Episode Transcript
[00:00:09] Speaker A: Hello and welcome to Lead with Heart. I'm your host, Dr. Jesse Hansen, and this is the show where strategy meets soul, purpose meets passion. And compassion builds connection so we can all do our part to lead with heart.
Hello and welcome to Lead with Heart. I'm your host, Dr. Jesse Hanson, and this is the show where strategy meets soul, passion meets purpose, and most importantly, vulnerability is honored as a superpower.
So today, here we are back at Oxygen Jungle Villas in Uvita, Costa Rica, and I'm so excited to welcome my guest today, Mauricio Solano. He is a Costa Rican business leader with more than 30 years of experience in tourism, hospitality, and human centered service. With backgrounds in business administration and an MBA from York University in Canada, and decades of leadership experience, Mauricio has built his career around creating meaningful experiences for both guests and teams.
In more recent years, he has focused on managing spiritual retreat centers dedicated to medicinal plants and holistic wellness, deepening his belief in compassion, environmental awareness, and the power of service to transform lives. He's also the creator and host of the podcast Sin Manuel or no Playbook where he explores life, leadership and personal growth through honest, real world conversations.
So welcome. Bienvenidos, Mauricio.
[00:01:36] Speaker B: Gracias.
[00:01:39] Speaker A: And I'm so happy to have you here. I'm so tempted to try to do this in Spanish and yet I'm just not there yet. There's too many words I still don't know. So we're going to stick with English, man.
[00:01:48] Speaker B: Let's try Spanglish.
[00:01:49] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:01:50] Speaker B: Okay.
Well, now, thank you. Thank you for, for your invitation and so happy and glad to be here, man. And talk a little bit about whatever you want to talk about.
[00:02:04] Speaker A: I want to talk about you. You know, one of the tenets of this show is that I want to reshape leadership is not just big time corporate CEOs. They absolutely deserve those accolades. And yet, leaders as healers, leaders as parents, leaders as you, you have already impacted me in the community where we know each other from. So I just want to open our viewers minds and hearts around leadership as a something we all have in us. And how do we activate our internal leader.
And so I want to learn more about you today and I want to go back to the seed, the origins of you and your story, your life.
You are native Costa Rican, right?
So just, yeah, whatever you feel comfortable sharing. How did you grow up? What was your role in the family of origin? What'd you learn from this amazing culture here? Lights and shadows are welcome, right?
[00:02:53] Speaker B: Well, I come from a very traditional, humble Family, Costa Rica.
All my family come from the countryside, Costa Rica. So my, my family on my father's side, they. They had. Well, they still have a coffee. A coffee farm up in the mountains. And my family on my mother's side, they decided to move from there to the city. So it was great when I was a kid because during vacations, I used to spend half of my vacations up on the mountain and half of vacations down in the city. So I kind of enjoy having like, both worlds. Right. And it was great because then you start like, getting a little bit of everything and eventually without, without knowing that is going to help you in the future. Right. Like when, when you start, like, working and when you have your family.
[00:03:48] Speaker A: Meaning as a kid, we don't always realize what we're going through, how much it's going to impact us.
[00:03:52] Speaker B: Exactly. It's, it's a whole journey and, and sometimes you just don't realize it. But like, from the very beginning, it has an impact on all of us.
And my father, he was a, he's a businessman.
And I remember as a kid he used to take me on his sales trips around the country, and during the meetings I was there, the little guy sitting next to him and watching him, having, you know, these conversations with his clients and, and all that. And that kind of also helped me a little bit like, like being in
[00:04:29] Speaker A: that environment, witnessing your. How your father engaged with sort of hospitality or human.
[00:04:34] Speaker B: Yeah, he was more in sales.
[00:04:36] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:04:36] Speaker B: But, but yeah, it was part of like, like kind of shaping who I was going to become. Right.
My, my mom, she always wanted me to be a lawyer or a doctor. And. And then I decided to follow my father's path.
And then I started in business administration.
I got a technical degree in accounting here in Costa Rica.
And. Yeah, well, eventually, things that happen in life, I started to work in hotels and then I stayed there for the rest of my life. But certainly all that business administration studies and accounting studies, all that helped me a lot, becoming of, of who I am right now.
[00:05:27] Speaker A: And, and what about you mentioned, do you have siblings?
[00:05:30] Speaker B: I have a brother. Yeah.
[00:05:31] Speaker A: Younger brother, older brother, younger brother, younger brother.
[00:05:34] Speaker B: I was the one kind of leading the way.
[00:05:36] Speaker A: Okay, okay.
[00:05:37] Speaker B: Up in the trail.
[00:05:38] Speaker A: Yeah. So your role was, at least at some level, was sort of trailblazer or setting the tone for the family and.
[00:05:45] Speaker B: Yeah, kind of the experiment. Experiment? The child.
[00:05:48] Speaker A: The experimental child.
[00:05:50] Speaker B: Yeah. But yeah, I was, for five years, I was the only one in both families, so I was the king.
[00:05:57] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:05:58] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:05:58] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you're five years older than me.
[00:06:00] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:06:01] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:06:01] Speaker B: And then my. My brother came and we get along great.
[00:06:05] Speaker A: And you mentioned mom, city, dad, mountains. So, I mean, were they. Did you grow up? Were they separated or.
[00:06:11] Speaker B: No, no, no. It's just that during vacations.
[00:06:13] Speaker A: Okay. Just where their families are.
[00:06:16] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:06:16] Speaker A: Okay, got you.
[00:06:17] Speaker B: But. Well, I'm lucky to still have my. My mom and dad. And now they live in.
In an area called Belen in San Jose.
It's in the city. And of course, every time I have a chance, I go and visit them. I'm kind of far away right now, but.
But it's like a very solid family.
[00:06:42] Speaker A: Okay, great. Yeah. So it's been super solid. And I wondered, I mean, again, maybe that's not the right time to talk about it, but this idea with the first segment is getting to know not only like the positive elements or the lights, but. Yeah. What, if any, shadows do you feel like you had to face as a child, challenges? Maybe it wasn't even with your family. I don't know. Just curious.
[00:07:03] Speaker B: Well, I will say that actually everything came too easy to me and that is not always good.
[00:07:13] Speaker A: There's a shadow in that.
[00:07:14] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:07:14] Speaker A: It's not realistic for most people.
[00:07:17] Speaker B: Yeah. That when something happened, there was always someone behind me, like backing me up. And you will say, well, that's good.
But sometimes you have to learn the hard way.
And at the very. From the beginning, and even when I was younger, in like my first stages, in my.
When I started to work, when I had an issue or when I made big mistakes, like someone always was there, like to cover for me or to fix it for me.
[00:07:48] Speaker A: What's one of the mistakes you made? What do you remember?
[00:07:51] Speaker B: Well, for example, I made bad decisions in a job and let's call it the way it is. I got fired because I was just not doing the thing I was supposed to. I was taking it way too easy. And it was hard, like, okay, I don't have a job. What should I do? Someone just got me another job and that's it. It was always like that.
So sometimes I will say it's hard to face or it's hard to tell, but if there's a lesson with that, then you have to share that experience. Of course, at the beginning I didn't see it that way.
[00:08:28] Speaker A: Right, right.
[00:08:28] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:29] Speaker A: At the beginning it was just nice.
[00:08:30] Speaker B: It was nice.
Exactly. You feel like you are the king of the world and you are immortal and nothing bad is going to happen because someone is always there for you to clean up. Exactly. But then little by little with time, then you realize, well, yeah, I made a mistake there. But one thing that I always say is that we are here.
Everything that we have done brought us here to where we are. Good things, bad things.
Now what you do with those things is what really matters. So good things you really enjoy, bad things you have to learn.
[00:09:08] Speaker A: Learn from.
[00:09:09] Speaker B: Exactly.
And then that's what really matters. Because you cannot change your story. It's part, it's part of who you are.
[00:09:17] Speaker A: Yeah, right.
[00:09:17] Speaker B: Yeah, but if you keep living on that past, then that's a problem. Yeah, but if you use that then to become a better person, then that's,
[00:09:26] Speaker A: that's a great thing.
[00:09:27] Speaker B: Exactly. I mean, you, you, you cannot change what, what happened. But.
[00:09:32] Speaker A: Okay, then change how you relate to it.
[00:09:35] Speaker B: Exactly.
Write a new story. Yeah, so. So, yeah, those.
I will say that like being very transparent and honest with you is like maybe my biggest shadow is like everything came very easy to me at the beginning.
[00:09:52] Speaker A: Yeah, well said. No, I love that because so often we always think of shadows as, oh, you know, my dad did this to me or that. But sometimes the shadows can almost have that tint of light to them.
And in the psychology world, we would call this phenomenon the golden handcuffs, where it's like, wow, everything's golden. It's amazing and it's so easy. It's good, it's coming to you. And yet the handcuff part is like you said, I didn't learn the hard way. And so there you had a great job, but you kind of slacked off because it was always so easy. Right, Exactly. So.
[00:10:25] Speaker B: And I was very smart too.
[00:10:29] Speaker A: You still are. You still are. You still are.
[00:10:31] Speaker B: You. But so since I was very smart, like usually when I had to do a test or something, I didn't study much because it was very easy for me to do it. And I got used to that. But of course tests, they get harder and harder and then you have to apply more.
So again, it was like things coming very easy.
[00:10:52] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And to stay with that golden handcuffs teaching for a moment, it's that. And by the way, it's interesting listening to your story, I, I can relate a lot as well. Of just had so blessed. And recently I went through a really big challenge and my cousin, you know, family members are the ones that like know us across time and can see, you know, everything and she was just like, don't. You don't realize that like you've all you've had everything just come to you. It's been, you've been great. It's awesome. Good job. But like, a lot of people hit these kind of challenges often and you got to work through it. And, and I am. And I know you, you are too. But it's. To me, it's the, the teaching in it of the golden handcuff is not only continue to practice deep gratitude for what we have and then also continue to. Yeah. To like you said, learn from the mistakes we do make and continue to apply ourselves, you know?
[00:11:41] Speaker B: Exactly. I have two kids now. Well, they're grown ups now, 26 and 27 years old.
[00:11:46] Speaker A: 36.
[00:11:47] Speaker B: 37.
[00:11:47] Speaker A: 26, 27.
[00:11:49] Speaker B: Okay. And I try to teach them that because especially the youngest one, I see
[00:11:55] Speaker A: that things similar, similar.
[00:11:58] Speaker B: So I tried to make things a little bit harder for him and, and, but they're great. And, and they are learning and I'm glad that they are learning from. From the things that I share with them.
[00:12:08] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:08] Speaker B: And of course, well, now I don't live with the. With their mom. We got divorced, but we have a very good relationship as well.
So we both tried to show them like life is not just a bed of roses and things happen. And this is what I did and this is how I manage those things. Perhaps you can take from my experience.
[00:12:32] Speaker A: So it's part of life that's so great, Mauricio, that. Yeah. You know that even though your shadow is not this, you know, dark overt shadow, it's more of a subtle. We call it developmental trauma where it's like we don't get certain parts develop.
But you're using that and showing your children how to do that. So helping your children learn ahead of time. So very beautiful men. We are going to take a quick break. When we get back from this break, we're going to continue to learn about Mauricio's story and how he begins to bud into the man that he is today. So stay tuned. We'll be right back.
We'll be right back on Lead with Heart for more deep conversations and heartfelt stories.
Welcome to Lead with Heart. I'm your host, Dr. Jesse Hanson, and this is the show where strategy meets soul.
I feel blessed to have been able to create this show because I have been wanting a platform to be able to host people, to showcase their superpowers, to help people realize that it's not just about singing about our successes on the top of the mountain that matters. It's about understanding the vulnerable, real truths and the shadows that we have come from in order to create the amazing growth that comes forth. So if you are a leader, a healer, an innovator, or a thought leader, please, I'd love to host you and learn more about your story so you can help all of us on the planet here. Lead with Heart.
And we're back on Lead with Heart for more purpose. Meeting passion, strategy. Meeting soul. Let's dive in.
Hello and welcome back to Lead with Heart. I'm here with Mauricio Solano, and in this segment, we're going to go deeper into your story. We've gotten a sense now of the young, young man who's been grown up more or less like the tons of light, but the shadow is this golden handcuffs phenomenon where you're realizing, okay, wow, not everything always is going to be so easy. Right.
[00:14:38] Speaker B: Right.
[00:14:38] Speaker A: And so, yeah, you've done a great job of painting that picture you mentioned, you know, sort of more choosing to follow your dad's footsteps. So maybe we could pick up from there in particular, York University from Canada. How that played in and just. Yeah. How you started to bud and step into your adult life.
[00:14:55] Speaker B: Well, it was. It was very interesting. It was like, again, things coming very easy to me. Like, a friend told me that there was this scholarship that I get the chance to go to, to York University in Toronto. Of course I took it. I was married at that time, and so I took my wife and is
[00:15:13] Speaker A: this like, early 20s? Mid 20s?
[00:15:16] Speaker B: It will be.
I was like, what, like mid-30s?
[00:15:20] Speaker A: Mid-30s.
[00:15:21] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:15:21] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:15:22] Speaker B: Yeah. And then.
[00:15:23] Speaker A: So at this point in your life, you've already called in your partner, you got a wife.
[00:15:27] Speaker B: Right. And I, And I had. We had one. One kid at that time. Yeah.
[00:15:32] Speaker A: And then all of a sudden you have an opportunity to go study.
[00:15:33] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:15:34] Speaker A: Great university.
[00:15:35] Speaker B: And then the youngest one, he was. He was born in Canada.
[00:15:39] Speaker A: Oh, so you have a Canadian.
[00:15:41] Speaker B: You have a Canadian.
Yeah, he's.
And he's the one, like I said, that he's always good.
[00:15:46] Speaker A: He's the one that has a little too easy. So.
[00:15:49] Speaker B: And. And we get to share a lot, by the way, with the kids. So I took that, that chance, of course. But honestly, more than what I learned from the university is what I learned from life, like from being in another country.
And that was the greatest experience for me because you get to share with people that maybe they are like in the same, Same role. You are there like you are from a foreign country, and you came to this country with a new, a different language, a different culture. And then especially Canada, you have people from all over the world in Toronto.
And then you get to, you know, like, you get closer to the people and especially to those who are like, kind of facing the same challenges you are. Like, basic things, like from very basic things to, to larger things, like from going to the, to the store and asking for someone that something that you know how to ask for it when you are in your country. But maybe it's a different name.
[00:16:54] Speaker A: I can relate to that being gringo here.
[00:16:56] Speaker B: Right, Exactly. And from major things like going to the university and talk to the teachers or doing some paperwork for immigration, stuff like that. So it's very interesting. So I will say that that was.
That's where I get the most of my experience in Canada. And we were there like three, four years and we decided to come back to Costa Rica mainly because the kids, they were asking about the culture, the grandparents and all that. So we decided to come and I continued. When I came here back to Costa Rica, I continued working in hospitality business.
I had the opportunity to work in, in great hotels and great companies, to work with very different type of leaders.
And I always say I learned how to be a very good manager, how to be a very good leader. But also, and this is most important for me, I learned how I didn't want to be.
[00:18:01] Speaker A: You witness in others what you saw.
[00:18:02] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:18:03] Speaker A: I don't want to do that.
[00:18:04] Speaker B: Exactly. I was like, okay, I don't want to be like him, or I don't want to be like her. And that it was a great learning experience.
[00:18:11] Speaker A: Can you name, without naming any names, what were some of the traits that you were seeing or the behaviors that you were like, no, I don't want to do that.
[00:18:18] Speaker B: Well, and I think most of us also go through that at the very beginning, especially when you are starting to get in higher positions or managing positions. It's like, you feel, okay, I'm the boss, I'm the leader. I know everything.
I have to be perfect because people are coming to me for answers. So I have to have an answer for everything.
And then for many years, I will say I was like that.
It was like a big pressure on myself. Like, I have to know everything because
[00:18:54] Speaker A: you've been elected to be in this leadership role or whatever.
[00:18:57] Speaker B: Exactly.
And I was very good at my job, so I have to be very good at this new position. And. And then it's kind of pretentious. And. And then you, you are like, you don't get feedbacks from anybody because you are the one who knows. And I have, I'm the one with all the answers. And I'm, you know, I'm I'm the chair here. You are guys. You guys are there. So you just do what I do.
[00:19:19] Speaker A: And can you see, Mao, how that is a ripple effect of the golden handcuff phenomenon? Right, Right. Yeah, it's that same idea. Oh, like, it's. I got it all. I'm the king. Right.
[00:19:29] Speaker B: I got it all worked out from the very beginning, so why not now? Right? So then I started to see that pattern going with people on top of me in. In the. In the organization. And I was like, yeah, I have things that I want to share. And they were like, no, no, just do what I. What I say. And then I started to realize, well, I'm doing the same thing with my team.
So then I decided to make some changes.
[00:19:52] Speaker A: Yeah, tell me about the changes. What you start to do.
[00:19:54] Speaker B: That's very interesting, because when you bring the human factor to your decisions and when you consider other people's experience, experience the feedback, and even their humanity as well, then lots of things can get done and even easier, because when you involve your team in the decision, decisions is not only your decision, it's their decision as well. So at the end, it's not only your achievement, it's theirs as well.
So then you have to understand and realize that you don't have all the answers, and you have to start asking for help, asking for insights, asking for feedback. And not always you go to your superiors. Sometimes you just go with the. Your team.
[00:20:41] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:20:41] Speaker B: Okay, guys, we have this issue, we have this problem, or we have this challenge.
How do you want to manage it? And then more and more then I started to realize and learn that they are the ones who have the answers. And I just have to make sure that once we decide that we're going to do it that way, I'm going to back my team up and then give them some instructions and just making sure that those instructions are followed.
And that has helped me a lot in my life after I realized that.
[00:21:13] Speaker A: No, that really resonates, Mauricio, because a, it just sounds like a much more fun environment to be a part of. You can already feel the team energy of that. But, you know, one of my favorite things is to integrate ancient wisdom into everything we do in the modern world. And though I know there were Godhead oligarchs throughout history, so many traditions, if you look into what was considered healthy would be called circular leadership or collective wisdom.
[00:21:40] Speaker B: Right.
[00:21:40] Speaker A: And that's what I hear you shifting from, is you're sort of recognizing the Godhead model. I know it all. The tyrant king versus the more chief or tribal leader that says, hey, like, I still am going to make the final call because that is my role. And yet I want to hear from each of you, or I want to hear from the collective.
And that is what you know, from everything I've studied and experienced in my own healing journeys, it's just a very different feeling. It's a more being a part of something rather than being subjected to.
[00:22:09] Speaker B: Right.
And they need to know. To me, it's important that they need to know that nothing goes unnoticed. Like, if it's a decision or if it's a job, even if it's just a simple job. Like, I don't know, if you tell the garden, the landscapers, hey, go and plant these plants here, and it looks great. And people come to me saying, hey, Mauricio, you're doing a great job. No, no, I didn't do it. Yeah, the team did it.
[00:22:35] Speaker A: These guys did it.
[00:22:36] Speaker B: Exactly. And I like to recognize them. When someone comes to me saying, hey, you're doing a very good job, it's not just me, it's the team, because I cannot just do it by myself.
And one thing that I didn't mention is, like. And that has helped me also to kind of see, like, different point of views of what we do is, like, I have worked as a landscaper in the past. Even when I was in Canada, when I was not studying, I was superintendent of a building, and I was also doing landscaping and cleaning.
So I've been, like, in different roles.
Like, I kind of understand, like, it's so hard to do this job.
And when someone tells me, no, I cannot do it, maybe I would say, no, you can, but you have to do it this way.
[00:23:24] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:23:25] Speaker B: But again, it's not me telling them exactly what to do and how to do it. It's like sharing.
[00:23:29] Speaker A: Give guideposts.
[00:23:30] Speaker B: Exactly. And that's very important, not only in job, but in. But in life. Right. It's like, yeah, you share your experience, but now not from a point where I say, this is what you do, because I'm the. I'm the boss. This is what I used to do. Or this is what I did and helped me.
You think that we can do it together like that, or you have a better idea.
[00:23:52] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:23:53] Speaker B: And then that's. That's sharing.
[00:23:54] Speaker A: It's collaborative.
[00:23:55] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:23:55] Speaker A: Right. Versus the singular.
[00:23:57] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:23:58] Speaker A: Leader.
[00:23:58] Speaker B: Of course, someone has to be. Someone has to be in charge, and someone has to be responsible. So that's. That's where I show up. Right.
[00:24:07] Speaker A: Beautiful.
[00:24:08] Speaker B: But at the end It's a teamwork.
[00:24:11] Speaker A: So just as. Yeah, zoom this out. Let's think back to the little guy who was raised and overall blessed and like, yet the golden handcuff thing, you start to continue to evolve. You get more opportunities. You start to realize yourself as being a little bit, you know, pig headed or, you know, big headed golden handcuffy as an adult, but you have the consciousness to catch that and start the course. Correct.
[00:24:35] Speaker B: Right.
[00:24:36] Speaker A: So what I want to hear now is, yeah, bring us. Bring us, you know, either almost forward or all the way to present day. You're moving through. You came back from Canada to Costa Rica in your late 30s, it sounds like. And so you start working at different hotels, hospitality, and then bring us forward to today.
[00:24:51] Speaker B: You know, I think for most of us during pandemic, that was a point where things change a lot for many people, in a good way, in a bad way.
And one thing that really hit me the most is that I remember once I was working a hotel and the owner of the hotel said, well, we have to let people go, because, I mean, there was no business at all.
And I had to sit, like, in groups of 18 people, not one by one. And he was like, just do it all at once. And like having 20 people sitting in front of you, having to tell them that, you know, we have to, we have to let you go because this and that and, and right there, that, that's very difficult because, yeah, you take the kind of humanity out of it because it's just like, you know, everybody go home. That's what it is. Yeah. And it was hard because you see people coming crying, you'll see people upset and. And all that, and. And there's nothing you can do about that.
[00:25:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:56] Speaker B: And so again, all this journey of becoming who you are is, in my case, it was not like, wow, I got hit once.
It was like a little bit of a journey, little changes, little experiences that brought me where I am. And I'm still learning, I'm still growing, of course.
But I would say that was one of the things that.
That really got me to think deeper
[00:26:20] Speaker A: about what you want to do.
[00:26:22] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:26:24] Speaker A: I'm going to pause on that really quick because I want to hear. When we come back from this break, we're going to go into the third segment, which is about the Lotus, the blossom happening. And now we're going to follow up with that sentiment. So stay tuned. Thank you so much.
We'll be right back on Lead With Heart for more deep conversations and heartfelt stories.
Welcome to Lead with Heart. I'm your host, Dr. Jesse Hansen, and this is the show where strategy meets soul.
I feel blessed to have been able to create this show because I have been wanting a platform to be able to host people, to showcase their superpowers, to help people realize that it's not just about singing about our successes on the top of the mountain that matters. It's about understanding the vulnerable real truths and the shadows that we have come from in order to create the amazing growth that comes forth. So if you are a leader, a healer, an innovator, or a thought leader, please, I'd love to host you and learn more about your story so you can help all of us on the planet here. Lead with Heart.
And we're back on Lead With Heart for more purpose. Meeting passion, Strategy meeting soul. Let's dive in.
Hello and welcome back to Lead with Heart. Would you like to see more of what you're watching? You can stay tuned to Lead with Heart and all your Now Media favorites by going to the website NowMedia TV. You'll also find us on Apple TV Roku, and we're also on all of the great podcast platform. So please stay tuned on NOW Media tv. And we're here with Mauricio Solano. And in this segment, the Lotus. We're going to look at how the beauty of the flowers that you've been growing and you and I met in a holistic community here called Holos. And so in this segment, I want to invite you, you were just leaving off with how during COVID it almost was like a, a holy smack. A little bit of a moment of like, wow, what, what really am I doing? What do I want to do? So bring, bring us forward to that integration on, on Holos as well as anything on your own personal growth, your spiritual path, how that's impacting you as a leader, father, husband, certainly for, for
[00:28:51] Speaker B: the last, I would say 10 years, my, my life has been changing for, for good. And, and I found something that maybe the back I was trying to find like, like the belonging, like to belong to something that is really, you know, contributing to the world or, or contributing to the, to the community. Like doing something that is really adding something to. Around us, right?
[00:29:20] Speaker A: Yeah. More than just a job, more than this.
[00:29:23] Speaker B: It's like something with a purpose. And it, because, because again, at the beginning when you start working, you think, okay, yeah, I want to be the CEO, I want to be this. And there's nothing wrong with that, but some people, they just want to have like different roles, right? And in my Case I realized that I really wanted to be in a place where I can give something back to, to the community, to the world, to my family, to my friends. And I don't know, like, I always like to teach. I was like, maybe I can become a teacher or something like that. So after, after the pandemic, of course I was looking for jobs. And then I found this place.
It's a retreat center, Plant. Plant based healing retreat center. And I had no idea what that was. I was just looking for a job.
And then I started to work with them. And that's when I started to get in touch and to know, to know more about this spiritual plan.
And it's very important. I mean, spiritual retreat center has nothing to do with religions.
[00:30:30] Speaker A: Right.
[00:30:30] Speaker B: And that's all different things. Right.
So it's more about you and it's
[00:30:36] Speaker A: more about personal growth. Personal, personal growth.
[00:30:39] Speaker B: What, what you see in yourself, healing yourself as well.
And, and then of course I loved it and, and I started to practice more and more. And those little things I started to learn help it to shape my, my new, let's say leadership style.
[00:30:56] Speaker A: So your spiritual growth, your personal development growth really impacted leadership.
[00:31:00] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:31:00] Speaker A: Style.
[00:31:01] Speaker B: Because one of the main things that I learned is like I am, I don't have those superpowers that I thought that I had.
He's like, I'm humble and I make a lot of mistakes. How I deal with that, that's the difference. So it's not to blame me for what I did wrong. It's like, wow, I did this. I couldn't done better. I wish I had when I was younger. I wish I had the wisdom that I had now. Had now things probably I should have done like way different decisions that maybe I didn't. I did. I wouldn't do anything different now.
But that's part of life and that's again what I become. Right.
So. So yeah. And I remember that in when I had the opportunity to be on one of those ceremonies and I had this experience of was kind of a vision and one of the messages that I got is like, no matter how powerful you are, you become food for something else.
So then I decided to think, okay, what, what does food mean? And it's like, okay, once you leave this world or once you leave a place, what you left behind, did someone learn from you?
Did you teach something good to someone else?
[00:32:23] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:32:24] Speaker B: Did you make a good impact on, on, on the place you were working or the community?
So those are the things that started
[00:32:32] Speaker A: to become more important to you?
[00:32:34] Speaker B: Exactly. It's like, okay, what I do has to have a purpose.
[00:32:37] Speaker A: And this is about now, five years
[00:32:39] Speaker B: ago, it was like. Yeah, six.
[00:32:41] Speaker A: Six years ago. Okay.
[00:32:42] Speaker B: Yeah. And then I found. Or no, holos found me, and.
[00:32:49] Speaker A: And so you're working at a different spiritual retreat center in Costa Rica.
[00:32:53] Speaker B: In Costa Rica.
[00:32:54] Speaker A: And then holos found you.
[00:32:56] Speaker B: Exactly. So it was. It was a very nice coincidence because, you know, Michael, you know, he was looking for a manager and. And I was starting to look for another place.
And without knowing, we just like kind of the. The path grows and. And then, yeah, we started to talk and. And I saw what he was doing and what he wants to do and what grow, what hollows is becoming.
And I'm like, I want to be part of that.
[00:33:21] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:33:21] Speaker B: And. And I feel like that is being one of my best decisions in life because it's not just for me. It's not. It's not just a place where I work is my community.
[00:33:34] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:33:35] Speaker B: Is where I live. And when I have this great relationship with the neighbors.
[00:33:40] Speaker A: Yeah, right.
[00:33:41] Speaker B: Yeah, That's. That's the thing. So, yeah, we are doing something.
Of course it's a job. But more than that, we are giving something back to the community and to
[00:33:52] Speaker A: the future, to our children and to paying it forward.
[00:33:55] Speaker B: Yeah. Like, at the end of the day, when I see the.
The jungle and the mountains and the rivers and what we have there is like, yeah, we're taking care of the world. We're taking care of. Of the nature. And by the way, the jungle is a good teacher.
[00:34:10] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. She's the master teacher and healer.
[00:34:13] Speaker B: One of the things that. That I've learned there is, like, you are always, like, so concerned and focused on the destination that you forget to enjoy the journey.
[00:34:23] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:34:24] Speaker B: And.
[00:34:25] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:34:25] Speaker B: Yeah. And so at the beginning, especially, like, again, I'm still learning a lot of things. So when I. When I got there and I was like, oh, I want to go to the waterfall, I want to go to the river. And so I took the trail in like, like five, ten minutes. I'm down there. And then I would say that the jungle started to teach me, like, no, no, enjoy the ride.
[00:34:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:34:46] Speaker B: So usually I walk. That usually took me like 10, 15 minutes. Sometimes it takes me an hour, two hours. Because you go slower, I go slower. Look around. Exactly. So then you get to enjoy the plants. And then you can see another, maybe an animal over there. You can hear the birds. If you bring that to life.
It's the same thing.
Sometimes we are so focused on the goal on the main achievement that we forget all the journey that takes you there because at the end when you get to the point you want to get, then another journey starts. So then it's just a whole journey.
[00:35:19] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:35:20] Speaker B: Enjoy it.
[00:35:21] Speaker A: You're bringing so much, so much beauty here and wisdom. Mauricio, I want to highlight a few things. One, as you're sharing more, I'm thinking back about the golden handcuffs little guy and that phenomenon and could also say sort of the, the vice in that dynamic is that you do not learn humility.
Right. The golden handcuff is like, oh, everything's great. I am the king, I'll make it happen. If I mess up, doesn't matter, they'll fix it. And da da, da, da. So I love hearing now in this part of your story, as you're evolving, one of your greatest superpowers is humility and knowing that, you know, you don't have all the answers, nor do I. None of us do. Right. So I really appreciate that, man. And that, that is to me exactly what I mean by the lotus is how do we take something? And in your case, most people would think, oh, that's great, like you had it easy and you did a lot and you got this. And it is, there's a part of it, it's great, but there's also part of it that was keeping you from being humble and really enjoying the journey. Right?
[00:36:14] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:36:16] Speaker A: So I want to see if we can go deeper into this a little bit before the break and then we'll come back to it. But is that you also mentioned you came from one plant based healing center to now working on another one that I'm familiar with. And unless you've been living in a cave, then listening in the world right now, we know there is a psychedelic renaissance that's.
And you know, plant based healing to me does not just mean psychedelics. And ceremony to me does not just mean, you know, plant, plant medicines, plant ceremonies. It's ceremony means learning how to create sacredness in life.
[00:36:49] Speaker B: Correct?
[00:36:50] Speaker A: Right. And plant based healing doesn't necessarily mean psychedelics. It simply means realizing I'm looking outside because there's so many beautiful plants here is like these are, these have been our friends and teachers and healers. And even most of what people are taking today that come out of prescriptions are still based in plants.
[00:37:07] Speaker B: Correct?
[00:37:07] Speaker A: Right. So I just want to, I want to highlight that, that I love how you said plant based healing. And also I want to invite you to, as much as you feel comfortable, open up about the, the ceremonial Impacts that have happened. And you know that you. The ceremonies you've been through with or without any intense plant teachers, but just how. How that has impacted you personally, how that continues to help you with humility and slowing down. Anything you're willing to talk about on that level of your own work.
[00:37:35] Speaker B: If you get me to start to talk about my experiences, then we need like, five days show.
[00:37:43] Speaker A: Well, maybe. Maybe some of the. Maybe some of the highlights. Well, the. Funny enough, the section we're moving into is called the Harvest.
[00:37:49] Speaker B: Right.
[00:37:50] Speaker A: Condensed version of it. But. Yeah. Just. Yeah. What are some of. One of my teachers taught me is it's not necessarily about every detail. It's about the harvest. About what are some of the key elements or things, you know, even with your body that you've realized or.
[00:38:02] Speaker B: Yeah, I. I've had, like, great, wonderful, deep experiences during ceremonies. Like, really, really great.
[00:38:10] Speaker A: Meaningful, like.
[00:38:11] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. One of them is, is to see myself dying.
And is that my ego dying, Small death. Yeah. And that was the second ceremony, like, ever. Wow. And that really helped me to understand and experience even.
Even more humility. The humility and the future ceremonies and the future. The future teachings.
So. And that was part of the thing when I said, you know what?
I am not this golden boy. Right. My ego is dying. And I see there. Okay, that's it.
[00:38:50] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:38:51] Speaker B: And. And. And then it was a great experience because then I. I started to get teachings of how to live.
Like a good quote, something that.
That. Yeah, I would say it's a quote from the jaguar.
[00:39:03] Speaker A: Going.
[00:39:04] Speaker B: Going there. And the jaguar told me, you want to die well, and was. I don't want to go through what I just. What just happened. Right. So you want to. You want to die well? Yes. Live well.
[00:39:15] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:39:15] Speaker B: What is the meaning of living well?
[00:39:17] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:39:18] Speaker B: It's not just work hard. It's not just work like 12, 15 hours a day. It's taking time for yourself. Taking time for your family, for your friends, but especially for yourself and for nature. And for nature at the end.
[00:39:29] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:39:30] Speaker B: Because it was a great experience. And then is again these messages that I get from. From nature. Like, you know what? Learn the journey, Enjoy the journey, enjoy this. And everything is here for us to enjoy and respect.
And that's the other thing. Like, respect the land. Respect what has been given to us with responsibility.
[00:39:50] Speaker A: Become good stewards of it.
[00:39:51] Speaker B: Exactly. Because we take things for granted.
[00:39:53] Speaker A: I love what you're saying, man. Respect the land, respect yourself. So when we come back from this break, we're going to go into the final segment about the harvest and learn about where Mauricio is headed now. So stay tuned.
We'll be right back on lead with Heart for more deep conversations and heartfelt stories.
Welcome to lead with Heart. I'm your host, Dr. Jesse Hanson, and this is the show where strategy meets soul.
I feel blessed to have been able to create this show because I have been wanting a platform to be able to. To host people, to showcase their superpowers, to help people realize that it's not just about singing about our successes on the top of the mountain that matters. It's about understanding the vulnerable real truths and the shadows that we have come from in order to create the amazing growth that comes forth. So if you are a leader, a healer, an innovator, or a thought leader, please, I'd love to host you and learn more about your story so you can help all of us on the planet here. Lead with heart.
And we're back on Lead with heart for more purpose. Meeting passion, strategy meeting soul. Let's dive in.
Hello and welcome back to lead with Heart. In this final segment entitled the Harvest, we're going to learn more about where your path is taking you now, Mauricio, and what you are dreaming awake. You said something in the last segment so beautifully there as I inquired more about your own personal work. And you mentioned the jaguar teachings, the jaguar medicine. And I realized for some of our viewers, that may sound crazy weird or whatever it is. I also will acknowledge with, you know, as a psychologist as well as a human, a healer, a father, you know, I. We. We live in. And I want to honor also the Baruca people, the Jaguar tribe. Right. These are our neighbors and our connection here and the Jaguar people. And I too have felt as if I have really connected to the spirit of the Jaguar, the teachings of the jaguar in the land. So much so that not only on the spiritual side, I relate to some of the teachings you've mentioned, but even on how to integrate this into. Call it family life. As a father, whenever we go down to the rivers or deeper in the jungle, we actually call it jaguar training.
And for the kids to learn how to be and the adults to be more like jaguar, present, embodied, conscious, attuned, listening, feeling, appreciating, the. The journey, you know?
[00:42:29] Speaker B: Right.
[00:42:30] Speaker A: So I'm so glad you bring that up. And in this segment, I want to allow you the space to continue wherever you are going with that as well as I really invite you to you. You are very humble. You're a very beautiful man that way. And I Also. Also invite you to.
You know, I don't want to say show off here, Mauricio, but, you know, it's okay to also acknowledge, like, you. You've accomplished and you've got your podcast. And so, yeah, in this segment, bring us all the way future forward and. And acknowledge some of the. The harvest that you're growing right now.
[00:42:59] Speaker B: And yeah, as. As you were saying all those beautiful things, and. And I know that, like you said, people watching us right now, they will let me say, well, what's this about the jaguar and all that?
It's a very personal experience, and we all go through our ceremonies in a very different way, and we come out very different.
So in my case, it was a lot about.
About myself.
Okay. Who I really am and who I really want to become.
And again, I keep saying this again and again. Everything we have done brought us to where we are right now, and good chapters and bad chapters.
And I think that everything that happened in the past was kind of preparing me or getting me ready for what is happening right now. And it's a beautiful journey, and it's a beautiful growing.
And I'm still learning a lot about that. And. And yes, the jaguar is the greatest example for me because it's not just being powerful.
It's about knowing what to do at the right time and the perspective of things.
So in the past, or I used to be, like, very, you know, like something happened, I have to act right away.
Now I take my time to see things different and realizing, like, how many good things I've done in my life and also how many bad decisions I've made. And then I was like, okay, how do I tell people about my life? Not telling them what to do, but just sharing my experience.
That's when I decided to have my own podcast. And this thing was in my mind almost like a year ago. And I was like, should I do it? What should I talk to? And I was like, okay, I'm gonna talk about life. I'm old enough, and I'm being expert in making bad decisions. Then I have to share that, and I'm alive. I'm still standing, right?
But it was like, yeah, maybe I'm gonna get my cell phone. I'm gonna record my voice and share it.
And at the beginning of the year, I talked to Michael about it. I was like, you know what? I'm thinking about having a podcast. And he was like, of course. Do it. And we have this equipment in the office. You can use it. And suddenly I. I went from just thinking About a small cell phone, like, having a whole recording setting in the house. And it's been great. And I remember because Simanuel.
[00:45:42] Speaker A: Manuel. Manuel.
[00:45:44] Speaker B: Manual. Right. Because life doesn't have a manual for us.
[00:45:48] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:45:49] Speaker B: So we learn as we go.
[00:45:50] Speaker A: No playbook.
[00:45:51] Speaker B: No playbook.
[00:45:52] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:45:52] Speaker B: And I have to do it, which is challenging for me because I have to do it in Spanish and English.
So I. I record one episode in Spanish and then the same in English.
[00:46:02] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:46:02] Speaker B: And then I had no idea, like, all the production that that takes, because now it was like, okay, I'm gonna do it better. So I. And now have my Facebook page and Instagram and I have YouTube and I have Spotify. And then, like, it's not only the podcast once a week, but also I do some postings during the week about. Related to the. To the podcast as well.
And then people started to send me messages like, hey, I heard your postcard, your podcast, and thank you for that. It was like you were talking to myself. And. And then I realized, like, you know, we are all going through the same thing, just that we don't share it.
[00:46:40] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:46:41] Speaker B: And sometimes we just need someone else to say it to us to realize, wow. I mean. Yeah, that's happening to me as well.
[00:46:49] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:46:49] Speaker B: And so it's been a very, very wonderful, great experience.
And if I was hearing my first one, the first recording, the first podcast podcast, and I'm like, wow, the sound is so bad.
Yeah. But I left it like that because that's part of.
Of it. It's like. Yeah, it's like, so genuine. And part of the process is so you can see how it has been growing little by little, the very beginning, because I'm up in the month, you hear the crickets, and you. You hear the. The frogs or the cicadas.
[00:47:25] Speaker A: I'm like, it's actually a good thing,
[00:47:27] Speaker B: but it's a good thing.
Exactly.
[00:47:29] Speaker A: It's authentic.
[00:47:30] Speaker B: So it's very authentic.
[00:47:31] Speaker A: So as you. Yeah. So obviously you're going to continue with no playbook, with the. The podcast and just. Yeah. Even whether it's around your personal life, professional life, what more of this harvest idea? What wisdom? You've already dropped a lot of wisdom into the space. But what. What else? As well as also just. Yeah. What do you want to see happen for your life in the next one to five years?
[00:47:51] Speaker B: Well, I made a decision that I. I don't want the worst chapter in my life to be, like, to lead my story.
So I want the worst chapters in my life to be my teachers and I have still, like, I have a lot of blank pages in my story that I need to write. And again, going back to that first message that I heard through my first ceremony is like, what kind of food I want to become for. For the rest. So that's when. When I talk to my team, when I talk to my neighbors, when whoever I can talk to, I.
I try to, you know, leave something. It's not that I have all the answers again. It's just that I like to share my experiences. And sometimes maybe I get, like, way too open and sharing a lot of things.
[00:48:42] Speaker A: Maybe.
[00:48:42] Speaker B: But again, that idea also was one of the original ideas for my podcast. If I say something that at least one person is going to feel related to and is going to help someone, that's it. That's all I want. So then I want to build leaders in my own team.
Because if I want to grow in the company, if I want to grow my life, I need to prepare someone behind me to take my place. The same thing with my family, with my kids. I need to prepare them because when I'm not here, they need to be in charge of some things.
[00:49:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:49:19] Speaker B: And. And I want to make sure that I did my best. Of course. They have to learn their own way. Right. I don't want things being, like, very easy for them.
[00:49:27] Speaker A: Right.
[00:49:27] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:49:27] Speaker A: You don't want a golden handcuff.
[00:49:29] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:49:29] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:49:29] Speaker B: But it's. Yeah. Now I think that I am more conscious about the impact of my life in other people's life and also in the world.
[00:49:44] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:49:45] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:49:45] Speaker A: Well, it's in great contrast when I hear you say, you know, you want to essentially delegate and build other leaders, Prepare your children, etc. That is. That is the opposite. That's in contrast to when you're in the golden handcuff slash godhead mode. It's all about. Nope. Well, it's me. And that's how it is. And.
[00:50:02] Speaker B: Yeah, because.
[00:50:03] Speaker A: Very different.
[00:50:03] Speaker B: Because you see. When you see potential in people and when you are like that, you don't see them as future leaders. You see them as a threat. Yeah.
[00:50:10] Speaker A: Yeah, well said. You don't see them as a future leader. You see them as a threat.
[00:50:14] Speaker B: Now, what you. What we have to do is our responsibility is to, you know, build new leaders. But this perspective of not doing the best in your job because we have to do it, but also do it with responsibility, with an impact on our community and on the world nature, in our family. So it's that responsibility that we need to start.
[00:50:37] Speaker A: I love that you said that not as a threat, but as a collaboration, as an ally. And it's something in multi generational healing we talk about is that it's my greatest hope that my children will out evolve me. So as a leader, it's like, wow, it's my greatest hope that the people that, you know, could be seen as a threat and said, I see them as I hope you rise. I hope you continue to do even better at what you do. Right.
[00:51:02] Speaker B: Because if they grow, I'll grow as well.
[00:51:05] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. Have faith that I will. We all grow together rather than have fear that, oh, no, this person's gonna outgrow me and take my job. Right, Right. Wow, Mauricio. No, I mean, I just. I just want to. Again, thank you. Take a few deep breaths here to just recognize you brought so much wisdom to the show today, man, and so much humility. And I love hearing your story. It's also so powerful to hear, you know, again, from the psychological world, we would call it developmental trauma, but where it's, you know, everything looked overall great, fine, good. From the outside, you have to go deeper. You have to look deeper to realize, wow, there is always something to learn from. There is always some kind of trauma that is there to teach us. So thank you for bringing all that. I want to know, if our viewers want to keep in touch with you, what's the best way for them to find you out there in the digiverse?
[00:51:51] Speaker B: Right. Well, the podcast.
[00:51:54] Speaker A: How do we find that?
[00:51:55] Speaker B: Sing manual, Sl. No playbook, just on like Spotify, Apple Podcast, Spotify. Right now it's Spotify, YouTube, and then I have an Instagram and Facebook.
[00:52:06] Speaker A: And you're going to continue to build that out and. And that'll also impact for sure. You're a leader at Holos.
[00:52:11] Speaker B: Yeah. Right now it's a baby.
[00:52:13] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just a few months old, right?
[00:52:15] Speaker B: Yeah, actually, I just have 12 episodes so far. I'm doing one per week.
[00:52:21] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:52:21] Speaker B: So I started in, I think, March.
[00:52:23] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:52:24] Speaker B: Wow. Yeah.
[00:52:25] Speaker A: Amazing, man.
[00:52:25] Speaker B: It's great.
[00:52:26] Speaker A: Well, I want to thank you so much for coming on the show today. Such a great example of leading with heart, and in particular, that wisdom of bringing humility as a. As a superpower. And I believe in that as well. So. So thank you so much, Mauricio.
[00:52:39] Speaker B: I had a great time.
[00:52:40] Speaker A: Awesome, man. Thank you. And thank you to our viewers. Please stay tuned for more episodes of Lead with Heart. Other great heart opening stories, vulnerable shares, so we can do our part to lead with heart. Thanks so much and Pura Vida.
