By Tonatiuh Gutierrez

Jorge Vergara Madrigal is considered one of the best entrepreneurs in Mexico. He is even considered to be at the level of Carlos Slim (second wealthiest man in the world, owning almost everything in Mexico). But Jorge did not begin in a wealthy status. Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco – a beautiful city of amazing places and gorgeous women – he began working at the young age of 9, not because he needed it but because already showed passion for learning. He believed the only place where you learned something new every day was in the workplace. He was a very shy, quite, and disciplined kid – not an outstanding student but never flunked a class. After much thinking he left school and pursued sales as his career of choice.

At 17, he entered the world of Real Estate and soon enough his eagerness and skills led him to be named manager of the sales team. But Mexico was hitting a hard economic situation and this is when he faced his first challenge: bankruptcy. He went through being a mechanic, receptionist, and translator before he started getting into the food industry, first selling tacos and later opening an Italian Restaurant. Soon he realized his current lifestyle wasn’t fulfilling, he wasn’t getting that joy of what he was doing. The food industry and bad habits led him to get into a horrible health condition and it was when his health was in danger that he made a decision to improve it – and so his career at Herbalife, a company that offers pills to supply to one’s diet, was born.

Working for Herbalife allowed Jorge to learn how Network Marketing really worked; needless to say he became very successful in it. His outstanding sales skills and enthusiasm positioned him as one of the top sellers in the company. Independently he grew and soon he proposed Mark Hughes (Owner of Herbalife back then) the idea of opening its enterprise in Latin America and changing some of the products so the Latin market could be familiar with it. Mark Hudges disagreed completely. Following his ideology and principles, Jorge Vergara left the company and founded Omnitrution. Omnitrution began in Mexico with a $10,000 loan, 6 independent distributors, 3 employers, and one product. It has now grown to nearly 4 million independent distributors in over 14 countries, more then 10,000 employers and a line of more then 70 products dedicated purely to nutrition, a makeup line plus more. The large revenue company has changed its name and now it’s known as Omnilife.

Jorge Vergara is also the owner of 4 soccer clubs: Club Guadalajara also known as “Chivas”( the biggest soccer team in Mexico), Saprisa ( the biggest soccer team in Costa Rica), Chivas USA, and Chivas China. Quite a lot to not only own but also to manage to keep up with. Besides Chivas (Mexico), Chivas USA is also making a name for itself in the United States and worlwide as well.

His greatest achievement thus far is not the succer clubs or Omnilife, it’s a project called Educare. His dislike for how education is manipulated through repression and punishment led him to found this school system that today, is considered to be one of the most effective ways to educate. “The way that kids are being taught these days is not the most effective” – he says – “they are taught most of their education through reading but that only can do so much. The best way people learn is doing it, experiencing it and Educare focuses on that”. To top it off, he is also the owner of Music Label ( a large Music Production Company) and has founded his own Charity Organization because like any other truly successful entrepreneur, he believes that sharing is giving.

As a young boy, Jorge Vergara had a lot exposure to many types of music. He began Suave records and OML Entertainment (now owned by his son) to hold contests up, where groups from many countries could play and get the exposure that they needed.

His love for the sixth art led him to begin his production company “Anhelo”, which financed the movie Y tu mama tambien – which was nominated for an Oscar. It also produced “El ezpinaso del Diablo” (a horror film) and “The assassination of Richard Nixon”, which should hit the theatres soon. Currently, Jorge‘s biggest project goes by the name of Centro Culturar JVC. The project will cost an estimated of 750 million dollars. The project will consist of eleven “green” buildings, which is meant to encourage workers and improve the environment.

The project features a school, a theater, a music production center and other amenities that have not been revealed yet.

Going into Depth

To really see what Jorge Vergara is all about we must look at Omnilife in depth first. Jorge felt that Herbalife was not the company that the common Latin American wanted to deal with. Herbalife was the American dream, a fancy Mercedes, big house in Beverly Hills, this open a world of opportunities to many Latin Americans who were looking to eat, pay rent, and clothe themselves – needless to say, many grew up to much more than that. As Vergara calls it “vitamins for the poor”, Omnilife’s products are a mix of vitamins and minerals that complement traditional diets and even substituted them. The company is a multi-level organization that stresses fair income distribution, which in a way motivates employees to try their best. Now they have the power to earn the amount the money they feel they deserve. Not only do people have control of their income, but they also get incentives. People can qualify to win cars, trips, and houses. The company made the dream of many people of traveling outside their small community, to come true. Vergara does not believe in sales techniques or anything like that. He teaches people to just be enthusiastic and proud of the product so that there excitement can transmit to other people – Which PUALifestyle believe is one of his keys to success.

Anything that makes possible for his distributors to get the edge in the competition, he will do. There are schools where his employees go and can start their journey in to personal growth. They learn about feeling, memories, meditation and many things. There have been cases where full classes of men just cried the whole period due to the fact that they were never able to express their feelings until those classes. He feels that his distributors are not working but are in reality, in a way, saving lives. Not only are people getting help with their health, but they are also given the chance of making more money.

As he puts it “Fear is one of the strongest forces that can make you or break you”. His motto is Kick the sh*t out fear. Not only the fear to go to a total stranger and offer him something, but to go for what you want.

Now for the last couple of paragraphs I have written about his life. Now you’re going to see why I believe Jorge Vergara is successful. One thing that he does so well and people love him for is something that many other CEO’s don’t dare to do, keeping in constant touch with employees, sales rep and distributors. Not only does he offer his phone number during meeting, but he takes it a step further and stays about 30 minutes to one hour taking pictures and talking to HIS people. There, I learned that to be a leader doesn’t mean to be the “ultimate” thing, here was a guy who got along with everyone in his company well and he made them feel important.

I actually went to one of his meetings, we took a picture and began talking about soccer, about one of the players getting hurt and other stuff. The fact that I got to talk to him like that, with no bodyguards around, no censorship, no time limit, made me wonder what could I achieve. This guy was just a happy person, who in his pure will, motivated us (my cousin Isaac and I) to become better people. He took the time of speaking to a group of young kids who he may never see again, and he didn’t do it for fame, but because he loved it. My parents actually got the chance to fly with him in his private Boeing 737 and go backstage with him, eat with him, and just chill with him. I’m so proud of them.

So not only does he have personal contact with his people, but he also constantly motivates them. Now I’m not just talking about motivating his people to sell more by being in front of the stage and cheering, clapping, dancing or being electrifying (instead he is actually calmed and relaxed). What I’m talking about is teaching and leading with example to live a more fulfilling and exciting life. In his meetings he talks about ways to save the earth, relief your life from stress, explain how become a positive person and also encourages his employees to go after their dreams. He knows that the best way for his employers to be successful is for them to have a great life. Something like Google does by having those amazing entertaining buildings where employees can really relax, instead of stress themselves. Can you see a common pattern here?

Had he not taken the risk and overcome the fear he felt, he wouldn’t have been successful. Most people would have felt quit nice knowing that they are the top sales in a company, and that your health and wealth are doing good. But that is not the Jorge Vergara way- he left the company to start his own. That is true courage. Keep in mind that he did take a calculated risk because in Herbalife he became very knowledgeable in how Network Marketing works, but just the fact that he stared from scratch and left his comfortable life to start a company is quite a gamble. He bought Chivas, even though the club was in the edge of bankruptcy, despite being the second biggest team in Latin America. He invested 120 million dollars in it and now he has turned it into a club worth 600 million and is just expanding in a unbelievable rate.

What stands out the most to me is his take on fear. He is not afraid of making that hard decision, he is not afraid of dreaming, not afraid of talking, he is not afraid, period. Jorge even says that he is not afraid of anything. Like I said before he was not afraid to start his business. He was not afraid of buying Chivas. And one thing that he does so well is not afraid of bruising his ego. When Jorge is unknown or has not experience in a certain thing or situation he is not afraid to ask. For example, when he bought Chivas, he had to learn a lot about soccer, so he surrounded himself with people that knew a lot about soccer and how a team is supposed to be operated. While producing the movie Y tu mama tambien, he met with outstanding filmmakers to help him with the movie. Jorge is a dreamer and even though it has costed him a few enemies, he will not stop being one. When people ask him if Chivas is going to win the league, he always answers ” Of course, without a doubt. We are the best team in the world”. While building the new stadium, he was asked how good it will be. His answer was ” It will be a work of art, it will top the big stadiums in Latin America and will be the most technological Stadium in the world”. To failures, this would sound like an arrogant person. To winners, it sounds like a way of creating this aura of unshakable confidence in one’s self. This is a perfect of case of aiming high and possibly miss, but not aiming low and hit.

Strategies Summary

* Direct contact with his independent distributors and employees. * First do the right thing then worry about money.
* It’s impossible to win money without first investing.
* Visualize everything you do.
* Give.
* Do what you love and the rest shall come.

Quotes from Jorge Vergara

“Creativity and imagination are the columns that every person needs to be successful”

“The one that designed the body designed it perfectly”

Words: Tonatiuh Gutierrez