E52: Resilience and Perseverance: The Journey of Diego Hurtado, Owner of Diaza Sportswear

Jim: Remote Start Nation, in the Columbian language, Diaza stands for passion, endurance, and hard effort, three things that as entrepreneurs we know so well. On today's episode, we are going to be listening to the journey of Diego Hurtado, owner of Diaza Sportswear, on how his moved to America, his failed professional soccer career and his dedication and discipline have shaped for a very successful future for his. I'm Jim Doyon, your host, and I wanna welcome you to another episode of Remote Start. Let's get this show started. Diego, welcome to the Remote Start Podcast.

Diego: Hey Jim. Thank you. Thank you, man. Thank you for having me. Happy to share anything that can help other people and my story. I think it'll be a great one. Thank you, thank you.

Jim: I'm so excited we had a chance to talk before the show, and I know this is gonna be a great episode and I think there's gonna be a ton of value for the Remote Start Nation. With that, let's get this started and I'd love to know if we didn't know you, if we just met you, tell us something that we wouldn't know, tell us something about you that we wouldn't know.

Diego: That's a good question. Probably you wouldn't guess that, like I came from a very, I don't wanna say dangerous, like little town in Bogota, like it was not horrible, but it was very hard, to be there in the, that neighborhood. And I wouldn't never guess to be here in the United States, even just speaking English or having a business or being here, in New York, like New York City living here. For me, it was a dream and I never thought I was gonna be here, you probably never guess that, that I came from those places. And what I have accomplished so far is like you wouldn't relate one another, it's very hard.

Jim: And I'm so excited to hear about that journey. At what age did you move to America?

Diego: I came here when I was 17, I was like 16, 17. So I came to Miami, I came alongside with my mom. She decided to come here because she got married with a guy. He was Colombian, but he was American. So it was an opportunity she was gonna come by herself and the guy say, no, you gotta take your kids. And by the time I was 16, so had the opportunity to come with her, and, but we moved to Miami, we got here to Miami and it was hard at that time because I was playing already professionally in Columbia. I wasn't signed, but I was training with the pros. So I had to choose to be there with the pro. At 16 years old that's all you, that was all I was thinking about, being a pro. And then she was like, no, you gotta come with me, or you stay here by yourself. And then I was like I have my dad over there, but it wasn't the same because I always live with my mom. So I was like, it was hard for me to choose but then even my coaches say just go to United States. You're gonna make it there, it's gonna be easier, they say it's gonna be easier for you to make it over there in the United. Soccer over there is not, it's not that good, so you're gonna make it easier. So actually, I came here because I thought it was gonna be that easy and I just jumped and we moved to Miami. It was a tremendous change, it was going from Super, like different places.

Jim: Did it take you a while to adapt and get used to the culture here?

Diego: To be honest, no. Miami is a very, there's a lot of Latinos over there, right? South Americans, Colombians, Argentinas, Brazilians, like Venezuelans. So it was very easy for me to be honest, and I was happy, man. Like we move, like when you go away from your home, from everything, you kinda get sad and you think it's gonna very hard. But to me it was like I was enjoying it, right? I was like, I moved from this city. Like I come from a very tough place, right? Like it was very tough when I live, like I was in probably one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Columbia, Bogota, so when you go from that, a scenario and you go and live in Miami everything is yo, I'm in paradise, right? You had the beach. I never, I was never in the in the ocean or not, nothing like that wasn't the beach or nothing like that. So I was like, this is wonderful. This is great for me, even though I arrived to Miami in the next three days, at 16 years old, I was already working a car wash with the sun for 90 degrees heater and it was very hot and, but I was loving it anyway. Like I was working like eight hours cleaning cars and all that, ‘cause my stepdad thought that was what we had to do right at the time. Obviously, he didn't have much money and all that kind of stuff, so he needed some. So he put me to work right away and it was like, okay, I came here, but I'm good man. Even though I'm working and I'm getting some dollars, like I was getting like paid $80 and that to me was a lot of money. Oh yeah. That time, that to me was like, oh my God, I never, I went crazy, bought shoes, I bought this, I sent my dad some clothes, it was hard though, ‘cause obviously you live your family, your friends. But then I think I got used to it really quick.

Jim: And did you help, did soccer then help to be that comfortable place that you found new friends and you were able to establish yourself?

Diego: Yeah, I definitely I think soccer. It was very important to me in that aspect because then I ride to high school, right? I ride here in the summer, so we were on vacation, right? And then when the summer was over, my stepdad was like, you need to go to school, and I thought I was just gonna work, like I didn't even think I was gonna go to school, and then he was like, you need to go to school because you have to. And then I hit the school when I went there. And it was a big school man, I used to, like my school in Columbia was little. This school had like soccer fields, football fields, baseball, all this kind of stuff, and I was like yo, what is this? Like I thought I was in a private school, a public school, but it was different for me. And then I joined the team and as soon as I joined the team, like I was the best one out there ‘cause I was in shape. I was coming from, like playing like with pro. And then you come to the high school level and the high school, us, I was playing with, it wasn't good at soccer. Like all the kids didn't play soccer. But so when I came to that school, everybody was like, yo, the Colombian kid. The Colombian, this, that I was scoring goals, we beat a team that we didn't beat in like 10 years, and we set a record at score three goals. I was in the, like in the screen I was like wow. It was big for me. But soccer helped me to that, right? If I wouldn't have soccer, then I was like just in class doing regular things. But I was always trained in playing with the soccer team, and it was just high school, that was just the beginning of what he was coming. I was already enjoying it and, but soccer helped me too, that, it was very important to me.

Jim: So with soccer you move here, you get into high school soccer, and then where did your career go from there?

Diego: Okay, so then from there obviously I was one of the top players from that high school and the coach from that high school, he's you need to play in the higher level. So he took me to this, and it was like, right now they call it yeah, the academy level, which all the best kids, 16, 17, they play. So it was something that, it wasn't for everybody, it was just for the top players. And as soon as I got there, they signed me, they're like, oh, we need you here, just sign for the team, you're gonna be in the academy team. So I started playing with the academy, but then they started charging and it's a lot of money for the academy. So I was, I always just got here and I didn't have nothing, I was like, my mom couldn't pay for my stepdad, he didn't even want me playing soccer. He wanted me to work in, so then I was like, okay, what do I do now? So I stay in the academy as much as I could, and then I said you know what? I paid this for myself. So I find a job a night, so I could, after training, I go work in like a movie theater, and I will make some money and that money will go to training. To play in this academy level, right? But at the end I couldn't do that much, like I couldn't do as good as I thought because going to high school training and then working, getting at my home at 12, 1:00 AM doing the same day over and over, I start getting injured, and my performance wasn't that good. So I think that lack of support from my mom, which she didn't know obviously, and my stepdad and that kind of stuff, I'm not blaming them, but they didn't understand at that time like that I was a talented kid. Because if they knew, I know that we would've supported, right? Like they would be like, nah, let's do everything so this kid can go for it, they didn't know. And I don't blame it at all, but I had to go that route and then it was hard to keep going at the level that I came from Columbia. So I started getting injured, it was hard, but then I played, I got here at junior year, then senior year I played in high school, academy level. We won states we want stays, I joined another high school, which was the top high school in Miami, with the best players. So we went to states on national, like we did a lot of stuff and I got recruited from U, from D one colleges. But I couldn't go because I didn't speak English. Oh, wow, and I had to do, I had to do the SATs and all that, I took the SATs seven times, seven times, and I didn't pass none of them, like, I didn't get the score that they were asking. So I couldn't go to any of these D one programs and they were offering like good scholarship. It wasn't a full ride, but it was a good, and it was a huge college, right? That's what everybody dream of, right? USF in Florida, like big schools in soccer. But then they told me like, oh, look, this is the seventh time you take this t it's not gonna work for you, so I'm sorry, we gotta move on. So I was like, okay, like I was kinda like depressed because I didn't know what to do, I had to pay. Okay, now I stay in Miami, I don't go to school and I just work right. So I don't know, it was an angel that one coach called me, it was an NAI program in Georgia. And he is like, Diego, you only have to take the ACT and you only have to get a lowest score, don't worry about it, can you do it? And I was like, man, I have to do it. So I went and I studied hard for three weeks that I was studying, I didn't even know the language, but I was studying. I was like, I don't know what I'm gonna pass this, but I need to pass this. And then I went, and when passed it, like I have the, just enough to go to that school. And it was ANL program and I got there and from there it was good, man. I played there for four years, it was a good level, we had a lot of European guys from England, like top players. And the level was really good, the coach was good. He was Colombian too. He taught me a lot. He helped me a, I had a lot of, I have a soccer in college it was very hard for me ‘cause I had to work still, like none of my parents will pay for anything, like I had to pay my books, I had to pay for my food, yeah. I had to do all these things that not even the coach knew. So he was demanding, like, why aren't you performing? Why aren't you having the grace? Why aren't you doing this? Why aren't you doing that? And I'm out here working till 1:00 AM in a restaurant to try to cover my food, my own food, so it was a tough one, and then my mom got divorced in, in, when I was in the University, so she was over there by himself and I was like, what do I do? Should I go there? Should I stay here? It was a very tough years of my life, it was four years, and I think three out of those four, it was like very tough, it was like, you think about it now and you like them, how do you survive that? As a kid, as an 18, 19 years old, like how can you like, resist all that? But I did, it was soccer man, like I will, one of the, one of the days like I was crying and I was like, what am I doing here? I will get bullied because I didn't speak English really good. So I would get bullied on the my, by my own teammates, and they thought it was just a joke, right? And it was, they were just joking and it's fine. But I took it as oh, they bullied me, or they doing something like that, but I was a tough kid, like I come from a tough place like that was nothing to me, but I feel like I felt it. And it was that like, bro, I can't even respond back because I don't know the language. I can't even talk back to them, like it was tough. So I would just go and kick a ball in the field and they had this nice nice, and every time I went there, it was like, this is everything to me, like I'm gonna hold it and I'm gonna stay here cause I want to play in this field, like I wanna shine in here. And I think those four years, like soccer got me there and hold me there to get a bachelor's, I got a bachelor in criminal justice, I don't really use it anymore.

Jim: Looking back at that time and the struggles that you went through and to come and not be able to speak English, to learn English, to pass your ACT to get on the team, like that's a lot of adversity, that's a lot to overcome, and you did that, do you think that laid the groundwork for you to be a successful entrepreneur and start a business that you weren't gonna let fail? Just like you didn't let yourself fail in college?

Diego: Definitely. And I think that was just the beginning. Because then I started playing pro, right? But I didn't even, I didn't even was like, okay, they saw me and they signed me right now, or I didn't I didn't have an agent or like I had to go. I had to go and go to tryouts, talk to people, send the videos. I didn't know how to do videos, I had to learn how to do videos, I have a computer that if you disconnected it both, it would go off. It didn't have a bad, so I had to make videos on that, I had to do a bunch of things, and I remember this team that I went, they, I emailed the coach and he replied back and he's oh, you better looks good, can you make it here this date? We start pre-season, I don't know, February, and I was like, yes. And he never replied back, never ever, and it was February 2nd, I just took a fly, I packed my whole clothing and I went there, I didn't even know how I got an Airbnb, I was like, I just find out where they were training. And I got to the field and I was like, look, listen, you never replied, but I'm here, let's make it happen. And then he did, he actually let me train with the team. I stay there for six months, I like, he wanted to sign me, but all the things happened, but whatever, like I always try to make it happen. And it was that, right? And it was not just one time I did that four times with four different clubs. Like I played with the New York Cosmos, but people don't know, I came here and I rent a small room. It was like a sale and Queens, and then I had to travel to Long Island, to get to know the culture, I was like, yo, I'm here, I came from Miami, can you please let me train? And they would tell my face that there's no time for that right now, just come later. So I had to wait for the BEAT team to join the BEAT team. And then they see me play and it was hard, man, it was, that was tough because New York's city is tough. But I made the team and I went to the first team, and then I signed Pro and then I went to Las Vegas and I moved these places and it was a hard career, man. I couldn't play the MLS, that was where what I wanted to go. But every year was like, I gotta go, I gotta keep going, I gotta keep going, I would train by myself every time, every day I would train with the team. I would play here, I would play there. It was, it is there that mentality, I think it shaped me to what I'm at today, like on the business side. Yes, because I never gave up on college. I never gave up on, on the pro level. Even though I didn't want, I didn't make it to the MLS, like I was there, right? So I think that now, I think, and I'm like, why did I suffer so much? Why, God, you didn't give me that, like why? I used to think that way, but now that I'm here in this game entrepreneur game, which is very hard too, now I got it right? Like now I'm like, I relieved this man. Like, this is nothing to me, like I gotta keep on going, I remember those days when I used to sleep in a couch and go and play. This is nothing to me, like I've been, cleaning tables too much, this is easy for me.

Jim: You've been through a lot. At what point in your soccer career did you realize that it's time to hang up from being a player? And move on to that next stage of your life. That had to be a hard conversation to have with yourself.

Diego: To be honest, I'm still living that, I was, that was not too long ago, that was on the pandemic, like two years. Three years ago I found myself with our team again and then this opportunity came in New York One of my friends called me like, I think I found you a team. You gotta go right now to New York, I was in Miami, I drove from Miami to New York 24 hours, and I got to the team and I started training with them. And then I didn't make the team they got me there for a month and I didn't make the team. And then I was like, but I already had the business. It was like a side hustle, I already had Diaza, and it was in like a side hustle, so I was selling some stuff right. Like here and there. But when I got to New York, I wanted to make the team so bad, but I didn't make it. So that for me was like, man that's him, and I'm 26, 27 year old. What am I doing? Like even if they send me, I'm only gonna get two, $2,000 a month, I can't even live with that, I was like, my career soccer, it wasn't going up anymore. It was just going down. So I was like, I gotta make something up, man, I don't know, so I was like, you know what I'm gonna try to go hard on my game, on my apparel game and on the Diaza brand, see how it goes. I'm gonna give it a shot, but I didn't even think get, getting far or anything, I was just thought about that and right, I started planning.

Jim: And you said, to have to come to that realization, that your dream, something that's gotten you so far in life is gonna be put to the side, is it something that's still daily, you think about or did you find a way to put tho that energy into something else, which is your brand?

Diego: To be honest, man, I think about it daily because, I'm a hardworking man, like my whole life I train, every day I wake up I had to train, like I had to do something, like I used to, jog, I'm not a gym guy too much, but ‘cause if you as a soccer player, you do too much weight, like you lose speed and all that kind of stuff. So what I do is like a lot of soccer, like I trained soccer based, right? So I used to go to the park, jump the road, like I do a lot of exercise, two, three hours exercise daily, like I used to do. So for me to be that guy to now be somebody that trains one hour, 30 minutes in the gym, ‘cause now I gotta go to the gym, ‘cause I don't have a team anymore. It is man, that's a big change, like even your body, like now you have to eat different because before when I was a soccer, I would eat anything and I wouldn't get weight, because you're burning 2000 calories a day, now, it's like you're not you better, slow down into food and that it is. I'm not chasing my dream more, you gotta change from this athlete, from this person to just go and be another person. It's I miss him, man, I miss training every day, I miss, and at the beginning, like two years ago when my business wasn't that good I was like, I feel lost, I feel like, yeah, I see there's nothing else for me, like you get to that depression a little bit, but then things start picking up with Diaza. And like I went like this, right? Oh, right now this.

Jim: And I love that you can still live your passion, your dream, and you can live that out through helping others in what you're doing through Diaza. And that brings me to, we've talked a lot about your journey. Let's talk about Diaza. Let's let the Remote Start Nation know about your brand and what you're doing out there and how you're making a difference.

Diego: Definitely, man. No, with Diaza if it come down right, like obviously it's an apparel brand. We do clothing, we do all four soccer teams, we're also doing some other sports now, but our main focus is soccer, right? That's my passion, so we create uniforms, structures, everything, like we get deals with professional teams now, and it's okay, what I live, that's a mentality, right? Like hardworking, perseverance, resilience, all that kind of stuff. And it's funny because Diaza, the word Diaza, that's what it meant, right? Like hard work, perseverance consistency, discipline. Discipline is key man. And this word mean all that, and that's what we want to give to the people, that's what we want for the people to understand that for anything that you want to do in life, that's what you have to do, if you really want it, that you have to be disciplined, like you have to have consistency. So that's the message that we want to give to the people, obviously through clothing and the sport, right? Like with Diaza, it is not only clothing like we getting the ideas and mentality, you have to have this mentality to take the next step to do the good things in life that, that you really want. So for me, that's, it has become that, right? Like the brand and everything that we do. Now, I have a whole team and everybody's like that, everybody in their own careers are like building up, right? Like they become better and better, and that just gives me joy, man, like I have changed people's life, and that's something that I really take from this, changing somebody's life.

Jim: And hats off to you because to have a business that's so young in its journey and to already, you're dressing some semi-pro and pro soccer teams out there that's impressive, that's not easy to do.

Diego: Yeah, it is, it is hard, man, it is hard. It is a lot of it is a lot of connections, like any networking. So that's the thing, my soccer career maybe didn't take me to the MLS, but all these connections that I make as a player now are paying off right now, because all these owners, all these general managers, they knew me as a player and as a person, and they knew that I was a hard worker, they knew that I would leave everything in the field so they know if they get in business with me, it's gonna be the same thing. It's just like when we are in the field, right? I'm gonna do everything that I can just to have the right thing for you, whatever you need, if it's clothing, if it's promotional marketing, like I'm gonna do my best and my team is gonna do everything it takes for you to have the right thing, and they know that. So that's why they give me the chance because they know who they're talking to, they did okay, I remember there was a player. I know it'd probably be the same in business, and that's why these two words help each other. All the connections I made when I was a soccer player now are paying off right now. I don't even talk to the players, I talk to the owners the general managers, so it's crazy.

Jim: So for the Remote Start Nation out there, for someone listening that had a goal, had a journey that they thought they were gonna take them to a professional level or to a higher level than they did, they're sitting at home right now. They're depressed, they're struggling with moving on, what advice can you give them?

Diego: I'll just say is what, is there's something out there for you. I that's how I feel like, I believe a lot in God, but even if people don't believe there's, the universe have something for each of us, and that's what I truly believe. And sometimes we just thing is this thing. But maybe it's not, maybe it is this other thing, right? But maybe going this route is gonna help me to shape to the other to the other route. So it's just like the rocks, the rock. He said that he wanted to be an NFL player and he couldn't, but that thing makes him strong enough to become these other, superstar. Like cinema guy, and it's like his only dream was to play in the NFL and he never could achieve that, so it is like the best thing that never happened to me was to play in the NFL, because now I'm much more than that. So I think you just gotta, obviously it's hard to find that, those two points because for some people I think this is the only route that I can go, but now you could become something else, but you have to be disciplined, you and you have to know what really moves you, right? What really is your passion, mean, passion is such a cliche word because a lot of people talk about passion and passion, right? But it is true to me, like you gotta find that thing that you like so much that you even become obsessed with, right? If you don't become obsessed, it is never gonna happen, right? So I think some people need to, if you're depressed right now, if you think oh, this didn't want my way this didn't happen to me the best advice I can say is okay, be depressed for a little bit because it's normal. Don't think being depressed or being down is not normal because it is, take your time a week, two weeks, but then in those two weeks, think about your next move. What do I do next? What can I do next now to overcome this thing? So in that process you might find something that you are really good at it or that you can relate to this other. And keep it moving forward, and it has to move you as well, it has to have some meaning to you. So that's maybe my best advice that I can say to people.

Jim: I love that, that's incredible. Remote Start Nation, I hope you listen to that and Diego, to see where you've come, to see how you failed at soccer to the level that you wanted. But you've taken everything you learned and related that to business, that, and to see that, how that shaped you, I feel like your brand is, has so much more potential and I'm excited to see how much it's gonna grow over the next years, man. I really am, I think it's gonna be huge.

Diego: Thank you, man, thank you.

Jim: Let's talk about some of the things that on a daily, let's break it down, like from your soccer career, the things that got you to where you were and the things that you're doing now in business, like your routine. Your discipline, let's talk about those things ‘cause I know they relate, I know it's the same thing, just instead of with a soccer ball at your feet you're doing it in business, what does that look like for you?

Diego: It's yeah, it cannot be the same. But now it's okay, with soccer it was like, this is my life, so I gotta push this much, but I think as an athlete, you have to push enough, right? Because if you push over the limit, like you get injured, like that kind of stuff, right, but I still, you gotta push every day here. For me, my routine is very strict, like for me, a routine is it is discipline, right? For me, you can be motivated, you can be this, you can be hard worker, but if you don't have discipline, like you're never gonna accomplish anything to be honest, because you could be motivated Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, you cannot be motivated. But is discipline what gets you through, right? If you really stick to that routine and that commitment, then that's gonna get you through motivation is just gonna get you to a certain point. But you're not gonna be motivated all the time, that's a lie, if you think that you're gonna be motivated all the time, there's days that I hate coming here and doing what I have to do, I'm not gonna lie, but I know I have to do it. There's days that, that I hate because I still I still need to work out the day that I don't wanna work out, but I have to do it right because it's something that I put in my routine. So Basical, what I do every day is I, before I used to, I was in a morning person, I used to work, work very late, train, eat, and then go home, right? But then I, now it's yo, I need to take advantage of the hours of the day, right? So I used to work wake up at six. Now I change it. Last year I changed it to five and now I change it to four 30. So every year is I'm changing cause I need more time, right now I need more.

Jim: I'm with you, I'm the same, I'm every day, it makes such a difference, doesn't it?

Diego: It does, man. When it hits like eight o'clock, you're like, okay, am I done? That's it, and it's only eight o'clock people are just waking up and you're like, you are ahead of them. So I was like, so I wake up at four 30 I go I come to the office and I start working on my emails, my, my to-do lists, I have a to-do list, I start doing a lot of. Then at 12 one, like I get a break, like I think breaks are very important, like lunch, all that kind of stuff, I used to watch TV while eating, but then now I don't want to, I like, I got that away from, and now I'm eating, talking to somebody, like, how's your day, ‘cause that's very important too, right? With my wife that join us in the team, now I want to eat with her, like sitting down and hey how's things like, what are we gonna do tonight? That kind of stuff, and then I just keep on working, I get here till I get here around five 30 to the office and I work till 7:30, 8:30. And from there I gotta go work out some type of workout. Now I just joined kickboxing, I like it, it was a different sport for me. So ‘cause it's winter so you cannot work outside, and I love working out outside, so I was like, I need to do something. So I joined kickboxing and it's been really good. It's like very good. And then I do 40, like an hour and then I just go home and I cannot do all that. The, and the weekends I had to play soccer, I still play, I have to play, I have to play soccer, there's a lot of soccer in your show, so I had, I got no complaints about that, but I had to play Saturday or Sunday, I had to play, I even played sometimes four games and no weekend, something like that. And he pays a toll on me because, people say oh, you rest Sundays and you'll be good for Mondays. Oh no, I played the whole Sunday. So I'm not good on Monday, but I still go through cause I get so tired from playing ball, but I still need to play. I think that's my escape from, it distracts you and you need that, you really need to.

Jim: Yeah, you really do, for me it's mountain biking and getting out and just clearing my head, but you need that Sport, that way to get away and escape, get your mind off, business and get that exercise. I'm with you there. So you work 12 to 15 hour days? That's a lot, man.

Diego: I know, man, I know. I was losing eyebrow, like I got this thing called fallopia then, something like that that you lose hair, and I didn't have an eyebrow because it was stress or something like that. But you have to go through that man, if you want to build a business and you go, you want to be at the top, you gotta put the hours, there's not all the way, you can't be expecting to have results with eight hours work or seven, like people I'm in a building where I see people working sometimes even harder than me and that pisses me off, I'm not, yeah, you getting here at six, I'm gonna get here at five, like I'm that type of guy, sometimes I have one employee that is really good, my head of design, sometimes he leave after me like it's nine o'clock and he's still here working, and I'm like, no, I gotta stay into this guy, Lisa. I gotta be the last one to leave, I can't stop.

Jim: It's just like the last one on the field, right?

Diego: Same thing. Yeah, exactly, obviously he doesn't get here five, so he gets here around nine, so obviously he doesn't know that, sometimes he doesn't realize that but I do.

Jim: Is there, let's break it down, for the Remote Start Nation, you're disciplined, you're as about as disciplined as it gets. How can someone that might not understand what it's like to be disciplined to a level that you are, how can they start to do little things in their life that can help them to be more disciplined in their every day, which is going to add to the success of what they're doing?

Diego: Definitely. I think baby steps, right? That to me is very important, if you're gonna get in a diet right? You can't just quit everything right now, if you love hamburgers, you can't just quit and that's it. I'm never gonna make, ‘cause it is very hard to do that, like for me it's impossible, so the same thing to waking up. So we go back to when I used to wake up at 7, 8, 9, like I start going just down, right? What I do now is that if I wanna put something new that is or to be more disciplined, I started doing it little by little, right? So if you wake up at eight and you want to wake up earlier, it's very hard to wake up at 5, 4 30, you start working up at, 7, 6 30. Like little by little, and then you gonna see the results because you're gonna get more things accomplished because you're gonna have new ideas because you're gonna have this, like it, when you start doing new things come in the way, it's not about, oh, I start doing this new routine and everything stay the same. No, everything is gonna change if you start doing new things, right? Just like nothing is gonna change if you don't start doing something new don't spec results if you keep doing the same and the same. So that to me is very important, baby steps, like just try little by little and at the, you're gonna see the result, you're gonna see that you are gonna have more time, you're gonna see that if you put the time to it, you're gonna, have this, okay, I already done this, it's nine o'clock and I'm good. Let me wake up at five. Let me wake up at six. So I can do the double work. So it is good, man.

Jim: Let's talk about resilience and how that's transferred from, playing soccer and your career there and now with a business.

Diego: Yeah, you, it's just like the same thing about discipline, right? You gotta stay like laser focused, what do you want? What is it that you really want? That question is very hard for a lot of people, like I think I've been blessed to have a passion and I think people that have passion and can work around that they're blessed. ‘Cause not a lot of people have that blessing, but some people don't want to have that place, they don't look for Like they just set up for the 9:05 or the other because it's very easy to work from nine to five. It's easy. Yeah, man. I would love to one day just wake up nine to five, and then forget about everything, like I'm a go chill, like I wish I could do that now, I didn't even know what I got myself into when I started doing this business. But then, but it's different, right? Because you're doing it for you building something that, like I said, like you gotta change something, somebody's life or you gotta give that message to people. I could do this for me, for my family, for my friends, like I changed my families in Colombia ‘cause we had the manufacturing in Colombia and they get paid more with Diaza. Like they were building this thing over there, like I changed their life, and that to me that's awesome, is very, it is what I wanted, right? To me, like the money just, it's an extra thing, but changing somebody's life is, to me, is everything, ‘cause I want to help the kids that, that it went through what I went, if I had somebody see my talent and supporting it, I don't, I think I'll be in MLS, to be honest, I think I'll be big. Because I knew I had the talent, but I never had the support, never, not even in Columbia, like my parents couldn't go watch me play. They couldn't, they were working the whole day every time, so that is, I just went outta my way, but just stay focused on what you think and what you believe, find that passion, find that thing that moves you, right? There's something that has to move you, and if you then just go at it, right? Keep going at it, if you have a nine, nine to five, try doing the side hustle, right? Instead of going home and watching Netflix or do all these things that doesn't really do anything for you, try to start doing that, right? If you're passion for sales, find that thing that is gonna you can put in Shopify I learned Shopify, Photoshop, illustrator in YouTube. I have a major in criminal, just, I thought I was gonna be a cop if I didn't, if I didn't do but man, I had to rewire myself and learn, designing, Photoshop, learn design, Illustrator, Shopify and everything. I learned it through YouTube, everything, everything that I know, YouTube.

Jim: The resources are there, if you're willing to take the time and put it into your daily, and like you said, don't go watch TV, instead, click on a YouTube, figure out what you're passionate about and follow your dream. I have a question, from when you first moved here, from, landing in Miami to now and seeing where you're at, what's the thing you're most thankful for?

Diego: Man, I'm just thankful for everything, man. For just, I'm thankful just for the opportunity to come here to this land, to United State, because people don't know man, and yo, Columbia is tough man, and Columbia's divided into the rich and the poor, the rich live a great life, if you are rich in Colombia, stay there because it is a great, it is a paradise, yeah, if you poor is very hard man, the opportunities are not there, like it's very hard, the poorest stay poor because the system and the corruption, it's very hard, like it's extremely hard for. Go to college, do these things, like just for me to come here, that to me is the most grateful thing that I ever, like I would, I'll be, I'm gonna tell you something and this is touching. I fought with my stepdad, like I fought like really bad ‘cause he did a lot of stuff to my mom and he hurt me like deep inside, but the day of my wedding, which was last year, I didn't spoke to him for years, and the day of my wedding, I invited him to my, and I and I and in front of everybody in the microphone and everything I say that I was thankful for him for bringing me to this country, I leave my pride, I leave everything, like I wanted to be relaxed with myself in my heart and that I think, is that re that is the answer to your question, that's, yeah, that's what I'm thankful for him for, bring me to this, and that was that's the most thing I'm grateful about, ‘cause it's tough on the other side.

Jim: I thank you for sharing that with us, that's, man, I know that's not easy. And I thank you. And also, I just want to reiterate on something that you said earlier and make sure that we don't move past this, but for you now to be in a position to give back and to have your factory in Columbia and to support the economy there, and your friends and your family and those that you know that were around you when you grew up, like that's incredible.

Diego: Yeah, it is what it, I think it's what I do now. Sometimes I didn't even do too much, my wife says aren't you tired of doing too much for other people? And it gets too I'm not really, because I think what the most I do, the more blessed I get. Man, I'm extremely blessed, man. Like I see the people that I grew up with and compared to me, and it's like I'm so blessed, like, I work hard, but because, even when I had nothing I always try to share something, but now it's like I constantly help my people, right? Like, I got s that are drug addicts, right? Like they have abuse of drugs, and I help them to, pay their thing because they go to this clinic and all that to try to save them for that stuff, ‘cause it's really hard. My sister, she went through depression, so I was there for her, like talking to her, ‘cause it's not even just about money, it's about just being there for that person too, and when my sister was in depression, I was like, I gotta call her every day, I gotta be like, Hey, how are you? This, I'm here for you, and the whole relationship, and now she's another person, right? Like she, now she's totally another person, and I'm not saying it was just because of me, but I think it helped, right? Like she even said it like, yeah you helped me so much that, I'm very grateful for that, and I didn't even spend 1 cent doing that, I just call her every day and I was there for her. Now I'm trying to help her to go to college and all that, and that's what I'm trying to do, you know what I mean? Try to, I don't wanna be at the top and look down and see all my people over there right now. I'm trying to help, but they gotta help themselves too, exactly. Cause that's the other thing, if they don't help themselves then I'm gone, I try to help a lot of people, but other people take advantage and it's not, it's not that I'm waiting for that something. And, like I don't, I'm not waiting for them to do something for me, never. But the minimum is do something for yourself, right? If I pay for you to go to, I don't know, to a barbershop class, right? Yeah, go to the barbershop class, right? Go and make it happen. And some people don't even go, so even people like, I pay for that and they don't even go, so those people I don't I just okay, that's it, I'm not helping you anymore. But I'm more focused on the ones that wanna get help.

Jim: And that's a lesson I learned recently in my business. My agency is if you always have to be yourself and you always have to do the things that you're going to do to help and don't change that, but you can expect someone to take what you're doing for them and to do what you want to do with it, like they have to make their decision on their own, right? If you can teach somebody, you can help, you can give them money, you can do whatever, but if they're not, to do the things to take it upon themselves to improve, you still did everything you could, and that's that in the end. That's I think that's what matters the most.

Diego: Yeah, exactly. Is it's, now are you doing it for you, how you feel or are you doing it to get something and like expecting some, I think expectation is a killer. You shouldn't expect nothing from nobody, you shouldn't expect. Gary B says, like if that, that touched me because when he talk about expectation, I started applying in my life and I used to be a person where I used to do things expecting something no matter what. Like I used to help people and expect, Hey, thank you, at least a thank you, I used to say oh, at least thank, thank me. At, and that puts you in a position where like you're still expecting something from that, even if it's just a thank you, but you're expecting something from that, from them. And that takes the whole point of helping people, like Exactly, you're not really helping them, you expecting something. So now I have zero expectation, like if somebody fails me I gotta move on, that's it, I'm not expecting that somebody cancels on me, I used to go crazy. Oh my God, this guy cancel me, now what am I do? Now it's okay, man, cool. Next time, I went, look, recently last week, I had a deal with Colombia for a team, for professional team. I went the next day I book a fly and I went to Colombia, it was a Thursday and we got assigned the deal on Friday. The guys called me Thursday night, yo, sorry, we're not gonna make the deal happen, because, all that. No problem, man, and I went back, that's it, man, like I was going expecting nothing, and it happens, it happens, and it gonna be good if it doesn't happen, it's for a reason. It's for a reason, man.

Jim: That's such a great way to look at it, and yeah you definitely can't expect anything from anybody. It's, you're doing it for, to do it. And whatever they decide to do with it, that's on them.

Diego: Exactly.

Jim: Unfortunately, our time's coming to an end. This has been incredible, I can't thank you enough for spending the time with us and, sharing your story, it's been incredible. Thank you.

Diego: Nah, man. Thank you guys for, having me, Jim, as it's always great to talk about these things, right? To talk about like your journey, like to whoever is listening right now, hopefully, like they kinda get these things and move forward and whatever they're trying to do. Like I always say, if I could do it, anybody could do it, man, and that's real from my heart, because look, I didn't speak English, I come from a very like poor place, and I went through a lot of stuff and if I make it like, don't think because you are in a bad neighborhood, or listen, if you, in America, if you in United States and you speak English, that's all you need, man. That's all you need, you don't need anything, that's all you need because you could now, with the resources that we have now and everything, that's all you need to be successful, if you think, oh, cannot, cause I'm here or I'm there or because I'm Latino or because these are no, that's just an excuse. If you speak English and you get knowledge and you know what to do, you could make it happen, and you are obviously discipline, discipline is key, man. And if somebody like me could make it, trust me that, like a lot of people like that are born here and they speak English and all that. I wish I could, I didn't have an accent, that's something that I had to, be very it was something that, it was very hard for me ‘cause I had the accent and I didn't accept that. I was like, no, I don't want to talk because I have an accent. No, I don't want to say nothing, no, ‘cause I have an accent. So it was like, to always hide it.

Jim: Do you think that came from the soccer field when your teammates were you, cracking jokes.

Diego: Yes, they thought it was funny and yeah. Yes definitely that, because I something that when I was learning English, I would tell people, jokes speak to me in, because they would speak to me in Spanish. At least they're Latinos, right? Like they would speak to me in Spanish and I would say no, speak to me in English, I wanna learn. And when they used to talk to me in English, I would try to respond back in English, and they would laugh for me, they would like, oh, even the Latinos, right? They're like, that's not how you say it, that's not how you spell. I don't know how, and he get you to Brazil oh man, like now I don't wanna say anything, there was topics in class where people here get social security, this, that, cause it was a debate and I wanted to go and be like, nah, you guys don't know what you talking about Columbia's words, I want to say all these things, but I couldn't. And I was like, oh, how do I say it? Like, how do I say these things? Like I wanna be free, like I want, but I couldn't, and that's very hard on people, like when you don't have that power to talk to communicate yourself and people don't understand it is very hard. And I think that paid a toll on me in the long run because sometimes I was like shy and even sometimes I say some things that probably don't even make sense, like I just, now I don't care. Who are you to judge me? Like Exactly, you can say whatever you want, like I'm here with, whatever you doing, like I root for you and I hope you're doing really good, but whoever's out there, man, just we're giving hard ‘cause I'm coming man, I'm working, I'm not, I'm not gonna stop.

Jim: I love it, I love it.

Diego: That's the thing, man.

Jim: For all the coaches out there, for all the club captains, the presidents of clubs, where can they find you? Where can they get their next season's?

Diego: My man, nah, it is easy, we are very and on Instagram, we're very big on Instagram, we post it every day. So Instagram is Diazafootball, like in English, Diazafootball, we are over there with Twitter, Facebook, the same, it is Diazafootball, right? Or website, which I had to buy the domain and it was $6,000. So for people out there that made the sacrifice, it was it was a pain when I had to buy it was, it is diaza.com. As you get older, the stuff over there, we also doing a lot of e-commerce now with the team, we offer services that no other brand is offer. So like lowering we put out the stores for their fans, for their people, and that's what people are really liking about the brand, that we bring in something different and that is not out there. So we have a lot of stores for teams out there ambassadors, there's a lot of things going on, man. Yeah, you guys can find us over there. We're on the website, we're in TikTok as well, now, this year we're gonna be big on TikTok and just making it happen, man.

Jim: Very cool, I hope people take you up on that and go give you a follow and hit you up about the next year's uniforms. One last question, what's the biggest takeaway that you can leave the Remote Start Nation today? We talked about a lot. Narrow it down to the one last thing, the one most important thing that you want everybody listening to the show remember.

Diego: Nothing matters, nothing really matters, so let me, you can go as hard as you want in this business, you can go as hard as anything, but at the end, you gotta know that if, let's say I love my mom, right? If somebody calls me and yo, your mom is dying right now, I go, right? I leave everything and I go for my house. I will leave everything, I don't care about Diaza, I don't care about nothing, I need to go and see my mom. So it doesn't really matter, so the business don't really matter. But why I say that? Because some people don't take action because they think it matters too much, right? Oh, if I had to build this business it has to be perfect, it doesn't matter, bro, just do it, like it doesn't really matter, I don't do it because my friends thinks it's not cool, it doesn't matter, man. I don't do it because my action, it doesn't matter, man, go ahead and do it, there's gonna be some dreams that are gonna call you and wanna hear your story, it doesn't matter at the end, like it doesn't really matter, go make it happen.

Jim: I love it. Diego, thank you again, it's been incredible.

Diego: Thank you, man, thank you for having me. And like I say, I hope these words these experiences can touch somebody out there. If anybody wanna reach out just to, like talk nobo a lot about Diaza or myself, like I'm out there. You guys got the website, Diaza.com or Instagram, Diazafootball, and we out there, man, just making it happy, keep going, keep at it, don't give up, discipline. Nothing really matters, man.

Jim: Excellent, incredible value, thank you. Remote Start Nation, I hope you learned as much as I did today, I want to thank you all for joining Diego and I on this journey.

Remember, leave a comment, subscribe, most important. Share this episode with your community who you think can learn from what you heard. Until next time, go start something, remember, nothing matters. Start today and go build a lifestyle you desire by taking action