In this 6‑questions‑in‑7‑minutes interview, Professor Pete Alexander talks with life‑design coach and business growth advisor Carlos Hidalgo. Hidalgo explains his mission to help individuals and companies reconnect with their core purpose, describing the joy he feels when clients experience a "lightbulb" moment. He emphasizes that businesses should prioritize people, suggesting a chapter on aligning employee purpose with roles and putting purpose over profit. Hidalgo advises leaders to set clear work‑life boundaries based on personal values such as family and health. He recommends fellow leaders Matt Hines (Hines Marketing) and James Carberry (Sweetfish Media) for future podcast episodes. An anecdote about his first job as a paperboy illustrates the lesson of doing things right the first time. The episode ends with his contact details (website, Twitter, LinkedIn).
Chapters
This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast, where business leaders share their insights. It is 6 questions in 7 minutes because successful business leaders are busy and rarely have more time to spare. So let's get to it. Question number 1: In a few sentences, please tell me who you are and what you do.
Hey Pete, I'm Carlos Hidalgo. It's a pleasure to be here talking with you. In short, I am a life design coach and a business growth advisor. And I help individuals and companies get back to their core purpose, and so they can discover that anything is possible.
Well, Carlos, it's an absolute pleasure to have you on the show. Question number 2: What is something that makes you smile and/or laugh about working in your industry?
You know, what makes me smile the most is the fact that I get to use all my experience and everything I've learned in my 50 years and my 25-year career and apply it to individuals. And when I see that lightbulb moment for them, and they're able to then define their purpose, understand who they are at their core, and really come alive. Nothing makes my heart or my face smile more.
Oh, I love that, and I can hear the passion in your voice. It's really great. Question number 3: I have a fictitious book with all the answers for business. What chapter would you think most companies should read?
I think they should read the chapter about people. We get so caught up in our profit and loss statements, our balance sheets, our our quarterly earnings, our revenue, and all of those things, yes, are good. But we forget sometimes that our business, the DNA of our business is people. They have good days, they have bad days, they have dark moments, they have highlights. If we would then take the time to start to align our people and their purpose with their job role and put purpose over profit, we would see our businesses soar.
Hmm, I love that. And it's true. I would agree with you 100%. Question number 4, Other than the generic work harder, have a great attitude, and care for customers, what advice or insight would you give to other business leaders?
I would say, you know, it's not always work harder. I would say define work-life boundaries. Put boundaries around your work. Put— well, first of all, put boundaries around the things that you value the most. For me, that's relationships with my wife, my children, my holistic health, and it includes my work. So I am able to put time guards around each of those things so I can bring the best of give myself to those things. And when work is done, it's done. I don't bring it home. I don't carry it with me because it's within that boundary. So I would encourage everyone to start to define those boundaries.
Mm-hmm. And I love that also that you talk about the values too, because when you know exactly what your values are, you know how to prioritize the important things in life. So it's, it's great insight. Thank you. Question number 5: What other business leader like yourself would you like to acknowledge and invite to be on my podcast?
You know, I think you should have Matt Hines from Hines Marketing. Matt's been a longtime friend of mine. He's just a great dude. He's— the way he thinks, I always admire. And then the other one would be James Carberry of Sweetfish Media. James is one of the most effective leaders of people I've ever met, and I'm proud to call him a friend.
Oh, I love it. And Matt actually was a guest of mine, uh, several, several months ago. I think he's great, but I'll reach out to James. Thank you for that referral. And our final question, question number 6: please tell me about your first What was your first job?
My first job was a paperboy. I was 12 years old living in New Jersey. I thought it was great until we had our first snowfall and I had to ride my bike up and down the neighborhood. It was freezing cold. I still remember that day like it was yesterday. Had the big banana seat bike that we all remember as kids. I dated myself a little bit. And I remember, uh, one of the reasons I remember that job so clearly is On that day, rather than running the papers up to the porch, I just kind of chucked them everywhere, right? And, you know, 12 years old, my aim wasn't that great. And I had to go back and kind of redeliver papers. And so it taught me at a very early age, do it right the first time.
And that's a really good lesson to have. And being a paperboy was my first job too. And I know exactly what you talk about. Murphy's Law, if you're running late, that's when the newspaper is going to fly in the rain. Wrong place. And the other thing, for our younger listeners, newspapers are printed websites, right, Carlos?
Yeah, forget the banana seed, I did it myself with a newspaper.
Well, it's true. Carlos, thank you so much for being on the show. How can people find you?
Yeah, you can reach me at Carlos at carlosandsuzanne.com, and that's S-U-S-A-N-N-E. You can find me on Twitter at @cahidalgo, H-I-D-A-L-G-O, or find me on LinkedIn LinkedIn at Carlos Hidalgo.
Perfect. This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast. Thanks for listening.
