Olympic Hispanic Heritage Speaker Ruben Gonzalez
“This is one unbelievable success story! Ruben’s story is motivating and inspiring!” – Stephen Covey
Ruben’s Story Takes People’s Excuses Away and Inspires them to Win!
Argentina to the US to the Winter Games
Olympic Hispanic Heritage Speaker Presentation
Journey to the Olympics
How the Immigrant Experience and Growth Mindset Drove Me to Succeed
Ruben Gonzalez was born in Argentina and immigrated to the US with his family when he was six.
Ruben’s experience as an immigrant and the adversity he and his family had to overcome, fueled his drive to succeed.
Empowered with a growth mindset and believing that he could achieve anything he worked at, Ruben became the first person to ever compete in four Winter Olympics in four different decades.
Ruben’s incredible story will inspire and equip your people to win.
This Olympic Hispanic Heritage speaker will inspire your people to win.
Your people will learn:
- How to develop a growth mindset that fuels their drive to succeed
- How the willingness to make mistakes is what makes champions
- How to become unstoppable in the face of challenges
- How to condition your mind for success
About Ruben, from Argentina to the US
A Beef-Eating, Soccer-Loving Argentinian
I was born in Argentina. My dad was a chemical engineer for Exxon and we moved to the states when I was six years old. I was an oil-brat. We lived in Queens, NY for a couple of years, then Venezuela, then in Houston for about 30 years.
The Houston heat and humidity was too much for me, so in 2010 we moved to Colorado Springs.
I love the Springs – four seasons, beautiful hiking trails at the base of the Rockies, and it’s a lot smaller than Houston so there’s not nearly the traffic.
But it’s growing, so who knows? We might have to move to Wyoming or Montana some day… or maybe Patagonia!
What's the difference between a Hispanic and a Latino?
I was born in Argentina and I had to look it up. Most South Americans probably aren’t sure because we use the terms interchangeably.
Hispanic means Spanish speaking. That’s everyone from Mexico to Central America, parts of the Caribbean, South America and Spain. But not Brazilians, because they speak Portuguese.
Latinos means from Latin America. That’s everyone from Mexico to Central America, the Caribbean and South America including Brazil because Portuguese came from Latin. But not Spain, because they are not in America.
By the way, the Latin Languages are Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian and Romanian. But I digress…
Neither Hispanic nor Latino is a race. It’s a culture. They can be white, black, Indigenous, etc. It’s a little bit like saying someone’s European. They could be any race. Or saying someone is Texan. They could be any race.
When we speak about our individual friends or about ourselves we normally categorize by country. Ruben el Argentino, Pedro el Cubano, Juan el Puertorriqueño, Bobby el Chileno, Mike el Español, Carlos el Peruano, etc.
We hardly ever use the terms Hispanic and Latin unless we’re referring to a group of people from different Latin countries. For example if there was a pick up soccer game between a bunch of Americans and a bunch of South Americans, someone might say, “Los Latinos contra los Norteamericanos.” The Latins against the Americans. Not a fair match. 🙂 But the Americans would beat the Latins in football.
Most South Americans don’t like it that people from the US call themselves Americans. They say, we’re Americans too. We’re South Americans and they are North Americans. That’s why they usually call people from the US, Norteamericanos.
So there you have it, a long explanation about something pretty simple.
Ruben speaks fluent Spanish.
In fact, The Napoleon Hill Foundation hired Ruben to do the Spanish voice-over for the audio book version of “Think and Grow Rich.” Ruben’s also written the foreword to the Spanish version of the “Think and Grow Rich” book.
Although 95% of the time Ruben delivers his presentations to English speaking audiences, a few times a year he speaks in Latin America or in Spain.
You could say Ruben goes both ways… Spanish and English, that is!
This Olympic Hispanic Heritage speaker will inspire your people to win.
“You were our best speaker ever!
Your wonderful story resonates
with people of all ages.”
Maryellen Reinhart – Special Olympics
Ruben in his Argentine poncho and hat getting ready to eat some grilled steak with chimichurri. Cheers!
Ruben’s Chimichurri Recipe
Ruben’s Coppa / Capicolla Recipe
A Common Man
Ruben was not a great athlete. He has a lot of heart but no athletic body to go with it. He was always the last kid to play sports in school. His story takes people’s excuses away and inspires them to pursue their goals.
How Ruben Picked the Luge
Ruben reverse-engineered his way to the Winter Games. He went to the library at the age of 21 and researched all the summer and winter sports to see which one would give him the best chance.
Client Testimonials
“Your talk was superb. You helped our conference shine!”
– Daniel Ranta – Director, Knowledge Sharing – ConocoPhillips
“Ruben did a phenomenal job of bringing a message of hope to our associates.”
– David Erland – New York Life
“Ruben, you have inspired us all to reach new heights, and for that we salute you.”
– Kurt Ritter – General Marketing Manager – Chevrolet Motor Division
“Ruben’s message was insightful, motivating and inspirational. Ruben stands out a as a role model for all who have dreams and want to learn how to turn them into reality.”
– Neddy Perez – Shell Oil
“Ruben ignited our meeting. His message was right on target. It generated immediate action and helped us excel as a company.”
– George Chavel – CEO – Sodexo
“This was a fantastic lesson on leadership. Listening to ‘The story of your dreams and your life’ is a real example for us to follow as Business leaders.”
– Caroline Basyn – CIO – Bacardi
Over 100 Fortune 500 Clients in Five Continents
