The Entrepreneurs Radio Show 005 Roberto Candelaria

THE ENTREPRENEUR’S RADIO SHOW

Conversations with Self-made Millionaires and High-level Entrepreneurs that Grow Your Business

Copyright © 2012, 2013 The Entrepreneur‟s Radio Show Page 1 of 18

EPISODE #5: ROBERTO CANDELARIA

Introduction: You‟re listening to Diamonds in Your Own Backyard. The business owner‟s guide to

discovering success, wealth, and happiness within your own business where each week you‟ll hear

inspirational stories, strategies, and inside secrets of some of the most powerful small business owners

themselves. On the Amazing Women of Power Network powered by Raven International, and now here

is your host Travis Lane Jenkins and Sandra Champlain.

Roberto Candelaria

Travis: Hey, this is Travis Lane Jenkins.

Sandra: And this is Sandra Champlain.

Travis: I hear we‟ve got a special guest with us today.

Sandra: We do have a special guest, and as you know, I like to only have the most special guest, and I

would like to tell you a little bit about this one.

Travis: Okay.

Sandra: I had attended a conference in Las Vegas, and this fine gentleman was one of the speakers.

What he spoke about was sponsorship. Now, his name is Roberto Candelaria and he was an excellent

speaker and I have always associated sponsorship with things like the Olympics, or a major sporting

event, or something. It‟s the very first time hearing Roberto speak that connect an entrepreneur, a

business owner or someone like myself could actually have sponsorship. So listening to this guy he‟s

got great products and services, and he‟s got a real passion for the success of businesses and

organizations, and he teaches about profitability, growth, and long term sustainability. I know that he‟s

worked with people. He‟s directly connected or helped people connect to some major sponsorship from

companies like American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Dell computer, BMW, Hilton Hotels, Wells

Fargo, State Farm Insurance. I‟m sure there‟s more, more and more so.

Travis: Now those are the ones that do the sponsoring not the companies that they sponsored, right?

Sandra; I‟m sorry. That was what I meant to say. I‟m a little excited.

Travis: Just making sure.




Sandra: Yes, anyway the fact that I had a great conversation with him and he has generously agreed

to be our guest today. I am proud to introduce the extraordinary friend of mine Roberto Candelaria. So,

Roberto welcome to our show.

Travis: Yes, Roberto. Welcome.

Roberto: Well thank you. That‟s the first time that I‟ve been called extraordinary. I may have to write

that down.

Sandra: Stick with us and you‟ll get it more than once.

Travis: So, that is pretty impressive Roberto. I agreed that most people don‟t realize most business

owners don‟t realize that they can actually have a sponsor. Can you tell us more about that?

Roberto: I think a lot of people believed that they can‟t have a sponsor. We‟re kind of grown up in this

American culture that we have to do it on our own, and that if you can‟t go out, if you don‟t work your

butt off every day and do it all by yourself then you‟re not a success. I like to say that, why not go out

and live your dreams, make the impact that you want to make, grow your business to the level you want

to do it. To do with other people‟s money while helping them with their mission have their impact as

well.

Travis: Right, I think not only do people not think they can, I don‟t even think they think about it, right?

Roberto: People don‟t think about it. In fact there‟s not many statistics out there in terms of more profit

businesses, but in terms of non profit world, there‟s almost 2 million of non-profits here in America.

Less than 17% of them actually use sponsorship as the funding source for them, and that statistic is a

National Centre for Charitable Statistics. I mean, less than 17% of them, 2 million non profits actually

use sponsorship. So, I‟m assuming the numbers probably are even less when it comes to more profit

businesses.

Travis: Right, right. I was surprised when I first heard about it. I thought why would a big corporation

want to sponsor me? Maybe you could answer that question. Why would they want to sponsor a local

small business like mine?

Roberto: I hear that question all time on the road, and it‟s one that I even as a business owner myself

struggle with sometimes. I‟ve been able to go out and do this for other people, and teach other people

how to do it, but there are still times in the back of my head, I‟m like “I‟m just one person, why would

someone want to do this for me? At the end of the day, the companies do it for a couple of reasons.

Number 1 is they want to make a statement. They want to make a statement to their target audience.

Like “Hey, we have the same core values as you do. We‟ve got the same belief system that you do,




and we want to show you that were here.” They do it to build brand loyalty. Especially right now in this

economy and the Olympics right now going on is a great example. Everybody is fighting for that all

mighty advertising dollars to show, “Hey we support team USA.” or “We support London,” whatever

their country is, they‟re sitting there marketing their sponsorship dollars behind it. And even though if

they weren‟t able to necessarily secure the sponsorship or outgoing this canvass marketing around.

Just this morning there was this article that came out about Nike and what they‟re doing in terms of

canvass marketing to try over power Adidas and all the manipulation for sponsorship for the Olympics.

So, they‟re trying to make a statement, they‟re trying to build brand loyalty and at the end of the day it

comes down is they want to reach their target market. They want to have, to be able to get a return on

investment. They want to able to get future business, and they want to make sure that they‟re serving

their audience, and so whether you‟re an entrepreneur or with, it‟s just you and that‟s how my business

started, it was just me.

Travis: Right.

Roberto: Or if you‟re a major Fortune 500 company their sponsorship available is finding the right fit for

you in terms of core values and messaging an audience.

Travis: So it‟s kind of like a grass roots approach or the, and tell me if I‟m wrong here, so the

corporation that would sponsor the company they view it as a grass roots approach for brand loyalty,

for building their brand awareness, would that be a good way of explaining it?

Roberto: That is a very accurate way to explain it. One of the things that like to tell people or share with

people if we drive down the road and we see billboards. I can‟t tell you how many billboards I see here

in Houston, and I always say “You know what, I need to call that number. I need to go to that website,”

but the fact is 5 minutes later or more realistically 45 minutes later after I‟ve sat on Houston traffic and

made it home, I‟ve completely forgot what number I was going to call or what billboard I was going to.

So, traditional advertising while it‟s been a way of companies to get themselves out there, it‟s not as

strong as it used to be because companies are having difficult time tracking their ROI. So, when they

look at sponsorship, yes it‟s very much a grass roots to how do we get connected. It‟s also basically

taking a theatre term is taking it from a monologue with that billboard that‟s just up there that‟s actually

up there just talking and everybody sitting there is listening to a dialogue. It‟s making it a conversation

and it‟s allowing them to do their research and development. Just yesterday, I was talking with a pretty

major microphone company about an upcoming event that I‟ll be doing in September with Wendy and

as we talked to this organization about microphones we said “Why are you considering this event? And

the number 1 reason that he gave us is, we‟re trying to reach physicians and we know that Wendy has

a background working with the medical community so being there in Charleston gets us in the room to

do the research to make sure that our next product that we develop actually serves the market that we

wanted to serve.




Travis: Brilliant. I want to add one thing because I know from personal experience that B2B

businesses, in other words Business to business companies, we have a hard time tracking down the

business owners. So, this is an effective way to get in front of that business owner or actually,

strategically to get in front of that business owner. Right? In that scenario.

Roberto: Most definitely, most definitely is.

Travis: Yeah. So can I give you a couple of examples, let‟s play with this a little bit and in that way we

can make sure that were all in the same page, as far as some examples of how this would work. So

let‟s say, my business, one of the businesses that I own help business owners, so maybe a good

strategic partner would be Wells Fargo for mine. Do you agree with that?

Roberto: I agree, a good strategic partner could be Wells Fargo in terms of reaching to other business

owners and helping entrepreneurs. One of the things you want to think about is who‟s your target

market and who the target market of the sponsor is, and where do they meet, where do they match,

and how is it a win, win, win for everybody. So the agreement is in true integrity. So you benefit, the

sponsor benefits, and pretty sure your audience and their audience, and so...

Travis: True alignment there, right?

Roberto: Oh yes, true alignment. I believe that sponsorship can be that win, win, win it has to be a true

value to everyone involved. Otherwise, it can‟t be done in integrity it‟s my personal belief.

Travis: Right.

Roberto: Some other ideas for you personally would be companies such as State Farm. I have been

privileged to work with State Farm now for over 10 years and in different ventures and one of the things

is how many of your entrepreneurs that you‟ve worked with maybe don‟t have business insurance, or

don‟t realize that they need to have it. So, that‟s where a company such as State Farm, or another

insurance company come to be a good fit. There are obviously companies such as the Sands Club or

Cosco and half of it is the office supplies store. Staples and Office Depot are doing a lot of business

owners right now because they realize “Hey these are the people that keep our doors open.”

Travis: Right. People that buy volume from them.

Roberto: Correct.

Travis: So there are several businesses that, Staples, Office Depot, insurance companies would align

with my business because I speak with business owners. Does it matter if I have a list, if my platform

let‟s say a hundred business owners, or a thousand, or ten thousand? How much of a difference does

that make?




Roberto: Well the size of the lists truly makes the difference of how much value you can deliver back to

the sponsor, in regards to how much of an investment that they would be willing to make in your

company as a partnership. Obviously, how many people you reach is crucial to your platform but I find

that the core values and your willingness to succeed and deliver to them is more important. There have

been times where I know organizations, and I even worked with some of them. We‟ve had only 10 or 15

people in a room and gotten the $15,000 - $20,000 sponsorship, where there‟s been organizations that

have 200 people in a room and be able to only get a $5,000 sponsorship.

Travis: What‟s the difference there?

Roberto: it‟s about showing your sponsor we‟ve got the right people. We have the decision makers you

have been looking for, the audience that you‟re looking for right here and the clear picture we can paint

to them about, yes, this is your target market the higher the investment is going to be from them.

Travis: Right. That makes me think of an old saying that “I would rather convince 10 people a 100% of

the way than a thousand people and 10% of the way.

Roberto: It‟s very true. That‟s it.

Travis: So, it sounds like that would carry a cross with exactly what you‟re saying is because a lot of

people don‟t get that. If you can show complete alignment with your platform, your list with the people

that follow you, or do business with you, then they are much more valuable to that sponsor, right?

Roberto: Agreed.

Travis: Yeah.

Travis: So let‟s take a harder one. I‟m going to put in the spot here and just kind of come up with

different businesses on the top of my head. So let‟s say Jed‟s Hardware. What would Jed look for as a

sponsor, as a corporate sponsor?

Roberto: Jed‟s Hardware actually one of the place that Jed‟s Hardware could start with is local sales

reps. Sponsorship just isn‟t necessarily. “Hey I‟ve got these live events coming up” or “I‟ve started a

book” or “I need to buy some TV advertising.” Then it could be some in store promotion, or maybe a

community event that Jed‟s Hardware wants to do to draw more traffic into the store. Jed‟s could go to

some of its vendors to provide its tools, or the electrical wiring or you could go to the DuPont‟s.

Roberto: Yes, you go to the DuPont‟s, you could go to the 3Ms and say, “Hey we‟re going to do this

community event and this is going to bring more exposure to the store which is obviously help sell more

of your product, and get those local sales reps involved with those major international brands that

you‟re working with. Bring them and do an event that serves the community. I always stressed that you




want to do something that serves people and by serving and by giving it‟s always going to come back to

you in the end. And that‟s what I recommend with the hardware store.

Travis: He could do too. What comes in mind to me is I analyze businesses, and so Jed‟s Hardware

has two customers. He has the homeowner, and he has the contractor, right?

Roberto: Correct.

Travis: So, maybe he creates one community event for the homeowner and finds a corporate sponsor

that really aligns with that. Maybe Better Homes and Garden, or whatever, and then he has a separate

one that is geared towards contractors that is a lunch and learn those guys can come in and buy the

products and whatever. So, is that something along the line that you would tell Jed‟s to do with his

hardware store?

Roberto: That‟s exactly along the line of what I would suggest and since you brought us to lunch and

learn, it‟s something that you could even do it by partnering with the local communities. He could do a

monthly lunch and learn type of thing, or do with series of it that the contractors come in and every

single lunch is sponsored by different one of his vendors, and they give the opportunity to teach these

contractors first hand, why their product is the one they need to be using opposed to their competitor‟s

products.

Travis: Right. While building a loyalty because of that what you said earlier, instead of a monologue

you‟re having dialogues. They‟re eating, they‟re talking, they‟re laughing, and they‟re sharing personal

stories and building rapport with each other, right?

Roberto: Exactly. And it‟s allowing that sponsor with “Hey you know what, we‟re talking to the

contractors here in the front line and this is what they like, this is what they don‟t like, and this is what

they really wish we would do.” Then they can take that back to their corporate offices and say “Hey, this

is the feedback that we‟re getting from the people that actually use our stuff, not people that are locked

up in the office just dreaming up what we should make next.”

Travis: Brilliant. So let‟s try another one. So, Sandra owns a couple of businesses. One of her

businesses is a chocolate shop. Maybe that one is going to be harder for you I don‟t know. What would

your take be on that? Who would be the sponsor for that business?

Roberto: Well first of all, I love chocolates, and I‟ve been waiting to try.

Travis: Sandra, can you send our wonderful guest a package?

Sandra: You bet.




Travis: For being on our show.

Roberto: Everybody heard that. You know it goes back to her coffee shop, but her chocolate shop.

Travis: It is a Coffee and Chocolate sorry about that.

Roberto: Score! Coffee and Chocolate are two great things. You know I have a store in Connecticut

and one of the things that I would do at a store is. Maybe not necessarily have Sandra bringing in a

bunch of sponsors herself but actually working with a few other local businesses and put together

something for the community. In terms of, actually we can go a couple of different ways with these. My

brain is like, I have an AGV brain that ideas always come into my head and then I actually decide which

one I want to go with it.

Travis: That‟s just a sign of brilliance.

Roberto: Cool, extraordinary and brilliance in a span of a day!

Travis: Right.

Roberto: There are, unfortunately, I‟m glad these services are available but there are, at least in

Houston some battered women‟s shelter. These women sometimes don‟t have the luxury of enjoying

Sandra‟s chocolate or someone else‟s chocolate. They don‟t have the luxury of those finer things in life,

per say. Maybe it‟s something where Sandra creates an event to partner with other local businesses

maybe a day spa, or hair salon, and then go to some of the other vendors in the community. I keep

saying the community because I want people to understand that corporate sponsorship doesn‟t mean

that you have to have the Dell or the BMW behind you. You can start local sponsorship at a local level

with local businesses. These are the businesses that are already there supporting your little league

teams, supporting your PTAs. Give your local business owners and small businesses the chance to

support you as well. Small businesses is the lifeblood of America right now, and so,

Travis: So instead of just big corporations, think of local businesses as well.

Roberto: Yes, definitely think of local businesses. They‟re already supporting entire schools, our PTAs,

they supporting your little league teams. Give them the opportunity to get that business and put that

passion fusion back in your community. Back to Sandra‟s business here, I‟m sorry I go off on rapid trips

sometimes.

Travis: It‟s okay, it‟s a brilliant idea. I love it.

Sandra: Yeah.




Roberto: I work with a Salon, or a Spa, or a nail placer and then go to one of the insurance companies,

or go to a bank, or go to someone that‟s looking for, “Hey we need a little bit of an added press right

now,” and go to them and put on one of this events or you can go to one of those women shelters and

you can take some chocolates and you can have somebody go do manicures and pedicures for these

ladies. Give them a makeover that they‟ve probably never had. There‟s an organization that I‟ve been

very privileged to do some work with and in the end I called “Hello Gorgeous” and they have sponsors

with their local organizations and all they do is go to the local hospitals and work with women who are

cancer patients. And they created this mobile page for us and they kidnapped, per say, these women

for just a day. To take their mind off from Chemo, to take their mind off everything else and it makes

them gorgeous. They give them a haircut; they dye their hair, whatever they want, do facials,

manicures, pedicures and massages. Just for a day, it takes away that feeling that I‟m a cancer patient

and I don‟t know how much longer I have.

Sandra: Wow, that‟s really great.

Travis: Right.

Roberto: To be able to do something like that in your community with a battered women‟s shelter or

with any type of organization or maybe an orphanage, a foster care, how many foster kids may not get

the birthday party that they want. Sandra can partner with other people to put on this community

birthday parties for people that are in the foster care system. It gives those big sponsors a chance to

shine and that it also gives Sandra‟s chocolate shop more exposure in it. It strengthens her roots in the

community as someone that‟s not just there as the business owner, but there to serve her community

as well.

Sandra: Even in holiday times I‟m just thinking of that. So many families and people that just don‟t have

enough to give their own kids gifts and to create some kind of a drive or something, give chocolates,

give whatever. That‟s a great community based thing. Thank you for that.

Roberto: You‟re welcome.

Travis: Yeah. Good stuff. So let‟s take this apart and look a little closer at it. So let me describe what I

think I‟m hearing and you tell me if I‟m on the right track okay?

Roberto: Okay.

Travis: So with Sandra‟s Coffee and Chocolate Shop, what could happen is we could have several

sponsors, right? More than one? Okay, and so maybe even hers since its all local people, maybe her

main corporate sponsor could be State Farm.




Roberto: Correct.

Travis: Or could be, maybe the coffee manufacturer. You know, Folgers, that‟s probably not what you

use at the coffee shop but anyways someone like that, and then, you can have a second tier local

business sponsors as well and then tie it into a community give back type thing simultaneously so it has

multiple purposes. It drives good will for all of the businesses that are tied in and that it also is effective

that making a difference with people that need help. Is that right?

Roberto: That‟s right. I completely agree with that.

Travis: And so maybe you have 1 lead big time sponsor and 3 small local talents, or maybe you have

10 local small talents sponsors and no big time conglomerate or big company. It could go either way

right?

Roberto: It could go either way. I think the most important things when it comes to sponsorship is being

able to dream. As a child, the most important thing, the most important lessons that my parents taught

my sister and I as little kids was we could go out and dream. There was this one time, I couldn‟t even

tell you what I had come up at that time. Because my brain has always been extremely creative and I

took these ideas from my parents but I don‟t remember the exact idea. What I remember my parents

telling me is, “You can dream anything in the world, why not dream bigger.” I think the same has

applied to sponsorship. There are endless possibilities, and it‟s about what you can go out there and

create as a fit for you, you can deliver value to a sponsor. In terms of unlimited possibilities, one of the

movies I used to love to watch growing up, and so when I think of when people ask what can be

sponsors. I think Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory, and you get to that part where everybody has

gotten their golden ticket and they all get there, and Willy Wonka takes them to these long hallways and

next to that very, very, very tiny, small, square hallways at the very end. From the inside, it looks as if

it‟s a small box, but as you begin to turn that wheel and they go in there‟s just this whirl of pure bliss,

the chocolate fountains, the river, the liquorice, the lollipops, and all the other stuff, and there was just

an endless world of pure imagination. That‟s where I like to say the sponsorship is, that if you can

imagine it, there‟s probably a way to get a sponsor, as long as you‟re doing it from the heart based

pace. If you truly want to deliver value, not only to your audience, but to your sponsor, make sure they

get much out of it as you do.

Travis: I love it. I agree with you. Sandra, were you going to say something?

Sandra: Because this whole thing has been so new to me, and you said that 17% of non profits

actually gets sponsorship. Sponsors have budgeted to give money, right? I mean they have a lot of

these big companies, this is a part of what they do, and so I never connected that they are out there,

wanting to give.




Roberto: Yeah, you‟re right. You and I got to have that conversation the other day and I think a lot of

people aren‟t aware that there‟s money out there. We hear it so much right now the economy, “Oh the

economy is crap. I can‟t get any money. Funding is so tight. We‟ve tried to get a credit card lately, have

you seen the interest rate? The banks not going to give you a loan, unless you have a incredible credit

score, and even then, what‟s your interest rate going to be?” There‟s just all of these horror stories out

there. People are trying to get funding, and the interesting part of sponsorship is. Sponsorship has been

on the rise since about 2007. This year 2012 it is estimated to have gone about 4.1%, 4.2% over last

year‟s which is an increase of 760,000,000 million dollars which makes the United States for 2012

there‟s an estimated almost 19 billion dollars available for sponsorship in the United States, and almost

52 billion dollars globally. So it‟s big money. There‟s a lot of money out there and in terms of live events

and causes, study shows from my EG that 25% of that funding is going to Cause and Events

marketing.

Travis: Cause and Events marketing meaning what we‟re talking about?

Roberto: Meaning everything that we‟ve been talking about here, right here, yeah.

Travis: Ok. Well, yeah. Adding commentary to what you said, the news is in business of selling fear.

Roberto: Yes.

Travis: While there have been tough economic times, it‟s just gotten to the point to where I quit

watching the news because they‟re so focused on the negative. I can‟t get access to the real news and

it‟s really frustrating for me. So, it leads back to the point that you were making that a lot of people that

just don‟t realize that there is money out there, and you just not have to know how to access it, and the

proper procedures for getting there, which is completely separate from all the negativity that„s been

perpetuated by the news and everything else is going on. So I didn‟t mean interrupt you were talking

Sandra?

Sandra: I just think that there is money available that people don‟t know so they start off with a dream,

right, and getting clear of what your messages and jumping on Roberto or whatever else. Really, and

then partnering in brainstorm probably to figure out some light minded company that share the same

core values, and I think you have mentioned once too that sponsorship doesn‟t just come in the form of

money, right?

Robert: Right. Yeah, it‟s definitely not just about the cheque.

Sandra: Right.




Roberto: Obviously as business owners, we can‟t phone up our electric company or water Company

and be like, “Hey, you know what I have this best buy gift certificate, can I pay my electric that way this

month?” I wish it works that way but the electric company is not going take a Best Buy gift card for our

bills. We need to make sure that if we go into sponsorship that we understand that we cash a huge part

of it, because we do have expenses. And our sponsors understand that we have expenses. But there

are also times we take that in kind. So, an example this microphone company that we were speaking

with yesterday, talking about doing sponsorship level where a portion of that, about 50-60% of that will

be in cash and the remaining amount will be a trade off products that we can then use to either A use it

for the event, or that we can use as giveaways for a ten digit event.

Sandra: I like it.

Travis: You know another thing is with so much video, TV on demand; the regular TV commercials for

a lot of these big companies are not working anymore because everybody is fast forward and fastened.

I know why I don‟t watch anything live anymore, I Tbo everything, and then I watch the show when I‟m

ready, and I nuke the commercials. So, they are getting more and more clever about baking it into the

cake, and so like American Idol, you constantly see Coca Cola glasses setting thereon right in front of

them which is sponsorship right? And there‟s no way you can Tbo that. So, my point is there are so

many different channels to get your message out on that‟s another reason that is driving the need for

sponsorship here is a lot of the old forms of media you test on a little bit in the beginning. A lot of the old

forms of media that used to work decades and decades aren‟t working anymore, and so that‟s a big

reason why these guys really want to use your platform to help have that dialogue.

Roberto: You hit on the American Idol and it‟s not just American Idol. I kind of laugh when I, one of the

things that I love to do with my family is we love to go to the movies every now and then when we‟re all

in town. It‟s just amazing, even in movie theatres right now. As they‟re watching that movie a Burger

King logo flashes by. I can‟t tell you how many movies now have product endorsements now have

product placements. How many iPhones and MacBook Pros have I seen in the movies lately, but

before everything used to be just a standard black screen, I mean they black out the Dell logo, they

black out Microsoft, you could tell it was an Apple thing. That they had the apple covered and there was

just a nice filter. It was a quiet promotion and product placement has become a huge on the

sponsorship right now. One of the things that local business owners and even online information

marketers consider it as they‟re making videos, think about what products that they used and they like

and approach those companies to see if there‟s a way that they can have that product sponsored for

the exposure that they‟ll be receiving for an online video. The world is quickly, quickly, quickly moving to

online videos and to Google and to local. When it comes to traffic of online, Cisco one of the things that

they put out and I know that Sandra and I have had this conversation with one of our mentors, the fact

that almost 90% of online traffic by the end of 2013 will be video.




Travis: Wow. That‟s unbelievable isn‟t it?

Roberto: That‟s an amazing thing that Cisco is putting out there. One of the other studies that Cisco

did also shows that almost 85% is Internet traffic will be from mobile devices. So, we‟re talking your cell

phones, your tablet, whatever they‟re going to come up next that just keeps technology evolving, and

so, it‟s a great way to go to those local companies, find the local representatives for Canon, for

Samsung, for Nikon. Go to your local camera stores and ask who is the local sales representative for X

brand and begin to develop a conversation with them about what your platform is, how much exposure

you have, and find out if there‟s a way to use some source of sponsorship in terms of products. Since

you‟re going to be doing the videos anyway, you might as well have the sponsor behind you so you can

get them to have additional exposure that you‟re going to be doing anyway.

Sandra: Roberto, I have a big question. Our show is Diamonds in Your Own Backyard and it‟s people

that have found their passion in their life and I just want to know how you who were taught by your

parents to dream big have now become such an individual in this sponsorship world to connect with

people. Like how in the world you got involved and choose this as your passion, that this is your

diamond and your own backyard. Can you share a little bit about your story? And how did you become

who you are today with us.

Roberto: You know, growing up I don‟t know anybody that has ever said, “I want to go raise

sponsorship dollars,I want to do fundraising when I grow up.” You always hear the „I want to be an

Attorney‟, or „I want to be a Doctor‟ or „I want to be an astronaut‟ and you don„t hear „I want to go raise

money for people‟ and that wasn‟t my childhood dream either. My childhood dream was that I was

gonna be a performer at Disney. I didn‟t know what I was going to do, I just felt that I was going to

perform at Disney, and my parents were kind enough to always encourage that dream. Besides ability

to dream, one of the other biggest things that our parents taught my sister and I was the importance of

a strong work ethic and the importance of do what you say when you say you‟re going to do it.

Sandra: Right.

Roberto: And so, my sophomore year at high school I was involved in choir, and drama, and band, and

all the fine arts stuff. Our choir had the opportunity to go perform at Walt Disney‟s World Resort in

Orlando for part of their Magic Music Base Program, and for anybody who has kids, or knows people

who have kids, you know, you just start selling those candy bars just for a dollar, and the school makes

25 or 50 cents. Or you‟re selling popcorn, or wrapping paper, or magazines, or you‟re having those big

sales, where you have to go to the grocery store and buy everything. Have your parents or yourself

flame over a hot oven baking cookies, and muffins, and all this type of stuff. And then, go on to sell it

the next day for a quarter or 50 cents. And I mean who knows with inflation the kids might be charging




more nowadays. But that was 13, 14, 15 years ago for me. I just remembered telling myself in my head

thinking, “Wow, that‟s a lot of 50 cents to pay for a $1,100 trip.”

Sandra: Yeah.

Roberto: I sold a lot of cookies, and so, I went out and I started talking to local businesses about ways

that they could partner with us to help send our choir to Disney. I didn‟t know that there was corporate

sponsorship. I just started doing it, and not only had my trip paid for but also contributed to the larger

funds well. So those that who couldn‟t raise all the money were able to go. After that, I was raising the

Assembly of God Church. They do this thing called fine arts, they do this national fine arts competition.

And I was very blessed to be able to compete at a national level with one of my best friends, and we

were on the same thing. It‟s like “Hey, we need to raise money to go to Orlando so we can fly going

there, we have to pay seven days hotel, we have to pay the entrance fees. How do we do this?” and so

we were back to asking businesses about it, and we were surprised how many local businesses

supported us. So, we did that and I went off to college and we‟re still doing it with non profits on the

side, and having an absolute blast doing it.

I remembered one day, I went to this company, everybody knows BMW, and I had this dream that they

were going to sponsor what we were doing. And this is what truly changed my course of me realizing

what sponsorship was, and realizes that it‟s something I wanted to do but it still wasn‟t going to be a job

for me. I was still just going to be help with non profits on the side.

I had a lady told me at BMW, “You know Roberto, you‟re very passionate and I‟m not going to give you

any money, just not yet, but what I will do is I will give you access to our press department. We will

write all of your press releases, or we will distribute them for you, and you can use our logo.” Now, all

these years later, I can look back and say “You know what, that was a pretty sweet gig.” As a child I

was kind of bummed, I was like, really? What am I going to do with the press releases? Press releases

are going to help you.

But, that name and partnering with BMW has allowed us to go forward and work with brands like Dell,

like State Farm insurance. We had that first one. We had that first big name. We were BMW. I was

working for companies doing this and having a blast, but in 2007 I got ill. In 2007 to 2009, I got several

surgeries, all abdominally related. In March of 2009, you know you hear those words that nobody really

wants to hear, and I was sitting at the bed at this hospital in the Medical Center here in Houston, Texas

and I have a doctor tell you “You‟ve got one year to live.” And that was a wakeup call for me. That was

a, you know, what am I doing? I have a great job, I thought I was happy, but if I had a year less, what‟s

my legacy going to be? That‟s when I started my business. That‟s when I started helping non profits

doing this and working with entrepreneurs to teach them the message of sponsorship, and that they

could go out there and it could fund their dreams. They could go out there and achieve their childhood




dreams. Have the reach they wanted to have. Have the impact that they wanted to have. To do it all

with other people‟s money and delivering them value so they could have the impact in the world they

wanted to have as well. That‟s how I got here and along the way I‟ve had some great mentors. People

that just crossed my path or I crossed theirs I should say, people that introduced me to Rick Frishman

and introduced me to Wendy. Who people who introduced me to Brendon Burchard. This was never

going to be my world, and all of it has come true because of my sponsors. Because sponsors have

allowed me to live my dreams, and because I was living my dream I was able to cross the paths of

these wonderful people who have now given me even bigger reason to dream and to go out and teach

more people that they too can do what I‟ve done. Now you don‟t have to go and teach people

sponsorship, you can be successful; you can accomplish your business goals, your business dreams

by partnering with other people to help them spread their messages as well.

Sandra: And now that you‟ve found your passion and you‟re in it and you‟re making a difference, how‟s

your health? It‟s obviously...a few years later.

Roberto: It took a few years later, and I still have some health challenges we‟re still making it through

them. All I can do is one, trust the doctors, and believe that they know what they are doing. But in life

we have choices, and the choice that I face that day. I think we all face every day is that we can make

the choice to go out and live our lives to the fullest and pray a 100% or pray 110% if you want to be a

little excited about everything or we can choose to sit back and play victim. Playing victim was never an

option for me. So, I‟m still going through some health to get through it. Every day I get a little bit

stronger, but the most important thing is to realize that we just got to find that thing in life that you want

so bad and you‟re so passionate about that even if you were not being paid for it, you would do it just to

do it, and that‟s when everything will come together for you. Is it easy? Not always. Are there times that

you‟re going to want to quit? Yeah there‟s times that I wanted to quit it is part of our human nature but

we have to realize “you know what, there‟s a bigger purpose.” And it‟s not just about me. It‟s not just

about what I think about, what I feel right now. One of my mentors, his name is Eric, two things he

taught me, well; he taught me more than two things. The two things that stick with me is number 1. I

was working with a group and Roberto I want to ask you something. Do you want the pain of raising the

money? Or do you want the pain of not doing your dream? And that just stuck with me so hard, until I

tell people, patience there is for all the time that we‟re talking to people about sponsorship. I say do you

want the pain of learning how to actually start doing sponsorship? Or do you want that pain of not doing

your dream? And telling it that you didn‟t make a difference in the impact that you know you were

meant to go out there to do.

And the second thing that he told me was, to always remember what the cause of not doing what you

say. You know Sandra, you‟ve got a big mission out there with your book. You‟re going to like just

completely change people‟s views about a lot of things that they thought that they knew. With Travis‟




work with entrepreneurs, I‟ve got to know just a little about it. I know what he‟s doing is an important

service that so many people need. We have to ask ourselves, what is the cost of not doing what we

say? If we don‟t live our passion, if we don‟t do what were called to do. What is the cost? Not the

financial cost, but what is the cost of the other people that we will not have served? It may not

accomplish what they need to accomplish because we didn‟t do what we said we would do.

Travis: That‟s one reason why I love entrepreneurs is you‟ve got this life ending, life threatening

experience and so rather than laying down and accepting it, you choose to fight it. Not only do you

choose to fight it, you choose to pursue your passion. So, number 1 congratulations I love to hear that

story. That‟s a story of empowerment and why entrepreneurs are so essential to our economy, and so

congratulations on that front. Most people I think would have given up and just went some place.

Maybe not given up on life but given up on pursuing their dreams. Does that make sense?

Roberto: Yeah, it does. And yet there were days that I wanted to do that. But we have to come to this

point in our lives where we realize that it‟s not just about us. That we‟re all here, and that we‟re all

interconnected for a bigger purpose, whatever you believe that bigger purpose is. That you have a

choice, you can either step up and that you can own your piece of victory, and own your piece of

greatness, and own your piece of contribution to this world. Or you can just say “You know what, I‟m

not just going to show up today.” It‟s a decision that we make every day when we wake up. Whether

we‟re going to show up and play, fully present and full out, or if we‟re going to let something get to us.

Travis: I think it goes back to your underlying belief and mentality as a young kid is dreaming big. As

you still have these dreams and you refuse to let go of them it makes me think of a little poem that

says, “I bought her life for penny and penny is what I got. If I had known that‟s how it worked then I

would have asked for more.”

Roberto: Yeah.

Travis: So many people are afraid to dream really, really big. It‟s funny because a lot of what you and I

do they are very different are very aligned because one of the things that I found with business owners

is most business owners when it‟s much more labour intensive to run a low profit, or business is not

making a lot of money, and they have worked an incredible amount of hours, and one of my dreams is

to teach business owners to transition their business to a level where they‟re making 200% ,300%,

400%, 500% not just for monetary reasons, but what happens is when that person is not a slave to their

business they have the opportunity grow and give back. So, by mentoring business owners to that next

level, I also want to teach them to find a charity that their passionate about, and tie that into their

business. Now I know that you have done that also because Sandra told me, the Make A Wish

Foundation. So, what could be more powerful than for business owners to all of a sudden start making

300%, 400%, 500% more and working half as much and taking that extra time that they have gained




from getting the right staff in place, and spending it with making a difference with Make A Wish.

Wouldn‟t that be powerful?

Roberto: Extremely powerful and it doesn‟t have to be Make a Wish, that‟s a cause that very near

and dear to me because I have the honour earlier this year to sit with Frank Shankwitz , founder of

Make A Wish Foundation and hear his story about how make a wish was started and why they do what

they did. They had no intention that Make a Wish would ever become what it would become to this day.

But it all started with that dream and a $15 donation from a grocery store cashier.

Sandra: Wow.

Travis: And so it doesn‟t need to be Make A Wish, it could be anything that your passionate about just

like what you talk about in business. Find something that touches your heart. Normally, it‟s something

associated with the way you grew up or someone that‟s made a difference in your life. You find that

passion in the charity, you‟ll be able to help them sustain their giving for not just a week, a month, or a

year, but for decades, as long as your business is around.

Roberto: Exactly, and always remember that no matter where you are in your life, we all have different

talents and so it‟s not about the cheque, it‟s not about the 5 dollars or 5 thousand dollars that you have

given a non profit organization. What you can give them, that‟s more important than that cheque is the

gift of your time and your talent. Because if you can show them how to accomplish a skill set, or if you

are an Attorney, donate your time so that they don‟t have the expense on legal fees that is when the

organization truly becomes sustainable and profitable because they‟re not spending all this money on

consultants.

Okay so people can find me online, on Facebook, at facebook.com/humanreturns, (H U M A N R E T U

R N S), Twitter handle is the exact same @humanreturns. Also, our website is

sponsorshipbootcamp.com and if any of your listeners care to go to the sponsorshipbootcamp.com we

have a free 3 parts video training series on corporate sponsorship that by going to that page and giving

your email address you can have access to.

Travis: Wonderful, and also what we‟ll do is if you don‟t mind is will take all of your contact information

and we‟ll place it at TravisandSandra.com I‟m not sure how, a lot of our listeners get the podcast from

different sources. For those of you who are not aware of TravisandSandra.com that‟s where we keep all

of the podcasts and where you can have the opportunity to interact with both of us, as well as videos

and other things. What I‟d like to do is we‟ll create a section just below this recording, this broadcast

and we‟ll put all of your Twitter, Facebook, and website links so that they can go there and just click on

and they can go straight to you.

Roberto: Sounds good.




Travis: Listen, you have been a wonderful guest, very impressive, you have the amount of things that

you have accomplished in your young life. You‟re on an incredible path of not only great success but

making an incredible difference in a large number of people‟s lives and so I commend you for that. And

for that reason alone I‟d like to get to know you on a deeper level and spend more time with you. So, I

really, really, appreciate you coming in and spending time with us. Sandra?

Sandra: And oh from me to Roberto, just the fact that you‟re following your passion and the difference

that you‟ve made so far, the difference that you‟re going to make to people that may never meet and

people that can also have their dreams fulfilled, have great lives and lives that you will touch. Like I

said, you‟ll never see them, most of them. I just really want to acknowledge you for spending some time

with us being such a person that followed your passion, wakes up in the morning everyday and actually

choose to continue even though sometimes it‟s not so easy, but that you do that. That you are in touch

of who you are and what you‟re up to, and so you can count me in your future endeavours and anything

I can do so you to make a difference I‟m here for you. Thanks again for being with us today.

Roberto: Thank you to both of you for having me, and I look forward to not only serving both of you in

the future, but also your audience as well, so that if they need any sponsorship training they can go to

sponsorshipbootcamp.com for that free 3 part training series and I look forward to seeing you all again

soon.

End of Interview

Travis and Sandra: Great.

Travis: Thanks for tuning in Diamonds in Your Own Backyard and Sandra will be putting up a video

here soon. For those of you who don‟t know the back story on Diamonds in Your Own Backyard, it is a

wonderful story and were going to put up a video on that here pretty soon. So go to

TravisandSandra.com until next time, have a great day guys.




How We Can Help You

We know that finding someone that you can trust online today is hard and that so many “so called

gurus” are self-‐appointed and have never really even done what they teach you to do. That‟s exactly

why we created the Double Your Profits Business Accelerator. This is an exclusive offer for our fans at

a fraction of its normal cost.

Here's what to expect. We'll Schedule a 'One on One' private session, where we'll take the time to dive

deep into your business and tell you what is missing, so that you can have your best year ever!

We'll do this by performing a S.W.O.T. Analysis. This tells us your Strengths, Weaknesses,

Opportunities and Threats within your business.

This will be an eye opener for YOU, for several reasons, however some of the most common reasons

are.

As the 'Business Owner' it‟s difficult to see the big picture of your own business because you‟re in the

middle of a daily management.

And you are too emotionally involved to completely impartial.

This is a common problem for EVERY business owner. It doesn‟t matter if you are a one-man army, or

an army of 150, the problem is still the same.

Travis Lane Jenkins

Business Mentor-Turn Around Specialist

Radio Host of The Entrepreneurs Radio Show

“Conversations with Self-made Millionaires and High-level Entrepreneurs That Grow Your Business"

http://www.rockstarentrepreneurnetwork.com/biz-accelerator

http://theentrepreneursradioshow.com/

The Entrepreneurs Radio Show 005 Roberto Candelaria

Small Business & Entrepreneurship

battered womens

build brand

grass roots

state farm

good strategic

local business

state farm

business owners