She Closed a Multi-Million Deal at 23 — Now She’s Taking It to Congress

Yeah. >> So, fast forward, you start crushing it. You say you you did your first multi-million dollar deal, 23. >> What happened there? >> I like to train my clients and tell them your culture will eat your strategy for lunch. >> Absolutely. >> It'll eat it. People like to say that, but a lot of people don't have the skill set on how to guide and create the culture. >> So, would you say to define a fantastic

leader, would it boil down to things like character? >> Absolutely. >> Values. Yes. >> Mission statements. >> Yes. >> Beliefs. >> Yes. And some people like to fluff those numbers, too. They like to pretend like they know what their numbers are to sound confident. >> But do you have a handle on your team? >> Right. >> Does your team respect you because they admire you and they want to follow you or are they afraid of you?

Were they talk behind your back when you walk out the door? >> Not only that, but I mean it it also is a lot more meaningful whenever you failed multiple times and then you finally get the success or the win. Yeah, >> that wind just feels a lot tastier and it tastes a lot better whenever you've had a couple of bruises. >> That's exactly right. >> Chasing that that wind. >> It's more you appreciate it more

because >> Welcome to another episode of Pick up the phone podcast. I am your host Janis. I'm the CEO of Vanccom.io. I help businesses with marketing and AI. Today's guest is Crystal DeLeon Sarento. >> Nice. She is the first American Mexican-American council woman and mayor prom in Manville, Texas. She's a best-selling author, number one in Christian and leadership outperforming Joe Ostein. >> Mhm. >> And she did her first multi-million dollar deal at 23. >> Yeah. >>

So, Crystal, thank you so much for being here. >> Thank you. Thanks for for having me. I feel special. >> You're very special. >> I love that. Thank you. So, um I think that's a lot to unpack. I I would love to hear your entire love story. Your entire >> totally my love story. >> We'll get into your love story, too. You just said you have a great husband, so we'll get into that. Yeah. Good, good,

good, good. So, where are you from? Where were you born? >> So, I was born technically my birth certificate says Galveston. >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. >> Why do you say technically? >> Because I was raised in I was just born there three days and then moved back to Houston. >> Oh, yeah. In Manville area? >> No, Southwest Houston. >> Got it. Yeah. I've only been in Manville going on 10 years when I remarried and we needed

a house that was big enough to fit >> what we thought would be five kids for a long time. >> Yeah. >> Um you know, blended family, five kids. We wanted a the biggest bang for our buck. >> Yeah. >> We were told it's the next woodlands. And >> quite frankly, I was tired tired of all the crime >> that was happening in my fence. Yeah. >> From guys that were jumping my fence to break into

the neighbors. I It's just It was just bad. That's in southwest Houston. >> Well, that was actually south Houston down 288 and we just moved a little further into Manville and that's where we are today. Beautiful. But my story um who I am and where I grew up is the southwest side of Houston. Okay. >> On Hillcraftoft, Belair Beachnut. >> Oh, very nice. >> Yeah. Like the heart of Southwest. Not a leaf southwest, but southwest side.

I went to Bellair High School. Went to Persing and Jane Long Middle School. um grew up in predominantly most well mostly my childhood an apartment complex called the l Fairmont luxury there's nothing nothing luxury about um >> not at all um but that's where really I grew up on grew up in >> which um I feel like prepared me for life because it was a multi- culturally the most multiculturally diverse melting pot in the United States

of America throughout the 80s and the '90s. Yeah, I would I would argue Houston is still that. >> I'm sorry. >> I would argue Houston is still that. >> No, Houston still is that. But in that that space of Houston back then, you didn't see that. You could drive out and see other things, but like >> the nationalities that were there, I believe back then there was like over 100 countries. >> Over 100 countries. >> Countries

of people in that pocket. >> Wow. So you have like the Mahatma Gandhi district, you have um the Chinatown district, you have um uh Chapilandia district, right? Like off of West Park and and um Bair. Um and then you have all the Mexicos that were at Fairmont Luxury. So it was like a melting pot. Like you got you had everything. all the people that migrated, the the ethnicities, all of it, the flavors, the cultures, all of

it was in that like little tight area. Yeah. >> So like when I grew up in elementary, >> my class was it looked super multicultural, >> extremely diverse. >> Extremely diverse. And that served me >> fantastically in my career. It really served me. It was it it taught me how to be able to connect to people >> that are outside of my culture, outside of my region, >> just diverse, right? And in business, that truly is

it can help you >> because, you know, as you start to expand your wings and go out and do business outside of our little, you know, neighborhoods, >> um the world is massive. And so I feel like to me that's something I'm super proud of. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> And I mean, I think it goes to show also uh the level of just the way you came in here when before we started filming. >>

I mean, you're fantastic at just building rapport and I think it goes to show from your upbringing. You know, I'm sure that that helped and played a vital role to that. >> It played a huge role to it. Not only that, but having to >> get along and survive. That's the other thing. It's like it wasn't easy to survive in the 80s. like the gangs and all the things like the people don't like to talk about

that but there was a lot of crime. >> Yeah. >> You know there was drug bust in the apartment complexes. I mean there was crime. There was you know um >> a lot of gangs. Like that was a the the highest peak in the early 90s of the gang task force coming into Houston HPD doing you know all these raids on homes that were having gang parties and stuff. So not only was it diverse which helped

me but it was also rough. It wasn't that easy to >> growing up in that environment. >> Growing up in that environment and having to to survive really. >> So, um I attribute a lot of that, you know, my communication skills to having to be able to connect to to people of all walks of life and and be able to get along. So, yeah, definitely. >> Yeah. So, what happened after um after you graduated from high

school? Where'd you go? >> So, technically um there's a whole story there. Um I was teaching abstinence classes. >> Okay. >> You ever heard of those? I don't think so. >> I've seen them, I think, on like Mean Chicks. >> Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So, that's funny. So, abstinence was teaching high schoolers how not to have sex. >> Yeah. Right. >> Don't have sex. >> Don't have sex, kid. >> Because you will die. >> Exactly. So, there

was a movement in the 90s, right? Is like say no to drugs and then there was like don't have sex and if you do, you know, >> protect yourself, right? You know, it's kind of awkward talking about that now. my kids listening. But irony is that I ended up pregnant. >> Got it. >> In high school. >> Yeah. >> And um funny. It's just it's it's not funny, but it is because I was the one that

that swore she would never do that because I was a really good quote Catholic, right? >> And I would never do that. And I was very judgy >> for my friends that were open about those type of things. And that's why you should never say never because then you eat your own words. But yeah, >> anyway, um I ended up um which is part of my book, Becoming a Lioness. Um it talks about this story, >>

the story of being raised by my my Mexican immigrant father >> and my mother. Both of them were married until I turned the age of three >> and um and they split and my dad had custody of me, which is very rare in the state of Texas. >> It is very rare, >> especially in 1984. >> Yeah, >> that doesn't happen. >> That's unheard of. >> It's very unheard of. Was that just because your like your

parents decided it that way or was it the court system? >> It's very complicated. I don't want to go into that. Sure. >> But I will say that it was rare. >> Yeah. >> And my dad is my hero to this day because to be able to raise a a a little girl that's 3 years old >> be an immigrant to this country. >> Yeah. >> Um having to learn English and assimilate and build a business

with his bare hands >> um by himself. Yeah. Wake up at 5 in the morning, right before the sun is up. Have to wake up, get your little girl dressed, get her off to school, and then go pick up your machinas, your push lawn mower, your weed eater, load up, >> go find business, go knock on doors, see if someone will let you cut their yard, do all of that, and then pick me up from my

Thea's house. >> Um, after the sun goes down, day in day out, callous hands. I mean that >> man >> I can see where you got your lion is from. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. My dad has a lot to do with that. Um >> I attribute a lot of my success and a lot of my story and growth to my mom too. >> Interesting. >> Yeah. She w she raised me and she did the

same thing. She got up early in the morning and then just did everything for me. So >> I attribute 150% of who I am today to my mom just like I see you attributing it to your dad. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. And and this is a story that most people when I say how many of you were raised by a single mom like 20% or 30 nowadays which is which is definitely sad in an audience when

I'm speaking they'll raise their hand at least 20% 20 to 30 are raised by single mothers. Yeah. >> Um and that's a whole another podcast we can talk about the breakage of family and all that >> but in my case single father how many of you were and in my entire career whenever I asked that question only two people have raised their hands. >> Yeah two it's uncommon. It's uncommon. So I I give him all the

credit, but he gives the credit to Jesus Christ. Like he always says without God, without faith, and without and my dad is a patriot of this country. Yeah. >> He loves the United States of America. He has taught me to love this country. And and he said, "If it wasn't for the opportunity of this country, I would not have been able to build the American dream." So my dad instilled those principles of faith, which both my

mom and dad did. I'm not going to take credit away from her, right? >> She did. They both love Christ. They they're very centered. are very very faithful to Jesus. >> Mhm. >> Um the family dynamic was complicated at the time. >> Um which I'm going down a rabbit hole from your initial question, but that led to to my father remarrying my amazing second mom >> who's also named Margarita. Okay. >> Margarita Deon. Um so God

wrote that story. I was like that's awesome. We have the same name. Um >> God's plan. >> God's plan. Love it. >> She's literally an angel. She's transformed our lives. She came at the perfect time. But anyway, the story goes, um, I ended up pregnant and I chose to have my daughter. There was never a question about it. Me and my boyfriend, high school sweetheart at the time. >> Um, there was zero question about should we

have her, should we not? And we were young and he was playing football and I had aspirations to, you know, do all these amazing things. And unfortunately, um, we had her and we were trucking along and then he died in a tragic car accident. >> I'm so sorry. >> It's okay. like thank you. But yeah, it made me who I am today. And so >> what ended up happening was my entire life was >> pivotal at

that moment. I had a decision to make. >> Yeah. >> How do I pay my daughter's bills? How do I raise my daughter? >> Um there was no option for food stamps and help because my dad's very prideful and Mexican and he's like we don't ask for help. Like we don't we my dad has always said we did not come to this country to be a liability. We came to work and to give back. Yep. And

a lot of the mentality of immigrants in the 70s and ' 80s was that mindset. We don't see that nowadays, >> right? We don't. >> Yeah. >> So my mindset was I have to work, right? And so because of that, I started I was work going to school and also working um at Eards. You remember Eards? >> I don't know. >> Okay. You must be younger. So Eards used to be CVS pharmacy. So I was a

pharmacy tech back when they used to let people anybody fill prescriptions. So that was my very first official job. >> Nice >> that. But then >> I had a friend um >> that worked at a call center. >> And um long very long story short, that was my introduction into my career in telecom and telecommunication software and and the such. Got So, my first big introduction to closing deals was selling long distance back when You look

so confused. >> Selling Selling Long What do you mean selling long distance? >> This is so good. I love this. >> What is What is long distance? >> Oh my gosh. Okay. >> The The whole world is short distance now. You jump on a plane and you get there. >> That's right. Okay. So, this is awesome. Okay. So, in the before um before cell phones and unlimited call plans, people used to have to use that type

of phone or an actual landline, right? This is what I used to sell. I used to even sell uh internet packages back in the day. But >> anyways, you had a landline, your phone would ring, you'd pick it up, and if you wanted to call anybody outside of Houston, and it was a separate area code, like you could not call >> Rosenberg from Houston, >> okay? because it was a different area code. >> No, back in

the day, if you were not 713 or 281 >> before 832 existed, >> and now we have like two more. >> Yeah. >> If you had to dial outside of that >> that area code, >> you'd have to dial a one. >> Okay. >> And that one before you dialed that phone number meant it's a long distance call. >> Okay. >> And there was rates across the nation. So you could call Dallas, it was instate rates,

or you wanted to call California, that was a more expensive rate, and they would charge you per minute. >> Wow. >> Yeah. Interesting. >> So that's how >> I started my sales career was boiler room type, right? Like you say, pick up the phone. This is perfect for your podcast. This is great. >> This is literally how I boot camped my way into my corporate sales career. And it was picking up the phone. But back then,

we had phone books. Yeah. >> You know what a phone book is? >> Yeah, of course. Yeah. Yeah. I've seen it in movies. >> I've seen it in movies. >> Call him right now. >> That's what I have to ask nowadays cuz my daughter will look at a phone like that. A rotary phone. You know that's called a rotary phone, right? >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I had to do some research. >> The rotary when it rolls

a thing. >> This This one. >> Yes. That's called the rotary. So most most young generation don't know what that is. So in my in my in that job um we had phone books or they used to farm list right to cold call but it was on computer paper and so the list would be like a book like this big and they would slap these big books on your desk like and so >> basically where I

worked at um it was the entire ninth floor of Two River Way. Okay. It's right off of um Post Oak and Two Riverway. It's up in it's over there. And so the entire floor was a penthouse and they had um big tables like this, like 8ft tables lined up all the way. It was a open floor, so they had hundreds of tables and sales reps on the phone picking up, grinding. Yes. Just crushing it. And I

was highly motivated by money. >> Yeah. >> Why? Because I had a little girl to feed, of course. >> And I had goals and I was ambitious. >> Absolutely. and remember the the ability to be able to speak to anybody growing up in a melting pot of diversity >> that plus I've always had a gift of communication of speaking to people and not being afraid of I'm like do you know where I grew up like you

want to tell me no like >> I have zero I I have zero people pleasing when it comes to making a cold call they hung up big deal move on to the next >> bulletproof man just bulletproof >> love that for you >> and I started to realize that every time I sold a customer and they bought the long-distance package, >> I would make a commission. >> And so, a real funny story here, after working there

for like, I don't know, two or three weeks, when I finally got like my first full paycheck addition to my commissions, >> now remember, what does my dad do? He pushes a lawnmower, right? He's a landscaper. He does um landscaping. He's got a very small business and he works very hard >> to cut a yard in the elements, right? The elements, whether it's >> 30° in Houston or whether it's 120 in Houston, like it doesn't matter.

You're outside. You're in the elements. There's no sick days. There's no PTO. There's no time off. There's no flu days. It doesn't matter. You got to go work because if you don't work that day, you don't feed your family, >> right? >> For me, it was different. I got to go into a building, wear a pretty suit, >> work with a lot of fun people, >> pick up, smile and dial. >> Yeah. >> And then come

home with a commission check. Yeah. >> And my dad say, >> he's like, "No, no, no." I'm like, "No." And he's looking at my check. He's like, >> "Yeah." >> And I'm like, "Dad, you know the girls that call you to sell you the long distance plans?" Yeah, that's me. >> I'm like, that's what I do. >> Yeah. >> And he was like, this is incredible. >> I mean, it was thousands. >> Yeah. >> You're talking

1999, 2000. >> That's a lot of money. >> It's a lot of money back then. That would equal to like 6,000 right now. >> And how old were you at the time? >> At the time, I started that career at 18, 19 years old. >> Oh, you were young. Young young. >> Very young. I was a young mom and I was hungry. >> You crushed it, right? >> And I had to. I had no choice. >>

That's amazing. >> Settle. Zero choice. >> Of course. >> Yeah. >> So, fast forward, you start crushing it. You say you you did your first multi-million dollar deal 23. Yeah. What happened there? >> So being in telecom space that kind of opens the door to internet, the boom of the internet, right? So the internet ends up being >> you may not know this, but it also was very slow and you had to buy like >> I

remember the >> megabytes and >> dial up dial up dial and you'll hear the little sound. Yeah. >> Yes. And it was anciently slow. >> Oh yeah. >> But then they came out with products like DSL. I It's crazy. This is so This is ancient stuff now. >> The last from the past. >> The last one from the past. And so I ended up um leaving that company and working for um Southwestern Bell, if you remember

that company. I do. Okay. So the big the baby bells, >> which was um phenomenal for me because it was corporate training. They taught me how to be professional. They taught me how to sell and they gave me nice salary, good benefits, all those things that I needed as a young mom, >> which is boot camp, right, for business. Right. >> Well, years later, um, I got recruited to work at a different company that was a

bigger company. And at this point, we were selling >> um, how do I explain it in in terms you guys would understand? Basically, like internet service times a million where I would go into businesses, corporations that had multiple locations across the world and they needed huge pipelines. That's that's what I call them, but really >> they were called T1s, OC3s. And these are landlines that used to connect through big data boxes into your office. >> And

obviously back then companies like Chevron, Enron, you oil and gas, they they needed enough >> to facilitate thousands of employees in office buildings. And so the bigger the business, >> the bigger the pipe, and I'm trying to make that consumable for everybody listening. >> Sure. >> Um the bigger bandwidth. So today, what we get on our cell phone back then used to cost companies like $10,000 a month. >> Wow. >> Per location. >> Yeah. >> So

I was fortunate enough to be extremely technical and be able to learn how to use software, how to combine that in into data and be able to sell telecommunication to these big corporations. Got it. And so my first huge deal um when it comes to the multi-millions was in that space was in the telecommunication realm selling data and internet services. So you must have sold just like a massive data package to a large corporation. >> It

it basically was like 40 something T1s and like something I can't remember the exact numbers today but yes that's basically what I did and actually um that was one of the things that I did but before that um I worked at a company called MCI Global um WorldCom. >> Yeah >> WorldCom. And in 2004 uh it was terrible for them. They laid off 7,000 people. >> Wow. >> But before that, um, one of my clients was

Lami Chakana Meat Markets. >> Oh, very good. >> Okay. So, for me, that was a massive deal. Why? Because they had many locations. And so, that was one of my strategies was instead of hitting up small to medium businesses, I was focusing on enterprise businesses. and Houston being multiculturally diverse and me being one of the only Spanish-sp speakaking, you know, >> professionals out there, >> professionals, I could go into that space in the industry and really

connect with those business owners, >> gain their trust, educate them on the products, and then be able to sell that. So, I mean, Chado Meat Markets was one of my clients at the time. Um, and it was it it it taught me a lesson. And it's like you can utilize your network >> and use your skill set of speaking Spanish, >> which thank you to my dad and my family, right? >> Yeah. >> To be able

to to to close a deal, >> right? >> So you have two ends of the spectrum here. We have multilocation deals that were local to Texas, but then when I moved to the other companies, that was on a grander scale. That was a more national type sale. And so what happens with those is in telecommunications back in the day um you your your deals were measured off how long the contract was. So in those days the

longer your contract was the cheaper you could get the price and it was in our best interest to sign them on you know 24 36 72-mon deals. The longer the deal the bigger my commission was >> of course. So, I had to get really, really strategic at like, look, this is why you want to sign a fiveyear deal, right? >> Get a better price. >> You're going to get a better price. You're going to lock in.

You're all the things. So, >> being in business development early on taught me >> so much on how to be successful today and how I train and coach and train my my my business clients today on how to scale their business, how to work with their sales teams, how to let's focus on the KPIs, but not just the numbers, but we also have to understand how do you take people's personalities and and pull from their abilities

>> and grow and take that to the next level. Because a lot of the times people come in and they're like, "It's simple. It's just a formula. How come this guy can do it and this one can't? Well, because the personalities and the mindsets are not there. You have to be able to understand people's mindsets and their behaviors to get them to perform. And not everybody is motivated by the same thing. >> Correct. >> That's a

whole another podcast. >> Some people are motivated by money, other people are motivated by recognition. >> Yep. >> Yeah. I have uh something called culture index. And so it's a survey that I used to have. It's >> Have you've heard of this profile? >> Of course. I'm a certified disc trainer. This This is There's this profile on steroids. It's this profile plus five more parameters on it. It's beautiful. I think you'd really enjoy. >> Probably not

be better than mine. I have one that has more parameters than that, but it breaks it breaks down. So, so I do this on a on a corporate level, so it's my own proprietary, but I have different ones and I use these on a very high high scale. It's what the FBI uses when they interrogate um people. they're the ones that actually put a lot of what's behind some of these >> profile >> analysis things there.

But I use it with my executives when I coach executives and their teams. >> Um because I do executive coaching. >> So the CEOs of these companies of many companies, they sometimes struggle at figuring out how to make the teams blend. It's like we've got all the framework, we've done the EOS, it's not working. Yeah. >> Because people are complicated. >> Behavioral. >> It's behavioral. It's values. It's behavioral. It's mindset. And this is the the the

re source >> source. >> So let's talk about this. How did you um >> you crushed it in your young in your young uh years and you're doing a lot of telecom and you're doing a bunch of sales. How did that transition into you creating the air resource? >> So the resource developed after um I parted ways with General Motors. I was working with General Motors as a fleet and commercial development manager. >> Okay. >> And

um it was one of my favorite positions. It was it was it was amazing. >> Um but I was able to take a lot of my training, a lot of my certifications, but also this is this the secret sauce is that um I served on family foundations um which is a a Christian organization and also served in church for 13 years. And so there was trainings and and things like that that I was able to blend

to the table. Long story short, a lot of my clients were telling me that I should start a consulting business and help build their teams and help on the behavioral side and help with the coaching side and help scale their business and with their sales performance teams and help with all the things like KPIs and structures and SOPs and training manuals and and just really consult from a high level because what happens is a lot of

industry people, they only know their industry, right? It's very rare that a business owner has really experienced multiple industries, >> right? >> And today we live in a day where a lot of online coaches tell you the better the niche the better or somebody writes this book and says you need to be very highly focused on a niche. >> Yeah. >> And that serves many people. Mhm. >> But when you're a business development professional, understanding businesses

as a whole and how this industry integrates with this industry and how to make them connect, how how those trends are impacting your industry, you have to have an understanding of what other industries are doing. I just made a word salad right there. That was a word salad. Um, but really it's it's understanding how I've seen that same thing and I don't care what you're selling or what your clients are. Every team experiences a lot of

the same >> struggles, dysfunctions. And just because we have frameworks, I like to train my clients and tell them >> your culture will eat your strategy for lunch. >> Absolutely. >> It'll eat it. >> Culture. Culture always comes first. And people like to say that, but a lot of people don't have the skill set on how to guide and create the culture. >> I see what you mean >> because I've seen very bad leaders in this

world, and I'm not talking about just business. I mean in >> community, in politics. So, one of my my favorite quotes >> is everything >> everything just let that word simmer there. Everything rises and falls on leadership. Very easy >> but so complicated. Everything rises and falls on leadership. An entire business organization we have seen crumble under the weight of bankruptcy >> based on a bad leader who did not have people in mind and wasn't serving

and was selferving and did things for the wrong reasons >> right >> or they come in because they can self-fund or they have access to money but they don't know how to really speak to the heart of people to get them to become a true team like a soccer team >> and talk I talk about this with my clients. How are you going to get your team to the championship? >> What's the championship for you? Do

you even have that defined? Yeah, it's to make a million dollars. Okay, great. That's a number. I get it. >> How are you going to get the team to the championship? And who are your competitors? Who's in the playoffs? Have you even made the playoffs? Great. I have a team. Is everybody on your team? How many need to be traded? Do you have the right people in the right seats to help you get to the playoffs

to ensure that you're then going to get to the championship game? And then do you have the game plan to win the championship game? >> Because we see this in business and we have, oh, I hired this guy, hired that guy. I just need somebody that can smile and dial. >> Mhm. >> But then you end up with a bad hire. And a bad hire can cost your company seven times their salary. >> Yep. >> That's

what studies say. The Harvard Business Review says that seven times. And a lot of people don't understand that bad hires are like a sandbag. You're just you're you're losing money and a bad hire can be detrimental to the culture, >> right? >> Hiring the right person should bring in the law of multiplication where it helps push push the things push them forward, push everything around, push everybody towards that goal, whether it's a soccer team, right? I'm

just using hypotheticals now. >> Sure. But in business, we can talk all the numbers. We can talk year-over-year. We can talk scalability. We can talk, you know, your KPIs. We can talk metrics. We can talk all the things. Scorecards that all the number things that sound sexy, >> right? Got it. Great. And some people like to fluff those numbers, too. They like to pretend like they know what their numbers are to sound confident. >> Mhm. >>

But do you have a handle on your team? >> Right. Does your team respect you because they admire you and they want to follow you? >> Were they afraid of you? Were they talk behind your back when you walk out the door? You know, like when the substitute teacher was there. >> Yeah. >> And what do the kids do? Ah, substitute. We don't care. >> Yeah. >> If you're the kind of boss, and I can guarantee

you, most bosses are the last ones to find out what's going on in an organization. Why? Because they're at the top. Now, by nature, it's human nature. Your team is going to gravitate towards each other. and the the boss wants to be friends with the team, >> but guess what? They're having conversations behind that b that boss's back. And so organizations that have great leaders, those great leaders are the ones that create a culture where the

team shows up when they don't have to. That when they walk out the door, it's okay to take two weeks off. Your team's got it. Not because they're soldiers, but because they're inspired to make you proud. Because you have had their back. because you as a leader have made them feel like they're not just there to crank it, they're there for something bigger. And that's the thing with people that sometimes are motivated by money, but at

the end of the day, we all need we're all focused on significance, right? And we can then take a team and create a common goal of significance. And everyone feels like, man, I want to crush that goal. Not just for me, but because my my buddy here, he's got a baby on the way, and I want to see him succeed. And this guy over here, his mom needs medical bills paid. I want to help him. And

more than anything, my boss is amazing because he's always had my back and he's built my confidence up. And when he's not here, I want him to succeed. When we have a culture like that, the KPIs will take care of themselves. I'm not saying they don't matter, right? >> But I'm saying it works. And time and time again, it's very sad. I'll walk into a business, familyowned business, most of the times, you know, we got 10,

15 employees, you know, the dad and the and theo, they're they started a painting business like, you know, 15 years ago, and no one taught them how to do this. Yeah. >> But they got big contracts and they're coming out and they, you know, oh man, we got $500,000 contracts. let's hire people and then there's toxicity in there. There's employees that don't stay. They're not hitting their C. They don't even know about KPIs, right? It's like,

hey, can you forecast your next quarter? >> And they're like, what? >> What's forecasting? >> What is forecasting? Right. >> Yeah, that's a question. >> Yeah. What is that? What are you talking about? I'm like, what's your forecast? >> Yeah. >> What's that? It's like, how do you know what you're going to make? What where's your closed deals? Can you forecast that and have confidence in it? Well, I don't know. Well, how many bids do you

have out? Uh, bids. How do you know? How do you know you're going to be in business in a year from now? >> Yeah. >> Right. Most people don't know those things that they need to have the sales funnels, that they need to have the metrics that help them stay on track >> so that they can know exactly in three months from now, I've got a $100,000 out or a million dollars out on bids. If my

closing ratio is between 20 and 30%, then I know that I'm going to translate that into hard dollars. And then off those hard dollars, I'm going to have profit. And off of that profit, then I can save money for, you know, the emergency fund. I can have them in my general fund. And then I can pay employees. And how do I measure my business to be able to scale? And that's the thing that most people, no

one teaches them that. >> That's why so many people get into business and fail in the first five years. They don't know the very basics of all that they have to understand. >> So long answer, huh? >> That's a that's a beautiful answer. That's a very deep and meaningful answer. I would say >> I think I think that uh it seems like you know a lot about businesses >> and also more importantly a lot about leadership

you know and I think what would be helpful to any viewer or anyone that's listening to this podcast >> would be to uh to define what leadership is. >> Oh I love that. That's such a good question. Thank you. Oh, I like I love a challenge. I love a challenge. Okay. >> Um, without looking at the dictionary, I would say for me, leadership is the ability to inspire others to come together for a common goal and

crush it together. That's what leadership is. Leadership, there's many books on leadership. >> Yeah. everybody and they and a lot of people just copy other people's things >> but the reality is is that what is leadership what is the essence what is the ability what is the action that comes from leadership >> what what is it creating if I am leading or you're leading this is something I teach my clients titles do not make leadersh >>

titles do not make leaders sometimes it can ruin a leader if you give them a title too soon and they're not truly ready with the servant heart, servant leadership to their team, they might get an ego and that'll hurt the team. Okay? You could have an employee that works in a mail room no one sees or cleaning toilets, but they come in with the best attitude. They're smiling. They show up on time. They're dressed. They they

they take pride in what they do. And that person has the ability to influence others in the department or in an organization. That person that's even at the very bottom has the ability to influence others either positive or negative. I'm going to flip that script. Let's say you have a team of let's let's talk construction hypothetically. You have a team of 10 guys on a crew. You have a guy that's been there 10 years, so he's

earned a promotion. You got five young guys, they just started out. Nine guys talk bad about the leader. He's arrogant. I've been here longer than you. They don't really like him. Work is sloppy. He's not leading by example. He's carrying some type of influence. What type of influence is it? So what I'm getting to is that leadership beyond the ability to inspire you to crush it, it can do the opposite. You have bad leaders and you

have good leaders. Leadership is nothing more, nothing less. It's very simple than influence. That's it. And and not not influencers, right? Not social media influencers, >> but influence. Influence is the ability to look at someone and want to behave. They have the ability to impact your behavior based on how they carry themselves. Right. You know how a bad apple will spoil other apples. >> Yeah. >> Exactly. They're leading. So that's why it's crucial for business success

to hire good leaders, amazing leaders, not just on technical skills. Technical skills can be taught, but you if you have a great attitude and you have someone that possesses the ability to inspire, to motivate, and lead with integrity and get everyone to follow them, that's a good leader. Someone that can get people to behave in the highest capacity that they can. That's a good leader. But then there's bad leaders. Right. Right. That's what leadership is. It's

influence. >> Yeah. And so would you say to define a fantastic leader would it boil down to things like character? >> Absolutely. >> Values. >> Yes. >> Mission statements. >> Yes. >> Beliefs. >> Yes. So all of those are the intangibles. That's what I call those. I call those the intangibles in an organization >> that translate to the tangibles. >> Right. >> Right. Because I've sat with business professionals that were never taught that. >> They're like,

I was just taught to make money. Doctors. I have clients that have clinics and they're like, "I went to school to be a medical doctor and no one taught me this." >> Yeah. >> This was not taught to me. How do I How do I communicate to my receptionist who has a XYZ? >> How do I >> I don't even think this is taught in business school to be honest. Crystal, >> I'm telling you, it's not

I Okay, so I coach PhD I've coached PhD clients and we have these conversations and they look bewildered when we talk about this. They're like, "Why didn't they teach me this in school?" Right? But now the Harvard vis B business B business B business B business B business B business review has there's studies out there Stanford Harvard that um culture >> really really drives your profits can it can there's there's more to that >> but also

communication skills conflict resolution how do we how do we communicate in an organization >> without me going off on that topic >> um let me bring it back over here but the reality is that when it comes to an organization and we are talking about all of the intangibles, >> your character, your integrity, your pride, >> your commitment to excellence. >> These are the things that I talk about with my clients is like, how do you

know you are doing a good job? How do you know? If I sit, if I sit with your VPs and I ask them, how do you know you're doing a good job? What are they going to tell me? Oh, because I'm not fired. How do you measure that? How do you measure excellence? How do you measure integrity? How do you measure attitude? How do you measure pride >> stuff? >> It is >> surveys. >> Surveys. So,

I I love surveys. I do surveys with my client. That's the first thing I do when I come in with a client. I'm like, let's survey your people. Yeah. >> And and nine times out of 10, the CEO is like, "No, they're going to say bad." I'm like, expect them to. You want them to have an outlet where they can feel like they vent because if you don't know the real landscape, what's going on under the

water, how are you going to fix it, >> right? >> And then you're blindsided because they've been having water cooler conversations and you're the last to find out, >> right? Yeah. >> So, a good leader is not afraid to have constructive >> criticism, >> coaching. >> Coaching. >> Uhhuh. I teach my clients constructive coaching. >> No one likes the word, hey, let's sit down for your one-on-one. can I give you some constructive criticism? >> Yeah. >>

Your immediate your body tense is up. No one wants to be criticized. It's our nature. >> Yeah. >> But if I say, "Hey, >> this is I'm trademarking this, y'all. >> If I say, can I give you some constructive coaching?" >> Yeah. >> Can we can we coach on this for a little bit? It's a lot less >> defensive, right? Their defenses are down and it's like, I just want to really That's what constructive criticism is.

I want to help you be better. So that's what coaches do. You coach people to be better, to perform better, right? >> To hit that next level of excellence, right? Right. >> So, yeah, surveys are great, >> but when you first look at people that you want to bring on your organization, you have to do a lot of vetting in the hiring process. >> The hiring process will make or break your team. >> And a lot

of people, and this is another t-shirt or or chapter of a book that I like to call, but it's >> if you rush your hires, you're going to rush your fires. And a lot of people say, right, the business gurus of the world, they say, >> um, fire fast, hire fast, fire fast. >> Yeah. >> I'm like, okay, how many people have you hired and fired? It sounds like you you're quick to fire people, but when

you really look at the cost of that, that's hitting your your P&L, >> right? >> The cost to hire, to acquire, to train, to retain, that has a tangible effect on your business. And so I like to tell my clients something different. And I like to tell them if you rush your hire, you're going to end up rushing that fire. >> And so I think it sounds sexy in the business world to say, you know, hire

fast, fire fast. I challenge that. I always challenge that. I'm like, that doesn't make sense cuz I haven't seen that work in real life, >> right? So if you take your time and you know what you're looking for and you're looking for strong leaders, people who have all the things that are your value systems that you're never willing to compromise in your organization like we are not going to hire XYZ period great that's a a baseline

>> where am I going to take my organization and say what are we looking for? What type of caliber of people are we looking for? Mhm. >> Let's use the Astros for example, >> right? The Astros, they have a phenomenal organization, but they have an amazing ability to scout out not just technical talent, but those people who have amazing like hearts, like they're champions. A champion can have a resume, but there's just something about a champion

that walks in a room and you sense that champion spirit. >> Yeah. >> But even before they even have the ring, >> right? >> They're already champions, >> right? >> That's what organizations need. They need to slow down their hiring process because the the better time that you take to vet someone, the better they're going to be for the organization and you'll get your ROI back over time. Take your time to hire people. Take your time

to vet them because those intangibles translate to the tangibles. >> Yeah, >> if that makes sense. >> Absolutely. Mhm. >> Sounds like you're really you would be a really great asset for anyone that's looking to hire people too. Crystal do you help people with hiring organizations? >> Yes. The answer is yes. Um I'm very particular on what clients I take on for recruiting and headhunting. Yeah. >> Typically offer the services for clients that I've worked with

for at least five to six months. mainly because whenever I source a person and I put them through the vetting process, I'm using my behavioral analytical skills, but I'm also using my experience not just from reading a resume, but the interview process and I am looking for I know the personality styles, I know the team, and I know what would fit by then. I've worked with their team, with their leaders, I know their culture, I know

what their weak points are. Whereas most organizations will hire head hunters or staffing agencies and they just look for do they match? Do they match? They sound good. And the recruiter is like, I just need to get a paycheck. So they will send the best one. And and most often where we see the the pitfalls is that the organization is rushing, right? Oh, this guy quit. I need to fill this spot. It's it's hurting me. And

then they rush that hire. And guess what? They don't fit, >> right? >> And then you end up with a bad psy a bad cycle. So, I do help my clients find the right talent. Um, but they have to be clients that I'm working with. Those are clients that I call my VIP clients. >> Mhm. >> It makes perfect sense because how could you how could you get to know someone without knowing the organization they're going

to be going and working in, right? And understanding the culture >> before you go and interview the person makes sense, right? Now, you understand the culture and you understand the right fit. Yeah, >> when you're interviewing the person, you're going to be like, uh, this person may not be the right person for the culture. >> And and that comes with just my experience, right, of of of knowing my clients and knowing what they need and knowing

their dynamic, what they're looking for. But then when I'm talking to potential candidates, I'm interviewing them. I want to see I want to know why they're going to have to fire you in the first 90 days because I'm co-signing. I'm putting my name on the fact like, look, I brought you the top three people that I feel are going to help your business scale. I'm bringing you the top three people after vetting application after application after

application and I do not waste my time. I'm looking at them. I'm like, "This is AIM. This is chat GBT." Mm- And right off the bat, when I talk to someone, I'm looking for confidence. I'm looking for someone that's not ego. If I sense ego, >> it's a no. It's a hard no. I don't even care what the I don't care. >> Yeah. >> What we're looking for. I don't care what the um the position is.

Especially for leadership. If I sense a tiny bit of ego, to me that's a problem because you're hiding an insecurity and I don't need somebody to bring their ego. I need you to check your ego at the door and show up to be a team player. >> Check that ego at the door because egos do not serve organizations. >> Yeah, I think that is such a valuable gem you just dropped, Crystal, because a lot of business

owners see ego sometimes as a positive thing. And I I'll tell you why. >> In sales. >> Exactly. Oh man, this guy's gonna crush it, you know? Oh, he thinks he's the best. All right, let's put him to the test, right? >> Yep. >> But how does that affect the rest of the organization, especially even in a sales organization, >> right? >> I have um strong opinions about that. >> Strong opinions. Yeah, >> we want to

hear them. >> So, I have strong opinions because I have seen time and time and time and time and time again for over 27 years. It's bad business now. egodriven organizations, >> that ego maniac, right? That's the guy that roads, that drives a loud car and all the things, right? They look at that as a strength because I it's been said on certain podcast, >> healthy competition is good, >> right? >> And it is good in

sales. >> It's good. And you have to be careful what organization you're running and what the goal is. Is your goal to retain employees, build a tight culture that wins championships, or is it just to close deals and you don't care and you you really look at your employee like a number? You have to answer that question for yourself. What is your organization and what are the goals of your organization? If you care nothing about people

and you're just going to use them as robots, go hire AI. Mhm. >> Find AI to do that for you. >> Right. >> The damage that comes from a bad leader sometimes, like I said, a bad hire can cost you seven times their salary, >> right? >> That's a big loss. And in business, we're trying to make profit, not lose profit, right? So, if I'm sitting there and I'm like, that guy's going to make me more

money. What's the root of that? is that really hey I need a team player that's going to build an organization that's most likely going to bring toxicity that means that ego is going to drive and and divide >> so to me that tells me that whoever's leading that organization also has an ego >> so here's here's where I would take that and this is one of the things that I coach my clients with is there's nothing

more watch you quote me on this it's Okay. >> There is nothing more annoying than a person that walks in for an interview with his head down and his shoulders lumped up. >> Yeah. >> Pretending to have confidence. We smell it. We see it. You're lacking confidence, right? >> Yeah. >> But there's also something so amazing. And I'm going to use this example. >> Let's say you see a marine walk in here. What's that marine walk

in? What's his presence like? >> Oh, powerful. >> Powerful. Why? >> They're trained to be that way. >> They're trained >> Yeah. to not be afraid, which means they've already been grilled through things that have tested their egos. They've been humbled to the very bottom. But being humbled builds your confidence. So, what I like to see in candidates and in leaders is healthy confidence, not an ego. It's okay to be confident. We have to be confident.

There's a there's something powerful when you have confidence. Confidence brings safety to a team. When you have a confident leader or confident father or confident mother, confidence breeds confidence and it and it translates safety to your team. Right? >> Make sense? >> Okay. >> But if I have an ego driven, ego is an ego is when someone is hiding an insecurity and they think no one sees it, but everyone sees it, >> right? So the only

people they're fooling is themselves in the mirror. And that ego comes across as aggression or um defensiveness or humiliating or bringing down others to lift yourself up. That's bad business, man. If you have someone like that in your office, you need to let them go. Let them go stat. >> Yeah. >> Like that's just bad, >> right? >> You know, so >> I tend to lean on looking for people who have a healthy confidence. Mhm. >>

That means there's no ego. They're confident. They've they've failed and they've gotten back up. >> Mhm. >> When people tell me, "I need to teach. I need you to help me build confidence in my sales guy." >> Mhm. >> I'm like, "He hasn't got enough nose and he hasn't had enough wins, >> right? >> Because the best way to Okay, I use this analogy a lot. I I love this one because everyone can relate to it.

>> Well, two people in my last 10 years hasn't. So, not everyone, but um this is this is something most everyone can relate to except two people that I've talked to. >> Yeah. >> When you're little I'm going to give you my story instead of cuz some people may be like, "That's not how it was for me." Okay, great. Well, this how it was for me. >> Okay. >> I wanted to ride a bike. >> I'm

5 years old. >> My dad puts me on the bike. My dad knows he knows that I'm probably going to fall the minute he lets go, >> right? >> I didn't have training wheels and nowadays everybody has training wheels and balance bikes, right? Okay. So, I'm riding a bike. I can't wait to ride this bike because why? All my friends are riding bikes and I want to ride a bike. >> Yeah. >> So, how do I

learn to ride a bike without training wheels? I have to sit on the bike. I've never pedled before. I've never balanced before. And my dad is holding the back of that bike. And what does he do? As I start gaining momentum, he starts running. And at some point, he can't keep up anymore. What does he do? >> Let go. >> He lets go. And he knows that when he lets me go, I'm probably not going to

be able to ride that bike the first time he lets go. >> Right. >> In other words, he knows I'm about to fall and he knows it's going to hurt. But does he still let me go? >> Of course >> he has to. >> Yeah. Otherwise, I will never know what it feels like to balance that bike and pedal and have to balance it myself. No one can learn to ride a bike without letting go. We

all have to learn to balance it ourselves. >> Okay. So, in that moment when he lets me go and I fall, >> most people, right, most of us >> Yeah. >> were like, "You let me go." >> Yeah. How could you? >> How could you let me go? You knew I was gonna fall. Why'd you let me go? >> That moment, >> you either get back up and get back on the bike because you want to

learn to ride so bad that it's okay. You you felt that fall, but you're willing to get back on again and fall again. Why? Because riding that bike is is the goal. And you're willing to fall again because you are hungry to learn to ride that bike. And what does my dad do? My dad comes back behind me and he goes, "Okay, Mita." And he goes, "Yeah, you ready?" And I'm bruised up. I'm crying, but I'm

pedalling. >> Okay. And my dad goes, "Okay." And then I gain a little bit of courage. And I know, "Oh my god, here comes the fault." But I try everything in me to balance that. >> Now, my daughter, one of my daughters, the littlest one, when I let her go, oh my god, she was furious. She got up screaming at me. How dare you? I mean, it was a whole meltdown scene, right? I'm like, "Baby girl,

I have to let you go." No. I'm like, "I can't keep up with you. Like, I have to let you go." >> So, I say this analogy because the best way to build confidence is letting people fall, >> but encouraging them that when you get back up and try again, you're eventually going to be able to ride that bike. And then, like all of us who can ride our bikes, we end up having the freedom. And

it feels awesome cuz now you're doing willies and you're riding with your friends. But it took that pain. >> Mhm. >> No one can avoid that pain. Well, nowadays everybody wants to have pads and all the helmet and all the stuff. Not us growing up. It was like you're scraped up, get up, spit on it, and go. And so when you finally learn to ride that bike, you access confidence. Make sense? >> So how do you

build confidence? you got to fail and you got to get back up, >> right? >> If we avoid that pain of failure in our teams >> with our leaders and we're like, "No, I don't want you to fail." Or sometimes bosses are control freaks. Talking to some of my clients out there, they know who they are. >> They know, we have these conversations, they're obsessed with control. >> Yeah. >> If you never let go, your team

can never lead, >> right? >> And so, they will never have the confidence to do what they need to do in an organization. So you have to train your team and and build confidence through giving people permission to fail. You have permission to make a mistake because that's the only way you'll learn. And I promise you will gain confidence when you finally get the win. >> Yeah. >> Does that make sense? >> Absolutely. >> Yeah. >>

I firmly believe that failure is part is an integral if not >> part of the main recipe of success. >> Of course. >> Right. It's >> success is not real if there's not failure behind it. No, absolutely not. Not only that, but I mean it it also is a lot more meaningful whenever you failed multiple times and then you finally get the success or the win. >> Yeah. >> That win just feels a lot >> tastier

and it tastes a lot better whenever you've had a couple of bruises. >> That's exactly right. >> Chasing that that win. Yeah. >> It's more you appreciate it more because >> Mhm. >> Right. Because it cost me so much to get here. >> You value it. >> You appreciate it >> and you take care of it. Yeah. >> Now, for a lot of my clients, when I talk to them, I'm like, I ask them, "Is failure

an option?" >> What do they normally say? >> It depends. >> Yeah. >> And most of the time, they look at me like, >> "Yes." >> Like, they want me to tell them. >> Yeah. I would say yes. Hell yeah. >> Is failure an option? >> Absolutely. >> Okay. >> We bring it on. >> Exactly. So, >> if you want to win, >> what is you have to define the win? What is the win? The win

is the championship >> world series. How do you get there? playing hundreds of games and there's no way you're going to win everyone. No one has a perfect record, >> right? >> But it's in those wins that you're those KPIs where that's where you're having the permission to fail because when you get to championship day, failure is not an option, >> right? >> That's where failure is not an option. Does that make sense? >> Yeah. >>

So, I want you to I want you to fail in the phone calls, in the this, but when you get the deal at the table, failure is not an option. That's the mindset that I want them to have. Failure leads to success. No one, please, if you find one person that has never failed in their life and they're successful, they're lying. >> Yeah. They're not successful. >> At least >> like even taking rockets into the outer

space. >> Yeah. How many How many uh rockets did Elon Musk blow up before he finally got one that landed safely? >> Exactly. >> A lot. >> Yeah. >> A lot of them. So, and then Einstein, right? And then um Benjamin Franklin, these are the greatest inventors of the world. Uh Benjamin Franklin has said like, "Oh, I learned a thousand ways not to make a light bulb, right?" Like, and that was his mindset. >> Yeah. >>

If he was so focused on getting it right the first time, >> we wouldn't have it today. >> We wouldn't have it. >> Yeah. >> Isn't that crazy? >> That's amazing. >> Yeah. >> So, failure, success, all the good things. >> Yeah. Chris, I think me and you could probably talk about business all day long. I think we're both extremely passionate about business. Yeah. >> Uh I I help uh business owners, small business owners. Um mainly

now my focus is on Latino >> investors that want to invest in real estate. And so I provide the CRM, the the leads and someone that's actually doing the closing and the follow-up with those leads >> because that's the hardest thing people want. Nobody wants to go call. >> No one wants to do it. >> So you'll do it for them. >> I'll do it for them. Love it. And I'm the barrier between their Spanish-sp speakaking

cashheavy mattresses that they have, stacks of, you know, cash that they have on the mattresses. That's for people. >> But, you know, Crystal, there there's no one out there in I mean, there is obviously, but there's not it's completely undisturbed. Whenever I I go and I look at the marketplace, there's so many organizations that are doing this for any any uh US citizen here, you know, any person that speaks English. There's so many marketing agencies. tailored

specifically to English speakers. But when I went out there and I saw it, I'm like, "Dude, there's not a lot of companies that are doing this for our people." >> Let me applaud you for that. Yeah. >> Let me applaud you for that because >> people underestimate the power of the sleeping giant. >> Yeah. >> The Latinos. Yeah. >> Okay. The Latinos are a majority. The Latinos have a lot of money. The Latinos work hard and

they're an untapped market >> completely. >> Even in politics, which we will get to that in a minute. Yes. >> But in business, it's an untapped market. And that was one of the things that helped me be ultra successful in my business career was I could go into the Latino markets when no one else could. >> Mhm. >> Untapped market. So I applaud you for that. >> I appreciate that. Well, you know, it's like uh one

of those things where you have like a light bulb kind of >> bam, you know, eureka moment. I was sitting at my desk and I think I was just like meditating. I'm like, where do I want to take this company next? You know, what's next in this >> in this next journey? And it just like it was as bright as day. just like like >> literally the light bulb went off. >> No, it was like like

it felt like the the room was on fire. You know what I mean? Wow. >> I'm serious. It came it came to me that hard because >> here I am spinning my wheels sometimes and I have a lot of clients. I mean, most of my clients right now are English speakers, right? But I'm like, man, there's so many people out there and I've had already a couple of Spanish speaking clients and I'm like, this these are

my people and these who I need to serve. >> That's exactly right. And that's your niche. >> That's my niche. >> Everybody that speaks Spanish. everyone. >> I love it. That's a good niche to have. >> Absolutely. >> It's untapped. >> I'm really excited about the future and how I'm going to help out our Latinos. So, >> thank you. Thank you for doing that. >> Absolutely. We'll we'll catch up again in the future and I'll let

you know how that's going. >> I just launched some Facebook ads and I have like a bunch of leads coming in. I'm excited about that. >> Congratulations. That's amazing. >> Thank you. >> Um let's let's switch gears here because we'll talk about business all day. >> Yes. >> Let's talk about politics. You're you're the first Mexican-American council woman and mayor pro Tim. >> Yes. >> In Manville, Texas. I know nothing about politics. >> Full disclosure. >>

That's fine. I didn't either. >> Yeah, >> I didn't either. I had zero interest in politics. >> How did you get involved? How did you get in there? >> I won't give you the the novel version, which is the long story. Yeah. Ultimately, we moved to Manville and I do obviously do business coaching and development and I had clients down there and um some of the things that we were trying to use a strategy to take

them to the next level the city was inhibiting. They weren't letting them do it. And so I've always been um a follower of politics. I'm very involved. I'm a strong voter. I vote every time, every primary, every election. Um my dad taught me to do that obviously as a Mexican patriot that immigrated here and has a citizenship. He's like no, we vote. >> Absolutely. And so being involved and obviously being understanding trends and how policy affects

my clients, I've always been involved in it. And so I've watched from the sides. I have friends that are involved. Um I've coached political candidates not on politics but on the things that we've talked about. >> Mh. >> And there was a need in my in my community to help the businesses grow because unfortunately Mville was a donut hole. And it took me and my team, you know, in politics, people like to say, "I did this.

I did that." And that like irks me because I'm so team focused and I love when we do things together because no one does anything of significance on their own merit. >> It's a lie. No one. >> No. No one is self-made. >> No one is self-made. I hate I do not like that. You No one is self-made. >> You cannot build anything of significance by yourself, right? >> It's just not going to happen. So with

that being said um we were able to work together as a team as a council where I will say is that I was able to guide a lot of those discussions on the policy based on my industry experience right doing what I do in business working with organizations and teams and understanding what I understand about the industries I've coached and worked in and developed um business in I've been able to bring those skill sets to the

dis where we're talking about policy and implement tangible change in our community where now we're seeing growth. Now the developers are like, "Oh, I don't have to sue the city anymore." Gosh, it's like really like y'all are a breath of fresh air. And so I won't take 100% credit for that. I have to give credit to my mayor. I have to give credit to my council. Um, we don't always agree on everything, but we still get

along amazing. And and those are the things that drive change and affect the communities when you have great leaders. And I put myself in that category because it's not always about me. I vote with the things that I can go to sleep with at night that my conscience feels clean about. But I also vote for what's better for the taxpayer and what's better for the people in the community. I have them on my mind and I'm

a mom. So I have my child on my mind because we are integral in this community. So those decisions, they're not just affecting me. They're affecting the people in the community and being able to make decisions in business and work with organizations and and really the skill set to have 12 different mindsets in a boardroom with their egos and being able to say, "Can you check your ego at the door? When you sit down here, we're

going to work towards a solution and I need no ego." >> And 90% of the time, I've always been the only female and I don't care, right? Because my dad raised me to not care. So, it's been one of my strengths. >> But that's what you need. >> That's what we're lacking in politics today is the ability to say, "I'm not looking for the next win because it's selfserving in politics. I'm looking to make >> true

change and policies that affect industry because that translates to the community and that puts more money in their pocket and it makes means less tax dollars. And so if we support business and we know how to run them and we allow, you know, business to thrive, then that means the people all succeed. And when you have that mindset, then change happens and your community loves you. Yeah. >> Right. Instead of we hate that guy. He's from

our hometown. Yikes. >> Right. Like you hate that guy. What did he do? Nothing. I'm like, oh, sorry. >> So, let's back up though. So, how did you uh you're doing at this point before you got into politics, did you already have your consulting business? >> Yeah, so I've been doing my consulting business. Yeah. So, I'm doing both like that >> that's going on. So, >> yeah. So, politics doesn't pay the bills, >> of course. >>

Yeah. It's public service. >> So, you see So, you see this opportunity, >> right? It was it like >> how did you hear about it? How did you apply? Give me like walk me through those steps. >> Okay. So, that's a loaded question. Is it? >> Uh it is. Um there's it's it's really not complicated. There's cycles. There's election cycles and then there's people who are up for reelection. >> And in my in Manville, >> um

>> I knew there was a position that was open. There's more to the story, but I won't bore you with those details. Now, I'll just say that there was an open position >> and coaching few clients of mine in in the city and around, I I was growing frustrated with the way things were done at the city. And there's no reason why it should take a business 18 months to be able to get a permit to

put concrete down. There was a there's just a lot that just didn't make sense. Things were run antiquated. Um things were slow on purpose. They were anti-growth, anti-progress, >> and I understand that. >> I want to protect the rural parts of my town, but I also want to see development where it makes sense so that it benefits us and we don't have to pay tax dollars. Right. It's like the more sales, the more revenue, the less

money they have to pay on their tax bill, >> right? >> It's it that's just how it works. Yeah. >> So, for me, when I was able to see that there was a need and I grew frustrated, when I get frustrated about things, I kind of want to do something about it. I don't like to just sit around and complain. >> Good. Because there's a lot of people that there's a lot of people that just sit

down and campaign complain. So, >> Exactly. Or they're or they're keyboard warriors. I I'm I'm a person that and this is something else I train or train on, but I teach my clients. I teach my you know, the people that I work with. Like my two favorite words are are these two is decide >> because a lot of people never make a decision. You need to make a decision and you need to take action. That's the

next thing you have to do is what's the decision? Oh, I don't know what to do. Make a decision. What do we need to do to get to the decision? >> Okay, >> let's make that decision. Then let's take action. What's the next thing you have to do? And so for me, I made a decision that I was sick and tired of seeing businesses not flourish. I had already been in Mville 8 years and nothing was

coming. And so >> I'm like, I'm going to run >> the heck of it. >> Yeah. I'm going to run. I'm going to go and do it. >> I'm going to go do it. >> And I started to watch how the city council meetings were going and I'm like, "This is ridiculous." Like, why are we not talking about this? Why are we not asking these questions? >> So, in my profession, >> I ask questions about everything.

I get to the root of things so that I understand so that we can get to a solution. So, we can drive the right questions that lead you to the right answers. >> And that has really been the driving force of of our success is knowing what not knowing what you don't know. Right? You have to ask the right questions to get to the right answers, >> right? >> And so I was like, I'm gonna run

it. I'm gonna I'm gonna run. >> Yeah. >> And so, um, there was a filing deadline. I filed the last day. >> Nice. >> Yes. There's a whole story to it. I filed the last day and I campaigned and I beat the incumbent. And the incumbent basically means somebody that had already been there. He was the established person. Then for someone else to come in and run and knock him out is a big deal. >> Yeah.

So, I did that and um I'm going on my third year there and I have loved every second of it. I have absolutely loved being able to utilize my skill set in business and use it to serve >> to serve my community. Yeah. >> And to be a voice to be a voice for those taxpayers, the homeowners, and the people who I know in the community who I eat with, who I go to dinner with, who

I have carneadas with, like our community. Yeah. >> You know, usually it's like, "Oh, that's the council member. Don't call them. Not Not in Mville. We're We're all approachable, you know. >> Small town kind of feel. >> Yeah. >> Love that. Yeah. >> And that that that heart for public service. >> Yeah. Beautiful. >> Yeah. >> So, Congress is next for you? >> Congress is next. Absolutely. >> Amazing. When When are you running for Congress? >>

So, I'm already I've already filed. >> Okay. >> So, last night, the Supreme Court of the United States went ahead and approved the new congressional redistricting of the maps. So what that means is that we had council seats that were drawn out. Not council, I'm sorry. Congress. We had congressional seats that were represented by Congress, right? >> So these seats, the White House and the Texas legislator legislature redrrew the maps to add in five more. >>

Okay. What ended up happening is that they created a new district, which means there's no incumbent. There's not right now someone that sits there. It's a new open seat. >> Okay. This open seat was Al Green's seat, Congressman Al Green, which is district 9. >> Mhm. >> District 9 portion of it comes into the upper parts of Manville into what we call our ETJ. >> And then um one of the neighborhoods and so a very small

portion of Manville happens to be in his district map, >> Al Green. Well, the new map flipped it. If you're looking at Houston, Texas, the map basically cuts a chunk out of southeast Houston. >> Okay. >> Okay. So, if you think um Gulf Gate >> Mhm. >> you know where GFGate is? Okay. So, Woodidge, um Lawndale Yeah. >> Wayside. Yeah. >> That whole east end. >> Mhm. >> That East End goes all the way to Denver

Harbor, Galina Park, South Houston, Pasadena, >> uh Leaport. Okay. Baytown, but it also cuts all the way up to Liberty and Dayton County. >> It's a huge map, >> big area. >> It's huge. >> Yeah. >> That demographic there, this is this is why I'm doing this, and this is why people in that area need to know that they have someone running that's going to represent their voice. >> Um, the reason that the that they sued

>> the state of Texas, LUAC did, because they said that these were racially drawn to draw out minority power. Now, I don't agree with that, but I will agree with that. This new district was drawn because if it were a district when the elections happened, let's hypothetically say this was a district. It it wasn't, but they drew this map. This map would have overwhelmingly voted for Trump. >> So, it was to gain a red seat, which

we call Republican seat. >> The thing about that district at that is that it's 62% Hispanics. What does that tell you? >> 62% Hispanics. >> And these are voters. These are not population. This is voters. >> And they all voted for Trump. >> Not all of them, >> but a big majority of them. >> But the majority of this district would have voted for Trump as president, which means they all did, but they were in different

districts. So they made this new map. Mhm. >> This new map now consists of 62% Hispanics, >> 11% African-Amean, 25% Anglo. >> Wow. >> Every candidate >> that is running for that congressional seat does not speak Spanish, does not connect to that audience, cannot be a bridge for the 62% and the 25%. >> Right? So, if we elect someone to represent that district that has doesn't understand what it's like to wake up at 5:00 a.m. like

my husband does to go work for Centerpoint Energy >> and come back when the sun is down, then now you have someone that's trying to represent a district and not be a true voice for that district. >> Yeah. >> And so that that to me is offensive. I'm like, really? You want to be a voice for the 62% of Mexico? How are you going to relate to them? Oh, you got daddy's money? >> Oh, you want

to talk your NBA? I can talk NBA all day long. >> Yeah. >> But do you know what it's like to see your dad wake up every morning and go have hands and cut lawns with no rain? I mean, with, you know, no PTO, none of those benefits, none of that. >> Yeah. >> And that district is working class, >> right? >> It's a working class. Those are my plant workers, pipeliners, uh, port workers. >> So,

wait, Chris, so you're you're saying that there's people that are running for this Congress seat. >> Yeah. that have that don't have that connection to the people and they want to represent them. >> How does that make sense? >> Exactly. >> So people are asking me, they're like, "Why Congress?" I'm like, >> "Why not? >> Why not? >> What are you talking about?" >> Because I have a problem. >> They need you. Yeah. Absolutely. >> I

have a problem with people trying to be a voice for a constituency that they don't understand. >> No. or that they can't relate to or >> that you can't you pro possibly couldn't ever relate to in any sort of way >> ever. Right. >> Ever. I don't care that your grandpa >> was from Spain. >> Yeah. >> Spanish have nothing to do with Mexico other than they >> came and conquered it in, you know, 15 in

the 1500s, right? But what what I'm looking at is that overwhelmingly, and I'm not saying everybody 100%, but that 62% of the population is mostly Mexican, americanos, Mexican-Americans. Yeah. Right. Southwest Houston, we know what Southwest Houston is a blend, right, of the to Solanos, Guanos, Puerto Ricanos, you know, everything. Everything, you know, Guatemalans, Chapas, which, you know, it's a melting pot of all the Hispanics, right? >> But the problem that we have is this, and this

is where why I why I get spicy. >> Spicy coming out. I get told all the time, "Well, yeah, it's 62%, but guess what? Hispanics don't vote." >> And they're right. >> Well, you just said it was 62% of voters, right? >> These are voters that vote in a general election. Yeah. >> The election I'm in is a primary. >> Most people, they vote, but they vote for big elections, a presidential elections, those big elections. They

don't typically come out in the middle of the year in March to vote for a congressional race, right? >> That's bipartisan. So in that race you're if you're Republican you're voting for who you want to be the Republican nominee. If you're Democrat you're voting for the person that you want to be the Democrat. >> Right. >> So right now I have opponents >> and like I'm telling you neither one of them can relate >> the way

we can relate. >> Absolutely. >> And so this is what we need. And I have been I've said this before I was in politics. I was interviewed on Newsmax. I was interviewed on CBS on all these different TV stations on my book and other things. And I told them, I said, "The Latinos, the Hispanics, we're sleeping giant." >> Yep. >> And I'm sick and tired of both sides pandering to us and not fulfilling their promises. You

know why? Because they're afraid. They're afraid that when you awaken that sleeping giant, we're going to our voice is going to be heard. >> Yeah. >> The voice of the people will be heard. And so a lot of people don't like to talk about this, but commander in deportation, chief of deportation was Obama. >> Mhm. >> Obama deported more Hispanics in the history of this country. >> Okay. He did it in a different way. I will

give him credit for that. >> But he deported more people. And and if you remember anything about when that man was campaigning, he had the audacity to go on and say that >> he couldn't even say. >> I have a problem with that >> because he had the opportunity to fix the immigration system. >> I'm not saying he's co-signing illegal immigration. I'm not co-signing illegal immigration, especially criminal illegals. I'm sorry. They got to go. the 62%

of Hispanics that voted conservative, that's what they voted for, right? We voted to clean up, secure our borders. Yep. >> But we need to secure the workforce. And that's what that district is. That district is is again the port workers, the plant workers, the electricians, the construction company, the small businesses, the takadia owners. We need to secure the workforce. The border is secure. Thank you, President Trump, for securing the border. But now we need to secure

my workforce. And we need an actual solution, not just pandering. We're going to fix the immigration system. No, we need to fix it. The system is what's robbing the families of the opportunity to do what's right. I have a friend um she posted this on social media the other day. She came here on asylum. >> Mhm. >> Like seven years ago, eight years ago, long time ago, I don't know the exact year. She came here on

asylum. >> Yeah. >> It has cost her over $100,000 in attorney fees to finally get her citizenship. $100,000 >> $100,000 in that span of time in legal fees and everything that she's had to go through to be able to get and attain her citizenship. >> Wow. >> Now, I'm not going to say everyone needs citizenship. Most people that come here to work don't want citizenship. They just want to work, right? >> They want work permits and

they want to be able to get in their car and breathe and know that it's okay. That they can go to work. They can provide for their family. They can fight for the American dream. That's what they want to do it in peace. >> But often times we find, and this is the truth, the system sets them up for failure because they make it complicated. They drag it out. It has outdated systems. And the attorneys sit

there and say, "Well, it's going to cost you a $5,000 cash retainer. That cash you have in your mattress that I know you have, give it over here." And then they turn around and tell you, "You got no guarantees." So what's happening is there's a system >> that takes advantage of those who want to attain the American dream. And the American dream isn't so much I want their ability to vote, but I want the ability to

work and pay taxes. And that's the dream that I'm fighting for. For those people who have lived here, who were born here, who want to build the American dream, the working class, but also those that have immigrated legally here and want a pathway to be able to work, >> right? >> That's what we need. We need to secure the workforce. And so this district that I'm fighting for and also all over Texas really. So here's the

thing that people don't like. None of us like to see a granny's being slammed on the ground by ice, right? No one likes to see images like that. >> Not at all. >> Personally, I haven't seen an image like that. Okay? I haven't seen those images. I've heard stories. >> But spitting, kicking, trying to fight, trying to show up at ISIS's house and hurt them, that's not going to fix. You're making it worse. You're creating chaos

and you're making it worse for people. Those things are fixed at the federal level in Congress. That's where Congress has to have the backbone and the guts to finally sit down and talk, >> right? >> And come up with a plan that brings a solution and be able to say, "We're the party that got it done. We're the ones that found a problem that was plaguing our nation and fix it. It's not complicated." The complicated part

is getting people with big egos in a room and agree on a solution forward. Yeah, >> that's that's what we're fighting. >> And so when people ask me why Congress, you know, there's two other opponents. I'm like, yeah, but they're not the right ones. >> Exactly. >> Period. >> Yep. I would agree wholeheartedly with that statement. >> Well, thank you. >> I would I would also say, Crystal, that your experience and your upbringing make you the

most qualified person for this this space that you mentioned, >> the demographic in the district. >> In the district. Yeah. and being able to get in there with your business experience and being able to listen to people, understand where they're coming from, and then finding that common ground, I think could potentially drive change. You know, >> it it and that's the goal. The goal isn't to go to Washington and look cute and have staff and then

fight on TV with, you know, the outspoken crazies of the world. That's not the the goal. The goal is to get there and work. The goal is to find solutions and get the people in the room that I the stakeholders like who do we need in the room to make this happen? And clearly in Congress, you need a majority. You need to be able to work with both sides. >> Right. >> Right. And and and when

we have people who are ultra ultra this, ultra that, that mindset doesn't drive change. It drives division. And so when you're pandering to a congressional district for your vote and you're ultra one way, that way I I can agree with it, but that doesn't get things done, >> right? that doesn't drive change. >> And I'm sick and tired of people saying, "Well, all Latinos are Democrats." I'm sorry. >> I'm not. >> I'm not. I'm for capitalism

because it's that dream that allowed my father the ability to buy a home, build a business, and raise his little girl and eventually have a family and be able to realize the American dream. >> It's capitalism. It's not socialism. And I'm so sorry to say it, >> socialism does not work. >> It doesn't work. >> I mean, just look at Cuba. Look at Venezuela. >> Yeah. >> North Korea. >> Exactly. >> Should we continue? >> So,

we have a problem because this is why this is why I tell people is that the Latinos, we have power. >> Yeah. >> When we unite and we wake up and we go to vote in the primary, we don't sit back and say, "Nah, no. No. Hispanics, we vote." >> Hispanics, we vote. I'm going to say it again. We vote. >> We vote in every election. I don't care how you're voting. I want you to vote

for me. But we vote. >> Yeah. And and besides that, the Democrat side, >> and I have friends that are Democrats, right? >> They are no longer hiding the fact that the agenda is socialism. And and socialism is a gateway to communism. >> Yep. >> And so the people that have a lot of money >> that aren't even in our country are influencing our elections by buying the Democrat side and trying to push the socialist agenda.

Mhm. >> I'm not for that. So when people ask me, "You're a Latina and you're Republican." You dang Skippy I am. >> Well, I'm pro capitalism is I think >> at this point what it's kind of becoming, you know, it's almost like a a fight between capitalism and socialism. >> It is. It's always been. >> Yeah. And it's but it's more apparent today than it ever has been, you know. >> And that's dangerous because they're not

even they're not even apologizing for it now. are coming out saying they're proud Democrat socialists and oh well you got to feed the poor. Absolutely. >> We should we should it's it's a God it's a commandment to feed the widow and feed the poor. But it's not to sustain them and maintain them, >> right? >> It's to give them a safety net. Help them get on their feet so then they can provide for themselves. >> Yeah.

They can go out and crush it. >> That's it. >> Chase the American dream, baby. >> That's it. The American dream, not the socialist scheme. >> That's it. >> That's my tagline. >> I love it. Yes, sir. >> You got to trademark that one right there. >> Yep. It's my It's my campaign tagline. So, >> I could definitely fall behind that. >> Yeah. Yeah. Well, let's make it viral. >> Yeah, absolutely. >> So So, look, Crystal,

um I I love everything that I've learned about you. Um you've got my vote. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> I'm not I don't I don't live there, but I'll go out there and I'll vote there. >> I have your endorsement. I love it. How can people that are listening to this podcast and watching this on YouTube, how can they go out and support Crystal DeLeon Sarento? >> Okay, so the first thing you can do is go

to my website. It's crystalus us congress.com and that's because I wanted it to be intentional. Crystal us Congress. >> It's not about me, it's about us. >> Right. >> Okay, that's the first thing you can do. Yeah. >> The second thing is I have a page on Facebook which I just started because everybody was just on my personal page. I didn't have these. This wasn't a plan, >> but I do have it and it's um Crystal

for US Congress. And then on Instagram you can find my personal page Crystal Lioness >> and um that's on my book Becoming a Lioness. That's the title of my book. >> Beautiful. >> Um and then the other page I have like a lot of pages but on Instagram it's Crystal Crystal for us Congress. >> Got it. >> Or Cris Yeah. Crystal for Congress.com. I don't know. It's one of those. Um, but you can find me there.

And the the biggest way to support, honestly, and and this is a reality is if you can't vote, then you can donate. You can do a micro donation. >> Um, it's going to take >> $11,000 a week >> to be able to market >> to the voters to get them out to vote. So, if we really want to drive change, and you know, Obama was spectacular at this. uh he he drove and motivated people to support

him and even those that couldn't vote for him, they donated to his campaign >> because what we see now is that obviously it takes in marketing it takes seven touches before someone recognizes your name and then it takes another three to four to get them to take action, right? So if we need to reach 40,000 people and we need to hit them once a week from the different modalities of communication, whether that's print, mail, TV, ads,

phone calls, text messaging, then that costs roughly $11,000 a week. >> Yeah. >> So, and the only way to get there is fundraising, >> right? >> And so if the Latino base gathers together and everybody donates 15, 20, 30 bucks Yeah. Then we can say, "Oh my god, she got a thousand Latinos to support her." >> With money. >> Yeah. >> Five bucks, 10 bucks, 100 bucks. >> Yeah. >> How much do you want us to

get to Congress and change something? How much is that worth to you? >> It's worth a lot. >> Exactly. >> Yeah. >> So, that's the best way. That is the best way is to financially support so we can drive this, build a momentum, and build a movement >> of Hispanics. We vote. >> Beautiful. I have 20 Egyptian people ready to call for you, Crystal. So, let me know. >> I love it. >> And I know I

know how to pull the list. >> I love it. >> I know how to get their phone numbers. >> Let's do it. >> And my dollar makes a,000 to $3,000 per day. >> Yeah. >> On average, we can reach about with my callers, we can reach around a h 100,000 people a day. >> That's amazing. So, we can talk business numbers after this. >> After this. Yeah. We definitely We definitely are. I love it. I love

it. Well, appreciate your time. >> Absolutely. Thank you so much for coming out here. I really appreciate um your story and everything that you shared and I can't wait to see you in Congress. >> Thank you so much. I appreciate that. It's been fun. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. All right.