Ep01 Ricardo Gonzalez, CEO of Bilingual America, Culture Expert: Leadership Development podcast

This leadership development podcast is brought to you by: Ovi Vasquez, Inspirational Leadership Keynote Speaker. Fatherless farm boy from rural Guatemala—Inspiring teams to peak performance. He challenges teams to embrace change and step into bold leadership through leadership culture. He grew up in a village off-the-grid, migrated to the U.S., learned English in two years, graduated from high school in three years, earned a B.A. in management, in two years.  Ovi has worked for Apple, Tesla, Salesforce, and Uber. He is a TEDx speaker, author, and a social entrepreneur.

GUEST: Ricardo Gonzalez, CEO of Bilingual America, a nationally recognized leader in cultural communications with a Fortune 500 client base. Author of 6 Stages of Cultural Mastery, 6 Stages of Cultural Sales, To Belong or Not to Belong, and The 12 Hidden Truths to Learning Spanish. His next blood due for release in 2026 is The ConeXt Code. 

Find our guest at:  https://bilingualamerica.com
Find our host at:  https://www.ovinspires.com

Keywords: belonging, cultural intelligence, DEI strategy, inclusive leadership, trust building, cross-cultural communication, emotional intelligence, executive leadership, team performance, values-based leadership, psychological safety.  

Summary:
In this episode, Ricardo González shares how high-performance organizations are built through cultural mastery, not mandates. He breaks down why belonging, not just diversity, drives engagement and results. Ricardo explains his proprietary framework for cultural mastery and why values-based leadership is more effective than behavior-based DEI models. This conversation offers a clear roadmap for executives seeking to build unified, high-trust teams across generational, cultural, and linguistic differences.  

Takeaways
✅ Diversity without belonging is ineffective.
✅ Belonging is created through connection, not compliance.
✅ Cultural mastery requires six intentional stages of development.
✅ Leaders must move from behavioral control to values alignment.
✅ Trust is the foundation of all successful relationships and teams.
✅ The language of leadership is belonging, not control.
✅ Personal transformation is the precursor to cultural transformation.
✅ Leaders must learn to shift from conformity to authenticity.  

Titles
✅ Ricardo González: Leading Through Belonging, Not Mandates
✅ Cultural Mastery and the 6 Stages of Inclusive Leadership
✅ From Diversity Metrics to Meaningful Human Connection  

Sound Bites
🗣 “You cannot control people and create belonging at the same time.”
🗣 “Behavioral DEI is about control. Values-based DEI is about freedom.”
🗣 “Diversity is a fact. Belonging is a choice.”
🗣 “If you're not trusted, you're not leading.”  

Chapters
00:00 – Introduction to Ricardo González
03:00 – Why Diversity Isn’t Enough
07:00 – The 6 Stages of Cultural Mastery
11:00 – Trust and the Leadership Equation
15:00 – From Control to Connection
20:00 – Leadership in a Multicultural World
24:00 – Transforming Self to Transform Culture
29:00 – Final Thoughts on Belonging and Leadership  

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Transcript

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (00:02.012)
Welcome to the Leadership Messengers podcast, where our mission is to develop or to help you develop the next generation of value-driven leaders. And today's guest is a treat because not only is he an expert in his field, but he's also been a mentor of mine. So this is going to be a rather special episode. Allow me to read his bio so that you know exactly the treat that you're getting today, aside from his personal essence, from his story that he will

weave in into all the resources, tools, and frameworks he's going to share with you. El señor Ricardo Gonzalez, señor means mister, he is the CEO of Bilingual America, a nationally recognized leader in cultural communications with Fortune 500 client base. He's the author of Six Stages of Cultural Mastery, Six Stages of Cultural Sales, To Belong or Not to Belong, and the 12

Hidden Truth to Learning Spanish. His next book, it's due for release in 2026. It is called The Connects Code. Let me spell connects for you because this one is special. C-O-N-E-X-T. So be on the lookout for that as you listen now to our special guest, Señor Ricardo González. Ricardo, welcome to the show.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:26.766)
Great. Thank you so much, Ovi. As you said, you know, we've known each other for several years. I remember when you were very young, just starting out, showing that desire to grow and just admire your growth and also the impact you're having and just excited to be part of your life, man. That's I'm getting on the other side of that, you know, and and I started bilingual America like, sheesh, man, it's 1992. what? Thirty three years ago.

That was, that was the, I think Jesus died when he was 33 or he was, he was crucified. And so hopefully bilingual America lives many years beyond, but, yeah, it's a pleasure. I'm glad we can do this. This is great. Yeah.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (02:05.81)
Yes, yes it shall. Yes it shall. Thank you. And thank you for being the type of leader that also develops the next generation of value-driven leaders because you've seen me, you've seen my kids, you've seen my family since we're connected on Facebook and you continuously check in, give me some advice and just give me a perspective that I may not have considered in the moment or in the months past. So now with your story and your perspective, I hope that the education leaders can learn

everything that you know of so that they can help those young people that they're working with, that they're serving maybe directly or maybe indirectly from their office, as sometimes superintendents don't really get to face students on a day-to-day basis, right? But we do know that educators do get to do that. Let's begin now, sort of like reverse engineer the journey so that we can get to see the impact and everything that

played a role into your life and made you the successful individual that you are now that also provide lots of value to everyone else that comes in contact with you and those that they are in contact with. you create a ripple effect because you come and do training for Fortune 500 leaders and then they themselves bring in your impact through your cultural mastery trainings that you do and then make that impact even and you never met these people in person. So let's begin now.

Who are you now and who do you serve now, Ricardo?

Ricardo Gonzalez (03:32.909)
I think, you know, for years, I did quite a bit of political consulting. I never really published a lot of it, but very spent several days in Washington, DC. Let's put it that way. I've done speeches for FEMA executives and, you my last Hispanic Heritage thing I did was for Arlington Cemetery. So I've been able to have that kind of impact, you know, with people who are kind of at the higher echelons of politics. But

Honestly, man, the thing that's bringing me most joy right now is helping owners of larger companies, you know, like I'll be out in your neck of the woods in a couple of weeks here in California, you know, and this is a, won't say the name of the company online, but you know, they have 1600 employees. The whole C-suite is Anglo-Saxon or Anglo-Saxon, guess.

but 96 % of their labor force is Latino. out of 1600 employees, over 1500 are Latinos. And you know, that came up through the ranks, people inviting their friends or their family to come and work for the company. And the company grew, grew, grew. And now they are in the, they're, they're, like, okay, how do we go from where we're at and actually develop these guys properly? You know, they're great workers.

some of them don't have a lot of formal education. I know that, you know, you come from a background where you just really, you know, from the, from the sugar cane fields of, I think Guatemala, right. and, and so, you know, and a lot of guys like this. Yeah. And so that's like my greatest joy now is getting in really working first with the executives, getting them to understand, cultural dynamics, honestly, you know,

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (05:10.578)
Correct.

Ricardo Gonzalez (05:26.53)
Who are Hispanics? How do we think? Where are we going? How do you develop our people properly? I always say I'm an advocate. I'm not an activist, right? And so I think business has to work for all parties. It can't just be good for one group of people. So that's a little bit of the downfall of some of our identity approaches, I guess, you know, because it has to work on all levels for all people. And so but the beauty of it is then on the backside, I get to work with their existing Latino leaders, superintendents, supervisors, and really level those people up.

And because they're capped, you know, maybe they're capped by language. They may be capped by just their leadership development. They haven't had the tools from a standpoint of, for example, many, most of them have never been taught how to negotiate properly. they've never been taught, you know, how to speak in public things of that nature. And, know, you may have a safety director who's bilingual Latino and doesn't know how to speak in public, isn't comfortable doing it. Well, that's a liability to the company. It's also a.

risk to the company. So what we do is we just go and level these people up. And that is really like my greatest joy is really being able to work with the Latino leaders and helping to level them up and get them to a point where somebody maybe who's right now capped out as a supervisor, or perhaps a superintendent, which isn't a lot of them. They could get up the vice president, maybe they could actually be the president or CEO of the company, but they need further development. So

I think that's the greatest joy for me right now. And then, our language training, we got the best Spanish and English training in the country. So, but then that's been fun because we spent the last two years getting everything modernized to, I wrote the first course of the Spanish power course in mid nineties, and now we've implemented virtual tutors and really leveraging AI, but in a humane way.

And in a way that really makes sense. And I think something very, very unique, very distinct from other, other organizations that are doing language training. So I don't know. It's just a fun time. And, and, you know, I think you get to a point in life and you'll get there, where you kind of choose the things you love doing and stay with those. And, you don't get encumbered with things that just don't align with where you're really at or who you really are, you know? And so it, it's a good time. Yeah. It's a good time.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (07:45.896)
Yes.

It sounds like a good time. So as you impact leaders in their own companies and then the employees and the leaders that they serve themselves, I can imagine that these impacts indirectly also their kids that are in school, are in college and help them. The professionals that you train, that you help train, it helps them envision how their future generation is going to lock into different opportunities.

So I would love for you to share some insight as to how an educational leader may sort of like implement some sort of a strategy or techniques or topics or something that you think will be useful for them so that they can apply it into their own educational environment so that they can build the climate and culture that they would hope for.

Ricardo Gonzalez (08:27.788)
Sure.

Ricardo Gonzalez (08:35.864)
Yeah, I mean, that's that can go in a lot of different directions, right? And so let's let's start with this. And I think this is simple, right? But this I remember many, many years ago, I was in the ministry for 10 years before I started bilingual America. So I remember sitting in a church and I was listening to this guy speak and he and I wrote this down in my Bible. Right. And I never forgot it. And I think about it, I think almost daily. And it goes like this. Where there is no contact, there is no impact.

And one of things that we try to really get leaders to understand is you have to get down with people in their worlds, in their culture. The second stage of cultural mastery is engagement. And what I've learned is very few leaders, very few. First of all, don't properly engage in meaningful ways within the educational field with their students or even honestly with their teachers. They have a lot of meetings.

Right. But they don't really know their teachers and they don't know the students because they don't properly engage with them. So I think if I start there, you know, going back to this whole kind of connect code and where there's no contact, there's no impact. Right. Is I need to get out of my office and I need to educate myself. Stage one cultural mastery. need to educate myself. Right.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (09:36.744)
Yes.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (10:04.85)
Yes.

Ricardo Gonzalez (10:05.871)
Because a lot of things that I may think about people, especially different people of different subgroups or whatever, may be incorrect, right? They may be coming out of whatever I'm hearing on the news, not reality. And so I have to educate myself, myself first. Before I can educate others, I have to educate myself. And the crazy thing is, Ovi, is that a lot of educators aren't educating themselves about the people that they're educating.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (10:36.488)
Wow.

Ricardo Gonzalez (10:38.207)
And so, and that takes work, it takes commitment. It takes a very conscious effort that I'm going to take X amount of my energy and invest it, not in teaching someone, not in telling them what to live or how to live, but in getting to know them at the deepest levels. So I have a thing that I say a lot of my training and that is we cannot impact people.

at the deepest levels until we know them at the deepest levels, right? We just can't. It's impossible. The other thing is I can't lead people properly who I'm somehow emotionally resisting. So if I don't really know you, I don't know your aspirations, your motivations, the things that are really making you, you know, in the Bible, this is to parents where it says train up a child in the way he or she should go, right?

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (11:34.408)
Mmm.

Ricardo Gonzalez (11:35.181)
Not the way you want them to go. The way he should go. way every human being is born with kind of a bent and a set of talents and a set of passions. And I've gone through this with my oldest daughter, my youngest daughter and I should say, I have two older children. And I didn't get this before. To some degree, you know, I did what I knew to do, you know? But my youngest daughter, I was very conscious. Her name's Maureen.

I was very conscious of not trying to get her to follow in my footsteps, not trying to get her to run my company so I could go live the life, you know, but to really understand, hey, where are your talents? Where are your passions? What do you love? So like yesterday, she's in Fashion Design Institute in Miami. She's at the Miami Fashion Design Institute. so, and she's done, she's doing

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (12:10.844)
Hmm

Ricardo Gonzalez (12:33.934)
incredibly well and she got a special invite from the director of the school. Very few students got this to go to the Latin American Fashion Summit in Miami this past weekend and meet heads of Disney fashion, know, heads of major brands. And that would have never happened if I had tried from an educational standpoint to get her to follow a path that I determined for her. I learned this is the way she should go.

These are her skills. These are abilities. So, so I would say the first thing I would say to educators is if you don't really know your kids, like really know them. And I mean, really know them stages one and two of cultural mastery. If anybody's interested, right? Like what's their act? What really is that person's favorite? Like my daughter's 18. Um, her favorite music is fifties jazz, believe it or not. Yeah.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (13:11.517)
Mm-hmm.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (13:19.454)
All

Ricardo Gonzalez (13:31.92)
She's not in a Taylor Swift or Bad Bunny. She's not in none of that stuff. You know, she talks about Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald and you know, she's that's that's her vibe, man. She loves it. You know, and so you can make these broad assumptions about say high school kids or junior high school kids, but they're very broad. They're not specific enough. And to get that specific, we have to get to know our people. We can't lead people.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (13:32.115)
Yes.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (13:45.256)
Amazing.

Ricardo Gonzalez (13:59.738)
to the highest levels until we know them at the deepest levels, right? We just can't. And I think most of us aren't willing to go to those deeper levels. And that's real leadership, I think, happens. That's me. That's my opinion.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (14:03.794)
Yes.

Mmm.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (14:11.698)
Yes, no, I agree with you. You know, in today's world, since everybody wants our time, and how do you believe a busy professional could allocate that time to get to know people better? Or are there strategies that you know of that someone listening to this could implement that could help them better understand about their people that they serve?

Ricardo Gonzalez (14:35.127)
Yeah, that's great. Well, this is going to sound weird to a lot of people. I actually don't believe in the construct of time or time management. I believe in energy and energy management. So one of the great shifts of my life in the past 10, 15 years has been to understand how do I manage my energy? Not time, because that's a construct. Everybody has the same exact amount. But the word people distinguish themselves.

where people become greater, right, is when they learn to manage their energy. So I tend to look at human relationships as energy management, right? So I can only give a certain amount of my energy to people who drain me. Now, if I say, I'm not gonna give any of my energy to people who drain me, then I'm gonna cease to have influence on people who may need me. if everybody just makes me feel good,

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (15:19.742)
Mm.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (15:30.238)
Right, because you're not having that contact.

Ricardo Gonzalez (15:35.6)
Where am I having influence? Right? If everybody's at, let's say the level wherever I am, you know, on that particular day, right? Then, I, you know, especially in social media, people are like, if you're not adding to my life, you're out of my life. Kind of that idea. Well, I think that's silly. Right? If we want to impact people, we have to be around people who are not adding anything to our life, rather people who need what we can add to theirs. Right? So,

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (15:38.162)
Yeah.

Ricardo Gonzalez (16:04.929)
I'm about energy management. And so I will invest a certain amount of my time, if you want to call it that. prefer to call it, I will invest certain amount of my energy to people who, who they're drawing from my energy, right? I'm leveling them up. I'm helping them. And then I will take a certain amount of my energy and be around people who are, they're inspiring me. But you know, the bottom line man is, and you know this, if you can't keep yourself,

Like if you can't lead yourself, right? And if you need other people to be feeding into you all the time, then you're not a missionary, you're the mission field.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (16:44.958)
Mmm.

Ricardo Gonzalez (16:46.383)
Right? So there's gotta be some, one of the things I teach a lot in our leadership training with Latino leaders anyways is self leadership. You know, being responsible for our own energy, being responsible for our own desires and passions and staying above things, right? Because if I'm looking to you, for example, you know, and look, everybody gets down.

But the more mature we get, the less we need the buffering from the outside to lift us up and the more we can invest in lifting up others. So I don't know, maybe it's age, man. I don't know. You know, it's just my thinking over the last 10, 15 years has had a pretty good shift. And I, but I think it's a good shift. Yeah.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (17:24.528)
Mmm.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (17:35.473)
Makes sense, makes sense. I think it's going to be helpful to hear your perspective of your or your mindset for those listening now that are leaders impacting the next generation is you've mentored me for the last, want to say nearly what, seven years or so. And we've had pretty long conversations oftentimes. And I don't think I've added as much value as I have received from you. What was your mindset when you decided, you know what, I identify this younger individual

let me see how I can guide him through. So someone listening now, what do you think is the mindset that they can adopt or consider when they're looking at someone who could, who they could mentor in some way, or form?

Ricardo Gonzalez (18:17.743)
I'll tell, I'll answer that with a Okay. And, this, this story shifted me, changed me. I was a minister and unfortunately went through a divorce or, know, whatever, you know, life happens. Right. And, I was in Puerto Rico, had started a ministry in Puerto Rico. My, my first wife, moved back to the States with my two children who were young at the time. And I'm over like,

you what do do? And I decided I was going to come back to the U S from Puerto Rico to be a father. That was it. That was my, you know, and yeah, exactly. Cause I think that's the highest calling is to be just to be a parent, you know, to the best of your ability. Right. And we all fail, but to the best of our ability. Right. And so I moved to Atlanta. I, I did not know one person in Atlanta, Georgia. And I remember my, I,

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (18:54.43)
as the mission.

Ricardo Gonzalez (19:14.007)
I won't tell you that story, but my first night there was on New Year's Eve, 1992. Before that I had, there was a guy whose name is Randall Dodd. He's a famous author in the Christian world. He goes under the name Randall Arthur. Great book called Wisdom Hunter. He's just fantastic writer, Christian novels. So anybody kind of into that genre, pick up Randall Arthur's books. Amazing writer, right? He was a former missionary in Germany. He went through some difficult times.

you know, out of pain, you know, a lot of times our best stuff happens, right? So I went through a very painful time. Didn't know anyone. I just was like, what do I do? I had no money. I took a job driving as a courier and I I actually thought about writing another book like this called driver five Oh three. And because my driver, my, my CB radio,

name was 503. This was 1993. And I look back and I think that was the best thing that ever happened to me in Atlanta because being a courier, I had to learn every street. Yeah. And that was before GPS or anything. So you're working on, you're on maps, right? And people telling you how to get somewhere and I'm getting to the story. And so I'll get there anyways. Long story short, I was doing the courier thing. I got a job for this

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (20:13.246)
I also did Courier for a while.

Ricardo Gonzalez (20:41.411)
company that was doing intercultural things with USAID. And so I did that and I was teaching English to migrant workers up in Gainesville, Georgia. Right. And that was rewarding. So I was doing all these different things, just trying to cobble together enough money to pay child support, right. As you want to get thrown in jail. And, and so, but nothing was growing great. And I had a, I met a, I met a woman. name was Jeannie.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (20:53.17)
Right.

Ricardo Gonzalez (21:09.599)
And she was a marketing person at Delta Airlines. This is Atlanta, right? And we were talking one day and I was complaining. And literally, Ovi, she took her hands, put them on my shoulders, shook me and said, wake up. Do you not see how much talent God has given you? Stop it. Stop it, Ricardo. Yes, you've been through a lot of pain.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (21:15.464)
Yes.

Ricardo Gonzalez (21:41.219)
I I slept on the floor of a $250 a month apartment in Atlanta, Georgia for three months, man. I had no money. So whatever I have now, I appreciate it.

Right. You know, I'm talking about you. been there. Right. And so anyway, she shook me and it just got my attention. I don't know. It was one of those moments, you know, I needed it. And so anyways, I started, um, I was teaching English to these migrants. I saw that they weren't doing well with the programs that I was able to acquire. And so I just started writing my own. It turns out I was very, very good at this. And so anyways, I got it. Long story short, I got a contract to

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (21:55.016)
Yes.

Yes.

Ricardo Gonzalez (22:24.163)
writing an English program for this very large company that worked with migrant workers. They were in seven states and they invited me to do a speech at the Hyatt downtown Atlanta to their teachers. And it all went amazing. And that was the birth of my company, Bilingual America. It wasn't planned, it just happened. And then I started getting some private tutors, tutoring with some students who want to learn Spanish, started teaching them.

deal with a la quinta end to get a space to do a weekend conference that I call the Spanish Spectacular. Put an ad, I had $100 to put an ad, I put an ad in a creative loafing, which was kind of the offbeat thing. And people came. And one of the ladies who came was the executive assistant to the director of International for Georgia Pacific. And I remember delivering packages at Georgia Pacific.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (23:13.276)
Yes.

Ricardo Gonzalez (23:14.487)
And three years later, I was doing a conference in their amphitheater for their vice presidents and presidents on how to do business in Latin America. So your life can change like this, right? So now I'm going to answer your question. I had an early student who came, who brought some people from his company to a thing that I was doing, and he took me aside that name. His name is Dallas Roar.

And Dallas, I didn't know anything about Dallas, but he took me aside and he said to me, said, look, you're an amazing teacher, but you don't know a thing about running a business. Those were his words to me. And I was 32, I guess. And I just kind of, I don't know, man, I'd already been hurt enough. I just didn't want to hear it. I went home that night to the floor, you know, and I went home and.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (23:48.637)
out.

Ricardo Gonzalez (24:05.965)
I started thinking, what if he's right, what if he's right? I called him the next day, Ovi. And I said, Dallas, you said this to me. Do you really think so? And here's his answer. It doesn't matter what I think. It matters what's true. And it's true. You don't know a thing about business. And he was right. And I asked him the most important question I've ever asked anyone in my life.

Will you teach me?

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (24:37.159)
Hmm.

Ricardo Gonzalez (24:39.351)
And his answer was, I was just waiting for you to ask.

Dallas mentored me for 10 years. We had lunch together every month and he would never let me pay for it.

The first year I started business, did $30,000 in business. The second year I did 60. The third year we did 120. We doubled in size every year for 10 years. You can do the math.

Every year we doubled in size, as long as Dallas was teaching me.

So at the end of that, I did a conference for a bunch of politicians and I invited Dallas and it was a very well attended.

Ricardo Gonzalez (25:21.007)
And afterwards he said, let me take you out to lunch. said, well, let me take you out to lunch. He said, Nope, never do that. So he takes me out to a fancy business club. One of the club core things, you know, in Atlanta up on the top floor, beautiful view, you know, and we're talking and I said to him, I said Dallas, now here's the answer to your question.

Ricardo Gonzalez (25:41.677)
I said, Dallas, how can I ever repay you?

Ricardo Gonzalez (25:46.925)
looks at me, he says, my God, you don't get it. Every time you do what you do, every time you speak, every time you influence someone, I'm part of that, man. You've repaid me thousands of times.

Ricardo Gonzalez (26:07.713)
And so when I reached out to you the first time, because it was me that reached out to you, it wasn't you. I don't know if you remember that or not. I, and I've done that with others. I'm not one those guys who goes talking around like these are the people I've helped or whatever. That's just not me. I think, you know, let another person praise you. That's scripture. You know, I'm a believer, right? And so you let other people lift, lift up your name if they're going to do that. If they're not okay.

But that was why I think any of us, none of us got to where we are if we're anywhere on our own. None of us. So, you I know it's kind of a cliche pay it forward. I think it's really pay it backwards, you know, just keep digging back, bringing people up, just keep digging back, bringing people up. You know, that's the nature of education. Right. So, look, I have a deep amount of admiration for you.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (26:54.971)
Hmm.

Ricardo Gonzalez (27:08.079)
Um, I think that it's amazing what you've been able to do. I remember several years ago, we had a conversation about you doing speeches for, for school systems and you were kind of dabbling in different things and we talked and I said, Hey, this is, this is a place where you would excel. Right. You remember that? And, and I still think that way. think sometimes it's just getting that voice maybe of experience, but I've always cared about you as a person, just like you care about other people.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (27:09.022)
Thank you.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (27:23.954)
Yes.

Ricardo Gonzalez (27:36.496)
You know, so I've just kind of always watching, you know, and, you're going to go, okay. And it's just, and you know, our conversations, you stay grounded, be humble, you know, just always serve. I'll always manage the energy. Right. And always be trying to lift people up. That's, what leaders do. Leaders aren't lifting themselves up. Leaders are lifting other people up. Right. don't know. Long answer to your question, but that's why.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (28:03.57)
No, I think it's very insightful and thank you for that. you know, his impact is now still in full effect. So I can't recall where you went to school because I know you, know, from the Dominican Republican, República Dominicana or Dominican Republic.

Ricardo Gonzalez (28:07.513)
Dallas, Dallas, Dallas, it's all Dallas, right? I'd have probably floundered for years. I'm sure I would have floundered.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (28:32.446)
But growing up, was there a particular teacher, educator, or in a particular educational program that truly made a difference for you?

Ricardo Gonzalez (28:44.239)
Yes, and yes, there were three teachers who made a huge impact on me but not in the way I'll tell you and then there was a Situation that really launched me on the positive. I was a horrible student all the way through my junior year of high school I was a CD student all the way through my I became a believer when I was 16. I was a mess. I was a rebel. I was constantly in the principal's office I was a problem. was not a good student

and I wasn't really a very nice kid. Okay. I played sports.

And when I became a believer, which was actually through a softball game of a big church. And for whatever reason, God put me on the team of the pastor, the senior pastor who recently passed away, who was my other mentor. So it was him in Dallas. And anyway, he wanted me to, I played, I played basketball and baseball. That was pretty good. It wasn't great, like NBA MLB, but I was good.

but for high school, know. And so he wanted me to go to this Christian private school, which was a thousand times more difficult than my public school I was in. And I went and I just needed structure. I needed the challenge. I was a four point student. I was a straight A student. I had no idea. I was smart. None. I had gone through the public school system for 11 years and I thought I was just an idiot, just joking around, just grooving around.

always messing with people. I didn't care, I never cared. And when I got some structure, I had people who believed in me, who really kind of pushed me. I don't know, something happened. Same thing in college. When I went to, you know, I studied for the ministry first. Then years later, I studied some business, you know, business things. But, so that's not the positive. Now, your answer as far as teachers who impacted me, three of them, I won't say their names. Probably not even alive anymore, I don't know.

Ricardo Gonzalez (30:47.405)
My third grade teacher at the school came up to me in the mall and.

Ricardo Gonzalez (30:56.609)
And the stories I'm gonna tell you are true. And she called me Ricky. I think about like Carol G, Jay Baldwin, all these people. I think about doing a program called Ricky G. But I'm probably beyond that. But anyways, she says, could you go into that store and buy me a pack of palm oils? Literally, my third grade teacher asked me to go buy her.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (30:58.632)
Uh-huh.

Ricky.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (31:23.058)
What is almost?

Ricardo Gonzalez (31:26.35)
Palmos.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (31:27.671)
What is pomos? okay.

Ricardo Gonzalez (31:29.241)
Cigarettes. Yeah, so my teacher's asking me to go buy her cigarettes. In fifth grade, there was another teacher, and then we had three rooms, we had a homeroom, right? So hey, beware educators, because this stuff, I don't know if it still goes on, but I imagine it does, okay? Because this is the impact that the wrong teachers have on our students.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (31:44.754)
Maybe in some places.

Ricardo Gonzalez (31:52.41)
So I had teacher, homeroom teacher. We had three classes and we rotated in a day and in the morning, that morning, I'll never forget this man. And it traumatized me for years.

That morning we were learning Spanish numbers. Well guess what? I knew Spanish numbers. You know, my first language was Spanish. You know, as a child in Puerto Rico.

And so I taught in the first period class, I taught the class Spanish numbers. It was probably one of greatest moments of my life. This was my best day of my life and my worst day of my life, right? And so we go to class two, nothing happens, class three, one of the students from over in class one where they were learning Spanish numbers comes and knocks on the door of the class that I'm in and says to my teacher, Mrs. So-and-so, I still know her name.

Ricardo Gonzalez (32:45.783)
Mrs. So-and-so would like Ricky to come to the class. And the only thing I could think was Mrs. So-and-so wants me to teach Spanish numbers, right? I couldn't think of anything else. I'm in fifth grade, dude. So I walk over there and Mrs. So-and-so says, I want you go back to your desk. It was home room, right? So that's where all my stuff was.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (33:09.118)
Yes.

Ricardo Gonzalez (33:10.831)
This is true. Impact in my life for I don't know how many years.

standing by my desk she comes back to my desk and she starts telling all the students in the class publicly embarrassing me you're a pig you're a slob look at your desk she literally took my desk and flipped it over and put all the stuff on the floor and she said now pick it all up and organize it

Ricardo Gonzalez (33:40.131)
I never lived it down.

Ricardo Gonzalez (33:45.123)
That's an impact of a teacher, right?

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (33:50.276)
I'm in disbelief, yeah.

Ricardo Gonzalez (33:52.207)
But it's true, I'll make this stuff up.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (33:55.046)
I believe you.

Ricardo Gonzalez (33:56.72)
And I'm in 10th grade. I was playing basketball. I was decent. I was on the team. I made the team, right? And we weren't very good. And not that year. And we were pretty bad. And I didn't get in the game. The coach comes up to me after the game. Yeah, I know his name.

We're talking more than well over 30 years, almost 40 years now. Right. The coach comes up to me after the game and he says to me, he says, Hey, Rick, I, I really wanted to get you in the game tonight, but I thought we had a chance to win.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (34:32.199)
Ricardo Gonzalez (34:33.293)
And a full.

So if you ask me the three teachers that had the greatest impact on my life, those were the three, but it wasn't good. It was painful. And I had overcome that. And thank God I was able to go to the Christian school, not because they're Christians, they were just more nurturing. They challenged me, but in a good way. And I was able to come out of that, thankfully, geez. But I was just bitter angry for so many years, troublemaker.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (34:43.548)
Hmm

Ricardo Gonzalez (35:04.077)
I made some students, I was a bully. I'm sure that there are people who, they hear this, go, that guy owes me an apology. So if you are out there and you're listening to this and I don't know where you are, or maybe even your name, I am deeply sorry.

because my pain was just transferred to cause pain to other people. And that's what people in pain do.

And as educators are working with bullies in our school systems, just remember, those kids are in pain.

Those kids are in pain. It's not excusing the behavior, right? And it doesn't mean the behavior doesn't need to be dealt with. But look, man, we're humans, right? So anyways, that's the answer. You didn't expect that answer, did you?

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (35:45.79)
Yes.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (35:56.179)
That was a hard pill to swallow. Yes, yes. But I would like to also know, when you excelled more, when you succeeded more in your educational journey, you mentioned it was better structure and people believed in you. What were some of the things that made you feel in the moment that things were more structured or that people believed in you more?

Ricardo Gonzalez (36:00.483)
Yeah.

Ricardo Gonzalez (36:23.95)
You were much more affirming, you You have God-given talent. There's a reason for you to be alive. You know, you have purpose. You could be a great communicator someday, you know. You know, and I understand in public schools this thing isn't going to happen. It does in Latin America though, and you know this. There's a dress code, you know.

And I think that was helpful because, you know, I don't know, there were just a lot of different things. But I think overall, the teachers were much more, they weren't there just as a job, they were there as a mission. Right? And I think that happens a lot in private schools. They're getting paid less perhaps than, you know, especially in some of the religious schools, a lot of them are getting paid less. So if they're there, it's because they really want to be there.

You know, and look, I know there's a lot of great teachers in our public school system. So I know a lot of them, right. And I admire them because they got a tough job, you know, because their hands are tied in a lot of ways, you know. So how do you make up for having your hands tied? Well, you make up through it through engagement. You make up through it through proper motivation, really knowing your kids. You can make up through it in other ways than, you know, maybe in the past, right. It's different.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (37:32.04)
Yes.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (37:53.619)
That's true. When I went to school, we would use a know, of, so oftentimes it is a struggle for education leaders to have or increase parent engagement and family involvement in schools when they have events that have to, where they want the parents to come by. And you work with adults who are, you know, from diverse cultures. Are there any ideas you could share with our listeners?

to how they could potentially attract these parents to come by and be more involved in their kids educational journey.

Ricardo Gonzalez (38:30.022)
This is such a great conversation. Yeah, there are a few things that I would recommend. Number one, you have to have a sense of understanding that obviously not all. OK, so there's no blanket here. But let's just say it's a significant. Many of these children, especially of you know, of working class Latinos or, you know, other, you know, those parents, lot of my dad, I can go very personal on this.

My dad and mom did not go to my college graduation. They were not at my high school graduation. They weren't involved at all. They were great providers. They worked hard, all of that. But my mother was an orphan, and my father had an eighth grade. My father graduated eighth grade. That's it. Didn't get to ninth grade. OK. So one of the that educators, I'm sure,

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (39:09.822)
That's crazy.

Ricardo Gonzalez (39:29.186)
Maybe it's not intuitive, but a lot of these guys who are, even if they're supervisors, they have a nice car, nice truck, nice home, a lot of those guys, maybe they got out of 10th grade. You know a lot of people like that, right? So they're not coming out of homes. A lot of kids are, not all of them, a lot of kids are not coming out of homes where the parents had that educational experience themselves. They're just making a living, right?

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (39:43.304)
Yes.

Ricardo Gonzalez (39:59.574)
Some of those parents, to be honest, pressure their kids to get out of school so they can help with the finances. And then you have other certain demographics with, for example, the Cuban demographic, which is very high on education. They're pushing their kids to really, within the Latino culture, it's an interesting statistic. The educators might like this and I think it's still true. Of all the Latinos in the United States,

about three to 4 % are Cuban. Okay. So just to give perspective on that, about 66, 67 % are Mexican, right? But of all the Latinos in the United States who hold master's degrees are above 70 % of those are Cuban.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (40:37.086)
Yes.

Ricardo Gonzalez (40:47.951)
So it is what's called an exceptional culture as it relates to education, the way that they will all push their kids. I say all, not all, mostly. So this goes back to, do I really know my students? I can't lead people I don't deeply understand.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (40:59.1)
Mm-hmm, correct.

Ricardo Gonzalez (41:13.583)
And, you know, not all Latinos are the same. Not all African-Americans are the same. Not all Asians are the same. You know, if you're talking about, know, it's just that's that's just easy. Right. That's lazy. I'm sorry, but it's lazy. It's lazy leadership. OK, invested leadership is I'm going to know my people, I'm going to know my students. And I'm going to I'm going to learn about them, I'm going to engage with them so I can get that.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (41:26.93)
Mmm.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (41:31.89)
Yes.

Ricardo Gonzalez (41:43.184)
right? And I think that was the other thing that happened to me going back to your previous question. You know, the class size of the the private school that I went to my last year of high school, the class size was probably 20 students, 25 students, you know, and you know, our senior class, I think we had maybe around 25 graduates, you know, it wasn't 600 700 graduates, right? So you kind of you're something, you know, you're, you're, you're important, right? And so I think that if if we can get

you know, to where we're more managing those numbers better, you know, even if it's just through organizational tactics that maybe schools employ so we can get kids into smaller groups where we can actually get to know them. You know, every human being has great potential, man. We're all created in God's image, right? Everyone has potential, everyone. And so, you know, we've learned this in our consulting with

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (42:28.648)
Mm.

Ricardo Gonzalez (42:41.357)
with large companies, you know, they go back to this company here in California, 1600 employees, but what here's what they don't know yet, but they're going to know in that group of people who are just working labor jobs, you know, some of those in their home countries, they were teachers. Some of those in their home countries, they were engineers. And some of those people are actually ashamed to even tell people. So.

Part of our jobs as leaders is to uncover talent that's already there.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (43:12.68)
Wow.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (43:16.638)
Yes, 100 % right. I used to offload boxes in the warehouse next to a dentist from Nicaragua.

Ricardo Gonzalez (43:23.127)
Exactly. You know, and so, and you had all this talent, it's, you know, maybe it's buried, but the job of a leader is to get it, get it to surface, right? Create that.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (43:29.384)
Hmm.

Bring it out. Well, Ricardo, you are the expert on cultural mastery. Is there one common question that would serve as an umbrella sort of so that any leader, whether they're talking to elementary school kids, high school school kids, college level kids, that they could start off a conversation with or maybe three questions that could lead them to better understand these individual in front of them?

Ricardo Gonzalez (44:03.001)
Yeah, so.

In stage one of cultural mastery, stage one is education. Okay, so there are seven areas which we can ask people about that in no way are intrusive or offensive, actually people want to talk about. Most people, you've been in communications long enough, most people actually want to talk about themselves.

They don't want to feel pigeonholed. They don't want to feel like you're somehow trying to confirm maybe a bias about them. So here are the two worst questions. All right.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (44:37.074)
Let's hear the.

Ricardo Gonzalez (44:39.513)
Where are you from and what do you do? Two worst questions you can ask anybody. And in a business networking thing, that's like everybody's questions. Bad questions. Because where am I from? Well, if I tell you, I'm originally from Puerto Rico and you have a negative bias towards Puerto Ricans, I'm stuck, right? Or somebody says, and this happens a lot, for example, in the United States, because I've talked about a lot, this happens a lot with Colombians.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (44:59.902)
Mmm.

Ricardo Gonzalez (45:08.949)
Where are from? Colombia. And a lot of people immediately think, you are you a narco or are you in drug? You know what saying? Because there's this and people like to, you know, people confirm their biases. Okay. So where are you from? What do you do? And what do you do as a class question? Okay. So I'm so if I go into the normal school and say, what do you do? I said, well, I'm CEO of bilingual America. Ooh, you're CEO of a company.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (45:27.518)
Hmm.

Ricardo Gonzalez (45:38.991)
Now I've separated myself from people. So I don't typically tell people what I do or where I'm from. These are bad questions. There are seven areas that are really good questions. People love to talk and I'll tell you a story and we'll run with it, right? Okay. So food, people love to talk about what they like to eat.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (45:55.666)
Yes.

Ricardo Gonzalez (46:04.142)
So a lot of times when I just meet somebody first time, say, you know, after just, Hey, what's your favorite food? You know, if you want to be kind of crazy, this were your last meal, what would it be? You know, don't do that. Um, but people like talking about food. so I'll give you an example. So I was on stage at AT &T, um, with the president of the ERG group for

Latin, Latinos in all of the United States for AT &T. So this is about a 3000 Persian group. And he and I are on stage and we're doing cultural mastery. And I asked him, and he's Cuban background. And I may have ever introduced you to him, to Giovanni. Go ahead.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (46:35.346)
Yes.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (46:40.958)
Mm-hmm.

And just for one second, for the listeners, ERG means employee resource groups, just so you know.

Ricardo Gonzalez (46:51.192)
Yes. Yeah. It's in a company, it's employee resource groups. So you have groups for Hispanics, you have groups for, there are groups for military or groups for females or groups for LGBTQ. It's very identity driven, right? And in schools, you also have these groups. Colleges have these groups. did some consulting for Indiana university. They have this group. You know, we worked with several superintendents around the country. A lot of these schools, especially junior colleges or

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (47:06.867)
Yes.

Ricardo Gonzalez (47:20.99)
know, they have these groups, right? Anyways, so I'm not a huge proponent of these groups because I generally think that how do you get people to unite when we're actually separating them? I think there are better ways, let's put it that way. food. met Joanne and I had a predisposed, I thought I knew how he would answer. So I'm thinking he's Cuban.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (47:37.534)
Yes,

Ricardo Gonzalez (47:50.808)
It's going to be like lechon asado, like roast pork, rice and beans, plantains, know, ripe plantains, fried plantains, you know, the typical Cuban meal, right? And he says to me, and we're on stage, there's a bunch of people there, right? He looks at me and he says, and this is the beauty of cultural master because any of these seven, any of these seven areas will allow you to go deeper, but naturally he says pizza.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (48:02.206)
Yes.

Ricardo Gonzalez (48:19.479)
And it took me back and I said, pizza. And here's the next question, always. Why?

And he says to me, well, when I was in Cuba, we would get these fuzzy channels from Miami. And once in a while when Fidel wasn't on, he would say, you and one time there's this commercial that comes on with this ooey gooey cheesy stuff that we didn't have in Cuba at that time. And he said, I saw this red hat.

Of course, Pizza Hut, right? He should be a spokesperson for Pizza Hut. Anyways, he said, when we were able to escape from Cuba, we were in Panama. He said we were in Ciudad de Panama, Panama City. And he said, we were walking down the street in downtown Panama City, and I saw that red hat. He said, my family was able to go in and we ate that ooey gooey cheesy stuff that he said, and he

he literally he starts to cry on stage and he says to me he pizza man he said pizza's

Ricardo Gonzalez (49:29.903)
He said, pizza for me is freedom. I love pizza. It's just, you think it's a simple question. So food is one. Everybody who says, love banana pudding has a grandma story behind.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (49:43.294)
Mm.

Ricardo Gonzalez (49:45.869)
Right. Okay. So pizza is one music musical favorite musical artist. So if I say to you, who's your favorite musical artist? Go ahead.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (49:47.442)
That's insight.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (49:56.467)
Well, I've got too many, I do love like Metallica sort of music.

Ricardo Gonzalez (50:01.687)
Okay, so I could go why or I could go, why does that resonate with you? What is it with Metallica that kind of gets your vibe going?

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (50:09.93)
I see what you're doing. Well, because in my moments of when I was too stressed out or something like that when I was in high school, I would just listen to rock music and it would make me forget my troubles.

Ricardo Gonzalez (50:21.623)
Okay, so you just told me something very deep about yourself without you feeling like I was intruding on your personal space.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (50:28.19)
All

Ricardo Gonzalez (50:29.347)
because I started with something you enjoy. All right, so music. Another great one is, if you could meet or talk with one leader from history, who would it be, right?

And somebody says, well, it'd be Lincoln. Well, now I'm going to learn something about why Lincoln is a well, he freed the slaves. And now you start telling, you know, you start telling me about you through and there's seven different areas. There are seven. OK, so I stage one of cultural mastery. That's it. So I don't ask, where are from? What do you do? I just I I just try to find that one thing that, you know, we could just naturally talk about.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (50:50.387)
Mm.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (50:58.662)
Yes.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (51:02.238)
That's amazing.

Ricardo Gonzalez (51:10.927)
And I know that that person is going to start telling me who they are. I don't have to draw it out of them. Yeah. It's, it's, it's really, I think it's, it's, I don't know. It's, it's, it works. Let's just say that it works. Right. Always works.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (51:15.344)
It's natural. Right.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (51:23.824)
Yeah, no, no, it was smooth even right now with the two sample questions. And are there any resources, Ricardo, that you... And by the way, earlier I said that you growing up in Dominican Republic, Dominican Republican, because you spend a lot of time there too, don't you? Yes, right. But you grew up in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico, amazing. Yes.

Ricardo Gonzalez (51:39.76)
12 years, 12 years in the Dominican. Yeah, I love it. In Puerto Rico, yeah, Puerto Rico and Indiana. So my dad's Puerto Rican. My mother was an orphan from Kentucky. So I am literally mad I'm a Puerto Rican hillbilly, right? And so, but I don't know, I always, I consider myself Latino. I mean, my daughter was born in Puerto Rico, my wife's Puerto Rican. You know, our whole life is Latino. I'm my most of what I.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (51:53.438)
Good.

Ricardo Gonzalez (52:08.455)
Even what I do for Americans is typically to help Latinos so that they get engaged by her, you know. So that's my life. You know, I love our people. And, you know, it's a good thing. Resources. Yeah, yeah. I'll give you two.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (52:13.31)
Yes.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (52:21.822)
Before the resources, if you give me a chance to ask this question, because I think it's going to be extremely helpful to our listeners, for those educational leaders or also the teachers that are teaching students, oftentimes it so happens that they, because of the bias, they don't really see the potential of students. What is your thought on keeping in mind that most immigrants, of course immigrants are not only Hispanics, but if we were an economy, it's said that we would be the fifth largest economy in the world.

What are your thoughts for a teacher teaching the next generation of leaders with this data in mind? What should they have in mind when they're teaching our students?

Ricardo Gonzalez (53:03.927)
Well, first of all, a teacher's responsibility is to give their very best to every student, right? It's not just about our people or those people. I don't think we, everyone is special, right? And so I think just in the macro, you know, yeah, the numbers are compelling as far as Latinos in the United States are concerned, and you are correct. If we were a country, we would be the fifth largest economy in the world.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (53:09.278)
Mm.

Ricardo Gonzalez (53:32.549)
That is accurate data. Right now, far more than 50 % of all new entrepreneurial starts are by Latinos. And frankly, most of those are by Latinas. The drive right now is with the females in the Latino culture. There's no question about that. So those numbers are real, right? How does that impact an educator in our public school or private school, high school setting or college setting? I think, again, it's just like

Like what is the number one desire of the Latino populace right now? And that is to be entrepreneurs.

So if I were a high school superintendent, I wanted to lean into that. I would create some classes on entrepreneurship. I would create some potential internships and business, right? Because far and away, the number one, even when you go into a company, Ovi, let's go back to the company in California. And I work with several companies in California and Texas. So this is across the country in Georgia. Even when you go to these places. So even if you've got a superintendent who's

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (54:29.97)
Yes, sir.

Ricardo Gonzalez (54:39.834)
Let's take a superintendent in the roofing or construction industry. And that guy's probably making anywhere from $150,000 to $200,000 a year. Sometimes more depending on the company. Even that guy who's been with that company for 15, 20 years, you know what he talks about in private?

I want to start my own company.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (54:59.783)
Mmm.

Ricardo Gonzalez (55:01.38)
There is a great drive among Latinos right now to have ownership.

It is the essence of belonging. And this does touch the immigration. This is pretty deep thought, So, know, immigrants, a lot of immigrants don't feel like they belong. Well, what makes you feel like you belong in this country? You own something. You own a business, you own a home. That's why the drive and the impetus is stro-song. It's very strong psychologically within the Latino culture right now. So in Spanish, and this is helpful, I wrote a book called To Belong or Not to Belong.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (55:21.458)
Hmm.

Ricardo Gonzalez (55:36.152)
In Spanish, the word to belong is pertenecer. But pertenecer, like if I say I own something, what do I say? Me pertenece. I own it. So belonging is ownership. It's not a feeling.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (55:53.734)
Hmm

Ricardo Gonzalez (55:56.013)
Belonging for a student, for an employee, for a citizen, for a non-citizen is do I have ownership? Do I have a piece of this? So can that be created in education? Absolutely. Absolutely. There are millions of ways to lean into this, right? It's a whole different conversation. I will say this about you. You and I have never, we've had a lot of conversations.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (56:19.762)
Yes.

Ricardo Gonzalez (56:25.594)
You do a really nice job interviewing. It's good. Yeah. So I got to give you your kudos, man. I've done a lot of like been interviewed a lot and you're, you're, good, man. So yeah, great mannerism. So I appreciate that.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (56:29.01)
Thank you.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (56:36.008)
I appreciate it. Adaptability is one of my higher level skills. And let's imagine, Ricardo, that you know a student affairs professional at the college level, right? Say community college, four-year university, and their whole job is to increase engagement, student engagement and retention because...

Ricardo Gonzalez (56:42.692)
Yeah, that's great.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (57:01.714)
They are maybe director of student life or director of recruitment or director of engagement. What could they do to increase this for students that may feel homesick, for students that may feel the pressure of their parents not wanting them to live far away from their home? Are there any ideas that you could share with them?

Ricardo Gonzalez (57:19.704)
Okay, so first of all, engagement is not activity.

Engagement is we do things together that mean something for both of us.

Ricardo Gonzalez (57:31.833)
So usually we're missing it. And so most of these engagement people, they're just, creating events and activities. And most of the time we're missing it. So you have to kind of think in terms of how do we create meaningful engagement that means something to both of us. Right? So if I say to you, yeah, I'd to engage with you, right? I have to know first of all, what you actually enjoy.

So let's say you don't enjoy going to the mall, right? And I say, hey, I want to spend some time with you. Let's walk through the mall. Yeah, I'm spending some time with you, but I am not engaging with you.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (58:16.442)
Yeah, I'm thinking the whole time, man, I want to get out of here.

Ricardo Gonzalez (58:17.636)
Right? Exactly. So engagement is not activity. Engagement is what's meaningful to this group of people. Okay. So you want to lean into engagement and you want to create engagement for a group of Latino students? Why not have an expert business person come in and speak to them in Spanish on how to develop a business? Because you already know they want this. They're hearing this. Right? We don't have to keep feeding people how

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (58:37.382)
Hmm.

Ricardo Gonzalez (58:47.45)
bad they're being treated by everybody. People really don't want to hear this stuff that much. They want a future. Right? So let's help them create that future. Let's stop feeding into all of our confirmation bias and all the different... Let's start letting... People want ownership. Right? So I'm speaking to the Latino culture. That's the number one thing that Latinos want. I want to my company and I want to own my home.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (58:57.118)
Yes.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (59:15.176)
amazing.

Ricardo Gonzalez (59:18.384)
And the reason they want that deeper is because I want to feel like I belong.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (59:18.451)
Amazing.

Ricardo Gonzalez (59:25.796)
And if I don't have ownership, I don't feel like I belong. Right? Does that make sense? Yeah.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (59:25.928)
Yes.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (59:29.756)
Yes, absolutely. And I love that because now education leaders will understand and have in mind presently that, hey, they own a business, they will provide jobs. Hey, they own a home, they will pay taxes and they will provide better education for future generations, for everyone.

Ricardo Gonzalez (59:45.649)
It's good for the schools, know, there's more money coming in through taxes for the schools. There's more, frankly, there's more donors, there's more supporters, you know, it's good for everybody. If the economy goes up. I would say the other thing about this for engagement, and I know some.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (59:53.662)
Mm-hmm.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:00:03.787)
I wanna.

I want to say this in a positive way. We've got people who are creating and managing engagement who don't actually engage with the students.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:00:19.844)
That's why I said earlier, you know, we got a lot of people creating events and activities and things like that. But it goes back to stage one. I have to educate myself and I have to engage. Because if I don't do that, I'll never get to stage three, which, by the way, is empathy. And empathy doesn't mean compassion. It doesn't mean I feel for you. that compassion is I feel with you. Sympathy is I feel bad for you. Empathy.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:00:35.933)
Hmm.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:00:48.77)
is a Latin term that is in passion. Empathy, true empathy, is I'm passionate about you.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:00:55.934)
Mm.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:00:58.608)
And only when I'm passionate about you do I want to empower you.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:01:05.392)
We've misunderstood this term empathy horribly, but the very etymology of the word, in passion. I'm passionate about you. I have an empathy towards you. I don't feel sorry for you. don't feel, and so a lot of reasons some of our social programs get looped, right? They're continuous, is because we've mistaken, we think we're being empathetic, but we're just being compassionate. Because real empathy will always propel us to empower.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:01:34.642)
Mmm.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:01:34.798)
And empowerment is how do we provide the resources necessary to lift this person up or lift those people up? That's empowerment.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:01:45.279)
That is. Yes, Now, no, thank you. Let's jump into the resources that you were going to mention. And I apologize for, I just thought the question, the following question could also provide lots of value. And it sure did. Are there any resources, tools, frameworks that you would like our listeners to take away so that way they can implement in their day to day?

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:01:46.692)
Right? So.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:02:09.134)
The book that made the greatest impact on my personal philosophy of teaching, the way I handle pedagogy and my courses and things like that is an older book. It was written by John Milton Gregory, who was the president of the University of Michigan in the late 1800s. It's called The Seven Laws of Teaching.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:02:33.626)
To date, I still think it's the most outstanding book I have ever read on the teaching learning process.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:02:44.176)
And so I'm, you know, I love that book. Now I will tell, you know, I don't know the way your listeners think, but it is rooted in some Christian teaching. He was also a minister, but, if that's not your thing, then okay, the principles still hold, right? And so he talks about the law of the teacher, the law of the learner, the law of language.

You know, the way we speak with people, the law of the lesson, you know, the law of teaching process, all those things, for example, under teaching process. And this is one thing I applied to our Spanish teaching, was you cannot learn something you do not know through the something you do not know.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:03:30.247)
Hmm

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:03:31.716)
You always learn something you don't know through something you do know.

So when we apply that to language teaching, we don't ascribe, for example, to a pure emotion approach for adults because you're trying to teach somebody something they don't know through the very same thing they don't know.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:03:48.328)
Hmm.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:03:50.385)
And so there are ways to leverage your existing language infrastructure that you have so you can learn more quickly, much more quickly. Right. So it's just a quick application of that. So anyways, I think the seven laws of teaching, every teacher in the world should read the seven laws of teaching. I think most people have never heard of this book. It was written in the late 1800s, but easily the book that most influenced the way I view teaching and learning. And, you know, we've had pretty good deal of success, you know, so.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:04:19.592)
Yes, Yes, sir. Well, Ricardo.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:04:22.044)
Yeah, yeah, the sometime the dead speak, you know. One other thing that I would give is kind of as a resource, but it's a reminder. OK, because I think sometimes as teachers, we get impatient with our students and certainly our students get impatient with their own processes or their own progress. So this is not new or original to me, but and somebody may have heard this, but I think it's a good reminder.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:04:25.746)
Sometimes the death bleeds. I got you. I got you.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:04:33.16)
Please.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:04:49.84)
There are four stages of learning, right? I start off, right? Unconsciously incompetent.

I don't know what I don't.

So everybody who enters that class, whatever that subject is, they're probably to some degree unconsciously incompetent. That's okay. That's part of the stage. The second stage is I become consciously incompetent. Now I am conscious of what I don't know. And this is the greatest stage of frustration. Because now I'm just conscious of my limitation. And this is where a lot of students quit.

They won't work through this stage. And this is a stage that teachers have to master. How do I get my students through this conscious, incompetent stage? And then I get to the next stage where I'm consciously competent. I can do it. I have to think about it. And then the most beautiful stage of learning is I am now unconsciously competent. I can do it in my sleep. And I think for teachers as a resource, I try to remember this. I have a thing on my wall. Just remind me of this with our students.

And we tell every new student who comes into our school, you're gonna go through this. It doesn't matter if you were straight A's in algebra, you're gonna go through this as a second language learner. This is gonna happen, right? But whatever the subject, it doesn't matter. So those are the two things I think just hopefully would be valuable thought or resources for people.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:06:23.026)
Yes, 100%. And thank you, Ricardo, for sharing all these, not only inspirational content, but also many resources and along the way, your story also. I would love for you to share, where can people find out more about you? Because as I can only imagine, many leaders who are invested leaders will take that extra step to learn Spanish, given that you also provide this through your company.

So please let us know where could they possibly find you.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:06:53.048)
Yeah, just bilingualamerica.com. So B-I-L-I-N-G-U-A-L, America.com. You can go get a free Spanish lesson there if you want, just try it. I'm a believer in letting people see and feel and try and test and is this for me? Right. I don't think learning should be compulsive on anyone. You have to want it, right? But I will say this, especially about learning Spanish.

And you're in a school system, you're a teacher, you have Spanish language dominant students. This will transform your life and your mission. And make you I've never had a student in 30 plus years of bilingual America ever say to me, I regret becoming bilingual. I had I had some who kind of quit and then they came back years later and they go, that was the dumbest thing I ever did. I missed his job, you know, or whatever, you know, look, bilingual teachers are in demand. Bilingual administrators are in demand.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:07:39.87)
you

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:07:52.133)
You know, this isn't going anywhere. It's just continue to grow. And there has been a shift. There used to be the United States 30, 40 years ago where Latino parents, they didn't let their kids speak Spanish in home.

But that's changed. Now parents all want their kids to be bilingual. They all want their kids to speak Spanish in their home because they see it as an asset. Before it was seen as people were going to kind of, you know, they're going to draw these assumptions about you and so on. That's not true anymore. Right. We've had that shift. Right. It's you know, you where else we had this shift with the Mexicans. Right. I don't know if you remember this, but years ago there was this there was this image of Mexicans with a big sombrero sitting under a cactus just sitting there.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:08:10.664)
Yes.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:08:20.158)
Times changed.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:08:34.436)
What do people think about Mexicans today? Hardworking. Exactly. Right. And so culture shifts. It changes. The way we view things changes. So maybe 40 years ago where parents were telling their kids only English, even in the home. Right. That's not true anymore. So being bilingual is, think, one of the greatest gifts that people can give to themselves. And being bilingual in Spanish and English is the way to go. Unless you're moving to China, then learn Mandarin Chinese.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:08:37.064)
hard-working individuals.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:09:04.516)
You know, I mean, we could have done this whole thing in Spanish, right? Yeah, we could have done the same thing. We sound we would actually sound normal. You know, that's that's a great thing, man. It's cool thing.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:09:05.822)
Absolutely, absolutely. You're right. You're right. Well, you've given us insight. We could have. Yes. Yes. And we could...

It is. It is. I have prepared for our listeners some rapid fire questions, Ricardo, where you share your first thought that come to mind. Maybe they get some additional value from you, given that you have already given us a whole treasure. Hopefully, they find even some more for them to have as a takeaway. Are you ready for that?

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:09:38.769)
That's dangerous. I am ADHD combined severe man. that's, all right, go ahead.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:09:41.592)
All right, we'll see how we do. What is an accomplishment you're super proud of, Ricardo?

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:09:52.89)
My children, all three of them.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:09:55.807)
And you got three of them, right? That's wonderful. Are there three books you recommend every leader should read?

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:10:05.092)
Yeah, the first one I already gave seven laws of teaching because I think leaders need to know how to teach. This is going to sound like self-serving, but I think every leader should read seven states, six, six stages of cultural mastery. And the other book that I would read that had a huge, huge impact on me to create balance in my life. And this is going to sound a little off, right? Because a lot of leaders are work, work, work, work, work, right? Work, work, work, work, right?

is Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now. I think to create solidity and to create a base of human operation in our own souls to have that stability. So those are the three books. And obviously I studied for the ministry, so I have to say the Bible. But for the three other would be The Power of Now. Six Days of Cultural Mastery, think for people who have read it, it's very impactful.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:10:39.356)
Amazing.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:10:52.446)
Thanks.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:11:04.432)
and then the seven laws of teaching.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:11:07.582)
Yes, sir. As you know, in today's world, we're 2025, nearly into 2026, AI is integrated into our lives. Is there an AI tool that is your most favorite that you like to use and why?

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:11:21.55)
I use ChatGPT a lot, but I have the Business Pro and then I check their facts with Gemini.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:11:28.52)
amazing. If somebody listening to this needed a mentor today, do you have an idea where they could possibly find one?

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:11:40.485)
Just like I asked Dallas, find someone that you respect, you look up to and just have a, just ask. Most people who are in leadership want to help. Most people. You know, I think it's got to be organic, you know, ask. Don't be afraid to ask someone, you know? I mean, if somebody, honestly, man, like with you, I mean, but if somebody else, some young Latino leader,

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:12:00.851)
us.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:12:09.466)
contacted me and said, hey, would you mentor me? I don't think I would say no. would have the conversation, you know, what are your goals, aspirations, what are you, you know, what's your mission? Make sure the mission is aligned with my values as a person, right? But I think most people who are quality people would want to have an input. I do, I think you do as well, right?

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:12:23.228)
Yes.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:12:34.014)
100%. What is one... Yes, Yes, sir. I actually have a calendar link designated for 15-minute meetings for youth. What is one free educational resource that you think more people should know about?

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:12:35.972)
So ask Ovi. Ask Ovi.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:12:45.402)
Good, good.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:12:52.624)
Well, I think everyone needs to learn how to leverage chat GPT. I mean, it is, I think we have misnamed artificial intelligence and I think has turned people off. is assisted intelligence. If it's leveraged properly, it makes us smarter. It makes us more resourceful. It makes us more convincing. It makes us, you know, even for like, I don't, I don't ever let it write anything for me. I give it the parameters and I feed it and,

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:13:06.352)
Mm.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:13:21.612)
I'll add to this. Don't type everything, learn to talk with it. Right? So it's much more dynamic and then pick up your tone and stuff. Don't use it to do work for you. Use it to do work with you. You have a lot more success with it. I mean, we now bilingual America, we have virtual tutors who actually have full conversations with our students in Spanish driven totally by AI. Even the voices. I mean, and you can turn around a conversation loop in eight to 10 seconds.

You know, student AI going over to Microsoft Azure for voice. mean, this is phenomenal. Getting a feedback report on the backside of how did you do in the conversation? It's amazing what we're going to. I think we're just scratching the surface of this, and I think it's a lot of people are scared by it, but it's you know, look, every technology can be used for evil or good. Just use it for good. It's an unbelievably powerful tool. I love it.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:13:58.334)
amazing.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:14:19.048)
Yes, sir. Me too. Me too. Thank you. What is one life changing hack that you would make sure you share with someone you deeply cared about?

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:14:20.282)
Yeah. Yeah.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:14:43.3)
Something that I wish I had processed much earlier in my life, right? And that is let go of past resentments.

It's a burden. It weighs you down.

You know, it weighs your soul and just let go of past resentments. Just understand.

that most people are trying to do the very best they know how to do. Most people are not. Some people are evil.

But most aren't. And so just let it go. If you had parents that...

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:15:31.28)
It's not worth going the rest of your life with that burden. Forgive, let it go, move on. I think that's it. I carried too many things for too many years.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:15:39.976)
Yes, sir.

I should take that to heart. I haven't spoken to my mom in two years. I might give her a phone call. Thank you, Ricardo. Could you share with us one or three songs that make you come alive?

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:15:49.114)
Yeah. Yeah.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:16:03.759)
gosh.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:16:10.603)
I love salsa. So Marc Anthony's music I like. Preciosa, which is about Puerto Rico. Just I cry. You know, I like some of the more upbeat salsa, You know, pa' voy. Me encanta, you know. Donde esta la fiesta? Pa' ya voy. You know, that makes me come alive. know, those kind of... I love Marc Anthony's music.

I love Merengue Clasico, which is like the old, Elvis Crespo, Grupo Mania. You your listeners are going to know who these people are. Right. I probably, you know, there's, there's really, mean, it seems crazy. And I know I, my English is really good, but I don't have any real affinity. If I have any affinity of anything in English, it would be Jim Croce's.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:16:50.322)
Woo!

my god, yes, please.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:17:07.087)
Bad Bad Leroy Brown because my dad lived on the South Side of Chicago for a while. So I kind of have relationship with that song. And one of the very first girls I kind of liked in junior high, we did a project together on Jim Croce's music. So I think just his music.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:17:26.12)
Amazing, amazing.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:17:26.585)
So you could go see like right now that was like state that was like education, right? You could go really deep with me on my psyche, you know.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:17:33.298)
Hmm.

This is an insight right here, right? Well, very last question, Ricardo, and we'll share with us, what's your favorite snack?

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:17:38.415)
Yeah, absolutely.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:17:48.964)
macaroni and cheese. I rarely eat it. I try to eat clean and healthy, which I went years without drinking alcohol. I went years, not heavy drinking, but I would drink. And two years ago, just, I'm not going to drink anymore because when I would have a drink, I would just get hungry. So I'd eat, And so as you get a little bit older, you start valuing your health more, right?

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:17:51.206)
It just...

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:18:19.043)
By the way, I'm to say this. I just had shingles, the colibrilla. It is one of the most painful things. So if you've got a listener out there who had chickenpox and has not had the shingles vaccine, go get it because you don't want it. It is unbelievably painful. And I mean, I'm eight weeks into it I still have discomfort from it. And it is, it So I think just the valuing of my health is utmost, you know, so.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:18:22.716)
Yes.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:18:46.797)
I don't eat a lot of mac and cheese, but when I want that comfort food, that's it.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:18:50.398)
That's the one. We love it. Ladies and gentlemen, this has been El Señor Ricardo Gonzalez, CEO of Bilingual America. Please go to his website bilingualamerica.com. have been, this was a treat. Thank you, Ricardo, for making the time. And thank you for answering every question. I try to get as much value for our listeners. And you have been so generous. And this truly shows.

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:18:51.769)
That's it.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:19:19.664)
your leadership that you are invested and you care about others. Any last thoughts before we close out this episode?

Ricardo Gonzalez (01:19:26.817)
I just, celebrate you, what you're doing, what you're the influence that you're growing and encourage people to keep listening with you. You know, I know you're going to have other great guests and, if I can be of any help, you know, I'm here, man. I'm always here for you. So, and then just ask you to continue to stay grounded, right. And stay humble. And really you have this amazing future ahead of you.

I mean, amazing, you know, and in the process, you know, you're going to have a great impact on a lot of people, Ovi. Just always recognize that that's a gift from God to you to be able to have that. And one of the things that I think that has bothered me or concerned me about a lot of people who have influence, it's almost like they've forgotten what they came from, you know, and I would just encourage you as I speak to myself.

You know, I don't ever forget sleeping on the floor in Atlanta. I don't ever forget my orphan mother and my eighth grade educated father, you know, and through all of it and through all of life and through a lot of successes, I think it's always healthy to remember that this is a work of God, And we are blessed beyond anything we could ever imagine to be able to have these opportunities.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:20:28.733)
Mmm.

Ovi Vasquez | @OVinspires (01:20:53.523)
Yes, sir. Well, that's it from us today. Everyone, please make sure you share this with someone you deeply care about so they can also continue to develop themselves even more and impact those that they care about also. Take care, everyone. Goodbye for now.