July 17, 2025 • 42 mins
Join Katherine Martín-Fisher as she chats with Richard Blank about his journey from Philadelphia to Costa Rica and the role of cultural language in business. Richard highlights common customer communication pitfalls, offers persuasion insights, and reflects on mentors and techniques that shaped his career. Explore international business expansion challenges, the value of a strong local team, and building ideal relationships. Richard shares advice for his younger self, lessons from mistakes, and his cultural favorites and inspirations. The episode wraps up with thoughts on authentic conversations and how to connect with Richard.
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(00:02):
I am Katherine Martín-Fisher, and I helpbusiness owners who have lost their vision
because they're struggling with cash flow,sales, and marketing, which also affects their
company culture.
By showing them to implement proven systemsthat increase their revenue by 30% in 90 days,
and this allowing them to reignite the passionand that big dream that they started with.
(00:28):
So the reason that I started this podcast wasto celebrate businesses who have overcome
adversity and have come out on the other sideof it.
And I want you to know that you are not alone.
Good afternoon.
This is Katherine, your host with The BeyondBusiness Podcast.
So today, I'm thrilled to welcome RichardBlank, CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center.
(00:55):
From Philadelphia to Central America, Richardhas carved out a unique niche in the world of
telemarketing and business communication.
He's not only built a thriving company in anincredibly competitive industry, he's also
developed a reputation for mastering the art ofpersuasion, training his team in emotional
(01:18):
intelligence, and cultivating a strong companyculture from the ground up.
And I've been made aware that he's also acollector of pinball machines.
This is gonna be a great conversation.
Thank you so much for being with us, Richard.
So happy to be here, Katherine.
Thank you so much for having me as your guest,and that's quite an introduction.
Hopefully, I can live up to that.
(01:38):
Well, you know, Richard, you've had quite abackground here, and I'd love to say I would
love you to share a little bit about yourjourney of how you went from Philadelphia to
running a call center in Costa Rica.
My favorite class in high school was Spanish,and I decided to double down on it and major in
it in college.
So I was building on momentum.
(02:00):
And when I was 27 years old, I was given aone-in-a-million opportunity to move to Costa
Rica, and I took it.
I worked at a friend's center, learned thebusiness from the inside out, not at sea level.
And then when I was 35 years old, I threw myhat in the ring and started the company, and
here we are 18 years later.
So it was a one-in-a-million shot, but I had alot of faith in my own skills, and here we are
(02:23):
today.
So, you know, I love that you said that.
You had a lot of faith in your own skills.
What was the thing that allowed you to say yes?
Because not everybody says yes when they'regiven an opportunity like this.
So what made you say yes?
When your insides tell you that it feels right,when you don't lose sleep over it but you wake
(02:46):
up in the morning and you can't wait to get outand drink it and live it.
Here's the thing, Spanish to me was always themost beautiful language and so I did a lot of
dedicated practice outside the classroom.
I watched the movies, read the books, and hadfriends that spoke Spanish.
So the more you prepare, the easier it got.
And I tell you what, every time I met someonein the Latino community, I got such positive
(03:08):
reinforcement and encouragement.
So, obviously, people are telling me I'm doingthe right thing.
I wasn't a kid getting in trouble.
I was getting accolades, and it was throughacademics, which I really wasn't a serious
student.
And so I knew that if I could be the only oneof my friends that could speak Spanish, I could
show this respect and have an open mind, maybethe world would be my oyster.
(03:28):
The next thing you know, it made thistransition, Katherine, that much easier for me.
I was ready for it.
So anything that I encountered, it wasn't a 10,it became a two.
Something I could pick up in my own hand andwork with.
It wasn't overwhelming for me.
And so that's why the stress got reduced andthe clarity got enhanced and I made those sorts
(03:49):
of decisions.
So I'm gonna ask you this because, and this isnot really related to business or anything from
what you're doing, but I'm of a Hispanicculture.
So the reason I'm asking this question, we havegenerations of children that are being raised
and are not speaking the language.
And what advice would you give them in thesense where this has created opportunity for
(04:10):
you to be able to go to another country, speakthe language and be very successful at what you
do?
And so I do want to add that to our podcasttoday because it is something that speaks to my
heart, is why these children do not speak thelanguage that they are born culturally into.
That's a great observation.
Difficult to see every family, but maybe we canlook at it like this.
(04:33):
How many times have children rebelled?
It's true.
I did when I was growing up.
I got an earring.
Yeah.
Rebel.
But it's not point.
Sometimes when there's family tradition, peoplejust wanna see if they could be different from
it, or they don't want to follow in certainsteps because they might feel boxed in or
forced into.
(04:54):
And it's not a bad thing.
Maybe they're just looking for a certainidentity or the chance to get outside of a
certain bubble.
Like, for my own example, my grandfather wentto Harvard Law.
I couldn't get into Harvard Law.
My pop went to Columbia Business School.
I didn't have the grades, and I didn't wannastudy business.
My brother went to Washington and Lee foraccounting.
(05:15):
I didn't have the maturity for that.
And so imagine if they forced me to be a lawyeror an accountant.
Could I have done it?
I don't know.
But if I did pull it off, I would have beenmiserable.
And so for me, on the opposite side ofembracing the Spanish is maybe the opposite of
what someone is doing in another family to seeif they can test waters.
(05:36):
But I tell you what, it's a wonderful language.
It really shows cognitive skills.
It's the kind of thing that's universal whereyou can use it anywhere.
It's just not one of those things I felt like Ineeded to go to download and carry equipment
with me, and so it was fun.
But it's a romantic language, and I think itenhanced communication compared to English
where I could show desire and doubt through thesubjunctive tense.
(05:59):
And finally, when I was speaking Spanish, thesort of smiles that I'd get, people would give
me the time.
They would introduce me to others, and I wasearning that through a sincere effort.
And I was stronger than the fastest speakingEnglish businessman if I could speak to Don
Jose in his language and showing respect to hisculture.
(06:20):
I usually got that appointment first.
I just did it the old-fashioned way, the way wewere raised by our grandparents.
So maybe I hope that answered your question ina sense.
That does.
It really does.
And I feel like it's important to, you know, tohave that conversation because so many times I
question that and, you know, but yeah.
So what are the, what do you see are thebiggest mistakes that businesses make when
(06:46):
communicating with potential customers?
Because you seem to be an extremely goodcommunicator.
Thank you.
Listening, you might want to push an idea onsomebody, but they just don't want peaches.
You gotta be careful and not be afraid to turndown a client if it's not a good fit or you
just don't get along well.
There's a thousand ways to earn a dollar.
(07:07):
I don't think you should compromise yourethics, values, or peace of mind for a client
that yells at you before you even had yourmorning coffee.
And so for me, I was exceptionally selective ofwhat came in here.
Kinda funny, Katherine.
Hollywood glamorizes call centers through TheWolf of Wall Street and Boiler Room, and not
everybody sells stock or real estate or doessweepstakes scams.
(07:28):
There are incredible people out there that canretain a client through customer support, that
can prospect for a company and get newbusiness.
For someone like myself, you're saying some ofthe mistakes that they're making, maybe they're
not doing due diligence.
Look at what you did prior to me even speakingtoday.
Look at that introduction.
It was almost like Trump is on a red carpet.
(07:49):
And the same with you.
We both read about each other, and we foundinterest and ways to connect.
And so when you take that time and you learnabout people that work with you and you mention
them on a phone call or in writing, it's apositive escalation.
If you compliment years in business or abeautiful loading dock or you like their logo,
these are the sort of things that are likebreaking down the fourth wall in Hollywood
(08:11):
where they look at the audience.
You're getting off a script.
It's raw.
It's real.
It's not a print.
It's a painting where you see brushstrokes.
And so people would see the authenticity in thecalls that I would make.
I'd be sincerely excited for their bicyclecompany or their ice cream store, and I would
ask about flavors, and they couldn't hang up onme.
Right.
I think if you engage in the moment, if youlove the now, if you really get excited to try
(08:35):
to pay it forward to somebody without trying tograb a deal and money, then magic does happen.
So I think if people can just put themselves inthat sort of mindset and see this as
relationship building through the art of speechcompared to pressing, it's not a forced march
anymore and that's maybe one of the mistakesthat they made.
They try to force a square into a circle and itjust doesn't work like that.
(08:58):
It's so interesting that you say that because Ifind the same thing.
When you're authentically just caring about theclient and you know what is best, you know,
what their needs are and where their painpoints are, and you're able to actually
articulate to them some of the things that youcan solve those pains and not just try to sell
them anything.
(09:18):
It's literally caring about the client.
So I used to work at a call center, you know,as customer service at Allstate many years ago
when I first got out of high school.
And one of the things that I always found sointeresting is they were the ones who always
looked at that little light and they had tohurry up and get off the call so they could be
the one with the highest call rate for thatday.
(09:38):
And I didn't care about the light, I caredabout the people.
And so but through that, there were so manymore satisfied customers because you are
actually helping them solve their problems.
That's the thing that we want to do inbusiness.
And that's what I get of how you handle yourcustomers and clients that you're working with.
(10:00):
So I love that.
You brought up a very important metric there,Katherine.
You were talking about talk time and conversionratios compared to the amount of calls that I
could care less if you make 5,000 calls.
Make me five calls as long as you're hitting itout of the park and it's a conversion.
And I'm sure through the quality controldepartment when they were studying your KPIs,
(10:22):
you got the highest marks, not on the top 20that you had to ask them, but the soft skills.
Saying their name, repeating the information,military alphabet, landing that plane.
And so that's what makes customer supportincredible when you have that sort of
relationship.
Yes.
So true.
So true.
(10:44):
Tell me, can you give us a a, example of thebreakdown of what makes a phone con conversion,
a conversation true I meant a conversation.
Conversation truly persuasive.
Okay.
Time is number one because if they hang up onyou, you don't even get a chance to pitch them.
(11:07):
So in my mind, it's like anchoring.
It's climbing that rock.
It's buying time, having breaths so you cancontinue distance because persuasion sometimes
is making your point because if you only get tosay two things instead of 10 things, your point
will not be as strong and you might not have achance to readjust tone or choose that other
(11:28):
adventure.
And so instead of giving you the million-dollaradvice, which is impossible on how to close a
deal, why don't we just focus on the initialpart, which is the introduction?
Because if you can get in the door, if you cangrab onto the rock and get another breath, you
might have some time to get the body and thenthe conclusion and then finish it.
What's one of my techniques when I'm doingoutbound prospecting?
(11:50):
The first thing I would do would be a companyname spike, The Beyond Business Podcast, how
are you today?
And I would use my anonymity in the first threeseconds compared to asking for Katherine or if
the boss is available or how are you today?
Because if you receive that sort of phone call,you have a bad taste in your mouth, sounds like
a telemarketer, you'd say, take me off yourlist.
(12:11):
I'm not interested.
How'd you get my number?
Sometimes you say f-you.
Click.
I would rather, if I'm calling a company, say,The Beyond Business Podcast.
How are you today?
And I'm gonna say better than the person whoanswered the call.
So what it's gonna do, it's gonna snap them outof the trance.
At least I got in something.
And even if you hung up on me then, that's aromantic death.
I can jump clouds.
Why?
Because I said the name of your company.
At least I got a part in the play before youended it.
(12:34):
And so I got some speaking roles.
So I spoke first, and I spoke it with sunshine.
And I did it in such a wonderful way that Imade your person who answered the call
straighten their tie a little bit.
Listen, I just sized you up.
Why aren't you saying it like I am?
You know, you're saying it in a boring way.
And so then they will always say, who is this?
(12:56):
Compared to who is this?
Don't call me again.
How'd you get my number?
That's a positive reinforcement.
That means I just passed the first IndianaJones checkpoint.
So then I'll say, well, hey Katherine, my nameis Richard Blank and then I'm not going to say
the name of my company yet, I got a double dip.
What do you mean?
If I said your name, hey, Katherine, my name isRichard Blank and I'm saying it in such a nice
(13:16):
way, maybe you'll say, well, who is RichardBlank?
Gotcha.
Instead of saying, is this a sales call?
And so I get a chance for you to snap out ofit.
I get to show you that I said the name of yourcompany, name dropped you, said my name, and
there's a technique called the buffer boomerangtechnique.
To half moon, I will say, Katherine, that's anexcellent question.
(13:38):
Repeat the question and give you the answer foran example.
Hi.
What's your name?
Richard Blank.
Who is Richard Blank?
Katherine, that's an excellent question.
Richard Blank is the owner of Costa Rica's CallCenter.
What's ABC?
Katherine, that's an excellent question.
ABC is one two three.
You're readjusting tones because you do notknow me yet.
Snapped you out of it.
(13:59):
Took you from a 10 to a six.
You asked me twice who I am and the name of thecompany through a buffer boomerang.
Name dropped.
Great question.
Repeat question.
Send it back, happy.
And then when I finally get the pass to pitchand I am gonna get transferred over to
somebody, I'm gonna say, hey, Katherine, andyou've been great on the phone.
I'm gonna let Mr.
Jones know when you transfer me.
(14:21):
And you go, thank you, Richard.
And so when I get transferred and Mr.
Jones answers, who never gets no one never getsto him.
Hi.
This is Mr.
Jones.
And Mr.
Jones, I just gotta let you know Katherine'sthe best.
You don't even know who I am yet.
And so I'm not doing the company name spike.
I can do that a second time, but the firstthing I'm doing is the positive escalation,
letting you know that Katherine's great.
Oh, yeah.
She's been with me 20 years.
(14:41):
Yeah.
That's my wife.
Yeah.
She's the greatest person we have at thecompany.
Of course, she is.
And then she goes, who is this?
Man, I gotcha.
And then we do the buffer boomerang twiceagain.
What's that doing?
It's buying me 30 seconds worth of time.
It's a beautiful checkpoint.
And if I can get the 30 seconds, I can do it 10more times.
And just to make sure that things make sense,sounds good with clarification and tie-down
(15:05):
questions and all you're doing is slowing downand taking it one step at a time that each
point that you're talking about makes sense andsounds good.
That's all.
The easiest way to do it.
It's amazing because this is a skill set thatyou have.
How do you take the skill set that you have?
(15:27):
Number one, I'd like to know, did you havementors or teachers that taught you this, but
then how do you transfer that then to yourcompany, to other leaders in your company to be
able to do what you are able to do?
Of course.
That's why you have the best podcast.
That's a wonderful question.
Alright.
Let me answer the first part for you.
Mentors, so many.
(15:47):
But if I have to give your audience somehomework, and I'm not giving boring homework,
I'm giving fun homework, I want you to watchthree different things.
The first thing is The A-Team.
Remember that show back in the '80s?
Yes.
That's right.
Besides Mr.
T, who was the best, there was also a charactercalled Templeton Peck.
He was the Face Man played by the amazing actorDirk Benedict.
(16:11):
Study his rhetoric and skills.
Now a second actor was Pierce Brosnan asRemington Steele.
Oh, what show that was with StephanieZimbalist.
So study that rhetoric, and then the bestmentor that I ever had was a gentleman by the
name of Basil Rathbone.
Back in the '30s and '40s, he did SherlockHolmes with Nigel Bruce.
(16:31):
Now listen, Katherine, if I spoke like him,you'd be like, what's wrong with you?
I don't speak Queen's English.
But I tell you what, that was the sharpestknife and the sharpest tongue.
And I would look up some vocabulary words andrewind the VCR, and I was like, this is
incredible.
I gravitated towards that advanced speech, andI realized there are people out there much more
polished and clever than I.
(16:51):
And so there's nothing wrong with borrowing acolor.
I mean, I didn't invent it, but I can use itthrough my medium.
And so I was taking a lot of the things that Ibelieved were effective and just using it.
Yes.
Those are my mentors.
And then how do we increase in our skills?
Well, the beauty of it is we have the luxury oflistening to ourselves.
Now I think it was, like, in the mid-19thcentury, like, 1850s when they had the
(17:15):
steinograph, the first time they actually couldrecord somebody singing.
Unless you lived in a cave where you could hearyourself with an echo, it was almost
impossible, if impossible, to record and hearyourself.
And so this is not new.
This is the kind of thing where or this is verynew in effect because think of all the
generations, we're not used to it.
(17:36):
So that's why we're still not used to our ownvoice and our own sound.
And so the more that you can record yourselfand just make minor adjustments in regards to
your phonetics, in regards to your tone ofvoice, which in my opinion should always be
empathetic and confident.
That's a beautiful consistent variable and youshould also very much pay attention to your
rate of speech and your speaking levels and howloud you are.
(18:00):
And pausing is so important because light anddarkness sound and silence.
You should be using pauses and silence to youradvantage in regards to speech, and this is
non-visual speech, my friend.
That's even more powerful than face-to-facewhere you can misconstrue people's body
language and tell signs, but let's not even gothere.
Let's go to even the purest form, sound withoutsight.
(18:23):
And so we are making our voice so pleasing.
It's almost like a drug where people can fallinto the sound, into the pattern where you
mirror image them, you match them.
It's a dance of speech.
It's a taking turn.
And if it can be done properly, do not besurprised if 10 minutes goes by like that.
(18:46):
And they say, wow.
That was the most fun ever.
I go, of course, painless.
That's how it's done.
I love that you're saying that because that isso true.
And that's actually how you engage in that backand forth and that tonality and this beautiful,
just one moment here.
Richard, I want to thank you so much for justthis lovely insight that you're giving us.
(19:11):
So if you haven't, if you're an entrepreneurthat has decided that you want to relocate,
expand your business outside of the country,could you just explain to them some of the
challenges that you may have gone through inhaving done that, or what are the positives in
doing something like that?
Okay.
Well, the first thing is to be prepared, so youhave to study the laws and the rules that are
(19:37):
there to see if you're even able to start abusiness.
Now, when you do go there, my advice would beto team up with specialists, get yourself a
good attorney, an accountant, and if you grow abusiness, find someone who has a degree in
human resources so you have people that haveinvested all this time and are experts in it so
you can focus on other things.
In addition to that, if you're going out topurchase or look at real estate, have an
(20:01):
individual that's local represent you.
You can make the final decision and you can bethere in the payment, but I've also seen that
people might increase the price or make youjump through a couple more hoops if they
realize that you're from another place or theycould take advantage of you.
It's not a bad thing, it's just realistic, andsometimes people see opportunities.
(20:25):
And so my advice if someone was going to startis to really take your time and find the right
people to surround yourself with that are in itfor the long game.
And if you do that, then they will be able togive you the best advice and save you the most
money and make it easiest for you to start, andthen on the other side, you have something to
(20:46):
add.
You are in a new country, you're a guest there,so it should keep you on your toes, should make
you sharp every day so you're not numb.
And since you are unique in this otherenvironment, it's like a little spice you would
add to the stew.
It makes all the difference in the world.
And so you're thinking outside of the box asthey are to yours.
So by blending that together, two worlds arecoming together, and you'll probably get double
(21:08):
the amount of ideas from that.
And so there's nothing better than someone fromthe complete opposite end of the world to see
what they think about your lifestyle and viceversa.
And so it really opened my eyes intocommunication and how to relate to this
specific culture and how to get them to betheir best.
So, no, I definitely think your audience shouldtake that challenge.
(21:29):
That is really great advice.
So basically building a team is instrumental.
I mean, that is one of the most importantthings, but I love what you've said about the
locals, like getting a partnership with a localwho can help in that process because you're so
right.
I mean, one of the things that my husbandalways says when we go to a country where I
(21:50):
speak Spanish, I'm able to communicate easily.
And so that is always that immediate like,okay.
She's one of us.
And so then it causes or, you know, it has abetter because now you can't get over.
You know, people do have opportunity.
(22:12):
They take opportunities.
But even when we go to Puerto Rico, you know,that's common to me.
It's always different when you can speak thelanguage.
And that's the reason I originally asked aboutthe language because, you know, I have brothers
who do not speak the language.
They understand, but they don't speak it.
And it is different when you can't speak thelanguage.
But so that's right.
(22:32):
Along with that, you have had all theseexperiences and you're, you know, you're in
another country.
What would be the best client avatar for youand how you would do business with them?
Like, who would be your best client?
Someone that has a mecha larga, someone thathas patience because I think that peace of mind
(22:59):
and tranquility allows me to work better.
I can work under pressure and you can give meresponsibilities.
But if there's unnecessary distraction,unnecessary distraction, or people are just
venting and stuff at the wrong place at thewrong time, that just doesn't work.
So any sort of maybe an avatar for me, maybejust a beautiful yellowish color, yellowish
(23:22):
cream.
It doesn't even have to be an image.
It's just something that evokes a happyfeeling.
Was that my Internet or hers?
Okay.
Mm-mm.
Okay.
So, of course, the ideal client would beunderhand pitches with wiffle balls for a
customer support client.
But if I had to think about the client to workwith, it would be someone that has just a mecha
larga, someone with patience, someone that onceagain doesn't fill the time and energy with
(23:46):
distraction because I work best when I mean, Ican handle stress and responsibilities.
It's just how people character during chaos.
That's always it's unnecessary to addadditional weight when you really don't have
to.
And so a lot of it, my friend, deals withimpulse control and impulse control and
maturity, and that's done with time.
(24:07):
And so I wish I had this back in my because Ithink I'd have more hair today, but I don't,
and I had to learn it the hard way.
But if I had to choose an avatar for theclient, it'd be nice.
Going back to when I there.
I wanted to ask what advice would an image?
Self.
It's gotta be just a
younger self.
Color that could just expand
and make you feel good, like, warm blanket.
(24:28):
Business advice that would be what would thatbe if that was an advice you were giving
yourself?
And this is for the entire life, Katherine.
It's just not to be hard on yourself.
How could decisions you made at 12 years oldcompared to 52.
I got 40 years to learn that.
I can't be hard on myself at that time.
(24:48):
I had no idea and I was dealing with thecircumstances of that moment of what was around
me.
I can't do hindsight and Monday morningquarterback.
That's not fair.
That's not fair at all.
And the fact that if I was 26 years old and Iwas at the point of either staying in the
United States or at 27 moving to Costa Rica, Ihad to ask myself that crossroads question.
(25:13):
And so what I did do to alleviate being hard onmyself was getting past a lot of guilt and
sometimes making selfish decisions in order formy own mental and physical survival.
And once again, when a lot of people do notunderstand what you're doing, have never done
it before and think that you're crazy, what doyou do?
(25:35):
This is exactly what you do.
You have a hero's journey.
You leave a castle, you slay a dragon to save aprincess, and then you're on "The Beyond
Business Podcast."
It's just how it had to be because if not, Icouldn't live with myself.
And some people are willing to die with theirboots on.
I was responsible with it.
I understood the telltale signs that I wasgoing in the right direction.
I just wasn't a rebel breaking windows.
(25:56):
I was banking it on the romance of this secondlanguage and opportunities, and so I took it.
But being hard on yourself, that's a terriblething to do.
I think you should make your bed in themorning.
You should look at yourself in the mirror.
You should work out if you're able so you canpreserve, and you should find ways to
decompress.
With me, it's washing my convertible, playingpinball on Sundays.
(26:17):
I can find ways where Richard can spend timewith Richard again just for a couple of
minutes, and then we can separate piles andrealize what's important for the day.
And if you don't get that, time goes by and youlose yourself and you get further away from
what drives you.
And living life is not the forced march or thewheel of death like in Conan the Barbarian
(26:41):
where you're just walking around in this circlepushing a grinder, right?
That's a terrible way to live.
I remember the imagery of "Under Pressure" withDavid Bowie and Freddie Mercury, and they were
showing images of people being pushed intosubway cars or the thousands of people walking
down the sidewalks of the cities.
(27:02):
And as exciting as it might seem, that scaredme to death.
It was another brick in the Pink Floyd wall,and I didn't want to be that individual.
I wanted to be a painting.
I just didn't want to be a print.
I wanted to see if I could do something in lifethat could grow in a desert, to be a flower in
a desert.
I wanted to see that if I had a hundred yearshere, could I live?
(27:24):
Not just living.
And I almost needed to do it on my own becauseno one put me into this.
I mean, school gives you structure andsometimes you have athletics and other
activities, but when it comes to the big game,no one really writes this out for you.
And there's so many expectations that peoplehave of me and you, Katherine.
(27:46):
And so what do you and I do?
Do we succumb or do we go outside and dance inthe rain?
And I decided the latter.
I decided to be a really classic romantic andbe the crazy one of my friends.
Crazy what?
I just knew this, that I could live withmyself.
And at the end of the day, I think that's abeautiful thing.
And so I hope that your audience can find thatsort of inner peace and balance earlier in
(28:09):
life.
I think at 27 is the day that I shed that skin.
So much sense, that really does speak to mysoul for that purpose.
Me, I'm still able to have it in my youth.
You can authenticate.
Who
are and what you're supposed to do.
I feel that
are sort of sense,
my the world at a at a level in which you wereborn here to to do.
(28:30):
Good.
You know, and I love that you, you know, youwere an outliner, like literally you decided
that you were going to go outside the lines ofwhat normal society says that you should do
because, you know, you're set up in this, thisfamily and these are the expectations and this
(28:51):
is what you have to do when you go to schooland this is what you, you know, you're able to
actually be yourself and give yourselfpermission to be yourself, which then serves
others at a higher level in all honesty.
So thank you.
Thank you.
That thank you for sharing that with ouraudience.
We appreciate that.
So let's do let's do something fun.
(29:12):
What is a favorite dish in Costa Rica that youenjoy eating?
So so so I love food.
Yeah.
What is a favorite dish in Costa Rica that you?
That's one of my number one things, my go-towith tostones.
I love pulpo con arroz.
(29:34):
Oh, when they make the local octopus with rice,it's so tasty.
Yeah.
It's good stuff.
The seafood here is delicious.
The exotic fruit is great.
The guanabana on the bottom.
Cannot wait to visit the farmer's market
on Saturday.
One of these things on my bucket list.
You get so well for a fraction of the cost, andit's so fresh.
So if you really want that healthy lifestyle,it's there
(29:55):
for you.
Share with our audience, like, one of thebiggest mistakes that you may have made along
your journey, but then what is one of thebiggest things you're most proud of?
Then what is one of the biggest things you'remost
proud.
Biggest mistake was putting faith in somebodythat disappointed me so.
A wolf in sheep's clothing.
True.
How many different fables, stories, andexamples do you hear about people that look
(30:21):
what happened to Caesar.
Look what happened to every kingdom.
There's always whispers and shadows.
So in this environment where I've hiredthousands and promoted so many from time to
time and these individuals had skills but theydidn't have ethics and they didn't have morals
nor values and once that mask came off, Ilearned it the hard way.
(30:44):
You can get angry as much as you want and youcan wish terrible things on people and trust me
you do in your private moments.
But what did I learn from that?
I learned that I shouldn't be angry at myselffor having faith in others.
I might have been clouded by certain emotionand time and all these experiences, so of
(31:06):
course your decision process and the way youthink is off.
Someone might not love you anymore when you puton these rose-colored glasses.
But I knew that I gave individuals specificopportunities, and I know that I let them speak
for me and do certain things.
I think one of the most beautiful things inlife you can do is to let go of certain things
(31:28):
and allow people in your lives to work with youbecause you're running a business; you can't do
everything.
You need to have individuals there.
You get spread too thin, and a wonderful thingin life is to promote someone and to trust
someone and to work with someone and believe insomeone.
I'm not the first to say that peopledisappointed you in your lives, a best friend,
(31:50):
a coworker, a teacher, anybody.
It could be on expectations.
But then again, there's a certain point wherethey cross that line.
Let's forget showing up late or forgetting abirthday or something.
I'm not going there.
I'm talking about that line where you know thatthere was a certain time when they had to think
for a second and say, is this or is this notgonna hurt Richard and Katherine?
(32:11):
Could it affect their lives and do I care?
And you realize that they don't care.
And you know what's interesting about money?
It brings out the worst in people, and one daywhen all this money loses its luster and you
can't buy anything anymore, you have either toomuch, too little, or it doesn't even matter,
you're gonna realize what the most importantthings are in life, and it's not money.
(32:35):
You don't need to buy your best friend.
And smiles are free.
And I'm not getting paid to be here today.
I love being here today, and I'll do it athousand more times on my time.
And so, you know, it's not about that, butthere are some people that will literally sell
their soul for money and do certain things outof desperation.
And it makes you think about who you are andhow much you cost and what decisions you're
(33:01):
willing to make for your own name and how youfeel about yourself and how your children and
family and friends will see you.
And I hope in a certain way where I'm trying todo it diplomatically and strategically, but my
goodness, just prepare for that and from timeto time, if you need to ask a question for
(33:26):
clarification, it might insult the person atthe moment, but if it's a way to save a
relationship or to make sure that yourintuition or your doubts are either put to bed
or justified, then do it because by not askingand not investigating or not double-checking,
you'll miss it and that was my ignorance and mymistake and that's never gonna happen again.
(33:53):
And so I'm sorry to put it on a serious tonebut if it's the sort of thing where, you know,
besides my smile, I also have my scars,Katherine.
And so as and I'm still a person like you thatcan always pick ourselves up, move forward, and
be relentlessly positive.
But we're also real.
We've lived life.
We've tasted the blood.
(34:13):
Okay?
And we understand what it's like.
But the better people are the ones that canrise from that like a phoenix and move forward.
And so it's made me stronger, butunfortunately, through such sacrifice.
What would you say is one of your favoritebooks that you've read or listened to?
No.
But I'm an avid listener.
I listen to audiobooks and stuff.
(34:35):
Yeah.
I can't read.
It's too much of a chore.
The one that had the most inspiration on me wasone that was given to me when I was in Spain.
And in the fall of '93, a good friend of minegave me Anthony Adverse.
It's a book written by Hervey Allen back in, Ithink, 1936.
Anyway, it was kinda similar.
It was about someone in the eighteenth centuryin Europe that just traveled around, found
(34:57):
himself, fell in love, and lived a life.
The book was 1,234 pages.
It went through the guy's whole life.
I said to myself, if I ever read a book thatlong, I'll, a, I'll never do it again, and b,
let me see if I can do it.
But it was very interesting for me.
And, I don't know.
It was the time when I was just going to themuseums, speaking Spanish, staying up late,
(35:18):
waking up early, and I really felt like I wastruly living the most beautiful life and so I
guess that book meant the most
to me.
Is the thing about the pinball machine?
Probably the most inspirational times of mylife.
I wanna know.
Why do you love pinball machines?
What's not?
Are you kidding?
(35:39):
Come on, mom.
Okay.
Listen.
You need to calm down.
I know it's not polite to ask a lady her age,but we are from the beautiful Generation X.
And when we and when we grew up, we grew upwhere arcades were cool.
That's where the games were, and $5 needed tolast you a whole weekend.
And I can play Asteroids for 45 minutes.
(36:01):
Pinball machine, that 50 cents used to go awayin a minute.
I couldn't afford it.
It was too beautiful.
It was too expensive.
What happened?
I moved to Costa Rica, and arcades are goingout of business.
I have a call center with tons of space, and Iwas doing well.
And people are giving them away.
So me, you know, Billy, Tommy, and Joey, wejump in a truck with a couple hundred bucks,
(36:22):
drive to Pérez Zeledón.
I'm bringing back free pinball machines and ajukebox.
And so these people are giving it away.
They weren't necessarily working.
Some of them were, but they were just 30-,40-year-old machines.
And so what you would do is you take out allthe CPUs and the stuff behind the marquee.
You order them from Marco Specialties.
You replace all that stuff, and the machineturns on again and starts working.
(36:44):
And so you buy something for $300.
Next thing you know, it's worth $5,000, and youknow the value.
But I tell you what, my favorite decade is fromthe '70s.
Those are the most beautiful pinball machines.
They're electromechanical, so it's on contacts,not the computers.
This is the years when they used to paint theplayfield.
(37:06):
So the older machines, sometimes you see somecracks.
Today, they use laminates or stickers, and someof the marquee in the back glass was the most
beautiful.
And then if you look at the actual machineitself, this sort of artwork, and they're using
xylophones and bells.
What a beautiful machine.
And it's such an open playfield where there'sabout four or five targets.
It's the easiest play.
(37:27):
And so that's beautiful. My
beautiful. My favorite.
I own 11 machines.
My oldest one is a 1970 Bally Camelot, and thenewest is a 1994 Data East Last Action Hero
with Arnold Schwarzenegger and everything inbetween.
And it's just beautiful.
Yeah.
Super fun.
And I tell you what, if you can get one, here'smy advice for your audience.
(37:48):
I know what you're thinking.
These machines are ten, twenty thousand.
Yeah.
The brand new ones.
But if you find a machine from the '70s and'80s, that's a no name.
Not like Kiss or Captain America or RollingStones.
Like I did, Camelot.
You never heard of it before.
It's like $700.
And so you can get these things, put them inyour house, clean them up, and now you're the
most powerful guy in town.
(38:09):
You know what it reminds me of?
Remember back in the day when people used tohang around the organs or the pianos and start
singing songs like Archie Bunker?
No one does that anymore.
But when you have a pinball machine, everyone'shanging around that machine competing and
stuff.
So it takes people
off the television.
Thank you for sharing that.
I just wanted to add people together.
There at the end
of second.
(38:29):
It's the most well,
I don't why.
You know?
that makes
so
much sense.
sense. Retro gaming.
Yeah.
In the same generation.
Those machines.
Oh my goodness.
That's so fun.
That's actually fun.
And you know what?
What I love is that you add fun into
Ricky Schroder and Silver Spoons.
And when
we were best arcade
wanted.
We're able to actually send more of that outinto the world, and so I love that.
(38:51):
Thank you.
Is that you're so serious.
Yes.
Into your life and the things that bring youjoy.
And when we bring ourselves joy, we're able toactually send more of that out into the world.
I love air hockey because everyone's just soserious.
Especially at work.
Favorite things to play.
At magazines, it's uncomfortable and terriblecoffee.
(39:11):
What's wrong with you?
Let's go play some air hockey.
And you asked me a question earlier.
That I love that.
You wonder why people stand.
Us, Richard.
If people are just they enjoyed ourconversation, enjoyed what we had to offer
here.
We're fun.
(39:31):
How would they get in touch with you?
Of course, you wanna be.
Do business with you?
What what are the ways in which they couldcommunicate with you?
You've added a lot of value to our podcasttoday, so I thank you so much.
But how would they reach out to you?
You're so kind.
Well, when it's really snowy and really cold,you should buy a plane ticket and fly to Costa
Rica.
So it's nice.
That's advice number one.
(39:52):
Number two, if you want, you can shoot me anemail, CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center.
And I tell you what, if they mention you andyour amazing podcast, I'll definitely look at
their scripts for free and give advice.
But I can't thank you enough.
I had the best time.
And you know what?
You do bring the best out of your guest.
You're very sweet.
You're fun.
And you just get
(40:13):
people so relaxed.
Really appreciate this time.
I feel like they're
with their best
friends and all they want to do is value add toour clients.
Can't thank you enough for putting me in avery, very happy mind space today.
I'm beyond thankful to this very authenticconversation because some sometimes it's a very
it's you know, it can be very scripted.
(40:33):
And I'm saying this on recording because for areason.
When you authentically, as in the conversationthat we've had, are yourself, you add so much
value and joy and fun.
And that is something that I think we need moreof in the world.
So thank you again, Richard, for being with ustoday.
Conversation that you've had for yourself.
(40:55):
You add so much.
So, again, this is Katherine, your host with"The Beyond Business Podcast." So grateful that
you were here to listen to us today.
And please reach out to Richard because youknow what?
He sounds like We
We told it off. Have
Have lots
of fun with and being able to get lots ofadvice as well.
This is Kat.
I'm
here holding
Thank you.
So grateful that you were here to listen to ustoday.
(41:16):
And please reach out to Richard because youknow what, he sounds like someone who you can
have lots of fun with and be able to get lotsof advice from.
So thank you.
Well, if you made it to this point, then youmade it to the end.
And you are my star.
And I just want to thank you from the bottom ofmy heart.
(41:37):
I hope that you enjoyed the conversation withtoday's guest.
And if you did, please leave us a review onApple Podcasts and Spotify and share this
episode with others who may be interested inthis topic.
Also, please feel free to let us know whattopics you'd like to see covered in future
episodes.
Get in touch in the comments or on RocketGrowth's social media platforms to have
(42:01):
conversations with me.
My booking link is in the comments.
See you next week for an all-new episode.
I am Katherine Martín-Fisher, and I helpbusiness owners who have lost their vision
because they're struggling with cash flow,sales, and marketing, which also affects their
company culture.
By showing them to implement proven systemsthat increase their revenue by 30% in 90 days,
and this allowing them to reignite the passionand that big dream that they started with.
(00:28):
So the reason that I started this podcast wasto celebrate businesses who have overcome
adversity and have come out on the other sideof it.
And I want you to know that you are not alone.
Good afternoon.
This is Katherine, your host with The BeyondBusiness Podcast.
So today, I'm thrilled to welcome RichardBlank, CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center.
(00:55):
From Philadelphia to Central America, Richardhas carved out a unique niche in the world of
telemarketing and business communication.
He's not only built a thriving company in anincredibly competitive industry, he's also
developed a reputation for mastering the art ofpersuasion, training his team in emotional
(01:18):
intelligence, and cultivating a strong companyculture from the ground up.
And I've been made aware that he's also acollector of pinball machines.
This is gonna be a great conversation.
Thank you so much for being with us, Richard.
So happy to be here, Katherine.
Thank you so much for having me as your guest,and that's quite an introduction.
Hopefully, I can live up to that.
(01:38):
Well, you know, Richard, you've had quite abackground here, and I'd love to say I would
love you to share a little bit about yourjourney of how you went from Philadelphia to
running a call center in Costa Rica.
My favorite class in high school was Spanish,and I decided to double down on it and major in
it in college.
So I was building on momentum.
(02:00):
And when I was 27 years old, I was given aone-in-a-million opportunity to move to Costa
Rica, and I took it.
I worked at a friend's center, learned thebusiness from the inside out, not at sea level.
And then when I was 35 years old, I threw myhat in the ring and started the company, and
here we are 18 years later.
So it was a one-in-a-million shot, but I had alot of faith in my own skills, and here we are
(02:23):
today.
So, you know, I love that you said that.
You had a lot of faith in your own skills.
What was the thing that allowed you to say yes?
Because not everybody says yes when they'regiven an opportunity like this.
So what made you say yes?
When your insides tell you that it feels right,when you don't lose sleep over it but you wake
(02:46):
up in the morning and you can't wait to get outand drink it and live it.
Here's the thing, Spanish to me was always themost beautiful language and so I did a lot of
dedicated practice outside the classroom.
I watched the movies, read the books, and hadfriends that spoke Spanish.
So the more you prepare, the easier it got.
And I tell you what, every time I met someonein the Latino community, I got such positive
(03:08):
reinforcement and encouragement.
So, obviously, people are telling me I'm doingthe right thing.
I wasn't a kid getting in trouble.
I was getting accolades, and it was throughacademics, which I really wasn't a serious
student.
And so I knew that if I could be the only oneof my friends that could speak Spanish, I could
show this respect and have an open mind, maybethe world would be my oyster.
(03:28):
The next thing you know, it made thistransition, Katherine, that much easier for me.
I was ready for it.
So anything that I encountered, it wasn't a 10,it became a two.
Something I could pick up in my own hand andwork with.
It wasn't overwhelming for me.
And so that's why the stress got reduced andthe clarity got enhanced and I made those sorts
(03:49):
of decisions.
So I'm gonna ask you this because, and this isnot really related to business or anything from
what you're doing, but I'm of a Hispanicculture.
So the reason I'm asking this question, we havegenerations of children that are being raised
and are not speaking the language.
And what advice would you give them in thesense where this has created opportunity for
(04:10):
you to be able to go to another country, speakthe language and be very successful at what you
do?
And so I do want to add that to our podcasttoday because it is something that speaks to my
heart, is why these children do not speak thelanguage that they are born culturally into.
That's a great observation.
Difficult to see every family, but maybe we canlook at it like this.
(04:33):
How many times have children rebelled?
It's true.
I did when I was growing up.
I got an earring.
Yeah.
Rebel.
But it's not point.
Sometimes when there's family tradition, peoplejust wanna see if they could be different from
it, or they don't want to follow in certainsteps because they might feel boxed in or
forced into.
(04:54):
And it's not a bad thing.
Maybe they're just looking for a certainidentity or the chance to get outside of a
certain bubble.
Like, for my own example, my grandfather wentto Harvard Law.
I couldn't get into Harvard Law.
My pop went to Columbia Business School.
I didn't have the grades, and I didn't wannastudy business.
My brother went to Washington and Lee foraccounting.
(05:15):
I didn't have the maturity for that.
And so imagine if they forced me to be a lawyeror an accountant.
Could I have done it?
I don't know.
But if I did pull it off, I would have beenmiserable.
And so for me, on the opposite side ofembracing the Spanish is maybe the opposite of
what someone is doing in another family to seeif they can test waters.
(05:36):
But I tell you what, it's a wonderful language.
It really shows cognitive skills.
It's the kind of thing that's universal whereyou can use it anywhere.
It's just not one of those things I felt like Ineeded to go to download and carry equipment
with me, and so it was fun.
But it's a romantic language, and I think itenhanced communication compared to English
where I could show desire and doubt through thesubjunctive tense.
(05:59):
And finally, when I was speaking Spanish, thesort of smiles that I'd get, people would give
me the time.
They would introduce me to others, and I wasearning that through a sincere effort.
And I was stronger than the fastest speakingEnglish businessman if I could speak to Don
Jose in his language and showing respect to hisculture.
(06:20):
I usually got that appointment first.
I just did it the old-fashioned way, the way wewere raised by our grandparents.
So maybe I hope that answered your question ina sense.
That does.
It really does.
And I feel like it's important to, you know, tohave that conversation because so many times I
question that and, you know, but yeah.
So what are the, what do you see are thebiggest mistakes that businesses make when
(06:46):
communicating with potential customers?
Because you seem to be an extremely goodcommunicator.
Thank you.
Listening, you might want to push an idea onsomebody, but they just don't want peaches.
You gotta be careful and not be afraid to turndown a client if it's not a good fit or you
just don't get along well.
There's a thousand ways to earn a dollar.
(07:07):
I don't think you should compromise yourethics, values, or peace of mind for a client
that yells at you before you even had yourmorning coffee.
And so for me, I was exceptionally selective ofwhat came in here.
Kinda funny, Katherine.
Hollywood glamorizes call centers through TheWolf of Wall Street and Boiler Room, and not
everybody sells stock or real estate or doessweepstakes scams.
(07:28):
There are incredible people out there that canretain a client through customer support, that
can prospect for a company and get newbusiness.
For someone like myself, you're saying some ofthe mistakes that they're making, maybe they're
not doing due diligence.
Look at what you did prior to me even speakingtoday.
Look at that introduction.
It was almost like Trump is on a red carpet.
(07:49):
And the same with you.
We both read about each other, and we foundinterest and ways to connect.
And so when you take that time and you learnabout people that work with you and you mention
them on a phone call or in writing, it's apositive escalation.
If you compliment years in business or abeautiful loading dock or you like their logo,
these are the sort of things that are likebreaking down the fourth wall in Hollywood
(08:11):
where they look at the audience.
You're getting off a script.
It's raw.
It's real.
It's not a print.
It's a painting where you see brushstrokes.
And so people would see the authenticity in thecalls that I would make.
I'd be sincerely excited for their bicyclecompany or their ice cream store, and I would
ask about flavors, and they couldn't hang up onme.
Right.
I think if you engage in the moment, if youlove the now, if you really get excited to try
(08:35):
to pay it forward to somebody without trying tograb a deal and money, then magic does happen.
So I think if people can just put themselves inthat sort of mindset and see this as
relationship building through the art of speechcompared to pressing, it's not a forced march
anymore and that's maybe one of the mistakesthat they made.
They try to force a square into a circle and itjust doesn't work like that.
(08:58):
It's so interesting that you say that because Ifind the same thing.
When you're authentically just caring about theclient and you know what is best, you know,
what their needs are and where their painpoints are, and you're able to actually
articulate to them some of the things that youcan solve those pains and not just try to sell
them anything.
(09:18):
It's literally caring about the client.
So I used to work at a call center, you know,as customer service at Allstate many years ago
when I first got out of high school.
And one of the things that I always found sointeresting is they were the ones who always
looked at that little light and they had tohurry up and get off the call so they could be
the one with the highest call rate for thatday.
(09:38):
And I didn't care about the light, I caredabout the people.
And so but through that, there were so manymore satisfied customers because you are
actually helping them solve their problems.
That's the thing that we want to do inbusiness.
And that's what I get of how you handle yourcustomers and clients that you're working with.
(10:00):
So I love that.
You brought up a very important metric there,Katherine.
You were talking about talk time and conversionratios compared to the amount of calls that I
could care less if you make 5,000 calls.
Make me five calls as long as you're hitting itout of the park and it's a conversion.
And I'm sure through the quality controldepartment when they were studying your KPIs,
(10:22):
you got the highest marks, not on the top 20that you had to ask them, but the soft skills.
Saying their name, repeating the information,military alphabet, landing that plane.
And so that's what makes customer supportincredible when you have that sort of
relationship.
Yes.
So true.
So true.
(10:44):
Tell me, can you give us a a, example of thebreakdown of what makes a phone con conversion,
a conversation true I meant a conversation.
Conversation truly persuasive.
Okay.
Time is number one because if they hang up onyou, you don't even get a chance to pitch them.
(11:07):
So in my mind, it's like anchoring.
It's climbing that rock.
It's buying time, having breaths so you cancontinue distance because persuasion sometimes
is making your point because if you only get tosay two things instead of 10 things, your point
will not be as strong and you might not have achance to readjust tone or choose that other
(11:28):
adventure.
And so instead of giving you the million-dollaradvice, which is impossible on how to close a
deal, why don't we just focus on the initialpart, which is the introduction?
Because if you can get in the door, if you cangrab onto the rock and get another breath, you
might have some time to get the body and thenthe conclusion and then finish it.
What's one of my techniques when I'm doingoutbound prospecting?
(11:50):
The first thing I would do would be a companyname spike, The Beyond Business Podcast, how
are you today?
And I would use my anonymity in the first threeseconds compared to asking for Katherine or if
the boss is available or how are you today?
Because if you receive that sort of phone call,you have a bad taste in your mouth, sounds like
a telemarketer, you'd say, take me off yourlist.
(12:11):
I'm not interested.
How'd you get my number?
Sometimes you say f-you.
Click.
I would rather, if I'm calling a company, say,The Beyond Business Podcast.
How are you today?
And I'm gonna say better than the person whoanswered the call.
So what it's gonna do, it's gonna snap them outof the trance.
At least I got in something.
And even if you hung up on me then, that's aromantic death.
I can jump clouds.
Why?
Because I said the name of your company.
At least I got a part in the play before youended it.
(12:34):
And so I got some speaking roles.
So I spoke first, and I spoke it with sunshine.
And I did it in such a wonderful way that Imade your person who answered the call
straighten their tie a little bit.
Listen, I just sized you up.
Why aren't you saying it like I am?
You know, you're saying it in a boring way.
And so then they will always say, who is this?
(12:56):
Compared to who is this?
Don't call me again.
How'd you get my number?
That's a positive reinforcement.
That means I just passed the first IndianaJones checkpoint.
So then I'll say, well, hey Katherine, my nameis Richard Blank and then I'm not going to say
the name of my company yet, I got a double dip.
What do you mean?
If I said your name, hey, Katherine, my name isRichard Blank and I'm saying it in such a nice
(13:16):
way, maybe you'll say, well, who is RichardBlank?
Gotcha.
Instead of saying, is this a sales call?
And so I get a chance for you to snap out ofit.
I get to show you that I said the name of yourcompany, name dropped you, said my name, and
there's a technique called the buffer boomerangtechnique.
To half moon, I will say, Katherine, that's anexcellent question.
(13:38):
Repeat the question and give you the answer foran example.
Hi.
What's your name?
Richard Blank.
Who is Richard Blank?
Katherine, that's an excellent question.
Richard Blank is the owner of Costa Rica's CallCenter.
What's ABC?
Katherine, that's an excellent question.
ABC is one two three.
You're readjusting tones because you do notknow me yet.
Snapped you out of it.
(13:59):
Took you from a 10 to a six.
You asked me twice who I am and the name of thecompany through a buffer boomerang.
Name dropped.
Great question.
Repeat question.
Send it back, happy.
And then when I finally get the pass to pitchand I am gonna get transferred over to
somebody, I'm gonna say, hey, Katherine, andyou've been great on the phone.
I'm gonna let Mr.
Jones know when you transfer me.
(14:21):
And you go, thank you, Richard.
And so when I get transferred and Mr.
Jones answers, who never gets no one never getsto him.
Hi.
This is Mr.
Jones.
And Mr.
Jones, I just gotta let you know Katherine'sthe best.
You don't even know who I am yet.
And so I'm not doing the company name spike.
I can do that a second time, but the firstthing I'm doing is the positive escalation,
letting you know that Katherine's great.
Oh, yeah.
She's been with me 20 years.
(14:41):
Yeah.
That's my wife.
Yeah.
She's the greatest person we have at thecompany.
Of course, she is.
And then she goes, who is this?
Man, I gotcha.
And then we do the buffer boomerang twiceagain.
What's that doing?
It's buying me 30 seconds worth of time.
It's a beautiful checkpoint.
And if I can get the 30 seconds, I can do it 10more times.
And just to make sure that things make sense,sounds good with clarification and tie-down
(15:05):
questions and all you're doing is slowing downand taking it one step at a time that each
point that you're talking about makes sense andsounds good.
That's all.
The easiest way to do it.
It's amazing because this is a skill set thatyou have.
How do you take the skill set that you have?
(15:27):
Number one, I'd like to know, did you havementors or teachers that taught you this, but
then how do you transfer that then to yourcompany, to other leaders in your company to be
able to do what you are able to do?
Of course.
That's why you have the best podcast.
That's a wonderful question.
Alright.
Let me answer the first part for you.
Mentors, so many.
(15:47):
But if I have to give your audience somehomework, and I'm not giving boring homework,
I'm giving fun homework, I want you to watchthree different things.
The first thing is The A-Team.
Remember that show back in the '80s?
Yes.
That's right.
Besides Mr.
T, who was the best, there was also a charactercalled Templeton Peck.
He was the Face Man played by the amazing actorDirk Benedict.
(16:11):
Study his rhetoric and skills.
Now a second actor was Pierce Brosnan asRemington Steele.
Oh, what show that was with StephanieZimbalist.
So study that rhetoric, and then the bestmentor that I ever had was a gentleman by the
name of Basil Rathbone.
Back in the '30s and '40s, he did SherlockHolmes with Nigel Bruce.
(16:31):
Now listen, Katherine, if I spoke like him,you'd be like, what's wrong with you?
I don't speak Queen's English.
But I tell you what, that was the sharpestknife and the sharpest tongue.
And I would look up some vocabulary words andrewind the VCR, and I was like, this is
incredible.
I gravitated towards that advanced speech, andI realized there are people out there much more
polished and clever than I.
(16:51):
And so there's nothing wrong with borrowing acolor.
I mean, I didn't invent it, but I can use itthrough my medium.
And so I was taking a lot of the things that Ibelieved were effective and just using it.
Yes.
Those are my mentors.
And then how do we increase in our skills?
Well, the beauty of it is we have the luxury oflistening to ourselves.
Now I think it was, like, in the mid-19thcentury, like, 1850s when they had the
(17:15):
steinograph, the first time they actually couldrecord somebody singing.
Unless you lived in a cave where you could hearyourself with an echo, it was almost
impossible, if impossible, to record and hearyourself.
And so this is not new.
This is the kind of thing where or this is verynew in effect because think of all the
generations, we're not used to it.
(17:36):
So that's why we're still not used to our ownvoice and our own sound.
And so the more that you can record yourselfand just make minor adjustments in regards to
your phonetics, in regards to your tone ofvoice, which in my opinion should always be
empathetic and confident.
That's a beautiful consistent variable and youshould also very much pay attention to your
rate of speech and your speaking levels and howloud you are.
(18:00):
And pausing is so important because light anddarkness sound and silence.
You should be using pauses and silence to youradvantage in regards to speech, and this is
non-visual speech, my friend.
That's even more powerful than face-to-facewhere you can misconstrue people's body
language and tell signs, but let's not even gothere.
Let's go to even the purest form, sound withoutsight.
(18:23):
And so we are making our voice so pleasing.
It's almost like a drug where people can fallinto the sound, into the pattern where you
mirror image them, you match them.
It's a dance of speech.
It's a taking turn.
And if it can be done properly, do not besurprised if 10 minutes goes by like that.
(18:46):
And they say, wow.
That was the most fun ever.
I go, of course, painless.
That's how it's done.
I love that you're saying that because that isso true.
And that's actually how you engage in that backand forth and that tonality and this beautiful,
just one moment here.
Richard, I want to thank you so much for justthis lovely insight that you're giving us.
(19:11):
So if you haven't, if you're an entrepreneurthat has decided that you want to relocate,
expand your business outside of the country,could you just explain to them some of the
challenges that you may have gone through inhaving done that, or what are the positives in
doing something like that?
Okay.
Well, the first thing is to be prepared, so youhave to study the laws and the rules that are
(19:37):
there to see if you're even able to start abusiness.
Now, when you do go there, my advice would beto team up with specialists, get yourself a
good attorney, an accountant, and if you grow abusiness, find someone who has a degree in
human resources so you have people that haveinvested all this time and are experts in it so
you can focus on other things.
In addition to that, if you're going out topurchase or look at real estate, have an
(20:01):
individual that's local represent you.
You can make the final decision and you can bethere in the payment, but I've also seen that
people might increase the price or make youjump through a couple more hoops if they
realize that you're from another place or theycould take advantage of you.
It's not a bad thing, it's just realistic, andsometimes people see opportunities.
(20:25):
And so my advice if someone was going to startis to really take your time and find the right
people to surround yourself with that are in itfor the long game.
And if you do that, then they will be able togive you the best advice and save you the most
money and make it easiest for you to start, andthen on the other side, you have something to
(20:46):
add.
You are in a new country, you're a guest there,so it should keep you on your toes, should make
you sharp every day so you're not numb.
And since you are unique in this otherenvironment, it's like a little spice you would
add to the stew.
It makes all the difference in the world.
And so you're thinking outside of the box asthey are to yours.
So by blending that together, two worlds arecoming together, and you'll probably get double
(21:08):
the amount of ideas from that.
And so there's nothing better than someone fromthe complete opposite end of the world to see
what they think about your lifestyle and viceversa.
And so it really opened my eyes intocommunication and how to relate to this
specific culture and how to get them to betheir best.
So, no, I definitely think your audience shouldtake that challenge.
(21:29):
That is really great advice.
So basically building a team is instrumental.
I mean, that is one of the most importantthings, but I love what you've said about the
locals, like getting a partnership with a localwho can help in that process because you're so
right.
I mean, one of the things that my husbandalways says when we go to a country where I
(21:50):
speak Spanish, I'm able to communicate easily.
And so that is always that immediate like,okay.
She's one of us.
And so then it causes or, you know, it has abetter because now you can't get over.
You know, people do have opportunity.
(22:12):
They take opportunities.
But even when we go to Puerto Rico, you know,that's common to me.
It's always different when you can speak thelanguage.
And that's the reason I originally asked aboutthe language because, you know, I have brothers
who do not speak the language.
They understand, but they don't speak it.
And it is different when you can't speak thelanguage.
But so that's right.
(22:32):
Along with that, you have had all theseexperiences and you're, you know, you're in
another country.
What would be the best client avatar for youand how you would do business with them?
Like, who would be your best client?
Someone that has a mecha larga, someone thathas patience because I think that peace of mind
(22:59):
and tranquility allows me to work better.
I can work under pressure and you can give meresponsibilities.
But if there's unnecessary distraction,unnecessary distraction, or people are just
venting and stuff at the wrong place at thewrong time, that just doesn't work.
So any sort of maybe an avatar for me, maybejust a beautiful yellowish color, yellowish
(23:22):
cream.
It doesn't even have to be an image.
It's just something that evokes a happyfeeling.
Was that my Internet or hers?
Okay.
Mm-mm.
Okay.
So, of course, the ideal client would beunderhand pitches with wiffle balls for a
customer support client.
But if I had to think about the client to workwith, it would be someone that has just a mecha
larga, someone with patience, someone that onceagain doesn't fill the time and energy with
(23:46):
distraction because I work best when I mean, Ican handle stress and responsibilities.
It's just how people character during chaos.
That's always it's unnecessary to addadditional weight when you really don't have
to.
And so a lot of it, my friend, deals withimpulse control and impulse control and
maturity, and that's done with time.
(24:07):
And so I wish I had this back in my because Ithink I'd have more hair today, but I don't,
and I had to learn it the hard way.
But if I had to choose an avatar for theclient, it'd be nice.
Going back to when I there.
I wanted to ask what advice would an image?
Self.
It's gotta be just a
younger self.
Color that could just expand
and make you feel good, like, warm blanket.
(24:28):
Business advice that would be what would thatbe if that was an advice you were giving
yourself?
And this is for the entire life, Katherine.
It's just not to be hard on yourself.
How could decisions you made at 12 years oldcompared to 52.
I got 40 years to learn that.
I can't be hard on myself at that time.
(24:48):
I had no idea and I was dealing with thecircumstances of that moment of what was around
me.
I can't do hindsight and Monday morningquarterback.
That's not fair.
That's not fair at all.
And the fact that if I was 26 years old and Iwas at the point of either staying in the
United States or at 27 moving to Costa Rica, Ihad to ask myself that crossroads question.
(25:13):
And so what I did do to alleviate being hard onmyself was getting past a lot of guilt and
sometimes making selfish decisions in order formy own mental and physical survival.
And once again, when a lot of people do notunderstand what you're doing, have never done
it before and think that you're crazy, what doyou do?
(25:35):
This is exactly what you do.
You have a hero's journey.
You leave a castle, you slay a dragon to save aprincess, and then you're on "The Beyond
Business Podcast."
It's just how it had to be because if not, Icouldn't live with myself.
And some people are willing to die with theirboots on.
I was responsible with it.
I understood the telltale signs that I wasgoing in the right direction.
I just wasn't a rebel breaking windows.
(25:56):
I was banking it on the romance of this secondlanguage and opportunities, and so I took it.
But being hard on yourself, that's a terriblething to do.
I think you should make your bed in themorning.
You should look at yourself in the mirror.
You should work out if you're able so you canpreserve, and you should find ways to
decompress.
With me, it's washing my convertible, playingpinball on Sundays.
(26:17):
I can find ways where Richard can spend timewith Richard again just for a couple of
minutes, and then we can separate piles andrealize what's important for the day.
And if you don't get that, time goes by and youlose yourself and you get further away from
what drives you.
And living life is not the forced march or thewheel of death like in Conan the Barbarian
(26:41):
where you're just walking around in this circlepushing a grinder, right?
That's a terrible way to live.
I remember the imagery of "Under Pressure" withDavid Bowie and Freddie Mercury, and they were
showing images of people being pushed intosubway cars or the thousands of people walking
down the sidewalks of the cities.
(27:02):
And as exciting as it might seem, that scaredme to death.
It was another brick in the Pink Floyd wall,and I didn't want to be that individual.
I wanted to be a painting.
I just didn't want to be a print.
I wanted to see if I could do something in lifethat could grow in a desert, to be a flower in
a desert.
I wanted to see that if I had a hundred yearshere, could I live?
(27:24):
Not just living.
And I almost needed to do it on my own becauseno one put me into this.
I mean, school gives you structure andsometimes you have athletics and other
activities, but when it comes to the big game,no one really writes this out for you.
And there's so many expectations that peoplehave of me and you, Katherine.
(27:46):
And so what do you and I do?
Do we succumb or do we go outside and dance inthe rain?
And I decided the latter.
I decided to be a really classic romantic andbe the crazy one of my friends.
Crazy what?
I just knew this, that I could live withmyself.
And at the end of the day, I think that's abeautiful thing.
And so I hope that your audience can find thatsort of inner peace and balance earlier in
(28:09):
life.
I think at 27 is the day that I shed that skin.
So much sense, that really does speak to mysoul for that purpose.
Me, I'm still able to have it in my youth.
You can authenticate.
Who
are and what you're supposed to do.
I feel that
are sort of sense,
my the world at a at a level in which you wereborn here to to do.
(28:30):
Good.
You know, and I love that you, you know, youwere an outliner, like literally you decided
that you were going to go outside the lines ofwhat normal society says that you should do
because, you know, you're set up in this, thisfamily and these are the expectations and this
(28:51):
is what you have to do when you go to schooland this is what you, you know, you're able to
actually be yourself and give yourselfpermission to be yourself, which then serves
others at a higher level in all honesty.
So thank you.
Thank you.
That thank you for sharing that with ouraudience.
We appreciate that.
So let's do let's do something fun.
(29:12):
What is a favorite dish in Costa Rica that youenjoy eating?
So so so I love food.
Yeah.
What is a favorite dish in Costa Rica that you?
That's one of my number one things, my go-towith tostones.
I love pulpo con arroz.
(29:34):
Oh, when they make the local octopus with rice,it's so tasty.
Yeah.
It's good stuff.
The seafood here is delicious.
The exotic fruit is great.
The guanabana on the bottom.
Cannot wait to visit the farmer's market
on Saturday.
One of these things on my bucket list.
You get so well for a fraction of the cost, andit's so fresh.
So if you really want that healthy lifestyle,it's there
(29:55):
for you.
Share with our audience, like, one of thebiggest mistakes that you may have made along
your journey, but then what is one of thebiggest things you're most proud of?
Then what is one of the biggest things you'remost
proud.
Biggest mistake was putting faith in somebodythat disappointed me so.
A wolf in sheep's clothing.
True.
How many different fables, stories, andexamples do you hear about people that look
(30:21):
what happened to Caesar.
Look what happened to every kingdom.
There's always whispers and shadows.
So in this environment where I've hiredthousands and promoted so many from time to
time and these individuals had skills but theydidn't have ethics and they didn't have morals
nor values and once that mask came off, Ilearned it the hard way.
(30:44):
You can get angry as much as you want and youcan wish terrible things on people and trust me
you do in your private moments.
But what did I learn from that?
I learned that I shouldn't be angry at myselffor having faith in others.
I might have been clouded by certain emotionand time and all these experiences, so of
(31:06):
course your decision process and the way youthink is off.
Someone might not love you anymore when you puton these rose-colored glasses.
But I knew that I gave individuals specificopportunities, and I know that I let them speak
for me and do certain things.
I think one of the most beautiful things inlife you can do is to let go of certain things
(31:28):
and allow people in your lives to work with youbecause you're running a business; you can't do
everything.
You need to have individuals there.
You get spread too thin, and a wonderful thingin life is to promote someone and to trust
someone and to work with someone and believe insomeone.
I'm not the first to say that peopledisappointed you in your lives, a best friend,
(31:50):
a coworker, a teacher, anybody.
It could be on expectations.
But then again, there's a certain point wherethey cross that line.
Let's forget showing up late or forgetting abirthday or something.
I'm not going there.
I'm talking about that line where you know thatthere was a certain time when they had to think
for a second and say, is this or is this notgonna hurt Richard and Katherine?
(32:11):
Could it affect their lives and do I care?
And you realize that they don't care.
And you know what's interesting about money?
It brings out the worst in people, and one daywhen all this money loses its luster and you
can't buy anything anymore, you have either toomuch, too little, or it doesn't even matter,
you're gonna realize what the most importantthings are in life, and it's not money.
(32:35):
You don't need to buy your best friend.
And smiles are free.
And I'm not getting paid to be here today.
I love being here today, and I'll do it athousand more times on my time.
And so, you know, it's not about that, butthere are some people that will literally sell
their soul for money and do certain things outof desperation.
And it makes you think about who you are andhow much you cost and what decisions you're
(33:01):
willing to make for your own name and how youfeel about yourself and how your children and
family and friends will see you.
And I hope in a certain way where I'm trying todo it diplomatically and strategically, but my
goodness, just prepare for that and from timeto time, if you need to ask a question for
(33:26):
clarification, it might insult the person atthe moment, but if it's a way to save a
relationship or to make sure that yourintuition or your doubts are either put to bed
or justified, then do it because by not askingand not investigating or not double-checking,
you'll miss it and that was my ignorance and mymistake and that's never gonna happen again.
(33:53):
And so I'm sorry to put it on a serious tonebut if it's the sort of thing where, you know,
besides my smile, I also have my scars,Katherine.
And so as and I'm still a person like you thatcan always pick ourselves up, move forward, and
be relentlessly positive.
But we're also real.
We've lived life.
We've tasted the blood.
(34:13):
Okay?
And we understand what it's like.
But the better people are the ones that canrise from that like a phoenix and move forward.
And so it's made me stronger, butunfortunately, through such sacrifice.
What would you say is one of your favoritebooks that you've read or listened to?
No.
But I'm an avid listener.
I listen to audiobooks and stuff.
(34:35):
Yeah.
I can't read.
It's too much of a chore.
The one that had the most inspiration on me wasone that was given to me when I was in Spain.
And in the fall of '93, a good friend of minegave me Anthony Adverse.
It's a book written by Hervey Allen back in, Ithink, 1936.
Anyway, it was kinda similar.
It was about someone in the eighteenth centuryin Europe that just traveled around, found
(34:57):
himself, fell in love, and lived a life.
The book was 1,234 pages.
It went through the guy's whole life.
I said to myself, if I ever read a book thatlong, I'll, a, I'll never do it again, and b,
let me see if I can do it.
But it was very interesting for me.
And, I don't know.
It was the time when I was just going to themuseums, speaking Spanish, staying up late,
(35:18):
waking up early, and I really felt like I wastruly living the most beautiful life and so I
guess that book meant the most
to me.
Is the thing about the pinball machine?
Probably the most inspirational times of mylife.
I wanna know.
Why do you love pinball machines?
What's not?
Are you kidding?
(35:39):
Come on, mom.
Okay.
Listen.
You need to calm down.
I know it's not polite to ask a lady her age,but we are from the beautiful Generation X.
And when we and when we grew up, we grew upwhere arcades were cool.
That's where the games were, and $5 needed tolast you a whole weekend.
And I can play Asteroids for 45 minutes.
(36:01):
Pinball machine, that 50 cents used to go awayin a minute.
I couldn't afford it.
It was too beautiful.
It was too expensive.
What happened?
I moved to Costa Rica, and arcades are goingout of business.
I have a call center with tons of space, and Iwas doing well.
And people are giving them away.
So me, you know, Billy, Tommy, and Joey, wejump in a truck with a couple hundred bucks,
(36:22):
drive to Pérez Zeledón.
I'm bringing back free pinball machines and ajukebox.
And so these people are giving it away.
They weren't necessarily working.
Some of them were, but they were just 30-,40-year-old machines.
And so what you would do is you take out allthe CPUs and the stuff behind the marquee.
You order them from Marco Specialties.
You replace all that stuff, and the machineturns on again and starts working.
(36:44):
And so you buy something for $300.
Next thing you know, it's worth $5,000, and youknow the value.
But I tell you what, my favorite decade is fromthe '70s.
Those are the most beautiful pinball machines.
They're electromechanical, so it's on contacts,not the computers.
This is the years when they used to paint theplayfield.
(37:06):
So the older machines, sometimes you see somecracks.
Today, they use laminates or stickers, and someof the marquee in the back glass was the most
beautiful.
And then if you look at the actual machineitself, this sort of artwork, and they're using
xylophones and bells.
What a beautiful machine.
And it's such an open playfield where there'sabout four or five targets.
It's the easiest play.
(37:27):
And so that's beautiful. My
beautiful. My favorite.
I own 11 machines.
My oldest one is a 1970 Bally Camelot, and thenewest is a 1994 Data East Last Action Hero
with Arnold Schwarzenegger and everything inbetween.
And it's just beautiful.
Yeah.
Super fun.
And I tell you what, if you can get one, here'smy advice for your audience.
(37:48):
I know what you're thinking.
These machines are ten, twenty thousand.
Yeah.
The brand new ones.
But if you find a machine from the '70s and'80s, that's a no name.
Not like Kiss or Captain America or RollingStones.
Like I did, Camelot.
You never heard of it before.
It's like $700.
And so you can get these things, put them inyour house, clean them up, and now you're the
most powerful guy in town.
(38:09):
You know what it reminds me of?
Remember back in the day when people used tohang around the organs or the pianos and start
singing songs like Archie Bunker?
No one does that anymore.
But when you have a pinball machine, everyone'shanging around that machine competing and
stuff.
So it takes people
off the television.
Thank you for sharing that.
I just wanted to add people together.
There at the end
of second.
(38:29):
It's the most well,
I don't why.
You know?
that makes
so
much sense.
sense. Retro gaming.
Yeah.
In the same generation.
Those machines.
Oh my goodness.
That's so fun.
That's actually fun.
And you know what?
What I love is that you add fun into
Ricky Schroder and Silver Spoons.
And when
we were best arcade
wanted.
We're able to actually send more of that outinto the world, and so I love that.
(38:51):
Thank you.
Is that you're so serious.
Yes.
Into your life and the things that bring youjoy.
And when we bring ourselves joy, we're able toactually send more of that out into the world.
I love air hockey because everyone's just soserious.
Especially at work.
Favorite things to play.
At magazines, it's uncomfortable and terriblecoffee.
(39:11):
What's wrong with you?
Let's go play some air hockey.
And you asked me a question earlier.
That I love that.
You wonder why people stand.
Us, Richard.
If people are just they enjoyed ourconversation, enjoyed what we had to offer
here.
We're fun.
(39:31):
How would they get in touch with you?
Of course, you wanna be.
Do business with you?
What what are the ways in which they couldcommunicate with you?
You've added a lot of value to our podcasttoday, so I thank you so much.
But how would they reach out to you?
You're so kind.
Well, when it's really snowy and really cold,you should buy a plane ticket and fly to Costa
Rica.
So it's nice.
That's advice number one.
(39:52):
Number two, if you want, you can shoot me anemail, CEO of Costa Rica's Call Center.
And I tell you what, if they mention you andyour amazing podcast, I'll definitely look at
their scripts for free and give advice.
But I can't thank you enough.
I had the best time.
And you know what?
You do bring the best out of your guest.
You're very sweet.
You're fun.
And you just get
(40:13):
people so relaxed.
Really appreciate this time.
I feel like they're
with their best
friends and all they want to do is value add toour clients.
Can't thank you enough for putting me in avery, very happy mind space today.
I'm beyond thankful to this very authenticconversation because some sometimes it's a very
it's you know, it can be very scripted.
(40:33):
And I'm saying this on recording because for areason.
When you authentically, as in the conversationthat we've had, are yourself, you add so much
value and joy and fun.
And that is something that I think we need moreof in the world.
So thank you again, Richard, for being with ustoday.
Conversation that you've had for yourself.
(40:55):
You add so much.
So, again, this is Katherine, your host with"The Beyond Business Podcast." So grateful that
you were here to listen to us today.
And please reach out to Richard because youknow what?
He sounds like We
We told it off. Have
Have lots
of fun with and being able to get lots ofadvice as well.
This is Kat.
I'm
here holding
Thank you.
So grateful that you were here to listen to ustoday.
(41:16):
And please reach out to Richard because youknow what, he sounds like someone who you can
have lots of fun with and be able to get lotsof advice from.
So thank you.
Well, if you made it to this point, then youmade it to the end.
And you are my star.
And I just want to thank you from the bottom ofmy heart.
(41:37):
I hope that you enjoyed the conversation withtoday's guest.
And if you did, please leave us a review onApple Podcasts and Spotify and share this
episode with others who may be interested inthis topic.
Also, please feel free to let us know whattopics you'd like to see covered in future
episodes.
Get in touch in the comments or on RocketGrowth's social media platforms to have
(42:01):
conversations with me.
My booking link is in the comments.
See you next week for an all-new episode.
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