduction to the emotional reunion with his colleagues and the life-altering impact of a single phone call home. This conversation with Jose serves as a powerful reminder of our innate capacity to overcome even the most unimaginable challenges.
But Jose's experience extends beyond his own survival; it's a call to action for each of us to reflect on our inner strength. Join us as we explore the broader implications for families in crisis, the resilience showcased by Jose's wife in her relentless pursuit of his freedom, and the way their son provided support in a time of great need. As Coach Mikki, I'm honored to bring you this profound conversation, laying bare the transformative potential of hardship and the journey of using one’s own experiences to empower others.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, I'm Coach Mickey .
I'm so glad that you've joinedus and if this is your first
time joining us, come on in andmake yourself comfortable.
For those of you that join uson a regular basis, I am so glad
that you do.
Thank you so much for alwayssupporting all of our guests.
I know they love hearing fromyou and I appreciate always your
comments, your questions andyour suggestions of guests to
(00:20):
have on.
And today, you know, as youalways know, I'm always excited
for every one of my guests, buttoday is a little bit more
special.
Not that everybody isn'tspecial, but they are.
But today's story is going tonot only touch your heart, but
it's going to inspire you,empower you, and when I had an
opportunity to reach out to thisgentleman and have him share
(00:44):
his story, it's just somethingthat is just going to fill your
heart.
I'll tell you a little bitabout him.
He was held hostage back in2017.
Now he has taken his situationand he uses it to focus and be
an advocate to support otherhostage families and other
people that maybe have gonethrough this similar type of
(01:06):
nightmare.
He is a speaker, he isinspiring, he is a wonderful
person.
I'm looking forward to havinghim share his story and have you
identify with him and learn howto get over any obstacle that
you can deal with.
Thank you so much for joiningme today.
Jose Pereira, how are you?
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Hello, hello, mickey, thank you for having me in your
wonderful program.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Well, I'm going to let you jump right in and start
with your story, because this isall about you and you have got
such incredible information andinsight, so I'm going to let you
jump right in.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Basically, my story begins in November 2017.
I went through this hostagesituation during the was in
November 2017.
I was here in Houston workingin the welding gas and I
received a phone call and itbecame a hostage situation,
(01:58):
unfortunately during five years.
So I went through thatsituation during five years and
well, that process went througha lot of things because we were
kind of a political pawns of thesituation that was happening in
that moment here in the US andwell, it really became to be a
(02:23):
dramatic situation and wedecided to overcome it and we
decided to do what today we are,that we are a coach, a
leadership and Brazilian coach,and I also begin to talk about
this situation.
So this is basically what I'mtoday doing and I'm a strong
advocate for the hostagecommunity here in the US too.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
So, may, if can we back up?
I want to start right from thebeginning, because this is
pretty I don't even know whatword to put on it, because I
can't even fathom the thoughtbeing taken as a hostage.
So if we could back up a littlebit to start from how the days
transpired and what happenedthat day, and then we can kind
of skip ahead for the otherthings.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Yeah, you know, I was working in the oil and gas here
in a company called CitgoPetrolin.
I was the CEO of that companyby that time and I received a
phone call in the middle of amovie in a Saturday and they
asked me to go to a meeting inCaracas.
And when I went to that meetingit became to be a settlement.
(03:27):
The meeting began to be asettlement because there were
having some issues between thatcountry, venezuela, and the US
and they took us as a politicalpawn.
We get caught in the crossfirebetween the geopolitics between
the US and Venezuela.
It was a big deal, but thatreally was a big deal because we
(03:48):
never thought that we could getcaught in the middle of the
situation and nobody neverthinking in this.
And that's why today I talkthat anything in your life, any
adversity in your life like thatappears and nobody's prepared,
nobody's never prepared.
So when this situation happened, the first thing that we did
(04:09):
was something wrong.
We begin to deny it because younever think you can get really
in a situation like this, but atsome point you had to take the
decision that how you decided toface these things.
So that's why I always talkthat you have to be focused in
the situation and see how whatreally is happening.
(04:29):
So we really, when we knew thatwe were in the middle of a
geopolitical thing because evenit went even worse because the
US ambassador was recalled afterfour months, so the situation
began to be very serious for us,and at some point, because we
were really at the beginning,isolated almost during one year,
(04:52):
at the end we decided tosurvive because we really wanted
to come back to our families.
So we created I call it like asurvivor plan, because after one
year we were six guys, so I wasmyself with my five top
executives.
(05:12):
So I was the president and thefive vice president, so we're
literally the board of a company.
So after one year they decidedto pull us together because the
pressure was being reallyserious and we created like a
survivor plan, and let me tellyou that's a very plan.
Today is the basis of what ismy coaching program.
(05:35):
My coaching program I createbased on that survivor plan.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Well, I mean the situation that you were in.
Like you said, you're throwninto something that you weren't
expecting and now you've got tobe able to reframe your mind and
take everything you have withinyou to be able to get you
through that situation, and I'massuming the accommodations
weren't exactly friendly whereyou were at.
You know to be able to dealwith this, just like anything
(06:01):
else that we deal with.
You're going to put yourself ina situation that may not be
exactly the perfect situation orplan, but what you went through
is even more extreme.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Well, let me tell you for your audience to understand
, we were placed in the worstdungeon, not only in Venezuela,
I believe, it's one of the worstdungeons in all these communist
regimes, because it's amilitary basement.
We were in a like a three storybasement down, three story down
(06:34):
, totally locked almost one yearwithout no communication.
The first year I didn't have nocommunication.
At some point I even lost thesense of the time because I had
that light 34, seven turn on andI didn't have no watch.
So I didn't know what they was.
So you begin to lost a sense oftime and nobody knew.
(07:00):
Even if I was there, I didn'tknew where my colleagues were
because I didn't know if theywere alive.
So can you imagine after oneyear seeing the face of the
people and then you hug, you cryand you get together.
So it was really extreme thefirst year, a really, really
extreme situation.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
How long were they?
You held hostage for?
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Five years, five years, so five years.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
You had to keep yourself mentally strong to get
through all this, to get back toyour family.
And now I got to ask you howdid the other four colleagues,
how did they deal with this?
Were they able to do the samething you were doing, or did you
have to have your moments?
Speaker 2 (07:44):
I really feel very proud because I'm not talking
about myself.
I believe all of that did agreat.
By the way, in December I livein Houston and December 27.
We received in December 23, Iemailed, the surprise that
because we were invited by themajor of Houston to go to a
meeting in December 27.
(08:05):
And when we went there we sawall our colleagues there and the
major gave up proclamation.
We were proclaimed by the cityof Houston for our courage, for
moral courage, and they createda CIGCO six day.
So now I have my own day here.
So I saw my colleagues that dayand I told them that I feel
(08:28):
very proud because all of us dida very great, because one of
the few things in the situationis we all were cheering the
other, all were supporting eachother Always, were always
talking about positive things tomaintain our mindset in that
way.
And we made it.
We created this plan that we,in a daily basis, were doing
(08:49):
things in a very comprehensiveway and we do it during years
and we came back in one piece.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Well, I mean you, you've definitely built a
camaraderie in a brotherhood.
I mean, going through anythinglike that is always going to
pull you together.
You know, not not only ascolleagues but human beings.
You know to be able to getthrough something so difficult
and I know I'm putting on thespot here.
But can you kind of because Iwant to lead up to why your
(09:18):
program is so valuable becausethe situation that you've been
through A lot of people say youknow, you hear about all the
time, oh, hostage.
But I don't think peopleunderstand the caliber, the
intensity of what it's like tobe taken as a hostage.
And I'm going to ask you, canyou, is it possible?
I mean, is it right to ask you?
(09:39):
Could you walk us through whata day was like each and every
day for you that you had to goThrough that, keep your mind
strong and what was happening?
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Yeah, when we created our survivor plan, let me tell
you we did.
We did things in a verystructured way.
We begin in the morning withour breakfast.
We were in a very tiny room,was on 100 square foot room.
It was a closet.
So we were with three bulk bed.
So we created a plan thateverybody could eat and we had a
(10:08):
very tiny table with one chair.
Everyone was sitting with thetable in the chair.
By the way, have the table oneyear after, because the first
year I was eating the floor, ok,so so sitting in the chair in
the table, eating with yourpiece, the other were in the bed
.
So we did that first.
Then we did exercise.
(10:28):
We begin to do yoga.
We begin to do meditation.
We begin to do static running.
We begin to do cardio, push up.
We were doing like all the dayon that.
We begin to read because by thattime we were allowed to have
books.
We had two or three hours readsession.
I begin to write because Ibegan to by that time, in the
(10:52):
first year.
After the first year, we wereallowed to get food from our
family.
So our family.
Can you imagine the logisticsending food from here to the US
, to Venezuela.
So my son had to move toColombia and then he began to
provide me the food fromColombia.
He was a nightmare of logisticbut they did it during years.
So that food that I receivedevery two, three days.
(11:16):
When I returned the trash cans,I smuggled letters there.
So I began to do that and Ikept doing it during three years
, smuggling letters.
I smuggled almost 1,000 lettersand that's the base of my book
that's gonna be out in the endof this month.
It's called From Hero toVillain the True Story of the
Zidgo 6, because it became likemy memoir.
(11:38):
So we began to do that.
We began to have fun, we beganto play domino and we began to
pray and read the Bible.
So all these things doing it ona daily basis, we created like
a routine.
It was like a daily routine ina daily basis.
We did that almost during fouryears and one day they opened
(12:02):
the door and say that we werereleased because we came back
through a prisoner swap and I'mat here.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Wow, that first year, though, being by yourself.
How did you keep yourselfstrong, going through all of
that?
Because I can see beingtogether with people that
definitely changed your mindset.
Having the ability to journalthat absolutely helps your
mindset.
And then having the routine,because that's what we kind of
thrive for anyway.
But that first year is the mostcrucial and probably the most
(12:34):
trying.
So what was it like in regard?
How did you keep yourselfstrong in that first year to be
able to get through that?
Speaker 2 (12:42):
You know, the first year unfortunately I didn't have
the opportunity to writebecause I was allowed to do it
after one year, but my firstletter because my letter was
like in pieces of paper, youknow I was writing what I was
feeling.
I was throwing all my memories.
When I came back and I began torevisit that because, as I said
(13:04):
, that became the basis of mybook I began to revisit that,
those first letter.
The first letter I remember wasreading December 30, 2018, one
year after I was there, becauseI arrived November 2017 and my
first letter was 13 months afterDecember 30, 2018.
That first letter, I was reallytalking about that first year
(13:31):
and when I went through that andI reminded my memory went to
that moment the first days werereally, really terrible.
I was having even suicidalthoughts.
I was thinking to take my lifebecause I felt that I was gonna
(13:52):
be left behind.
But for some reason and Ibelieve that they're part of
miracle of God I began to thinkin my family.
I began to think in my familyand one day I said you know what
, Jose, this is not gonna breakyou.
You had to make this becauseyou had people outside there
that love you and they'rewaiting for you.
(14:13):
And that made me change mymindset.
So I began every day.
I was all the day thinking, Oneyear, every day, thinking
because I didn't have no TV, noradio, no book, no left, nothing
, nothing.
I was alone, thinking, and Ibegan to think in my family and
(14:36):
thinking in that moment that Iwent through them.
I thinking in family trips andthinking in foods, thinking in
things, and that kept me sane.
And when I, as I said, when Isaw my colleagues after one year
, that of course was a gamechanger, Was a game changer
because now we were together,but I survived that year I heard
(14:58):
the voice of my wife after 10months.
The first time I heard hervoice was a one minute call
after 10 months.
One day they opened the doorand said Mr Pereira, you have
one minute to talk.
And when I got the phone, itwas her voice and she heard my
voice and said how are you?
I said, well, I'm alive.
(15:19):
And she told me well, we'refighting hard to bring you back.
So that's the first time Ilearned that they were really
fighting hard.
And they did it my wife, twotimes to the White House and
several times to the Congress,and she met with the old
officials from the formergovernment and the actual
government several times.
(15:39):
Several times.
They did a lot.
They even got together withanother 20 families in May 2021.
They created a movement calledthe Bringer Family Home Campaign
that today is one of thebiggest movement here in the US
and after I came, even I beganto advocate strongly for the
House to Community and I'm veryproud to say that this Saturday
(16:05):
was declared officially theHostel and Run for the Day, and
the flag that was created by allthe family was raised in the
White House in the Congress thislast Saturday.
So now it's official, officialday declared by the US
government Like a day, likethere is a day for the prisoner
(16:26):
of war and the missing in action.
Now there is a day for theHostel and the Run for the Day.
That is a movement.
It's a movement because myfamily became part of the
movement, but there are a lot ofpeople behind that movement.
There are foundations, NGOcongressmen, journalists.
It's a big movement that hasbeen created because today this
(16:48):
is something that the messagehas been amplified, because
there are a lot of Americanshosting in the world that people
doesn't know.
There is a guy that has 12years in China.
There is a guy that has 12years in Saudi Arabia.
There is a guy that had sevenyears in Myanmar.
There are guys that have Xyears in Afghanistan.
(17:11):
There is journalists that'sfrom Houston that has 12 years
in Syria.
There are a lot of peopleduring that and the family is
suffering during all this yearbecause even some of them, they
don't know if their families arealive or not.
It's big.
It's big and the people are notaware about that situation.
I'm glad you brought that up.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
I'm glad that you actually said something about
this because, honestly, I had noidea.
I mean, you hear about it.
You hear about people beingtaken as hostages and either
they're, like you said, aprisoner swap or they're
returned, or, if it's on a bigpolitical level.
But, like you said, if there'speople out there that are being
held hostages based on, you know, like you said, journalism or
(17:54):
you know, in your case it wasthrough a company.
It wasn't even anything thatwas due to political.
You weren't even part of that,it was.
You were part of a SIGGA, whichis a gas company.
So I mean, that's yeah.
I don't think people understandthat, because I was going to
ask you.
You have such a movement andyour program is to help other
(18:17):
people and I wanted to ask youit's like this sounds like this
is a lot bigger than we're awareof in regards to people and
families that are dealing withhostage situations.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Yeah, yeah, and the message has been amplified
because the situation that nowis happening in the Middle East
had put more you know pressed inthe media and the people,
because there are now a lot ofAmerican hostages in that
situation in the Middle East,but this is not only their case,
(18:49):
this is even a longer.
But the good thing is that thisis something that is now is
very well known.
It's called the hostagediplomacy that the government
the former government and theactual government both really
have been committed to bringpeople back and this has become
(19:13):
like a national security thingtoday in the government Now has
this law that it's like anumbrella that protects the
hostage, because one of thethings is, when you get in this
situation and the governmentdeclared you as officially
hostage and roughly the same,now you're protected by the US
government.
Your family is protected andthere is a lot of initiative
(19:37):
that can be done.
For example, a prisoner swap isa big deal that they had to do
and that's what we're doing Todo, and a presidential pardon to
release a bad guy to getswapped For you.
It's a big deal.
It's a big deal, but.
But now they're more.
They're more Exposure, becausethere are congressmen, they are
(20:04):
journalists.
There are several journalists.
They are very, very opentalking about this today.
So the situation today is muchbetter than when it happened to
me, because when, when, whenthis Situation happened to me,
unfortunately, we were kind ofguinea pigs of the situation.
Now.
Now there's a movement, nowthere are a lot of foundation
(20:25):
working in this area, butthere's still more thing to do,
because this, this can becomereally, really like a national
security issue, because how manyAmericans can be traveling
abroad in the year during aFamily visit, or you're in a
vacation, or you're in a seminar?
Normal people because that thisis called the hospital
(20:47):
diplomacy normal people like meor Most of the guys nobody are
politicians.
You get the heart of thisbecause it's the passport.
So what they do is they takeyou and they, they lever you,
they ask for concessions, andthis is something that,
unfortunately, all thesecountries are applying like a
copy paste.
(21:08):
It's like a business model.
You know, they, they, all ofthem apply the same technique.
So all these countries China,russia, iran, venezuela, cuba,
myanmar and it can't see the allthese countries they apply is
the same technique.
When, when you talk with thefamilies, even the situations
(21:28):
are different because you're indifferent countries, different
culture, but that in essence, isthe same technique, so that
that that is one of the thingsthat today I'm really talking
about this in a matter to raiseawareness, and my coaching
program goes more to Businessmen.
I tackle more than businessmenbecause I discovered, because I
(21:50):
come from from from the oil andgas, I did a lot of leadership
positions so I said, okay, jose,you have your leadership skills
.
And now you went to the hostagesituation.
There is a survivor situationand I combine it both because
leadership and resilience are soconnected, and that's what I
today in my coaching program.
I decided to craft this.
(22:11):
I went through and try to putit to help.
Business owners sometimes arehostage in their situations.
They become hostage in theirsituation you know you, you have
a business, but you don't knowhow to handle it or yours to
having a struggles in yourbusiness, so you become a
hostage in your situation.
That Literally, is the samewhen you apply the technique,
(22:33):
literally are the same.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
I I Love the fact that you took something so
difficult and so straining andand take it and put Spin on it
to make it a positive and tohelp others get through it.
And I'm looking at this and I'mlistening to you and, well,
first of all, thinking about thesituation you were in and how
difficult that was, and andtrying to wrap my head around it
(22:56):
is is is almost impossibleBecause you can't.
You know, you've lived throughsomething that probably, I'd say
, 99% of the people can't fathomunless they're putting that
situation.
However, the fact that you'vetaken that and said you could
still be a hostage within yourown life, whether it's through
your business or what you'regoing through, really does have
(23:17):
a lot of similarities, and andto take that mindset and turn it
around and and do somethingelse with it that can empower
you is so strong, so strong.
So so tell me, how do you, howdo some of these similarities
actually Uh, correlate when youtalk to people about, based on
(23:37):
the situation you were in,coming into a business situation
or even a life Life situation?
Some people get stuck in theirown lives and they don't know
what to do and they, they'relike that.
You're right, you, actually you.
You nailed it with the wordsyou are a hostage in your either
your own life or your ownbusiness.
You know, I mean you're right.
There is really no other wordsto put on that and that's pretty
(24:00):
powerful.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
For example, one of the biggest problems that any
business has is thecommunication.
Communication is key becausepeople doesn't know how to
communicate and sometimes thatcreate these.
You know the atmosphere in thebusiness.
We learned during our situationthat we needed to be
communicated.
We needed to create those bonds.
(24:25):
We needed to be.
If somebody, for some reason,was going down, be you know,
cheering the others, and if youhad we're having any argument
and any dispute, any argumentTackling media and move on.
These things, when youEscapalated, you put in your
business, are exactly the same,because the people don't don't
(24:49):
know how to communicate withtheir peers, how to communicate
with their colleagues.
How could to communicate withtheir employees?
Sometimes, when you're in aManagement position, you're a
CEO of a company, you createlike a shield and you and you
isolate and then you, you don'tcommunicate with the people.
This is something that today Isone of the things I I teach.
(25:12):
I also talk about how you needto be empathic with your
employees.
It's so important because oneof the things that I discovered
during my situation that we allare simple human beings.
You know when, when, when I wasthere, at some point, we were
put in In a place because wewere transferred to two dungeons
(25:37):
.
We were in this militarydungeon and then we went to
another dungeon.
I stayed with all the politicalprisoners military and civil
that are that country, like 400people, and I met politicians,
generals, human right advocates,a journalist, philosophers, a
(26:00):
lot of high-profile people, andyou know what?
All of us were Comrades, there,in the same situation.
I was living a life trying tosurvive together, and at some
point, even I met their family.
So then, people because you areonly people when you take all
(26:20):
the suits and all the titles,you are not simple human being.
So this is something that Idiscovered how you can meet and
get with the people being onlypeople.
This is something that anymanager or any CEO has to
understand.
So what I have been doing is allthose survival things that I
(26:40):
went through.
That for me, I said that I hadlike a five-year retreat.
It was like a five-year retreat.
So so at some point, I decidedto convert my retreat in
something that I can really useto help others.
And, believe me, when I tellthe people because sometimes you
(27:02):
get that the argument no, Icannot do it, you can do it
because I'm here, I did it.
If I did it, you can do it.
So this, for me, has beenpowerful, putting that message
out.
And not only that, I decided tobegin to speak, and my speech
is based on this how you canovercome things in the life and
and and and and.
My final take away always isthat anything in your life, you
(27:25):
can survive it, but you need tohave a proper mindset and do it
yeah, now see, I, when I thinkabout this, is like my idea of a
five-year sabbatical is not ina dungeon in Venezuela.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
However, there is a lot of, there's a lot of
empowerment with that, becausesometimes we, when you, when you
strip everything away and andyou take away all the other
things that are obstacles orwhat's going through or what's
happening, and you bring it downto the basics of what you can
do, which is really withinyourself and and that's that's
(28:00):
where the empowerment lies, so Ican see how that that works,
and then for you to be able togo out that and help people to
understand that going throughwhat you went through, and in
that situation, I mean nobodycan look at you and go, well, I
can't.
It's like what?
Are you there yet?
because you took such somethingand I'm learning a lot too
(28:31):
because it tells you doesn'tmatter what situation is, how
bad it is, as long as you've gotthe faith, the hope, the
strength, the will, the courageto be able and the mindset to
make those changes, thenanything is possible and and
that is so, so exciting, itreally is.
(28:54):
And what a gift you are, I meanreally to go through something
so difficult and then turn itaround and go.
Well, let me help you out here.
Let me, let me tell you how toget through this, based on the
situation, and taking thatsituation and using it as an
empowerment tool.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
I mean, jose, I, just I there's no words to describe
what you're doing and and thegifts that you're offering to
people, based on your situationyeah, because if you put
everything together and I tellalways the person that you're
going to any situation in theirlife or in their business that
(29:31):
what, when, when, when you beginto think in your situation, the
first thing that you, you getfocused in what you're going on,
because sometimes the peoplelose the focus and then they can
see the problem bigger thanthat there really is or or or.
You have the solution in frontof you and I'm looking at, or
maybe you don't have thesolution, but now you are aware
about where you're sitting in,so you get focused.
(29:53):
You you need to have thatproper mindset to you know, to
change the way you look thingsand get connected to the people
that that support you in yourbusiness.
You you have your employees inyour, in your in life.
You have your family, you lovedones, okay, and and take care
of your physical, mental healthso important because sometimes,
(30:15):
when you're going through anysituation, you abandon yourself.
You abandon yourself andconnect to your spirituality,
connect to the spirituality.
Today I discovered that one ofthe key things in any situation
in your life is connected towhoever you believe.
Get that connection, becausethere is where you're gonna
(30:35):
unleash that what I said thatand breakable spirit that
everybody has inside to make anysituation in your life so
sometimes that people do things,that that you look back and say
, wow, how I did this, becauseyou have that you, you can do it
.
So if you have a, if you are abusiness owner, if you are CEO
(30:57):
somebody that's hearing this andin having a struggle, thinking
all these things, and if, forsome reason, you fail, continue,
bounce back and move on.
See the fails as opportunities,because this is another thing
that sometimes we, if we somereason, we have a fail.
(31:17):
Who doesn't have a fail intheir life?
Everybody fails at some time intheir life, so sometimes if you
took those fails like, like anopportunity to grow, you will
see the things difference, orthis is something that today,
mickey, really, really Idiscovered during all my process
and this is something that forme.
(31:38):
I went through that I'm a lifetestament, that that is that way
.
So nobody's gonna tell me aboutthis because I went through it,
okay.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
I think there's also a lesson here to learn that you
know some of the things that wethink are really big are really
not that big, if they're nottheir minor compared to what it
could be.
And to dwell on something thatis so minuscule, you know, and
knowing that you've got itwithin you and the power to
change it, is something that Ithink we need to realize also.
And then you, and as you go,like you said, you keep going
(32:11):
through and see something on agrander scale.
And then, knowing that you'vegot that ability to make those
changes, you know, I always tellmy kids, you know, when we've
had losses and you know we'velost games, I said there's just
the losses.
I said there's winning andlearning.
You learn from it.
What did you take from this?
What can you do differently sowe can fix whatever happened
(32:32):
that gave us the result, thatgave us what we got, and and
it's the same thing like whatyou're saying it's like okay, so
it didn't work, it didn'thappen.
Maybe it went a differentdirection than you thought it
was gonna go.
So what?
Sometimes you find the bestthings on the weirdest detours,
you know, but it's the mindsetthat you've got to got to have
and for what you went through.
(32:52):
You know, in your situation notknowing, not having any idea,
having just yourself to dependon and your own mindset to get
you through you had everythingyou needed, like you said, just
survive.
And I think people forget that.
They forget that you reallyhave everything you need to in
any situation to get you throughit.
(33:14):
It's just reminding andremembering, and that's what you
bring to the table with your,with your program, and what you
do and who you are is to remindpeople everything you needs with
inside you and that's so true.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
I'm for training, in my case one of my colleagues,
because we were six guys that webecame the single six that is
the name that the press put usas.
But then the president nevermentioned there was a seven guy.
It was a seven guy that hedidn't make it.
He passed one year after.
(33:49):
He was so depressed, he wasalone and and today I think
about that situation that maybehe, if maybe he, has been moved
with us.
The situation could have beendifferent, but he didn't make it
.
He didn't make it.
So you have that.
That's two stories.
Six guys that decided to survive, begin to be in the worst
(34:15):
moment, decided to make it, andwe made it because I saw all of
them in December and everybody'sokay there, everybody's moving
in their life.
Some of them, for some reason,decided to go silent.
I am well, I understand thatthey, they wanted to, you know,
have their private life.
Some of them, like me, decidedto talk.
(34:36):
There is another of mycolleague that also is doing it
and but but everybody's okay,everybody's okay.
So because we, we had thissupport system with their
families and we decided to moveon with them.
But sometimes people doesn't doit.
So if this is a very personalchoice, the way you decided to
(34:58):
do, to recommend anything inyour life.
If you decided to drag down andand get depressed, well, that's
your choice.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
You, you have the tools in front of you and did
you ever ask the other guys whenyou got together after that
first year?
Did you ever ask them what?
What did they do?
Speaker 2 (35:15):
did the same thing you did to get them through,
because I'm assuming all of youwere alone is one of you were
alone for the first year no, no,let me tell you that at the
beginning was really difficultbecause some of our colleagues
were really in a very badsituation, but but when we begin
to help them and coach them andand, and you know, and get
(35:38):
together, immediately they cameback and and at the end we were
all all of us was really, I cantell you, mickey, everybody that
was in there without they, weresurprised how we were handling
our situation.
We were strong.
Not only that one year before Icame, because the negotiation
(35:59):
to get us released begin to getmore serious, and they, they,
the US government appointed aguy that he's an ambassador so
he visit.
One year before I came back, hedid our the first face to face
meeting to to negotiate ourrelease and him, he met with us
like two hours.
He had a meeting without liketwo hours.
(36:21):
I remember when he, when he cameback from that meeting, he told
us that he was surprised how he, how strong he saw us.
He said hey guys, I have beennegotiating with other releases
and all all over the world and Isee people breaking.
I broke and I said people down,I see you guys as strong, we
(36:43):
were really strong.
We were really strong.
The six, not only me, the six.
So.
So I'm proud.
I'm proud how we made.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
You know I'm looking at your situation.
The first thing that's goingthrough my head is, I think,
something like you said, becauseof your faith and, I think, our
higher power and whatever youwant to put on it, but I do
believe.
I truly believe, that sometimesGod puts you in situations to
be able to bring it out as atool, to be able to be that
voice and give.
And again, it's really hard towrap my head around what it
(37:19):
would even be like to be takenas a hostage, but I keep going
back to you have taken somethingso difficult and you have used
it as a tool, not only toexpress how you got through it,
but to share that insight andinformation to so many other
people, and I can't even imaginehow many lives you're changing
(37:39):
because of taking this situationand then telling other people
you can get through this.
It's.
You know you can get throughdifferent things in your life.
You know, no matter what it is,and just using the same tools
that you did, I'm like I said Idon't worry, I can give you as
your gift.
I mean, you really are a giftto be able to offer this, and I
(38:00):
know you said you work with alot of other families.
These families that you'redealing with now are these
people that have been returnedas hostages?
Are they still being held ashostages, or both?
Are they still yes?
Speaker 2 (38:10):
Yeah, let me.
Let me tell you that in somegiving I was invited to do an
interview with ABC because thatday that there was being a
prisoner swab in the middle listand they call me to, you know,
to give my impression and my mymy first thing that came to my
mind is that when, when you'rein the situation all the family
(38:33):
is in is in a nightmare, it'slike putting a bomb in the
middle.
So so that day was Thanksgiving, so was a prisoner swap during
Thanksgiving.
So can you imagine that that Ihave not talked with those
families, but I can tell youthat I will remember that moment
forever, that then then therewas really another, another
(38:55):
group of hostage, in December 23, the day before Christmas and
the end.
This family, I know them, I knowthat I have talked with most of
them, and one of the guys thatwas released, I I always I'm in
contact with him because hewants to begin to talk also.
So he asked me to kind of, youknow, give me some advice, and I
(39:17):
was telling him that that inthis moment he has a gift he was
gifted by God.
He isn't powered with that giftbecause now he can be another
voice, because he want to go tothe Congress and begin to talk
about this.
I said hey, my friend, you hadthat gift.
(39:39):
Use it, because for some reason, this today, I believe that
this became a gift, a gift toshare with others and and and
give them that can really helpothers.
And that's the way today I lookat, because I, I, I, I
rediscover God during thatsituation and the first thing I
(40:02):
did when I came back was goingto my church.
I'm very, very connected to mychurch.
I do church service and and andmy pastor.
Every time he talked about thesituation.
He talks about the plan of Godthat there's like a master plan
for your life and and for somereason, you had to go through
situation in your life and thoseroadblocks at the end become to
(40:25):
be a gift, because that's whatyou can show to the other how to
do things.
So so I was telling this guysome days ago my friend, you had
today a gift, use it.
Use that gift.
Speaker 1 (40:37):
And from you know I'm listening to you and I'm
hearing everything you're saying.
The first thing that's goingthrough my head is sometimes the
most precious gifts are wrappedin sandpaper because it's so
difficult.
I mean, really that's, that'swhat you have to look at.
You have to go through thesesituations that happen in your
life and go All right, yes, sothis was traumatic and it was
(40:57):
difficult and, and it happenedand it's, but it's your
experience.
And then you decide what do youwant to do with it?
What do you want to do with it?
Because that's how I've alwaysseen it.
It's like you can have allthese things happen, but you can
either let it, you know, holdyou down like an anchor, or you
can take it and just grow fromit and blossom from it and then
(41:17):
let everybody else be able to toexperience and get and help
others with it.
And that's what I'm seeing inyou is you've taken this
difficult, the gift andsandpaper, and you're going out
and you're you're helping otherpeople get through this and
other people that are dealingwith this the families, you know
, looking at the other end ofthis spectrum, I mean so the
(41:38):
family's not.
No, I can't even imagine whatyour wife went through.
You know, not even able to knowif you were alive, she could
talk to you and every day, doingeverything in her power,
getting up and going to Congressand going to Washington and
fighting on your behalf to getyou back and knowing that I
think it's that that out ofcontrol feeling.
But you still can be in controlby your actions and her taking
(42:02):
that those actions and stillsaying, hey, failure is not an
option for me.
I'm going to go to Washington,I'm going to go to Congress and
I'm going to get you back withever fiber of my being to get
you.
So how?
I'm going to ask you so whatwas it like for your wife?
I mean, how, how did what kepther strong in all of this?
Speaker 2 (42:19):
Well, my wife, first she's my hero.
She's somebody talking aboutbeing resilient.
She's super resilient.
I'm going to write her book.
I'm encouraging to write herbook and encourage her to begin
to speak, to speak also, she'smore fluent in Spanish than in
English.
But even we did the other dayin Audi room because today I do
(42:43):
Audi rooms in LinkedIn and Ihave a newsletter too and I
didn't have the room the otherday I invited her to talk.
I said come on, go talk.
We did an interview in July 4th.
There is a mural that wascreated here in Houston with the
faces of some of it.
So we unveiled that mural andthat day I was interviewed by
(43:05):
Telemundo, you know the SpanishTV.
We did an interview withTelemundo and I gave her the
talk and she began to talk.
I can tell you that Jorgale wascrying in her story, because
this is the other side of thecoin, the story of the families.
So I really encourage her to doit because she can be a voice
(43:30):
of the families and not only thefamily of a hostage situation.
The family is going throughanything in their life Because
when you're going throughanything in your life, your
family suffers even worse thanyou because they cannot control
the situation.
They are there, but they cannotcontrol the situation.
(43:52):
Nobody talks about thesuffering of the family, so
that's why, I'm encouraged herto do it.
Yes, she did.
She did something that for meit was totally extraordinary I'm
going to share here.
Before I came here to the US,we are Venezuelan born and I
(44:12):
lived in Venezuela several years.
I began my career in the oiland gas in Venezuela.
She was also working in the oiland gas and her father also was
, so all our family were oilworkers.
So my father-in-law he was a bigfan of the roast parade of
Pasadena, but he always saw itin TV.
(44:34):
Every year we did like this waslike a routine.
Every January 1st we were inthe TV looking the roast parade.
When I came here to the US, wenever could go because I was
always busy, never, never couldgo, never.
Well, I learned the data.
(44:55):
I landed in US soil in October1st when we were released.
When she went to the hangar andwe were hugging, the first
thing she told me is I got thetickets for the Pasadena Roast
Parade.
You know what I learned?
That she kept buying thetickets during the five years.
Every year she bought thetickets, waiting me to come back
(45:19):
.
During five years she boughtthe tickets and then the fifth
year we went in January 2, wewere in the Pasadena Roast
Parade, so we went live inJanuary 1st 2nd 2023 last year.
So that's her, so that talksabout her.
Speaker 1 (45:39):
I love it.
I'm going to have to have yourwife on.
I would love to have your wifeon as my guest because I'd love
to hear her side of the story ongetting through this.
And you've got children right.
You have children.
Speaker 2 (45:50):
My children have grown up.
As I said, my other son, john,he is also an oil worker,
because we are kind of a familyof oil workers all over.
So he was working in Aruba in arefinery in Aruba when the
situation happened.
And the situation in Venezuelawas really terrible Because in
(46:12):
2018, I believe it was one ofthe worst work ever and all the
sanctions that were imposed inthe country.
The people were starving.
It's a big deal because todaythe diaspora was the Venezuelans
all over the world.
Here in the US, millions ofpeople come here.
So we were in that situationthat we were starving, there was
no food in the country and wewere starving.
(46:35):
I lost 100 pounds.
So at some point, all thepressure that was in the press
and the UN there was a lot ofpressure to get us released and
they allowed us to bring us food.
So my son had to travel and hemoved to Colombia and from
Colombia he began to providefood to me to Venezuela during
(46:58):
four years.
So did you imagine?
All the logistics was a bigdeal and that was all my family
doing things to get me back.
I love your family.
Speaker 1 (47:10):
I love what they went through and the extremes that
they did just to get you back.
I mean, you're right, that isunconditional love.
I mean for your son to move toColombia just so we can get food
to you.
It says a lot about him too.
Speaker 2 (47:23):
It was the only way.
If he didn't do it, I will notbe here.
I would not be here.
Speaker 1 (47:30):
Wow.
Well, I have loved hearing yourstory and I have loved being
able to connect with you and Iam so grateful that you've taken
the time to be able to come onand share this.
But, as everybody knows, theinformation will be down in the
links but also be embedded intothe podcast.
But how can people reach out toyou?
(47:52):
Because I know you're going toget an abundance of people
reaching out to you as a keynotespeaker and they want to hear
your story.
Plus, you've got your book andI'll definitely want to have you
back on once your book islaunched so we can go ahead and
get that out there for you.
So how can people reach you,jose?
Speaker 2 (48:08):
Well, I have the speaker, the coaching link tree.
There's a link tree called.
It is Jose slash I, angel slashPereira.
That's my link tree.
You can find there and today Ibelong to two speaking bureau.
There's those link there.
They can book me there or mycoaching is there.
(48:30):
I do one on one.
Basically I have sessions thatcan be one session or can be a
one month session, two monthssession, three months session.
So I had the program.
I tailor, made it depending onthe needs of the person and they
can book me, of course, a freecomplimentary call that I have
my calendar there.
(48:51):
I'm very active, too, inLinkedIn.
You can find me in LinkedInthat I do a weekly newsletter
where I talk about building,refining and leadership and I do
out your rooms also in LinkedIn, and I have my webpage that is
called Jose connectcom.
So you can find me or my linkin my webpage or LinkedIn and
(49:15):
all the social media too.
I have my YouTube channel whereI post things related to the
social media.
I'm going to leave all thoselink there and basically what I
do today, miki, is that anybodyhas any event or anything in
their company.
They believe that I can inspiretheir people.
(49:37):
I have walked the walk and talkthe talk, so I can really help
them with my experience.
Speaker 1 (49:45):
Yeah, no, I agree, I agree.
I think you are the perfect fitreally in any, as you know, any
avenue of your life, whether itbe business or personal.
I'm going to give you the last15 seconds to share whatever
you'd like to share, to leavewith us and to wrap this up.
Speaker 2 (50:02):
Well, my book, as I said, is going to be out maybe
at the end of this month.
I'm going to be promoting, I'mgoing to do a book tour.
My book is basically my storyby what I call my legacy,
because this is my legacy, and Ihave, as I said, my coaching
program where I help businessowners how they can untap their
(50:22):
breakable spirit, and I do myspeaking and you can go to my
social medias and book me.
Speaker 1 (50:30):
And what's one thing you can leave with our circle of
friends that can give them alittle bit of inspiration before
you.
Speaker 2 (50:38):
In the life.
You can overcome anything,anything.
Anything is your very personalchoice, the way you decided to
face it, but you have that innerforce to do it Anybody.
Speaker 1 (50:51):
Thank you so much for being with us today.
I am looking forward to yourbook and I'm looking forward to
connecting with you again.
Thank you so much for beingwith us.
Speaker 2 (51:00):
Thank you, megan.
Thank you, thank you for havingme.
Speaker 1 (51:02):
All right, thank you, you guys.
I appreciate you.
Please, please, please, reachout to Jose Pereira.
I'm going to put all the linksdown below.
They'll also be embedded in thepodcast.
I highly recommend that youreach out to him, whether it be
for your business or somethingpersonal, and what I took away
from this today is that you canovercome anything, no matter
(51:23):
what the situation is, no matterwhat's going on.
You've got the power within youand the right mindset to be
able to get through it, nomatter how difficult that
situation may be.
Please remember, the mostcourageous thing you can do is
be yourself.
Until I see you on the nextpodcast, take care of you, we'll
see you.
Speaker 2 (51:41):
Bye.
Hey, I'm Coach Mickey .
I'm so glad that you've joinedus and if this is your first
time joining us, come on in andmake yourself comfortable.
For those of you that join uson a regular basis, I am so glad
that you do.
Thank you so much for alwayssupporting all of our guests.
I know they love hearing fromyou and I appreciate always your
comments, your questions andyour suggestions of guests to
(00:20):
have on.
And today, you know, as youalways know, I'm always excited
for every one of my guests, buttoday is a little bit more
special.
Not that everybody isn'tspecial, but they are.
But today's story is going tonot only touch your heart, but
it's going to inspire you,empower you, and when I had an
opportunity to reach out to thisgentleman and have him share
(00:44):
his story, it's just somethingthat is just going to fill your
heart.
I'll tell you a little bitabout him.
He was held hostage back in2017.
Now he has taken his situationand he uses it to focus and be
an advocate to support otherhostage families and other
people that maybe have gonethrough this similar type of
(01:06):
nightmare.
He is a speaker, he isinspiring, he is a wonderful
person.
I'm looking forward to havinghim share his story and have you
identify with him and learn howto get over any obstacle that
you can deal with.
Thank you so much for joiningme today.
Jose Pereira, how are you?
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Hello, hello, mickey, thank you for having me in your
wonderful program.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Well, I'm going to let you jump right in and start
with your story, because this isall about you and you have got
such incredible information andinsight, so I'm going to let you
jump right in.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Basically, my story begins in November 2017.
I went through this hostagesituation during the was in
November 2017.
I was here in Houston workingin the welding gas and I
received a phone call and itbecame a hostage situation,
(01:58):
unfortunately during five years.
So I went through thatsituation during five years and
well, that process went througha lot of things because we were
kind of a political pawns of thesituation that was happening in
that moment here in the US andwell, it really became to be a
(02:23):
dramatic situation and wedecided to overcome it and we
decided to do what today we are,that we are a coach, a
leadership and Brazilian coach,and I also begin to talk about
this situation.
So this is basically what I'mtoday doing and I'm a strong
advocate for the hostagecommunity here in the US too.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
So, may, if can we back up?
I want to start right from thebeginning, because this is
pretty I don't even know whatword to put on it, because I
can't even fathom the thoughtbeing taken as a hostage.
So if we could back up a littlebit to start from how the days
transpired and what happenedthat day, and then we can kind
of skip ahead for the otherthings.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Yeah, you know, I was working in the oil and gas here
in a company called CitgoPetrolin.
I was the CEO of that companyby that time and I received a
phone call in the middle of amovie in a Saturday and they
asked me to go to a meeting inCaracas.
And when I went to that meetingit became to be a settlement.
(03:27):
The meeting began to be asettlement because there were
having some issues between thatcountry, venezuela, and the US
and they took us as a politicalpawn.
We get caught in the crossfirebetween the geopolitics between
the US and Venezuela.
It was a big deal, but thatreally was a big deal because we
(03:48):
never thought that we could getcaught in the middle of the
situation and nobody neverthinking in this.
And that's why today I talkthat anything in your life, any
adversity in your life like thatappears and nobody's prepared,
nobody's never prepared.
So when this situation happened, the first thing that we did
(04:09):
was something wrong.
We begin to deny it because younever think you can get really
in a situation like this, but atsome point you had to take the
decision that how you decided toface these things.
So that's why I always talkthat you have to be focused in
the situation and see how whatreally is happening.
(04:29):
So we really, when we knew thatwe were in the middle of a
geopolitical thing because evenit went even worse because the
US ambassador was recalled afterfour months, so the situation
began to be very serious for us,and at some point, because we
were really at the beginning,isolated almost during one year,
(04:52):
at the end we decided tosurvive because we really wanted
to come back to our families.
So we created I call it like asurvivor plan, because after one
year we were six guys, so I wasmyself with my five top
executives.
(05:12):
So I was the president and thefive vice president, so we're
literally the board of a company.
So after one year they decidedto pull us together because the
pressure was being reallyserious and we created like a
survivor plan, and let me tellyou that's a very plan.
Today is the basis of what ismy coaching program.
(05:35):
My coaching program I createbased on that survivor plan.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Well, I mean the situation that you were in.
Like you said, you're throwninto something that you weren't
expecting and now you've got tobe able to reframe your mind and
take everything you have withinyou to be able to get you
through that situation, and I'massuming the accommodations
weren't exactly friendly whereyou were at.
You know to be able to dealwith this, just like anything
(06:01):
else that we deal with.
You're going to put yourself ina situation that may not be
exactly the perfect situation orplan, but what you went through
is even more extreme.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Well, let me tell you for your audience to understand
, we were placed in the worstdungeon, not only in Venezuela,
I believe, it's one of the worstdungeons in all these communist
regimes, because it's amilitary basement.
We were in a like a three storybasement down, three story down
(06:34):
, totally locked almost one yearwithout no communication.
The first year I didn't have nocommunication.
At some point I even lost thesense of the time because I had
that light 34, seven turn on andI didn't have no watch.
So I didn't know what they was.
So you begin to lost a sense oftime and nobody knew.
(07:00):
Even if I was there, I didn'tknew where my colleagues were
because I didn't know if theywere alive.
So can you imagine after oneyear seeing the face of the
people and then you hug, you cryand you get together.
So it was really extreme thefirst year, a really, really
extreme situation.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
How long were they?
You held hostage for?
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Five years, five years, so five years.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
You had to keep yourself mentally strong to get
through all this, to get back toyour family.
And now I got to ask you howdid the other four colleagues,
how did they deal with this?
Were they able to do the samething you were doing, or did you
have to have your moments?
Speaker 2 (07:44):
I really feel very proud because I'm not talking
about myself.
I believe all of that did agreat.
By the way, in December I livein Houston and December 27.
We received in December 23, Iemailed, the surprise that
because we were invited by themajor of Houston to go to a
meeting in December 27.
(08:05):
And when we went there we sawall our colleagues there and the
major gave up proclamation.
We were proclaimed by the cityof Houston for our courage, for
moral courage, and they createda CIGCO six day.
So now I have my own day here.
So I saw my colleagues that dayand I told them that I feel
(08:28):
very proud because all of us dida very great, because one of
the few things in the situationis we all were cheering the
other, all were supporting eachother Always, were always
talking about positive things tomaintain our mindset in that
way.
And we made it.
We created this plan that we,in a daily basis, were doing
(08:49):
things in a very comprehensiveway and we do it during years
and we came back in one piece.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Well, I mean you, you've definitely built a
camaraderie in a brotherhood.
I mean, going through anythinglike that is always going to
pull you together.
You know, not not only ascolleagues but human beings.
You know to be able to getthrough something so difficult
and I know I'm putting on thespot here.
But can you kind of because Iwant to lead up to why your
(09:18):
program is so valuable becausethe situation that you've been
through A lot of people say youknow, you hear about all the
time, oh, hostage.
But I don't think peopleunderstand the caliber, the
intensity of what it's like tobe taken as a hostage.
And I'm going to ask you, canyou, is it possible?
I mean, is it right to ask you?
(09:39):
Could you walk us through whata day was like each and every
day for you that you had to goThrough that, keep your mind
strong and what was happening?
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Yeah, when we created our survivor plan, let me tell
you we did.
We did things in a verystructured way.
We begin in the morning withour breakfast.
We were in a very tiny room,was on 100 square foot room.
It was a closet.
So we were with three bulk bed.
So we created a plan thateverybody could eat and we had a
(10:08):
very tiny table with one chair.
Everyone was sitting with thetable in the chair.
By the way, have the table oneyear after, because the first
year I was eating the floor, ok,so so sitting in the chair in
the table, eating with yourpiece, the other were in the bed
.
So we did that first.
Then we did exercise.
(10:28):
We begin to do yoga.
We begin to do meditation.
We begin to do static running.
We begin to do cardio, push up.
We were doing like all the dayon that.
We begin to read because by thattime we were allowed to have
books.
We had two or three hours readsession.
I begin to write because Ibegan to by that time, in the
(10:52):
first year.
After the first year, we wereallowed to get food from our
family.
So our family.
Can you imagine the logisticsending food from here to the US
, to Venezuela.
So my son had to move toColombia and then he began to
provide me the food fromColombia.
He was a nightmare of logisticbut they did it during years.
So that food that I receivedevery two, three days.
(11:16):
When I returned the trash cans,I smuggled letters there.
So I began to do that and Ikept doing it during three years
, smuggling letters.
I smuggled almost 1,000 lettersand that's the base of my book
that's gonna be out in the endof this month.
It's called From Hero toVillain the True Story of the
Zidgo 6, because it became likemy memoir.
(11:38):
So we began to do that.
We began to have fun, we beganto play domino and we began to
pray and read the Bible.
So all these things doing it ona daily basis, we created like
a routine.
It was like a daily routine ina daily basis.
We did that almost during fouryears and one day they opened
(12:02):
the door and say that we werereleased because we came back
through a prisoner swap and I'mat here.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Wow, that first year, though, being by yourself.
How did you keep yourselfstrong, going through all of
that?
Because I can see beingtogether with people that
definitely changed your mindset.
Having the ability to journalthat absolutely helps your
mindset.
And then having the routine,because that's what we kind of
thrive for anyway.
But that first year is the mostcrucial and probably the most
(12:34):
trying.
So what was it like in regard?
How did you keep yourselfstrong in that first year to be
able to get through that?
Speaker 2 (12:42):
You know, the first year unfortunately I didn't have
the opportunity to writebecause I was allowed to do it
after one year, but my firstletter because my letter was
like in pieces of paper, youknow I was writing what I was
feeling.
I was throwing all my memories.
When I came back and I began torevisit that because, as I said
(13:04):
, that became the basis of mybook I began to revisit that,
those first letter.
The first letter I remember wasreading December 30, 2018, one
year after I was there, becauseI arrived November 2017 and my
first letter was 13 months afterDecember 30, 2018.
That first letter, I was reallytalking about that first year
(13:31):
and when I went through that andI reminded my memory went to
that moment the first days werereally, really terrible.
I was having even suicidalthoughts.
I was thinking to take my lifebecause I felt that I was gonna
(13:52):
be left behind.
But for some reason and Ibelieve that they're part of
miracle of God I began to thinkin my family.
I began to think in my familyand one day I said you know what
, Jose, this is not gonna breakyou.
You had to make this becauseyou had people outside there
that love you and they'rewaiting for you.
(14:13):
And that made me change mymindset.
So I began every day.
I was all the day thinking, Oneyear, every day, thinking
because I didn't have no TV, noradio, no book, no left, nothing
, nothing.
I was alone, thinking, and Ibegan to think in my family and
(14:36):
thinking in that moment that Iwent through them.
I thinking in family trips andthinking in foods, thinking in
things, and that kept me sane.
And when I, as I said, when Isaw my colleagues after one year
, that of course was a gamechanger, Was a game changer
because now we were together,but I survived that year I heard
(14:58):
the voice of my wife after 10months.
The first time I heard hervoice was a one minute call
after 10 months.
One day they opened the doorand said Mr Pereira, you have
one minute to talk.
And when I got the phone, itwas her voice and she heard my
voice and said how are you?
I said, well, I'm alive.
(15:19):
And she told me well, we'refighting hard to bring you back.
So that's the first time Ilearned that they were really
fighting hard.
And they did it my wife, twotimes to the White House and
several times to the Congress,and she met with the old
officials from the formergovernment and the actual
government several times.
(15:39):
Several times.
They did a lot.
They even got together withanother 20 families in May 2021.
They created a movement calledthe Bringer Family Home Campaign
that today is one of thebiggest movement here in the US
and after I came, even I beganto advocate strongly for the
House to Community and I'm veryproud to say that this Saturday
(16:05):
was declared officially theHostel and Run for the Day, and
the flag that was created by allthe family was raised in the
White House in the Congress thislast Saturday.
So now it's official, officialday declared by the US
government Like a day, likethere is a day for the prisoner
(16:26):
of war and the missing in action.
Now there is a day for theHostel and the Run for the Day.
That is a movement.
It's a movement because myfamily became part of the
movement, but there are a lot ofpeople behind that movement.
There are foundations, NGOcongressmen, journalists.
It's a big movement that hasbeen created because today this
(16:48):
is something that the messagehas been amplified, because
there are a lot of Americanshosting in the world that people
doesn't know.
There is a guy that has 12years in China.
There is a guy that has 12years in Saudi Arabia.
There is a guy that had sevenyears in Myanmar.
There are guys that have Xyears in Afghanistan.
(17:11):
There is journalists that'sfrom Houston that has 12 years
in Syria.
There are a lot of peopleduring that and the family is
suffering during all this yearbecause even some of them, they
don't know if their families arealive or not.
It's big.
It's big and the people are notaware about that situation.
I'm glad you brought that up.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
I'm glad that you actually said something about
this because, honestly, I had noidea.
I mean, you hear about it.
You hear about people beingtaken as hostages and either
they're, like you said, aprisoner swap or they're
returned, or, if it's on a bigpolitical level.
But, like you said, if there'speople out there that are being
held hostages based on, you know, like you said, journalism or
(17:54):
you know, in your case it wasthrough a company.
It wasn't even anything thatwas due to political.
You weren't even part of that,it was.
You were part of a SIGGA, whichis a gas company.
So I mean, that's yeah.
I don't think people understandthat, because I was going to
ask you.
You have such a movement andyour program is to help other
(18:17):
people and I wanted to ask youit's like this sounds like this
is a lot bigger than we're awareof in regards to people and
families that are dealing withhostage situations.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Yeah, yeah, and the message has been amplified
because the situation that nowis happening in the Middle East
had put more you know pressed inthe media and the people,
because there are now a lot ofAmerican hostages in that
situation in the Middle East,but this is not only their case,
(18:49):
this is even a longer.
But the good thing is that thisis something that is now is
very well known.
It's called the hostagediplomacy that the government
the former government and theactual government both really
have been committed to bringpeople back and this has become
(19:13):
like a national security thingtoday in the government Now has
this law that it's like anumbrella that protects the
hostage, because one of thethings is, when you get in this
situation and the governmentdeclared you as officially
hostage and roughly the same,now you're protected by the US
government.
Your family is protected andthere is a lot of initiative
(19:37):
that can be done.
For example, a prisoner swap isa big deal that they had to do
and that's what we're doing Todo, and a presidential pardon to
release a bad guy to getswapped For you.
It's a big deal.
It's a big deal, but.
But now they're more.
They're more Exposure, becausethere are congressmen, they are
(20:04):
journalists.
There are several journalists.
They are very, very opentalking about this today.
So the situation today is muchbetter than when it happened to
me, because when, when, whenthis Situation happened to me,
unfortunately, we were kind ofguinea pigs of the situation.
Now.
Now there's a movement, nowthere are a lot of foundation
(20:25):
working in this area, butthere's still more thing to do,
because this, this can becomereally, really like a national
security issue, because how manyAmericans can be traveling
abroad in the year during aFamily visit, or you're in a
vacation, or you're in a seminar?
Normal people because that thisis called the hospital
(20:47):
diplomacy normal people like meor Most of the guys nobody are
politicians.
You get the heart of thisbecause it's the passport.
So what they do is they takeyou and they, they lever you,
they ask for concessions, andthis is something that,
unfortunately, all thesecountries are applying like a
copy paste.
(21:08):
It's like a business model.
You know, they, they, all ofthem apply the same technique.
So all these countries China,russia, iran, venezuela, cuba,
myanmar and it can't see the allthese countries they apply is
the same technique.
When, when you talk with thefamilies, even the situations
(21:28):
are different because you're indifferent countries, different
culture, but that in essence, isthe same technique, so that
that that is one of the thingsthat today I'm really talking
about this in a matter to raiseawareness, and my coaching
program goes more to Businessmen.
I tackle more than businessmenbecause I discovered, because I
(21:50):
come from from from the oil andgas, I did a lot of leadership
positions so I said, okay, jose,you have your leadership skills
.
And now you went to the hostagesituation.
There is a survivor situationand I combine it both because
leadership and resilience are soconnected, and that's what I
today in my coaching program.
I decided to craft this.
(22:11):
I went through and try to putit to help.
Business owners sometimes arehostage in their situations.
They become hostage in theirsituation you know you, you have
a business, but you don't knowhow to handle it or yours to
having a struggles in yourbusiness, so you become a
hostage in your situation.
That Literally, is the samewhen you apply the technique,
(22:33):
literally are the same.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
I I Love the fact that you took something so
difficult and so straining andand take it and put Spin on it
to make it a positive and tohelp others get through it.
And I'm looking at this and I'mlistening to you and, well,
first of all, thinking about thesituation you were in and how
difficult that was, and andtrying to wrap my head around it
(22:56):
is is is almost impossibleBecause you can't.
You know, you've lived throughsomething that probably, I'd say
, 99% of the people can't fathomunless they're putting that
situation.
However, the fact that you'vetaken that and said you could
still be a hostage within yourown life, whether it's through
your business or what you'regoing through, really does have
(23:17):
a lot of similarities, and andto take that mindset and turn it
around and and do somethingelse with it that can empower
you is so strong, so strong.
So so tell me, how do you, howdo some of these similarities
actually Uh, correlate when youtalk to people about, based on
(23:37):
the situation you were in,coming into a business situation
or even a life Life situation?
Some people get stuck in theirown lives and they don't know
what to do and they, they'relike that.
You're right, you, actually you.
You nailed it with the wordsyou are a hostage in your either
your own life or your ownbusiness.
You know, I mean you're right.
There is really no other wordsto put on that and that's pretty
(24:00):
powerful.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
For example, one of the biggest problems that any
business has is thecommunication.
Communication is key becausepeople doesn't know how to
communicate and sometimes thatcreate these.
You know the atmosphere in thebusiness.
We learned during our situationthat we needed to be
communicated.
We needed to create those bonds.
(24:25):
We needed to be.
If somebody, for some reason,was going down, be you know,
cheering the others, and if youhad we're having any argument
and any dispute, any argumentTackling media and move on.
These things, when youEscapalated, you put in your
business, are exactly the same,because the people don't don't
(24:49):
know how to communicate withtheir peers, how to communicate
with their colleagues.
How could to communicate withtheir employees?
Sometimes, when you're in aManagement position, you're a
CEO of a company, you createlike a shield and you and you
isolate and then you, you don'tcommunicate with the people.
This is something that today Isone of the things I I teach.
(25:12):
I also talk about how you needto be empathic with your
employees.
It's so important because oneof the things that I discovered
during my situation that we allare simple human beings.
You know when, when, when I wasthere, at some point, we were
put in In a place because wewere transferred to two dungeons
(25:37):
.
We were in this militarydungeon and then we went to
another dungeon.
I stayed with all the politicalprisoners military and civil
that are that country, like 400people, and I met politicians,
generals, human right advocates,a journalist, philosophers, a
(26:00):
lot of high-profile people, andyou know what?
All of us were Comrades, there,in the same situation.
I was living a life trying tosurvive together, and at some
point, even I met their family.
So then, people because you areonly people when you take all
(26:20):
the suits and all the titles,you are not simple human being.
So this is something that Idiscovered how you can meet and
get with the people being onlypeople.
This is something that anymanager or any CEO has to
understand.
So what I have been doing is allthose survival things that I
(26:40):
went through.
That for me, I said that I hadlike a five-year retreat.
It was like a five-year retreat.
So so at some point, I decidedto convert my retreat in
something that I can really useto help others.
And, believe me, when I tellthe people because sometimes you
(27:02):
get that the argument no, Icannot do it, you can do it
because I'm here, I did it.
If I did it, you can do it.
So this, for me, has beenpowerful, putting that message
out.
And not only that, I decided tobegin to speak, and my speech
is based on this how you canovercome things in the life and
and and and and.
My final take away always isthat anything in your life, you
(27:25):
can survive it, but you need tohave a proper mindset and do it
yeah, now see, I, when I thinkabout this, is like my idea of a
five-year sabbatical is not ina dungeon in Venezuela.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
However, there is a lot of, there's a lot of
empowerment with that, becausesometimes we, when you, when you
strip everything away and andyou take away all the other
things that are obstacles orwhat's going through or what's
happening, and you bring it downto the basics of what you can
do, which is really withinyourself and and that's that's
(28:00):
where the empowerment lies, so Ican see how that that works,
and then for you to be able togo out that and help people to
understand that going throughwhat you went through, and in
that situation, I mean nobodycan look at you and go, well, I
can't.
It's like what?
Are you there yet?
because you took such somethingand I'm learning a lot too
(28:31):
because it tells you doesn'tmatter what situation is, how
bad it is, as long as you've gotthe faith, the hope, the
strength, the will, the courageto be able and the mindset to
make those changes, thenanything is possible and and
that is so, so exciting, itreally is.
(28:54):
And what a gift you are, I meanreally to go through something
so difficult and then turn itaround and go.
Well, let me help you out here.
Let me, let me tell you how toget through this, based on the
situation, and taking thatsituation and using it as an
empowerment tool.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
I mean, jose, I, just I there's no words to describe
what you're doing and and thegifts that you're offering to
people, based on your situationyeah, because if you put
everything together and I tellalways the person that you're
going to any situation in theirlife or in their business that
(29:31):
what, when, when, when you beginto think in your situation, the
first thing that you, you getfocused in what you're going on,
because sometimes the peoplelose the focus and then they can
see the problem bigger thanthat there really is or or or.
You have the solution in frontof you and I'm looking at, or
maybe you don't have thesolution, but now you are aware
about where you're sitting in,so you get focused.
(29:53):
You you need to have thatproper mindset to you know, to
change the way you look thingsand get connected to the people
that that support you in yourbusiness.
You you have your employees inyour, in your in life.
You have your family, you lovedones, okay, and and take care
of your physical, mental healthso important because sometimes,
(30:15):
when you're going through anysituation, you abandon yourself.
You abandon yourself andconnect to your spirituality,
connect to the spirituality.
Today I discovered that one ofthe key things in any situation
in your life is connected towhoever you believe.
Get that connection, becausethere is where you're gonna
(30:35):
unleash that what I said thatand breakable spirit that
everybody has inside to make anysituation in your life so
sometimes that people do things,that that you look back and say
, wow, how I did this, becauseyou have that you, you can do it
.
So if you have a, if you are abusiness owner, if you are CEO
(30:57):
somebody that's hearing this andin having a struggle, thinking
all these things, and if, forsome reason, you fail, continue,
bounce back and move on.
See the fails as opportunities,because this is another thing
that sometimes we, if we somereason, we have a fail.
(31:17):
Who doesn't have a fail intheir life?
Everybody fails at some time intheir life, so sometimes if you
took those fails like, like anopportunity to grow, you will
see the things difference, orthis is something that today,
mickey, really, really Idiscovered during all my process
and this is something that forme.
(31:38):
I went through that I'm a lifetestament, that that is that way
.
So nobody's gonna tell me aboutthis because I went through it,
okay.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
I think there's also a lesson here to learn that you
know some of the things that wethink are really big are really
not that big, if they're nottheir minor compared to what it
could be.
And to dwell on something thatis so minuscule, you know, and
knowing that you've got itwithin you and the power to
change it, is something that Ithink we need to realize also.
And then you, and as you go,like you said, you keep going
(32:11):
through and see something on agrander scale.
And then, knowing that you'vegot that ability to make those
changes, you know, I always tellmy kids, you know, when we've
had losses and you know we'velost games, I said there's just
the losses.
I said there's winning andlearning.
You learn from it.
What did you take from this?
What can you do differently sowe can fix whatever happened
(32:32):
that gave us the result, thatgave us what we got, and and
it's the same thing like whatyou're saying it's like okay, so
it didn't work, it didn'thappen.
Maybe it went a differentdirection than you thought it
was gonna go.
So what?
Sometimes you find the bestthings on the weirdest detours,
you know, but it's the mindsetthat you've got to got to have
and for what you went through.
(32:52):
You know, in your situation notknowing, not having any idea,
having just yourself to dependon and your own mindset to get
you through you had everythingyou needed, like you said, just
survive.
And I think people forget that.
They forget that you reallyhave everything you need to in
any situation to get you throughit.
(33:14):
It's just reminding andremembering, and that's what you
bring to the table with your,with your program, and what you
do and who you are is to remindpeople everything you needs with
inside you and that's so true.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
I'm for training, in my case one of my colleagues,
because we were six guys that webecame the single six that is
the name that the press put usas.
But then the president nevermentioned there was a seven guy.
It was a seven guy that hedidn't make it.
He passed one year after.
(33:49):
He was so depressed, he wasalone and and today I think
about that situation that maybehe, if maybe he, has been moved
with us.
The situation could have beendifferent, but he didn't make it
.
He didn't make it.
So you have that.
That's two stories.
Six guys that decided to survive, begin to be in the worst
(34:15):
moment, decided to make it, andwe made it because I saw all of
them in December and everybody'sokay there, everybody's moving
in their life.
Some of them, for some reason,decided to go silent.
I am well, I understand thatthey, they wanted to, you know,
have their private life.
Some of them, like me, decidedto talk.
(34:36):
There is another of mycolleague that also is doing it
and but but everybody's okay,everybody's okay.
So because we, we had thissupport system with their
families and we decided to moveon with them.
But sometimes people doesn't doit.
So if this is a very personalchoice, the way you decided to
(34:58):
do, to recommend anything inyour life.
If you decided to drag down andand get depressed, well, that's
your choice.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
You, you have the tools in front of you and did
you ever ask the other guys whenyou got together after that
first year?
Did you ever ask them what?
What did they do?
Speaker 2 (35:15):
did the same thing you did to get them through,
because I'm assuming all of youwere alone is one of you were
alone for the first year no, no,let me tell you that at the
beginning was really difficultbecause some of our colleagues
were really in a very badsituation, but but when we begin
to help them and coach them andand, and you know, and get
(35:38):
together, immediately they cameback and and at the end we were
all all of us was really, I cantell you, mickey, everybody that
was in there without they, weresurprised how we were handling
our situation.
We were strong.
Not only that one year before Icame, because the negotiation
(35:59):
to get us released begin to getmore serious, and they, they,
the US government appointed aguy that he's an ambassador so
he visit.
One year before I came back, hedid our the first face to face
meeting to to negotiate ourrelease and him, he met with us
like two hours.
He had a meeting without liketwo hours.
(36:21):
I remember when he, when he cameback from that meeting, he told
us that he was surprised how he, how strong he saw us.
He said hey guys, I have beennegotiating with other releases
and all all over the world and Isee people breaking.
I broke and I said people down,I see you guys as strong, we
(36:43):
were really strong.
We were really strong.
The six, not only me, the six.
So.
So I'm proud.
I'm proud how we made.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
You know I'm looking at your situation.
The first thing that's goingthrough my head is, I think,
something like you said, becauseof your faith and, I think, our
higher power and whatever youwant to put on it, but I do
believe.
I truly believe, that sometimesGod puts you in situations to
be able to bring it out as atool, to be able to be that
voice and give.
And again, it's really hard towrap my head around what it
(37:19):
would even be like to be takenas a hostage, but I keep going
back to you have taken somethingso difficult and you have used
it as a tool, not only toexpress how you got through it,
but to share that insight andinformation to so many other
people, and I can't even imaginehow many lives you're changing
(37:39):
because of taking this situationand then telling other people
you can get through this.
It's.
You know you can get throughdifferent things in your life.
You know, no matter what it is,and just using the same tools
that you did, I'm like I said Idon't worry, I can give you as
your gift.
I mean, you really are a giftto be able to offer this, and I
(38:00):
know you said you work with alot of other families.
These families that you'redealing with now are these
people that have been returnedas hostages?
Are they still being held ashostages, or both?
Are they still yes?
Speaker 2 (38:10):
Yeah, let me.
Let me tell you that in somegiving I was invited to do an
interview with ABC because thatday that there was being a
prisoner swab in the middle listand they call me to, you know,
to give my impression and my mymy first thing that came to my
mind is that when, when you'rein the situation all the family
(38:33):
is in is in a nightmare, it'slike putting a bomb in the
middle.
So so that day was Thanksgiving, so was a prisoner swap during
Thanksgiving.
So can you imagine that that Ihave not talked with those
families, but I can tell youthat I will remember that moment
forever, that then then therewas really another, another
(38:55):
group of hostage, in December 23, the day before Christmas and
the end.
This family, I know them, I knowthat I have talked with most of
them, and one of the guys thatwas released, I I always I'm in
contact with him because hewants to begin to talk also.
So he asked me to kind of, youknow, give me some advice, and I
(39:17):
was telling him that that inthis moment he has a gift he was
gifted by God.
He isn't powered with that giftbecause now he can be another
voice, because he want to go tothe Congress and begin to talk
about this.
I said hey, my friend, you hadthat gift.
(39:39):
Use it, because for some reason, this today, I believe that
this became a gift, a gift toshare with others and and and
give them that can really helpothers.
And that's the way today I lookat, because I, I, I, I
rediscover God during thatsituation and the first thing I
(40:02):
did when I came back was goingto my church.
I'm very, very connected to mychurch.
I do church service and and andmy pastor.
Every time he talked about thesituation.
He talks about the plan of Godthat there's like a master plan
for your life and and for somereason, you had to go through
situation in your life and thoseroadblocks at the end become to
(40:25):
be a gift, because that's whatyou can show to the other how to
do things.
So so I was telling this guysome days ago my friend, you had
today a gift, use it.
Use that gift.
Speaker 1 (40:37):
And from you know I'm listening to you and I'm
hearing everything you're saying.
The first thing that's goingthrough my head is sometimes the
most precious gifts are wrappedin sandpaper because it's so
difficult.
I mean, really that's, that'swhat you have to look at.
You have to go through thesesituations that happen in your
life and go All right, yes, sothis was traumatic and it was
(40:57):
difficult and, and it happenedand it's, but it's your
experience.
And then you decide what do youwant to do with it?
What do you want to do with it?
Because that's how I've alwaysseen it.
It's like you can have allthese things happen, but you can
either let it, you know, holdyou down like an anchor, or you
can take it and just grow fromit and blossom from it and then
(41:17):
let everybody else be able to toexperience and get and help
others with it.
And that's what I'm seeing inyou is you've taken this
difficult, the gift andsandpaper, and you're going out
and you're you're helping otherpeople get through this and
other people that are dealingwith this the families, you know
, looking at the other end ofthis spectrum, I mean so the
(41:38):
family's not.
No, I can't even imagine whatyour wife went through.
You know, not even able to knowif you were alive, she could
talk to you and every day, doingeverything in her power,
getting up and going to Congressand going to Washington and
fighting on your behalf to getyou back and knowing that I
think it's that that out ofcontrol feeling.
But you still can be in controlby your actions and her taking
(42:02):
that those actions and stillsaying, hey, failure is not an
option for me.
I'm going to go to Washington,I'm going to go to Congress and
I'm going to get you back withever fiber of my being to get
you.
So how?
I'm going to ask you so whatwas it like for your wife?
I mean, how, how did what kepther strong in all of this?
Speaker 2 (42:19):
Well, my wife, first she's my hero.
She's somebody talking aboutbeing resilient.
She's super resilient.
I'm going to write her book.
I'm encouraging to write herbook and encourage her to begin
to speak, to speak also, she'smore fluent in Spanish than in
English.
But even we did the other dayin Audi room because today I do
(42:43):
Audi rooms in LinkedIn and Ihave a newsletter too and I
didn't have the room the otherday I invited her to talk.
I said come on, go talk.
We did an interview in July 4th.
There is a mural that wascreated here in Houston with the
faces of some of it.
So we unveiled that mural andthat day I was interviewed by
(43:05):
Telemundo, you know the SpanishTV.
We did an interview withTelemundo and I gave her the
talk and she began to talk.
I can tell you that Jorgale wascrying in her story, because
this is the other side of thecoin, the story of the families.
So I really encourage her to doit because she can be a voice
(43:30):
of the families and not only thefamily of a hostage situation.
The family is going throughanything in their life Because
when you're going throughanything in your life, your
family suffers even worse thanyou because they cannot control
the situation.
They are there, but they cannotcontrol the situation.
(43:52):
Nobody talks about thesuffering of the family, so
that's why, I'm encouraged herto do it.
Yes, she did.
She did something that for meit was totally extraordinary I'm
going to share here.
Before I came here to the US,we are Venezuelan born and I
(44:12):
lived in Venezuela several years.
I began my career in the oiland gas in Venezuela.
She was also working in the oiland gas and her father also was
, so all our family were oilworkers.
So my father-in-law he was a bigfan of the roast parade of
Pasadena, but he always saw itin TV.
(44:34):
Every year we did like this waslike a routine.
Every January 1st we were inthe TV looking the roast parade.
When I came here to the US, wenever could go because I was
always busy, never, never couldgo, never.
Well, I learned the data.
(44:55):
I landed in US soil in October1st when we were released.
When she went to the hangar andwe were hugging, the first
thing she told me is I got thetickets for the Pasadena Roast
Parade.
You know what I learned?
That she kept buying thetickets during the five years.
Every year she bought thetickets, waiting me to come back
(45:19):
.
During five years she boughtthe tickets and then the fifth
year we went in January 2, wewere in the Pasadena Roast
Parade, so we went live inJanuary 1st 2nd 2023 last year.
So that's her, so that talksabout her.
Speaker 1 (45:39):
I love it.
I'm going to have to have yourwife on.
I would love to have your wifeon as my guest because I'd love
to hear her side of the story ongetting through this.
And you've got children right.
You have children.
Speaker 2 (45:50):
My children have grown up.
As I said, my other son, john,he is also an oil worker,
because we are kind of a familyof oil workers all over.
So he was working in Aruba in arefinery in Aruba when the
situation happened.
And the situation in Venezuelawas really terrible Because in
(46:12):
2018, I believe it was one ofthe worst work ever and all the
sanctions that were imposed inthe country.
The people were starving.
It's a big deal because todaythe diaspora was the Venezuelans
all over the world.
Here in the US, millions ofpeople come here.
So we were in that situationthat we were starving, there was
no food in the country and wewere starving.
(46:35):
I lost 100 pounds.
So at some point, all thepressure that was in the press
and the UN there was a lot ofpressure to get us released and
they allowed us to bring us food.
So my son had to travel and hemoved to Colombia and from
Colombia he began to providefood to me to Venezuela during
(46:58):
four years.
So did you imagine?
All the logistics was a bigdeal and that was all my family
doing things to get me back.
I love your family.
Speaker 1 (47:10):
I love what they went through and the extremes that
they did just to get you back.
I mean, you're right, that isunconditional love.
I mean for your son to move toColombia just so we can get food
to you.
It says a lot about him too.
Speaker 2 (47:23):
It was the only way.
If he didn't do it, I will notbe here.
I would not be here.
Speaker 1 (47:30):
Wow.
Well, I have loved hearing yourstory and I have loved being
able to connect with you and Iam so grateful that you've taken
the time to be able to come onand share this.
But, as everybody knows, theinformation will be down in the
links but also be embedded intothe podcast.
But how can people reach out toyou?
(47:52):
Because I know you're going toget an abundance of people
reaching out to you as a keynotespeaker and they want to hear
your story.
Plus, you've got your book andI'll definitely want to have you
back on once your book islaunched so we can go ahead and
get that out there for you.
So how can people reach you,jose?
Speaker 2 (48:08):
Well, I have the speaker, the coaching link tree.
There's a link tree called.
It is Jose slash I, angel slashPereira.
That's my link tree.
You can find there and today Ibelong to two speaking bureau.
There's those link there.
They can book me there or mycoaching is there.
(48:30):
I do one on one.
Basically I have sessions thatcan be one session or can be a
one month session, two monthssession, three months session.
So I had the program.
I tailor, made it depending onthe needs of the person and they
can book me, of course, a freecomplimentary call that I have
my calendar there.
(48:51):
I'm very active, too, inLinkedIn.
You can find me in LinkedInthat I do a weekly newsletter
where I talk about building,refining and leadership and I do
out your rooms also in LinkedIn, and I have my webpage that is
called Jose connectcom.
So you can find me or my linkin my webpage or LinkedIn and
(49:15):
all the social media too.
I have my YouTube channel whereI post things related to the
social media.
I'm going to leave all thoselink there and basically what I
do today, miki, is that anybodyhas any event or anything in
their company.
They believe that I can inspiretheir people.
(49:37):
I have walked the walk and talkthe talk, so I can really help
them with my experience.
Speaker 1 (49:45):
Yeah, no, I agree, I agree.
I think you are the perfect fitreally in any, as you know, any
avenue of your life, whether itbe business or personal.
I'm going to give you the last15 seconds to share whatever
you'd like to share, to leavewith us and to wrap this up.
Speaker 2 (50:02):
Well, my book, as I said, is going to be out maybe
at the end of this month.
I'm going to be promoting, I'mgoing to do a book tour.
My book is basically my storyby what I call my legacy,
because this is my legacy, and Ihave, as I said, my coaching
program where I help businessowners how they can untap their
(50:22):
breakable spirit, and I do myspeaking and you can go to my
social medias and book me.
Speaker 1 (50:30):
And what's one thing you can leave with our circle of
friends that can give them alittle bit of inspiration before
you.
Speaker 2 (50:38):
In the life.
You can overcome anything,anything.
Anything is your very personalchoice, the way you decided to
face it, but you have that innerforce to do it Anybody.
Speaker 1 (50:51):
Thank you so much for being with us today.
I am looking forward to yourbook and I'm looking forward to
connecting with you again.
Thank you so much for beingwith us.
Speaker 2 (51:00):
Thank you, megan.
Thank you, thank you for havingme.
Speaker 1 (51:02):
All right, thank you, you guys.
I appreciate you.
Please, please, please, reachout to Jose Pereira.
I'm going to put all the linksdown below.
They'll also be embedded in thepodcast.
I highly recommend that youreach out to him, whether it be
for your business or somethingpersonal, and what I took away
from this today is that you canovercome anything, no matter
(51:23):
what the situation is, no matterwhat's going on.
You've got the power within youand the right mindset to be
able to get through it, nomatter how difficult that
situation may be.
Please remember, the mostcourageous thing you can do is
be yourself.
Until I see you on the nextpodcast, take care of you, we'll
see you.
Speaker 2 (51:41):
Bye.
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