In this well rounded episode, John Hernandez, Founder of Alchemy Coaching Institute, shares his extensive experience in working in the wholesale and retail industries as well as his skills in negotiation, coaching, sales, and team building.

You will discover:

– What is alchemy and why does it matter for a busy leader like you
– The importance of connecting your head and your heart
– How to see the opportunity in every challenge

Episode Transcript

Scott Ritzheimer

Hello, hello and welcome. Welcome once again to the secrets of the high demand coach and I am here with yet another high demand coach. And that is the one the only John Hernandez. Now John has been a professional sales and management trainer since the mid 1980s. And he has been a leadership trainer and coach for the past several years, he’s managed several firms in the consumer and professional audio and video industry throughout the western United States. 10 years ago, John and his business partner began their own company building it into a multi million dollar corporation. And like many, he’s experienced some epic failures during his professional career, however, he continues to learn from them, and to choose to take risks. He learns from identifying his own blocks and seeing and acting upon his potential. And he’s here to show us how we can do that as well. So John, we got a chance to meet, I think it was a couple of months ago now. And it was a fascinating conversation. I love that we get to hit record this time and share it with the world. So tell us a little bit we’ve got your bio here. But tell us your story. What were you doing before starting alchemy? And how? How did it all come together?

John Hernandez

Sure. Well, way back. So when I was when I was a small child, my mother used to read to me, not the typical children’s books, but things like myths from from Greece from Egypt, 1001, Arabian Nights, I remember while I used to love that stuff. And even in grammar school, I was doing papers and interviewing physicists about things in Egypt pyramids, and all these things. And that kind of was an underlying thread through my whole life. And right along with that, is I started my own business at 13. And I started being an entrepreneur, teaching drums, to all the not to the kids, but to the parents of the kids in the grammar school. And I’d say oh, you know what I can make, this is fun, I’m making some money, you know, lay within my allowance. And that brought me through. And I realized that I had a natural aptitude to talking with people and being in relationship. And that started my sales career, which, again, that thread, set me into then teaching, sales, teaching, training, managing large groups of folks, large businesses, and then ultimately, as alchemy would have it, I was with the Corporation for 20 years, everything was great. And the university had other plans. And within a 30 minute period, all of us district sales managers were laid off. You know, the New York guy was texting me this Chicago guy, Hey, what happened? What happened? We just got gone. This was just before Christmas, like 10 days before Christmas, about 11 years ago, 12 years ago. And I thought, Okay, I’m done with this. I’m gonna do something completely different. And then the phone calls started coming. Well, what about this? And what about what are you guys doing? And I called my friend of mine that was also laid off, same company. I said, Hey, let’s start a business. And we said, Yeah, let’s do it. And we started literally, with nothing, we took any kind of product lines that we could get. And we we just went out and did it. And I like to say that we’ve had epic successes, and biblical level failures. Because we continue and to this day to take risks on, on on things that are so outside our comfort zone. That sometimes like I said, it’s a biblical fails, like, whoa, what did we just do another time, just like we hit on something, and we made something work. So we keep doing that. And keep doing that. And the alchemy work that I’ve done, really, I started getting interested in that around shoot almost 20 years ago now. I mean, really interested, I was always interested in it, but I decided to dive deeper and really learn. And I learned the ancient art, not a new age thing, but from legitimate Alchemist, there’s not many of us out there. And, and it was based on a lot of things to work through these types of risks, risk management, and working on my own personal self, to be able to move through these things. So that’s, that’s how all those things threaded together. And so now I’m giving it back in the form of teaching in the form of coaching and finding a really cool and unique way to to do the coaching work so that that’s where I’m at today.

Scott Ritzheimer

Yeah, I love that so that we can fast forward right to today. Now, in our industry as coaches we’ve got a knack for using using things Things, fancy words like alchemy, and not meaning that they have anything to do with their original meaning, right? We like to use analogies and metaphors. But that’s not the case with you. When you’re talking about alchemy, talking about literal alchemy, so the one what is alchemy is and then to tell it to pull that back to Earth force, if you will, and a little bit and just why does it matter matter to busy leaders that are going out and doing their best each and every day?

John Hernandez

Exactly. Great question. And if we, we have four hours, right?

Scott Ritzheimer

Yes, four and a half hours.

John Hernandez

So So, in essence, everyone has heard, not everyone, many have heard the analogy of turning lead into goal. Well, basically, it basically alchemy works on three levels per physical level, a psychological emotional level, and then a spiritual level. And what we’re taught to do is to connect all those all the time. So it’s not always, you know, like you said, bring it back to Earth. Exactly. That’s one of the state, that’s one of the actual tenants in alchemy is to bring it into the everyday world. And so what does that mean? That means working on all three of those levels at once? And how does that work as a coach, I like to put myself as part of a team, because there’s a million great coaches out there. And I know many of them. And some of them are really, really good with certain aspects of business. I am I come in to connect you to that point of where their systems begin. So there’s, there’s usually a gap in there. And so what is alchemy do it basically through modalities of imagination, imagery and things like that, it enables you to move through whatever’s keeping you from here to here. So it’s about uncovering something that you already have. That’s what it is, that’s the gold piece, really.

Scott Ritzheimer

So, uh, talk to us a little bit, because one of the things I noticed that you’re, you’re, you have this really cool combination of being super creative and super practical all at the same time. You look at just anything that you do. And that’s what I love about your approach. Now, there’s a lot of books out there, and again, that they’re going 100 miles an hour. And the idea of sitting down with a coach and imagining something or thinking of pictures feels like it’s just otherworldly. But why is that such an important strategy? And why is it so effective?

John Hernandez

Excellent question. And, yeah, I mean, there’s, there’s shows out there that, again, not to put labels on it, but they kind of touch on it, but then it sounds too fantastical. And too, like, that’s, that’s kind of Gucci, Gucci, you know, what is that? But no, I mean, scientifically, we know that and there’s a phrase, a picture’s worth 1000 words. So imagery has the ability to immediately connect the subconscious, to the conscious of doing this right head and heart. And what that does is it gives you an emotional charge to put things in to action, because the thinking about something is one thing, but when when it’s connected to the body, then it becomes an action piece. So by using what’s what’s my, my clients, and our students, I can just say, pull up the pilgrim image or pull up this image, and immediately they’re there in that moment. So where does that mean? So, practical, everyday life, I have a meeting, it’s an important critical meeting I have the whole board room is there, you know, the moderators on all the Zoom faces are there and the in person Lunch is provided. And I’m now walking from my car to that boardroom and I am the key person. And what do I do, all of a sudden, something comes up inside of me, maybe, you know, gosh, you know, I’m not quite prepared all the way or someone’s gonna find me out or I mean a million kinds of tape start playing maybe. And so by using this imagery and bringing up this imagery immediately, the subconscious comes online, and I can move through that and be a powerful present presenter. Same with public speaking, same thing. It doesn’t matter I always say you could put two people in front of me or 10,000 it says number and so these these modalities give you something in the moment it’s not so long thing where I have to sit down and spend okay, I’ve got two hours I’m gonna meditate do all these. No, you know, it’s is that it can be that, but that’s not it. I like to bring it into the practical world. So a moment in ready to go. Yeah, that just a question.

Scott Ritzheimer

That’s fantastic. That’s absolutely fantastic. Now, one of the things that I noticed, and even in some of the kind of referrals and recommendations and testimonials just to this idea of finding opportunities and challenges, talk to us a little bit. One, why is it so important? And how can we think of our challenges differently?

John Hernandez

Challenges. And this, this has probably been out, you know, there’s out there a lot of challenges are learning for me learning experiences, it’s not about me, if there’s something that doesn’t work, or there’s a miss, like to put it in that way. It’s not about me, I’ve given this or my business partner, or company or employees have given it everything they’ve gotten, and it wasn’t the right fit. And so what did I learn about it? What, what might I do differently next time. And, and so they’re each one of those is a learning experience. So whether I put the word miss or failure, or however you want to frame that, these are all pieces to where I can get some new piece of information, add it to my toolbox, and then bring it online the next time?

Scott Ritzheimer

Yeah, we’re going to take that a step further, what would you say is the role? Would you say that failure plays a critical role in success? Can you have one without the other?

John Hernandez

It’s possible. However, I think it’s gonna happen at some point. I mean, if it doesn’t, to me, that means I’m not taking the enough risk. Because not every risk engine flower is success. Like I said, in my own, the exempt still today, you know, we’re taking risk and, and sometimes they’re, they’re way off, and other times, there’s success, but without, without bridging that gap, I’ll never know, and I can’t move to the next level. And for me, it’s, it’s a really exciting part of it. Now, that doesn’t mean that it can’t be painful. That’s another thing. It’s like, I don’t, you can’t avoid pain, sometimes these pieces are really painful. What happened during the whole COVID piece, and, you know, we, we thankfully, were able to hold on to our team. But it was a lot of relationship. It was a lot of, of building and a lot of being in the moment during those times. And that’s it. So, so not avoiding the pain, but moving through the pain, and then taking the risks and learning.

Scott Ritzheimer

Yeah. And also, what would you say? Because I mean, this is what you do all day, every day, what would you say if you boiled it down to some of the most important work you’re doing with your clients here over the last maybe 90 days.

John Hernandez

So my one of my, one of my mission statements, and one of my goals is if I can, if I can open up a pathway and facilitate so they get an opportunity, perhaps for the first time to, to see what their core essence really is, that lives before and below all the stuff that gets heaped onto us, you know, as children and environment and culture, religion and politics, and all the things that we learn to do to survive in the world. But what’s underneath that. And if and if I can help them see that even for a nanosecond, and I’m happy successes, there was my soul. There’s as well. And then if we really get the work in that realm, then all these possibilities are available. And it’s not just about business businesses critical. But this, this better, you know, makes you better parent or makes you a better community member or in relationship. And in relationship with yourself.

Scott Ritzheimer

Yeah. Yeah. So question for you here. What would you say is the biggest secret that you wish wasn’t a secret at all? You What’s that one thing that you wish everybody watching or listening today knew?

John Hernandez

Do I have to give that up now? Okay. You have everything you need. There’s a there’s a tenent in the work we do that was written long, long ago that says, all the power that ever was or will be is here now. And what that means is that you have everything you need. And it’s about believing that and knowing it and working with that. It’s not about something over here. It’s never about something over here. Those are just the byproducts. It’s here. Yeah, it’s connecting this and again, this So, when this when this bridge is connected, there’s manifold possibilities. So yeah, there it is. I just gave you the secret of life.

Scott Ritzheimer

There it is. And why its that so hard? What? Why is that so hard?

John Hernandez

Because there’s a lot of things that get in the way of this a lot. And either I’m here or here. But, but circulating this as we call distillation and alchemy, continuing this work, and removing whatever’s in the way, opens up these possibilities. And it’s not, it’s not easy. And alchemy is called the magnum opus, which translates to the great work, because it’s ongoing. It’s all the time it’s constantly doing. It’s not like, you know, well, I’m done now. Okay, no, something, it’s constantly doing the work. That’s why it’s called the great work, not the great shortcut. There are no, I have not found a shortcut yet. If anybody out there has one, please. Email me. And it doesn’t have to be drudgery or painful, it can be fun at the same time, but it’s about doing the work all the time and being aware of it. And that’s why it’s hard. Because a lot of folks don’t want to do the work, they want somebody else to do the work for them. That doesn’t work I felt anyway.

Scott Ritzheimer

So I’m gonna I’m gonna shift gears on you here. And I’d love to have you take off your your coach hat for a moment, your advisor hat, put on your the CEO, leader hat, whatever it may be, but let’s focus in on you, what’s the next stage of growth look like for you as a leader? And what challenges will you have to overcome to get there?

John Hernandez

Another good question. So all right, I’m just gonna, I’ll just put it out there. So my current big work, for me personally, is what I call working in recognizing the imposter syndrome, which is, you know, well, I can’t possibly do this, because that person over there is the successful and his company is 14 billion, you know, mine Zoli, you get a multi billion, whatever. And so, so this is, this is a thing, this is one of those dragons we call an alchemy that plays in the background all the time. So my next piece is, or my current piece is continuing to tease that out and work on it. And by using these methods, that’s, that’s what I’m doing. And what it enables me to do as a CEO, is again, the same kind of thing with all the personal things, be able to be a better leader, more empathy, empathetic leader, to my team, learn how to really coach them through difficult times. Yeah, continue to take risks and say, You know what, I have everything I need to do the secret, right? I have what I need. And I noticed for me, procrastination is the big piece. That’s when I become unconscious of it. And then I’ll catch myself. And now I just have to laugh at and say, Ah, you’re sneaky. I see you coming, then. Yeah, I put that off to next Monday. Because I don’t want to do it now. Because why? Because the little that impostor syndrome say, Yeah, you can’t possibly do it, though. The moment I recognize it, I moved through it. So it’s a certain piece of work for me. And by the way, you might ask me, if we revisit this in eight months, there might be something new. So I’m always open to whatever new piece comes out that maybe I wasn’t aware of.

Scott Ritzheimer

Yeah, yeah. And I just want to stress on this, because the thing about imposter syndrome is it it always tries to isolate us, right? When you’re in it, especially you feel like you’re the only one in it. And you not only that, but you feel like everyone else sees it, but they only see it in you. All right. But there is not a person out there. And you know, working with CEOs of 100 million and billion dollar businesses and frontline workers and friends and kids, like, everybody wrestles with this in some way, shape, or form, it looks different, shows up a little bit different, but anyone is out there. I just want to stress what you said like anyone’s out there is feeling like that. And they feel like it’s just me, like, if I get to this point, I’ll arrive or I won’t feel that way anymore. You don’t have to get to that point. And if you do, it’s, it’s not going to be all that different. You know, and not with respect to this, like your good work. Your ongoing work is so so Qi and so instead of waiting to get to that next point, find a way to be okay, now.

John Hernandez

That’s it. That’s the crux of the work, right? Because you’re exactly right. You can never, you can never slay the dragon. But you can manage the dragon and I have a great image for that too that I use for everybody that shows that exact piece. And again, when that image comes up immediately Ah, okay, I’m settling in. I know where I am. There’s my roadmap. So that’s why I use images a lot, because I could talk to you probably forget 80% of what I’m saying. But the image is going to bring you there in a moment.

Scott Ritzheimer

Yeah. Fascinating. Well, John, thank you so much for being here. Just an honor and privilege having you I absolutely love this conversation. I know it hit home for many people. For those of you who are watching, listening, you know your time and attention means the world to us. I hope you got as much out of this conversation as I know I did, and I cannot wait to see you next time. Take care.

John Hernandez

Thank you so much. I really appreciate the time.

Scott Ritzheimer

Absolutely.

Contact John Hernandez

John has been a professional sales and management trainer since the mid-1980’s and a leadership trainer and coach for the past several years. He has managed several firms in the consumer and professional Audio-Visual industry throughout the western United States. Ten years ago, John and his business partner began their own company, building it into a multi-million-dollar corporation. Like many, he has experienced epic failures during his professional career; however, he continues to learn from them and choose to take risks. He learns from identifying his own blocks and seeing and acting upon his potential.

Want to learn more about John Hernandez’s work at Alchemy Coaching Institute? Check out his website at https://www.alchemycoachinginstitute.com/ and get a free 15 minute consultation by clicking on “Work with John” at the top of the page.

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