Passioneer® Teen Renegade CEO Patricio Quezada, Founder of Coppola and Quezada
We had the honor to interview Patricio Quezada today on our radio show. He’s 19 years old and a Latino-American Teen Renegade CEO. With his keen interest in technology and in always being part of an elite team, he has started the Latino conglomerate company Coppola & Quezada, formerly known as Hispanics Learn. For more stories on teen Renegade CEOs, please visit www.RenegadeCEOs.com, and for more Passioneer® stories, visit www.passionsandpossibilities.com.
Biggest TakeAways from Our Radio Interview
- Our Gen Y/Millenials have tons to teach us as older adults. During our interview, Patricio taught me some powerful nuances about patience and groundedness – no easy feat!
- Patricio’s biggest tip for those making the leap into what they love: “You have to bet on yourself.” He adds “One person listening is enough.”
- I was awestruck by Patricio’s heart for service. He’s absolutely clear that prosperity for him is about making a difference in others’ lives and not about material stuff.
Thanks Patricio and Happy Passioneering!
His Archived Radio Interview
His Passion Q&A
SO: Your definition of “passion” – your “WHY” for being on the planet?
Passion is defined as a strong, barely controllable feeling. Passion is a feeling that knows no limits or boundaries to what you do. In modern day, passion is often hidden and forgotten and without an individual passion, we cannot succeed.
SO: Your biggest passions for serving others, and how you’re expressing them (include hobbies, volunteering, if you wish)?
I’ve grown up playing all different types of sports starting from being a bench warmer to a starter. All my life I’ve always been a team player as well as an individual with influence. To me I believe cold-heartedly in team achievement. One person can achieve all of life’s greatest accomplishments and that’s great for him but a team achievement inspires more groups of people which changes the world. It’s like they say there is power in numbers. That is why I started a conglomerate business. I started wanting to teach computer education to latino who weren’t born into the technology savvy generation but I started to see that aside from teaching I always participated in advocacy groups and always lended an extra hand. Now I can create a global environment for latino executives and those to be to share ideas, share feedback, and grow.
SO: Your biggest challenge(s) in expressing your passions for serving others and how you’ve addressed them?
I dislike being the only one to take the leap of faith. I’ll take the fall by myself no problem but I like to make sure that my leap of faith has a purpose. Knowing that this is a problem, I’ve recently started to group together the people that always give feedback whether negative or positive, people who make me laugh, people who have those resources I lack and so on and so forth.
SO: What have been the key factors in your success?
Effort, Teamwork, and Execution
SO: What one word/quality best describes your journey?
Follow-through
SO: What’s the biggest lesson that you’ve learned in making the leap?
That I don’t have to do it all alone and I also don’t need to give up everything I love to do it, but some sacrifice and devotion is necessary.
SO: What’s your support system look like; how did you create it?
First and foremost my family, secondly my business coach Shonika Proctor, and lastly my daily latino/latina executives that always keep me on my toes and give me the greatest feedback. I’ve created this system by setting up various scenarios in which specific qualities of certain individuals are needed.
SO: What wisdom do you have for someone who’s scared/discouraged about their own leap?
You have to be unafraid to think that the idea you have is a great idea and you have to realize that the way you see it coming together is not the only way that it can happen.
