Neil Dudley: The Cowboy Perspective, well, it might be hard to define, but I guarantee if you think about it, you’ve got one in mind. Whether you’re building a legacy, an empire, or a fanbase, I bet when your friends look at you, they see some cowboy in your face. Y’all come along, let’s talk about this or that. Maybe when we’re done, you’ll go away with another perspective to put under your hat.
Hey, TCP Nation. Welcome back to the Cowboy Perspective. I got an awesome episode. I recorded this quite a while back with a guy named Rocky Zapata, and he’s just an awesome guy. I heard his episode on Dropping Bombs with Brad Lea. So, I had to reach out to him, see if I could get him to come on to the Cowboy Perspective and share some of his leadership philosophy. And the truth is he’s from Nicaragua and he speaks Spanish, and I just thought with the awesome Spanish speaking people that I work with each and every day, it’d be so cool if we could put a little bit of this podcast in Spanish or let him translate some of his thoughts into Spanish so my team could hear it and understand it and relate to it. That’s what this is all about. Pederson’s team, I appreciate you so much. I hope you find some value in what Rocky has to say. Thank you for everything you do each and every day to make Pederson’s a success. And here we go, everybody. A little bit of Rocky Zapata’s cowboy perspective. Thank you so much for listening. Please tell a friend.
Hey, TCP Nation, I got a real treat for you today. I learned about this guy listening to one of the podcasts I love so much. It’s called Dropping Bombs with Brad Lea. He’s a, well, he’s just a great guy. He talks to people that I find so much value or I learn so much from. Rocky is one of them. And he has been so kind – I need to paint this picture for you a little bit just so you can understand what Rocky is doing to be on this podcast. It totally paints the picture of his willingness and desire to get his story out or his, I don’t know, Rocky, what would you call it? Your mission?
Rocky Zapata: Yeah, my mission, there you go. Perfect.
Neil Dudley: But I mean, I’m in- we had total plans of meeting up at the studio, recording this podcast. I so wanted to shake his hand and tell him mucho gusto, but I didn’t get to do that because Texas had the once-a-year ice storm that comes through. And before Rocky left Florida, I couldn’t catch him. And he came to Texas. Well, anyways, we got him to the studio, just not me. So, we’re doing this over Zoom, and that is the story. If you’re a guy or gal out there wanting to get your story out there or try to move your mission forward or build your business, sometimes it’s going to be a crazy thing that you fly to Texas and you don’t even get to see the guy you’re going there to meet. And Rocky’s just been smiling and laughing the whole time. Like hey, man, don’t worry about it, it’s all good. I appreciate that, Rocky. Now, why don’t you tell everybody a little bit about who you are, where you came from, what was your childhood like? Let’s get them familiar with you and then talk about all those other great things you’re up to.
Rocky Zapata: Perfect. Well, first and foremost, I want to thank you for the invitation, Neil. Like you said, we did not get to meet each other this time around, but I’m sure we’ll get to it. How about that?
Neil Dudley: Totally. Well, and this is- I hope you can forgive me for cutting you off occasionally. I have a bad habit of that. But for everybody that works at Pederson’s, I want you guys to listen to this guy. I’m going to get him to say some of the things in Spanish for our Latino team members. So, they can really understand it and hear some of these ideas in their own language. That’s one thing I’m really excited about this episode for is I’ve got a guy here I feel like can really communicate with the people that make Pederson’s, they’re the heart of Pederson’s and I so care about them. I want them to hear some of this.
Rocky Zapata: Perfect. So as, as I told you, thank you for the invite. So, as you said, my name is Rocky, not Balboa, but Rocky Zapata. I was born and raised in Managua, Nicaragua – as you know, Managua is located in central America – pretty much until I was nine years old. Due to a heavy political conflict within my country in the 80s and after a bloody civil war in the country which resulted in the takeover of the extreme left satanic dictatorship of the Sandinistas, my mother and I were compelled to migrate into the greatest country known to mankind, which is the United States of America. And we relocated to sunny, south Florida, Miami – best place to live in the US, by the way. So, we relocated there. And my childhood was a bit rough. I mean, new country, new language, new culture, new everything. But one thing was for sure, my mom had a vision for me, and she wanted to see her son grow in the land of opportunity. So that was our journey moving into the United States of America. And growing up in my childhood, I mean, we were very, very poor. I mean, we were so poor that even poverty felt bad for us. That’s how poor we were. But my mom taught me, coming to this great nation, that we have to fight. And as a little kid, I was always intrigued by leadership and leadership was so big to me because my mom demonstrated to me what leadership is all about. And as a little kid, leadership caught my attention, entrepreneurship was within my calling. And for over 21 years, I’ve been leading both for profit and nonprofit organizations in key leadership roles until some years back, I decided to just venture and open up my own businesses and take it from there.
Neil Dudley: Yeah, leadership is such a key word in life, right? We’re all leading in some way. And I think the things that somebody could pick up from listening to you are so valuable, and just it doesn’t mean you have to be the next Rocky Zapata. It just means here’s some tools for you to use in your life to help you accomplish those things you want to do. That’s the way I perceive it. And feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. I’m no expert on it; it’s not what I’ve been doing my whole life, but I do, I am totally motivated by leadership and getting better at it.
Rocky Zapata: And we have to. And I mean, listen, leadership is everything, right? I mean, everything commences in leadership and everything ends in leadership. And like you just mentioned, there’s different type of roles in leadership. Leadership is not just being in front of thousands and thousands of people. And sometimes we kind of shift our mentality to think that’s what leadership is. I mean, my mom brought me to this country, and she was a humble waitress. She was not leading the masses per se, but she was leading me. She had one person she needed to lead and to make sure this person became a very good man. So even though my mother was not leading the thousands, she was definitely leading me. So, I think everyone out there, leadership begins and ends with everything. And if you have a family, if you have kids, you’re definitely a leader. You have to lead these people.
Neil Dudley: Yes, totally. Now, I want- I don’t know. You’ve- like some- you can kind of help me decide what we want to put in Spanish, what we don’t want to put in Spanish. But I kind of had a question for you. It was like if you could speak to the Latinos in the Pederson’s team, in our Pederson’s family, and tell them something that you feel like is super important, could be really valuable to them outside of, hey, I love you and all those things. What would that be? And I can probably follow along, even if you do it in Spanish.
Rocky Zapata: Yeah. So, I mean, I’ll go simultaneously both English and Spanish. I mean, I can do that very well. Usually after I do that, people are like do you speak like this all the time? I really don’t speak like this all the time. I’m just compelled to.
Neil Dudley: Do you speak more Spanish or English? Like on your day-to-day life, are you speaking more Spanish or more English?
Rocky Zapata: 50 and 50, I mean, having my businesses in south Florida, 90% of people speak Spanish. So, I mean, going back to your question, us Latinos, [Spanish], we’re hardworking people [Spanish]. We’re dedicated people [Spanish], and we are very attentive to detail [Spanish]. If you are a Latino, [Spanish], and you migrated to this great country [Spanish], please represent us well, [Spanish] go out there and show the world [Spanish] that the Latino community [Spanish] is a productive community [Spanish]. I know it is hard being away from home [Spanish], family [Spanish], culture [Spanish]. The positive side is [Spanish] that we are in the country of greatness [Spanish]. This country allows you to believe in yourself [Spanish] different from many third or fifth world countries [Spanish] Latin American countries [Spanish] ran by extreme left dictatorships [Spanish] they stole from us [Spanish] the belief system [Spanish] to believe in ourselves [Spanish]. So, you’re in the USA [Spanish] and we’re able [Spanish] to obtain that belief system again [Spanish]. So Latinos [Spanish] represent us, [Spanish], work hard [Spanish] and let’s show everybody [Spanish] that we are prepared [Spanish] to move this country forward.[ Spanish]
Neil Dudley: Awesome. Thank you so much for that. And to all the Latino people listening, especially the ones that I work with every day at Pederson’s, I appreciate you. I totally believe what Rocky is saying. I experience what Rocky is saying about you. And I just want a piece of this podcast to be dedicated to you because I so much appreciate you.
Rocky Zapata: That’s great, Neil.
Neil Dudley: It’s just true, right? I think things in life, if you just tell the truth, like I’ve had a good career, our business has grown, we’ve done well. But I didn’t do it. I mean, I was a piece of it, but a lot of people were a piece of it, and they never get the credit they deserve in many cases. And I don’t do it well. I don’t carry their flag with me everywhere I go as much as I should. So, this is me just trying to say, look, I recognize it, I see it, I am imperfect, I want to be better. And man, you’re a great guy to help me be better. I’ve learned from you, like just hearing what you said on Dropping Bombs, paying attention to your social media. Hey everybody, Rocky, tell them where they can learn, kind of pay attention to you more – Instagram, I can’t remember your handles. So maybe you could tell them.
Rocky Zapata: Yeah, I mean, just follow me on Instagram, Facebook at Rocky Zapata, my name. You can also visit me on my website at rockyzapata.org. I have a great teaching system there, leadership, I help you discover that leader you carry within. It’s a one-on-one type of contact you’re going to have with me through my website. So, log in there, go in and let’s get the journey started because I am more than happy to get this journey started with everyone.
Neil Dudley: I highly advise you guys, anybody that’s out there wanting to take another step. I need it. I mean, I need to learn from Rocky. He’s got such a beautiful perspective on coming from hard times and building it yourself and having a leader. Like tell us a little more about your mom. I mean, she seems like such an influential person in your life. Maybe not everybody has a mom like that, but they can probably find somebody like that in their life.
Rocky Zapata: Well, I’ll tell you something, no one wanted to have a mom like mine. I didn’t get to go out. She was tough on me. She whooped my butt if I was behaving bad. So, no one- no one wanted to have a mom like mine growing up. Once you’re grown and mature, you understand that I wish I had a mom like that back then. My mom was tough. I mean, she’s 5’1. I call her the karate woman. She does not play. One time I got- I mean, I used to get in trouble for everything. I had a karate mom, right. I got in trouble for the stuff I did. I got in trouble for the stuff my siblings did, which I had no siblings, by the way, I’m the only son. I got in trouble for what my dad did, which he was never around. So, I just got in trouble for everything. But one time I got in trouble because I used to run away from my mom, and I mean, anything she had in her hand, she threw it at me, it somehow reached me. I don’t know how. So, I told her, mom, you should’ve played baseball; you could have been a great pitcher. I got in trouble for that to, for saying that to my mom. But one time, we were very poor, and she saved, you remember when VCR’s came out for the first time, and she saved like a year to buy a VCR. And I broke the VCR. And even I told her this story, by the way, and she’ll deny it. She’s like, oh, I don’t remember those things, and I’m like well, I do remember because I have a bump in my head. But so, I broke the VCR. She was mad. I started running. She threw the VCR and somehow, maybe we were 10 feet away, the VCR still managed to hit me upside my head.
Neil Dudley: Yeah, how could she even throw it that far?
Rocky Zapata: So, I mean, my mom was tough, a huge influence on me. She is responsible for shaping the man I am today. I am eternally grateful to her. I don’t have the economy or the words or the gesture, I mean, anything you want to call it to ever thank that woman for everything she did for me. So, I love my mom. She was mother and father. She was pretty much everything. She was pretty much everything for me.
Neil Dudley: I imagine there’s a lot of people that have that similar story. It might be their dad, their mom either passed away- Oh, by the way, is your mom still with us?
Rocky Zapata: She is. It’s funny, she’s actually- she just turned 53. She’s young. She turned 53 two weeks ago.
Neil Dudley: Sorry, Mom. Sorry. I didn’t, I’m not assuming your old. Sorry about that. Maybe Johnny, maybe we can take that part out. Let’s don’t get- I don’t want her mad at me.
Rocky Zapata: Neil, I look old because of the salt and pepper hair, but I’m not old. I’m a millennial, by the way. I am a millennial, but I do look old because of the salt and pepper. I’ve been dying it, go black, and dying my hair black, and everybody’s like, no, you look so good. And I say, okay, I’m leaving this.
Neil Dudley: I think what God gave you is what you just stay with. That’s another piece of your perspective that I admire and want to emulate is your faith. So how does that- let’s talk about that a little bit. How does your- how does God affect your life or play in your perspective?
Rocky Zapata: Well God is the source to our success. I have something that’s called the three Cs, which is creation was created to live for its creator. Faith is huge for me. I met Jesus Christ, my savior, many, many, many years ago, and everything I do, I put him first in my life, everywhere I go, God is in front of me. And the process of loving and serving people and trying to grow people up takes me back to the greatest leader that has ever existed over the face of the earth was Jesus Christ. Even though he was kicked, he was bashed, he still loved people unconditionally, and he still managed to go through and serve his purpose here on earth. So, I do nothing outside of God. And I’m a true believer that whatever we do here on earth, it’s great, it’s fun, growing is great, but ultimately, we cannot lose the focus that there’s another life after this one, which is eternal. And I want to make sure I enjoy this one, but in the way that I enjoy this one, I also secure a place through Jesus Christ up in eternity because what is it for men to gain the world and lose his soul at the end. It’s not worth it. So, yeah, God is everything for me. And that comes from my mom, by the way. She started taking me to church at a young age. I’m going to tell you this, Neil, my mom at 14 years old, she put me in Bible Institute. So, I was surrounded by other ministers and pastors, and everybody thought I was going to be like a pastor or something. But yeah, so my mom instilled that in me as well, the faith and how to live by faith.
Neil Dudley: I say, I tell people, I should tell people more, but I do try to bring this up a lot, the Bible, the stories in the Bible will illustrate millions of different ways for you to find success in life if you follow them and study them. I take the parable of three talents in the Bible, where this guy gave, God gave three different men talents and one buried it, one squandered it, and one multiplied it. To me, that’s a great example of what I want to do in my life is I feel like God has gave me talents. They may- maybe it’s only one, and that is that I can talk. Well, I want to use that talent to multiply it, to try to spread, make it better and bigger so when I show back up, I have not just hid it, covered it. Sometimes it’s like, well, I didn’t lose it. I don’t, if I do end up losing it, fine, but I’m going to try to leverage it. What’s that? Jeopardy music? See Johnny, you could play the Jeopardy music in there. Bur-bur-bur-bur-bur, like I’m thinking, I don’t know what to say now. Oh, by the way, I really hope your mom’s not offended by me assuming that she was old.
Rocky Zapata: No, she won’t be offended. Don’t worry. She won’t be offended. I just won’t show her this episode.
Neil Dudley: Right. There you go. Keep this one a secret.
Rocky Zapata: My mom- if you think I’m fun, my mom’s funner than me, by the way.
Neil Dudley: I got to- I was just, it was- in my mind, I think a lot of your personality is probably like hers.
Rocky Zapata: It is. It is.
Neil Dudley: It might be one reason you got whooped so much because you were a lot like her. If I was a betting man, she was probably a lot like you as a kid. And that’s the thing I like about, I don’t know if it’s fair to say this, but I’m going to, the Latino culture is happy. If you get in a group of a Latino family, it’s going to be fun. I mean, there’s going to be a loud, happy, fun place.
Rocky Zapata: Super fun.
Neil Dudley: And I really appreciate that. I want my family to be like that. Now, okay so we’ve talked about your mom a whole lot. Is there any one other person, a pastor, business associate, surely there’s another person that you lean on when you’re trying to think what direction am I going to go next?
Rocky Zapata: Yes. So I think we spoke about my mom. We spoke about my savior, and the third motivation I have is my daughter.
Neil Dudley: Okay, great. There you go.
Rocky Zapata: My daughter, Leilani, she’s eight. She’s very expensive by the way. She’s so expensive for this world. All she likes to eat is Benihanas every day. She’s like, “Daddy, why don’t you ever cook at home?” And then when I try cooking at home, she’s like, “Yeah, you really can’t cook. I think we should go back to Benihana.” And we end up going back.
Neil Dudley: Now, is Benihana’s a restaurant in Florida?
Rocky Zapata: I’m sorry?
Neil Dudley: What is Benihana’s?
Rocky Zapata: It’s like a chef that cooks in front of you. It’s like Hibachi. I think Benihanas is like a Colby. I don’t know if you have Colby here. So I think it’s like a Colby.
Neil Dudley: Yeah, similar. It’s Asian inspired kind of cuisine then?
Rocky Zapata: But she calls it the chef rice. So, one time, we went over to the store and this lady was cooking and she’s like, “Dad, you have to start cooking.” I was like, you know what? You’re right. I have to start cooking. So, the lady gave me all the ingredients. I mean, literally step-by-step. I went home, I did it step-by-step. I sat Leilani down and she tried it. And she’s like, “Dad, this doesn’t taste right.” I’m like, what do you mean? I followed all the steps. And I got a bit angry. I’m like, “Listen, that’s it, no more eating out. I’m sick of it. You’re going to eat your food, and you’re going to eat it now.” Then when I sat down with my plate and I tried it and I’m like, “Okay, my apologies. Let’s go to Benihana, this is bad. Leilani, this is really bad, don’t eat that.” I’m going to end up in jail for feeding my daughter stuff I cooked. It was just bad. So, Leilani is my next inspiration. I mean, the day she was born completely changed my life, my thinking, the way I move, and everything I do, I want to make sure the day after tomorrow, she’s proud of the father she has. So that’s a huge, huge leaning on me, everything I do. And I bring her around; today she’s in school, but if I travel on the weekends and she’s with me, she definitely goes everywhere with me. So I love hanging around with my daughter. She’s with me all the time, unless she’s in school, she’s everywhere with me. So, my best friend.
Neil Dudley: Awesome. Yeah, that’s a great thing that even I struggle with. I don’t necessarily take my kids everywhere. And I think it would be a good idea sometimes. Maybe when we get out of this COVID quarantine kind of world, it’s a lot more shut down than what it was even just a year ago, I’m going to try to do that. Just take them with me.
Rocky Zapata: It’s always good. It’s always good, Neil, because kids need to see how hard we work to give them a certain life that they have. They need to see the struggles we’ve been going through. And then one of my biggest goals is making sure my daughter Leilani does not start where I started. But with that being said, I don’t want her to take things for granted. I want her to know how hard I’ve worked to get to where I’m at. She’s not going to have to start where I started, but she’s definitely going to have to work hard and smart to get to where she wants to. So, the ceiling I’m creating, I’m going to make sure that the ceiling I’m creating is going to be the floor she’s going to be standing on.
Neil Dudley: I love that. See, now I’m a white male, grew up middle-class, I started in a different spot than you. So, a lot of times I kind of have to watch myself for kind of beating myself up a little bit because I think, I mean, look at what all Rocky’s done and I’m not really doing all that much. But I think we all have our own journey. What I try to do is recognize I had- I had a head start. It’s true. So, what am I going to do with that? Am I going to just coast? I think sometimes somebody that comes from your history and that kind of just tough living, you have a little bit of an advantage on me, because I don’t know, I didn’t build some of the tools you had to build. Because I just never experienced that. So, it’s all a journey. And there is abundance. We can all have great lives. We just have to believe that’s true. And I do. Now, here comes the hard part for me- It’s not hard for me. I want- if you could tell me one thing that I could do better to communicate or to lead the Latinos that I work with, that I live around – our community is over 50% Latino. Now, when I say- see, here’s another piece, you need to educate me, when I say Latino, does that mean Mexican, South American? Does that just cover everybody south of the United States? Or what does that cover?
Rocky Zapata: Yeah, I mean, Latinos are Latinos. Definitely, even though we are Latinos in different countries, we have, to a certain extent, different cultures within our own countries. But I mean, if I can tell you something where you can do to better communicate-
Neil Dudley: Now if you’ll share that without me buying your leadership course, like right now, this is, I feel like I’m asking you for free advice. And maybe you should say, nah, man, you got to pay the [inaudible 27:14] that’s how I make my living.
Rocky Zapata: I mean, remember part of leadership is loving and helping people first. So, that’s the ultimate goal. But if I could tell you something where you can communicate better, it is eat some more tacos. That was a joke. Eat some more tacos, you definitely communicate with them at another level. But on a more serious note, I think your question most definite answers itself. Communication is huge for Latinos through relationships. One thing is, as we spoke, Latinos are big on faith, okay, food, fiesta, sports, right? Sports, mostly football, which is the soccer – no one has soccer. We’re big on family. So if you can actually connect with a Latino in one of these arenas, you definitely won a Latino over for life. One big thing I will tell you about Latino culture, we’re very faithful people to the people that are faithful to us. You treat a Latino, you treat us with respect and you keep your word and you will definitely have a Latino for life. That’s for sure. And one last thing with Latinos, unfortunately now with COVID we can’t do it, Latinos show affection through touching. We’re like that. So, we give our friends a kiss on the cheek, the males, we hug, we shake hands, we give each other a pat on the back. So, we show that type of affection and we’re definitely very faithful people to those that keep their word. I’ve met a ton. I mean, a ton of hard-working Latinos. So definitely connect through them either through their faith, through their family, the food, the fiesta, or sports, you can’t go wrong with sports.
Neil Dudley: Yeah, totally. I experienced the fiesta piece. Like anytime at the company we have a holiday coming, they organize food, fun, we play loteria. Which I think, I mean, that’s bingo to me. It’s just a lot of fun.
Rocky Zapata: That is bingo, though, it is. No, most definitely it is bingo, but we call it loteria. But I know what you mean. It is bingo.
Neil Dudley: Well, but different words and characters. Anyways, it’s like, I love going back there because I learn something every time. We’ll fill a plate up with whipped cream and put a pecan or a grape under there and have about five people see who can get the grape first. I always lose. For some reason, I always lose. Or I’m always second place.
Rocky Zapata: You got to check the backstage. You’re always losing.
Neil Dudley: Hey, everybody, quick break in the action to tell you a little bit about one of the sponsors for the podcast, thesimplegrocer.com. Get on your internet, go check them out. They carry all kinds of great products. You may have heard us talking about them here on the Cowboy Perspective, some of the brands they support. So, follow up, go check it out. If you choose to place an order, use TCP in the discount code, and we’ll hook you up with a deal. Go check them out, thesimplegrocer.com.
Quick pause just to say I hope you know who Pederson Natural Farms is. If you don’t, go check them out, www.pedersonsfarms.com. If you have any questions, hit me up. I’ve been working with Peterson’s and my best friend since kindergarten and his wife and my wife and a whole bunch of other really great people for about 20 years now, building a brand and a bunch of products that we think really add value to people’s healthy lifestyles. And I like to say the Cowboy Perspective podcast is a labor of love that I’ve kind of do in my spare time. And I hope to just bring value, tell stories about people that affect me and give me the perspective I have. And I don’t want to steal that labor of love line from Mr. Douglas Burdett, the host of the Marketing Book podcast without giving him some credit. There’s another something I’d tell you – if you are into building a brand or an entrepreneur of any sort, salesperson of any sort, go listen to the Marketing Book podcast. He reviews great authors’ books about sales and marketing. So, Pederson Natural Farms, go check them out. Thank you for listening to the Cowboy Perspective. Here’s some more.
Now, okay so, let’s pivot a little bit and talk about failure in life and what that feels like and how you deal with it, and what I believe is the importance of it. I think failure is very valuable to you. What do you think? Do you have any examples or a thought process on that?
Rocky Zapata: Neil, unfortunately, yes, I have to agree. Failure is, I mean, failure is tough, but it’s definitely much needed. I mean, some would argue that failures are everything. Some would definitely argue that. To me, failure is nothing more than a lesson, a lesson that will literally build you up and make you tough. I mean, but the question is what is a failure to us? Are we going to dive into the failure of a relationship, the failure in business, if someone is stressed, a crisis, how do we or where do we define the word failure? Or more, where is failure hidden? Huge. So, I always tell everyone, we’re not solely responsible for what comes our way, even though we do make a lot of things that come our way happen. No doubt about it. We can’t play the victim role all the time – well, I don’t know why this happens to me. Well, sometimes things happen because we make them happen, unfortunately. But I think real leadership is all how we respond to those things, to those things that come our way that we didn’t cause and those things that come our way that we definitely caused for them to come our way. So, the true leadership lies in how are we going to respond to that? How are we going to respond to those failures? I mean, I had a huge failure back in 2008. I don’t know if you remember when we had the whole market crash, the real estate. I mean, I was young, I had made a little bit of money, and I literally invested all the money I had at the moment into real estate. I was happy because I had like five condos, and I was literally like 24. I was like, oh man, I’m going big. I’m going big. And then boom, everything dropped, and I lost everything big too. So, it was a huge setback for me. I mean, I was depressed. I mean, it was tough, by all means. I lost real estate, a huge, huge failure and a huge setback for me. But I learned, I learned how to invest properly in the future, and I got back up and I was able to deal with the stress, with the situation and understand that anything that’s money, monetary, properties, it comes and it goes, and you just have to be smart about it next time you do a round. So, listen, failure is a lesson. We’re all going to fail some time or another. And we just have to, as leaders, learn how to deal with it, how to cope with it, and go through and make it better next time. No doubt about it. Life is not perfect. We’re not perfect. People are not perfect. Situations are not perfect. Nothing’s perfect. It’s just the way life is.
Neil Dudley: I’m just sitting here thinking, why do we even feel like we need to talk about that? I mean, because I think, I see, I know people that have a hard time with that. They put everything they have and have five condos and that goes to zero and then they turn to drugs, alcohol, depression, a lot of things. And I just want to lift those people up. If you’re listening, I mean, this is, we’re just saying you never fail until you just quit. So, it just, it won’t be easy. Nobody can make it easy for you. And even if you think it will be someday, it won’t. Like Rocky, is your life easy right now today? I mean, is it easy?
Rocky Zapata: Life is never easy. I mean, do I enjoy it? Yes, I definitely enjoy it. Am I happy with my life? Extremely happy with my life. No, it’s not easy whatsoever. But yeah, to those people out there listening, like Neil said, sometimes it’s going to be tough. You’re going to see some dark days; we all see dark days. I mean, we all see some bad days. I mean, I was in the airplane this week, and this gentleman next to me was talking about how he’s getting divorced and how depressed he is from getting divorced. And it was a good time for me to speak to him and just talk. And he started following me on Instagram and already sent me a message. And I told him, listen, divorce is tough. I mean, I went through it myself, I’m not minimizing the situation. It is tough. But it’s not the end of the world either. And this guy, he seemed stressed, he seemed depressed. He seemed like he felt that life was coming to an end because he was getting divorced because he was going through a relationship failure. And I told him, listen, you’re not going to be the first or the last person to get divorced. And I’ve seen people get divorced, and listen, I’m not pro divorce either. I think I’m a huge believer in the institution of family and marriage, but hey, if you’re getting divorced and there’s definitely no way out of it, just come alive. And I’ve seen people get divorced and turn around and get married and be happy. And it’s just a stage. These failures are just a stage. We go through life, and I’m just going to make it clear to everyone, there’s going to be some dark days and there’s going to be some very sunny days. That’s just the way life is going to be for the rest of your life. It’s like even, the wealthy mega ultra-rich, you think they have no problems, they have a huge problem. You know what their problem is? Trying to stay rich. That’s like a whole other caliber or level. I mean, all the like the mega, mega rich, rich are trying to like stay rich and compete against each other. Believe it or not, that’s a problem to them. Oh, I dropped 4 billion from my 90 billion empire. Oh, to me, it’s like you gave me 4 billion, I’ll be happy. To them, they lost 4 billion out of 90, to them, it’s like a dark day. How can that be a dark day? I mean, it’s just the way the mind is going. I mean, if I have 90 billion, and I lose 4, I’m not going to worry. Those people do worry. So, listen, we all have dark days, we all have sunny days, and that’s the way it’s going to be for the rest of your life. I was talking to my mom the other day, and it’s funny because my mom tells me, “You know what, Rocky? I think that being really rich creates problems, and I just don’t want to have those type of problems.” And I say, well, mom being very poor also has problems. Then she thought about it. She’s like, “You know what, you’re right. I’d rather be rich with problems then poor with problems.” Either way you’re going to have problems, people. So, hey, keep your head up, keep going, keep fighting. It’s never too late. It’s never the end of the road. And even if you die and you die in Christ, you go and you live forever. So, it’s really never over. And it always gets better as it goes. I mean, I think Neil, everyone always says, man, if I knew today what I knew 10 years ago, if I knew when I’m 50, what I- what I knew at 50- what I know at 50 when I was 20. It’s just back and forth. I mean, it’s just back and forth stuff. And listen, keep your head up. Life is fun. Enjoy the people that love you. Enjoy your family, those that surround you. Keep God number one in your life. And I guarantee you that everything’s going to run smooth.
Neil Dudley: It reminds me of I was talking to my dad, and it’s like this time on earth is like a blink. It seems like, oh, wow, we’ve got- this is a lot of time, but it’s just a blink in eternity. I just have to remind myself of that sometimes. Like am I going to get everything done that I want to get done? Am I going to be able to provide for my daughters? And I think a lot of my challenge, I mean, it’s kind of first world problems, but it’s true that I believe it’s important to me or is important for me to recognize that I actually am hindering my daughters in a way by giving them too much. I mean, there are things there, there are lessons there that they need to learn, should learn, and it will be detrimental to them if they don’t. So, me and my wife, we spend time thinking about that. And we’re lucky we have choices in life. We’ve worked hard to have those choices. But it’s not totally fair to our daughters to not give them some experience of understanding that fully, which I think you kind of touched on it when you’re talking about your daughter and taking her with you so she can see what you do. Oh yeah, what about network? See, now network is huge to me. Just you touched on it right there – in the plane, you talked to the guy next to you. You learned a lot about him. You were able to, who knows, that could have been huge in his life. That could have been just God putting you in that plane seat to talk to that man. And I’m sitting here worried that you flew from here to Florida to do this, and actually this all had to happen because you needed to be in that plane seat.
Rocky Zapata: Most definitely. And like you said, I mean, networking is huge. I mean, for a leader to be successful at networking, they must definitely have the ability to connect with people in a one on one and simultaneously inspire them to the next level. And it’s very important for leaders to be able to network, to move in this type of space. That is the reason that I always tell people that leaders, they inspire people to grow and grow more. And to lead, I mean, it definitely requires network, and networking is part of the people that definitely surround you. And for this reason, I always tell people, Neil, to make wise decisions of who surrounds them. Because my life, your life, everyone’s life will grow in the direction of our association. And that’s just the way it is. And for this reason, we have to choose friends that are better, that are faster, that are bolder than us, those friends that have an appetite of further growth and they also have an appetite to see you grow, friends that you admire, friends that you respect, and such a respect and such admiration must be reciprocal both ways. So, it’s very important that as a leader, you have to network, you have to love the people, you have to connect with them one-on-one, but you also have to be able to take them to the next level.
Neil Dudley: I don’t even know what to add to that. That’s so perfect. The reciprocal piece I appreciate a lot. You can’t turn everybody around. Like your best friend may just be a person that needs help, but if they can’t get up and move and get themselves happy, you can’t make them. And you got to sometimes let them go and find those people that are going to build you up that are going to challenge you, that are going to make you play hard.
Rocky Zapata: Yeah. And I’ll take it a step further, Neil, sometimes aside from friends, it is family members. You might have some toxic family members. You might have some toxic friends. I mean, I’ll give you one of my examples, my daughter and I, three years ago, we built our house from the ground up. It was a huge, huge accomplishment and a goal for me. I wanted to build a brand-new house. I wanted to be the first one to use that house. I didn’t want anyone living in there before. It was just a little minor humble accomplishment. And we built it with my daughter. And when I brought my family over, everyone was like, oh my God, such a beautiful house. I had a cousin of mine and she’s like, “Oh, why do you need such a big house? We grew up poor, like 20 of us in 900 square feet.” I said, okay, only because we grew up this way doesn’t mean I want to stay this way. You understand what I’m saying? So sometimes the toxic and the negativity comes from your own family members, and don’t be afraid to cut family members, friends, those people that unfortunately don’t have the mentality or are not ready to see you succeed. And that was the whole reciprocal comment because I think that for you to be able to succeed with people around you, they have to be happy to see you succeed. I always teach people the five traits of a leader is, number one, okay, you have to believe in yourself. You have to believe in yourself, no ifs or buts. Number two, you have to believe in your mission. Part of believing in your mission is you have to be passionate about what you do. I mean, if you don’t believe in yourself and you don’t believe in your mission/passion, no one else is going to believe in you. Number three, you have to love people. That’s number one in leadership, you have to love people, no ifs or buts. Number four, very important, your sole mission as a leader, your sole mission as a leader is to make sure people are growing, people around you, the people you lead, the people you love, going back to number three and right back to number four. Those people you love, you have to make sure they’re growing. And number five, important leaders, you have to be happy with other people’s success. And that is why I tell you that picking those friends, those family members, that you’re happy for them and they’re also happy for you is very important for a healthy relationship and a healthy leadership. You can’t be hanging around people, they see you succeed, they see you grow, and they’re just looking at you from behind with envy, with hate, they want to see you, the first moment, you just trip over the banana, just slip.
Neil Dudley: Oh, I told you, I knew that was going to happen to you. I could have told you, you were going to mess up and trip.
Rocky Zapata: So, make sure you’re happy for those people and those people are happy for you as well. It’s a genuine happy where we both want to see each other go forward.
Neil Dudley: I mean, to be honest, I have been selfish in my life. Like at times when I was playing football or something. I was the starting quarterback of the team. So that was cool. I was good. I had all the ability. And I would, honestly, hope others on the team didn’t do well so they wouldn’t take my spot. That is so, so stupid. Why don’t I just do the very best I can do? And if they are better than me, then that’s just fine. Great. Good for them. Find me another spot. Find me a spot where I can be the best. Instead, I did. I think it’s immaturity a lot of times. I don’t know. What do you think? Do you think it’s immaturity? Do you think it’s circumstance? What made me have those feelings?
Rocky Zapata: You know what, unfortunately, Neil, I think we are all selfish human beings. It’s within our nature. I mean, we’re born selfish. It’s just automatic, right? I mean, look at when you take a group- I’ll gave you a quick basic example, when you take a group selfie, you have ten people taking a selfie, and out of the ten, if one person looks bad in the picture, if one person doesn’t like the picture even though the other nine look good and love it, you have to retake the picture, for one person. It just shows how selfish we are today. If nine of us look good, but you look ugly because maybe you’re just naturally ugly, why we have to take the picture again? You understand what I’m saying? And listen, I’m not very photogenic myself, so I’m criticizing myself. I’m making fun of myself now. But you know what? We’re born selfish. That’s just who we are. Unfortunately, it’s within our nature. And I think we need to, each one of us needs to work on not being selfish and making sure we’re happy for everyone. And the goal ultimately is for all of us to succeed and all of us move forward. And I have a very good friend of mine, Neil, he’s an entrepreneur, he owns businesses, and this friend of mine, he’s always happy for me. I’m always happy for him. And the reason I tell you he’s a true friend is because one day he had a huge need, and I was there for him. And one day I had a huge need, and he was there for me. And I think true friendship, you find it when you have a need, not when you’re at your best. But when your dark days, you find those people, they’re in your dark days. So, we all fight with selfishness. It’s normal, it’s within our nature. We just need to keep fighting it to make sure it just stays away from us.
Neil Dudley: Right. Spend time trying to get better. I say something like learn, work is hard, it’s changing yourself, recognizing things you want to improve. That’s hard. You have to be honest with yourself. You have to listen to others, accept criticism. It’s just a bunch of tools you have to spend time trying to put together. It won’t happen overnight. And it’s almost like an addiction. It’s almost like- selfishness kind of is an addiction. Like we’re born that way. We can- we need to deal with it every day or it will be alive and well in our personality. And I just don’t want to be that way.
Rocky Zapata: Well, I mean, I always tell people the first person we have to lead is ourselves. Because ultimately you can’t take anyone where you yourself have not been. You just can’t. I mean, I can’t take you where I haven’t been, right, Neil. So it’s very important that everybody understands that the first person we have to lead is ourselves. And sometimes we want other people to change when we ourselves don’t even have the possibility or the ability to better say to change ourselves. So that’s always huge. I mean, we see that a lot in in matrimony counseling. Everybody wants to change everybody, but nobody wants to change their selves. How does that happen?
Neil Dudley: Well, I mean, it’s true in my marriage. I mean, I wish my wife would do this. Why? She’s happy. She shouldn’t do anything different. I should, I should be different. I’m like OCD about where’d you put your keys or where’s the remote to the TV? I mean, I’m causing in my kids a problem I’m sure because I’m like why can’t you just always put this remote right here, then we’d always know where it is. I mean, I have to- it’s like people, everybody listening to this should just know I have problems. I have things that I just wish I would do different, and I’ve still not gotten a lot better at them, but I admit them. I think that’s a good step towards making some change. It’s just, I need to be better at that.
Rocky Zapata: Definitely.
Neil Dudley: Okay. So, tell me, like what’s the value of a dollar? I love asking this question. In your life or just, what is the value of a dollar?
Rocky Zapata: You want an economic answer? Or you want a motivational answer? I’ll just give you an answer.
Neil Dudley: Whichever one kind of comes to your mind first.
Rocky Zapata: So, I tell you this, I mean, the huge value of a dollar equals emotions. And people always ask why is that, Rocky? I tell people because unfortunately the value of the dollar moves your emotions. And people tell me that’s just not true. I say okay, I’m going to give you a quick example – when you have it, you’re happy; when you don’t have it, you’re depressed. If those things happen to you, money, the dollar is moving your emotions. I mean, listen, as a business owner yourself, Neil, I think you’ve seen it multiple times that come Friday, pay day, everyone’s happy. I mean, people’s eyes are glowing, and you see people happy at work. And everybody’s saying it’s payday, it’s payday. In Spanish, the Latino will say [dia del padre] the day of the father, [dia del padre]. I say why is it [el dia del padre]? Oh, because the other days some [dia de madre], it’s like the mother. So, everybody, unfortunately, the dollar has gotten to a value where it definitely controls people’s emotions, and we definitely have to get away from there. I mean, you can- and listen, I know money is nothing but paper, valuable paper, but at the end of it, it’s just paper. And we definitely cannot allow it to control our emotions. The other thing we can definitely learn, and when it comes to motivation about the dollar, is that the dollar never loses its true value, whether it’s gone through a thousand hands, whether it’s wrinkled, whether you have an old bill with you. Whatever it is, it never loses its value. It will always maintain the value. And I think we have to learn that from the dollar and understand that we might’ve gone through a breakup, a divorce, maybe you got fired, you lost your business, you’re going through a financial crisis, a relationship crisis, you’re in a dark day, but at the end of the day, only because you’re going through that, that doesn’t mean you lose your value. These factors or any factor that you encounter in your life does not make you lose value. They do not define your purpose. They do not define your calling. And the dollar’s purpose or calling is not defined by how many hands it has gone through, it is not defined by how many wrinkles it has, it is not defined by how old it is. It’s a dollar and it maintains its value. So, I always tell people, listen, assure that whatever you’ve gone in life, you don’t lose value. You will always maintain your purpose and your calling.
Neil Dudley: Awesome. Yeah, I love that. Now what about books or podcasts? Do you have- do you read?
Rocky Zapata: Oh, I love- I love reading. I didn’t like reading until I was 15 because I was in high school, and it’s funny because high school was so tough for me. I couldn’t pass high school, Neil, if my life depended on it. It was tough. I had to start reading. And it’s funny because out of high school, I went on to college and got my undergrad. Then I got my master’s degree. And I will tell you, a bachelor’s and a master’s degree was a lot easier than high school for me. I don’t know why it was. I don’t know if maybe high school, it was like a fun time for me, just having fun. So yeah, I read a lot. I love reading. I read with my daughter. So, we read every day, Neil, when I wake up, before I grab my phone, and the phone, it’s a blessing, but it can also be a curse for many of us. But before I grab my phone, a lot of people just grab their phone and dive into social media, missed called, missed texts, whatever the case is, I don’t do that. So, the moment I wake up, I grab my phone and I have my Bible app in my phone, and the first thing I read is the proverb of the day. So, every morning I read the proverb of the day and I wake up with that. I read those 20, 30 verses, whatever is within that proverb that day. And that’s how I wake up, wake up at 5:00 AM every day, read my proverb. I go to the gym. I know it doesn’t look like I go to the gym, but I promise I do, just I like eating a lot of tacos. I go to the gym, but then I eat tacos. But at least I maintain myself. Go to the gym. So, I read and go to the gym by 7:00 AM to breakfast. So, reading my provers every day, and then I’ll grab a book. Actually, I just finished reading a book by Pastor Robert Morris. He’s actually in the Dallas area here, Pastor Robert Morris. I just finished reading his book, The God I Never Nnew. It’s a phenomenal book. It teaches us how to have a more close relationship with the holy spirit. So great book. If you have an opportunity, read the God I Never Knew by Pastor Robert Morris. I mean, what a book, what a life experience.
Neil Dudley: Just realy quick for all the listeners, if you’re listening, check out the show notes, there’ll be links to all of these things so you can access them and read them for yourself. Okay, that’s the one you just read. Has there been a book that’s influenced your career?
Rocky Zapata: Yes. I read the book From Good to Great by Collins, huge book. It influenced my career a lot. I think within the book, I’ve learned that it’s like they say, you got to go out there every day like someone’s trying to eat your lunch. You just got to get better, and you got to get better. You have to improve and you have to improve on a daily basis. So, I recommend people Good to Great, really, really good book. And I’m big on Latin American politics. And I actually, I read also The Struggle for Latin American Democracy. So those are probably the three books, the Bible and these books that have definitely inspired me a lot. And listen leaders read, that’s just as basic as that. Leaders need to read. I’m making sure my daughter starts reading from an early age and she picks up the habit a lot earlier than when I picked it up at 15, because I would tell my mom I would read, but I’d just sit in the couch.
Neil Dudley: Yeah. I still haven’t read a book. Like until I woke up to audible and podcasts, I never read a book. Right there’s an example of me wasting 35 years of opportunity to get better. All it is is an opportunity to learn something, put information in your brain that you would have a chance to access someday. So yeah, listen everybody, Rocky’s right, read. I don’t know if I expect you to read, but I want you to consume knowledge. So, it might be by listening. I just have a hard time reading a book. I promise if I open a book up and read about one paragraph, I’ll be asleep. But if I’m driving, commuting to work, I listen to books a lot, and it’s been really valuable to me. What about podcasts? Do you listen to podcasts or you just go on and share the good news?
Rocky Zapata: I was laughing. I’m sorry. You’re a fun guy, Neil. Johnny and I here, we’re just smiling. But no, going back, it is most definitely important to read. And listen, not everything you read, you’re going to agree a hundred percent with. You just have to have an open mind, grab the good, and put away the bad. Not everything you hear on a podcast you’re going to a hundred percent agree with, not every speaker you’re going to, not every author you’re going to agree with a hundred percent. So just, listen, read, and grab the good. There’s always good meat in everything. Grab the good meat, and whatever doesn’t work for you, just let it go. It’s just as basic as that.
Neil Dudley: Awesome. Hey man, I don’t know what else. I could keep talking to you. I have like a million other great topics, but I know you got to get back on the plane, get back to your family, get back to that beautiful daughter. And man, I can’t wait for my listeners, the TCP Nation, anybody to get some access to your thought process and to learn who you are. Go learn more about Rocky. Like we’ve not even scratched the surface as to what this guy’s all about. Like he may be the president of Nicaragua someday, and you just don’t even know what all this guy’s going to do. So, I highly advise you just get to know him, pay attention to him. He’s a guy that wants you to succeed and he will work hard to help you in any way he can. I just know that. So, thank you so much for being on the Cowboy Perspective. One of these days, you’re coming out to the ranch. We’re going to get you on a horse, gather some cattle, do some fun stuff.
Rocky Zapata: See, now you’re tempting me. Now, I’m going to hold you to your word.
Neil Dudley: Please do. I promise, I’ve told everybody, almost everybody I meet offer that to them because it’s a thing that I enjoy and it’s just easy for me. It’s not easy for everybody. Not everybody gets a chance to do that. So, if we ever catch a time where you could come, bring your daughter, my daughters are 11, 9 and 6, so she fits right in there. We’ll have a great time.
Rocky Zapata: Perfect. And thank you, Neil, for the invitation. I appreciate it.
Neil Dudley: Well, we came to another end of a great conversation. I hope everybody was able to take down some notes, or feel free to go look at the show notes and go back and listen to this stuff again. Rocky, I want to say thank you so much for coming to the Cowboy Perspective and giving us, braving that winter storm and making it to the studio and putting down what I think is such, it was for me definitely a fun conversation, a valuable conversation. I learned something. All of those people that I hope hear this and maybe learn something too, I appreciate you so much for giving us all that opportunity. Everybody listening to the Cowboy Perspective, if you find something here that you think is worth sharing, please do that. I’d so much appreciate it. And come back next time. Let us know what you think. Rocky Zapata, you are the man, and I just wish you all the best.
The Cowboy Perspective is produced by Neil Dudley and Straight Up Podcasts. Graphics are done by Root & Roam Creative Studio, and the music is by Byron Hill Music.