UFO: Curiosity, The solution to executing the plan.
A breakdown of the movie Flamin Hot, and the Godfather of Hot Cheetos *spoilers*.
My definition of a expert is someone who will find out against all odds.
If you haven’t seen the movie and want to, here your chance to pause reading and come back when you’re done.
Richard Montañez the creator of Flamin Hot Cheetos was exactly that. Richard started as the janitor and went on to become the Director of Multicultural Marketing at Frito Lay, an author, and lead the brand to many million dollars in sales due to his discovery of the famous Hot Cheeto.
There’s so much to be learned from Richard. I finished the movie with butterflies in my stomach and tears in my eyes because, yes.
Richard mastered something we dont talk about ofter, soft skills. We should talk soft skills more often when thinking about branding, marketing, and business.
These are the skills many people miss, but require to create momentum behind their ideas or products. I am going to break down the soft skills that Richard Montañez mastered for him to thrive as the marketing genius he is.
1. Curiosity leads to excitement which leads faith which leads action.
Curiosity is first, it was the first soft skill I noticed in the movie. We should spend more time being curious.
Although a janitor, Richard didn’t let his “role” stop him from learning. I love that he simply followed his child-like curiosity. He wanted to talk to someone with more knowledge, he did that. He wanted to learn the machines, he did that. He wanted to make history, he did that.
Curiosity is shut down when we think we know all the answers and need to be the expert. Instead of fostering a culture of curiosity, we foster competition to be experts. - Christy Geiger at Forbes
The expert in you blossoms out of a love for “f*cking around and finding out”
- I felt like laying it out plainly like this lol.
Richard spent majority of the movie learning the ins-and-outs of the Frito Lay factory, plus some. He learned how the chips were set up in the stores, he even learned to break the chain of command.
He did it all by asking questions, the right questions, to the right people.
Humans spend so much time consuming content that they didn’t ask for that they forget they had a question to ask in the first place. Humans have replaced their need for learning with digesting whatever information is given to them.
I want to know:
2. Take a chance on your theory. (f*cking around)
Richard was a janitor, AND a visionary. He’s just like many of us, seeing the vision with our feet planted somewhere else. What Richard has done differently than many humans is take a chance on his vision. I’m going to call his vision a theory though. I have a theory that “if we believed our thoughts to be theories we would do more research to find out if it’s sticks.”
We hold so tightly to our thoughts because we don’t know if people want to hear what we have to say. We’ve learned to let “others” invalidate what’s in our head before we even get the opportunity to share.
That wasn’t the case with Richard, he shared his theory that the Latino market was #1 untapped, and #2 they ready for a groundbreaking chip. He went out on a limb. Risked it all, including his co-workers jobs as well as his own sanity.
Live life on the edge. Fear will only stop you from playing the game and have you wondering why everyone else is “winning”, it’s because you stopped playing.
The curiosity left your spirit. The childlike you, the part that’s fearless is ready to make a comeback.
Test your process to produce results (finding out)
“Even failure will get you where you need to be” - my dad to me after watching the movie.
To get closer to where you need to be means to increase your good-risk assessment and tolerance. (I also like to call this discernment)
Good-risks:
Weighing all the possible results and being able to come up with (and implement) a solution – difficult though it may be – should the worst case scenario happen.
Because Richard saw himself saving the Frito Lay- Pepsi company, he did everything he could to power his idea.
In the process of testing, Richard gained “Richard Warriors” (I made this up), which I believe is one of the biggest reason his idea came to fruition.
There’s something to learn here:
Richard pleaded his cases. Proved himself. He did some heavy convincing. He didn’t post a trendy reel and hoped that people would believe lol. Back then you had to use your words and put your money where your mouth is.
You had to show up or shut up.
My favorite part was when sales weren’t popping and Richard decided he was going to take matters into his own hands, rally up the neighborhood, and create his own street team.
Not only did he test his theory that Hot Cheetos were a hit, but he didn’t stop until the numbers were UP!
Rule of thumb: don’t stop until the numbers are UP!
The Flamin Hot movie is teaching us all to go after our dreams no matter who believes in us. Deeper than that, we are learning that, on the chance that we do decide to go after our dreams, there will be people there cheering us on because they DO get it!
We are also learning that there is room for us. I have this saying of “you can become, when you do”. Which means, you have to do the work to make some shake. And it also means you become when the time is right. Essentially the stars align when you do the work in the direction towards your goals.
Here are some questions for you to sit on until next time:
How does curiosity play a role in your life?
How can you consume less content and produce more of your own ideas in the next 30 days?
Can you write down a theory you’ve had for a while and create a rough draft game plan to put it out into the universe?
How can you help people understand your brain? What do people need to know first to believe?
Are you 100% on-board with the ideas that come to your head?
I hope you all enjoyed this UFO: I sure did.
Like this email and comment your favorite part of the movie. Let’s chat!
PS. I’m hosting a workshop for business owners to talk help you learn how to nurture your audience, build your confidence, and rebrand with intention.
Secure your spot for Brand Frequency happening on July 15th — tickets available now!