Podcast Episode 2: Juan Carlos Hernandez
Greg Hunt, CEO of Willing to Hunt, recently chatted with Juan Hernandez, President and CEO of California Southern Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC), about SBDC’s program that provides guarantees for small business loans in the state of California. The program is designed to primarily support the creation and retention of jobs.
Juan’s professional mantra is “stay open to many possibilities and options.” So of course his professional journey is paved with various unconventional roles and professional stories.
Listen to the full podcast for what Juan learned along his career journey.
Seven Inspiring Lessons for a Younger Generation of Bankers
1. Only listen to the people that matter. The people who will criticize you are the ones that don't want you to succeed. The people that will challenge you are the ones that you really should be listening to.
2. Always be grateful for what you have and always stay humble. That humility of when you're being challenged? Make sure that you have the humility to accept that challenge and then move to the next level.
3. Call out people on their BS, even in public. “You don't have to like me, I don't care if you don't like me. I have enough people who like me, but you will respect me and you're not going to take advantage of the people that I work with.”
4. “Check your ego at the door but learn to really be confident in your abilities.”
5. If you’re in a role or at a company that doesn't motivate you and you’re tired of fighting the wrong battle, you have to come to the realization and embrace that it's not right for you. You may be successful at what you’re doing, but maybe it’s just not your market, not the right fit. You have to focus on reestablishing goals for that particular market and let it go.
6. “The most important one, especially with our community, with the traditional community, especially coming from the underground community of the immigrant, the illegal immigrants, is, you know what? You're going to be afraid. Do it anyway. This is an industry for people who have no fear.
7. Be in a field that has demand so you’re not constantly looking for positions. Most of the positions in the financial industry or almost any industry are sales positions. The service positions are rare and almost nonexistent now. You want to be in an industry where companies need to fight for you.
