209 - Flamin' Hot with Richard Montañez

Listeners this week we have a conversation with Richard Montañez

Richard Montañez is an inventor, entrepreneur, philanthropist and business executive whose inspirational journey has taken him from the barrio to the boardroom. A sought-after motivational speaker, he may be best known as the creator of Flamin' Hot Cheetos--the billion-dollar brand and worldwide phenomenon. Hailed as the Godfather of Hispanic Marketing, Montañez began his tenure as a janitor at Frito-Lay/PepsiCo before rising up through the ranks to head his own division. He serves on several non-profit boards and is widely recognized as one of the most influential Latinos in corporate America. Richard Montañez and his family live in SoCal California.

During our conversation we talked about:

Why he kept his life private for a long time
The cookie story and how he grew up in Guasti California
Growing up Latino in the 60s
Of course, the Hot Cheeto story
How his wife Judy influenced his drive
How he decided to begin practicing the future him, and how he started acting as such
Habits he's cultivated throughout the years
We played a fun intuition game
"Hood Leadership"
We geek out on the etymology of words, if you know me, I love exploring the roots of the words
His framework of Pioneer, Settler, and Purposeful Leader