At the age of 24, Alejandro Mendieta Blanco (Alex) has won what many entrepreneurs wish to be the proud winner of. Crowned the “Entrepreneur of the Year’ ten years, Alex’s journey to becoming a successful entrepreneur has been full of challenges and difficulties.
Ten years since he won the award, a lot has changed, and this article will give a sneak peek into the life and philosophies of Alex.
Going Through Ups and Downs
Alex left the protection of his home, stepped out of the cocoon at the age of 16, and landed in Australia, a completely foreign land. He didn’t know English, nor did he know anyone in this foreign. Yet, his sheer passion, commitment, and hard work have made him what he is today. It will be unjust to not acknowledge him for the tough days and challenges that a younger teenager might face in a strange land.
When asked about those days in an interview by Money. Inc magazine, he replied that even if he was given an opportunity, he would never change a single thing about those days because it made him a tough nail and allowed him to appreciate whatever he has today. He further added, “Nowadays, when I have any seemingly big problem either in life or in business, all I do is remind myself of those times and make me realise I have no real problems.”
He wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth, nor was he overly protected by his parents. He was allowed to face the real and harsh world at the age of 16, which made him determined and committed to his goals.
Struggle Before Victory
The social media world only focuses on the glamour quotient of a successful businessman and the business world, casting an incorrect idea in the mind of a young entrepreneur. They conveniently hide the struggle and painstaking hard work that one goes through to reach that height of success. While talking to 15 successful entrepreneurs, we have realised that while they have different philosophies in life, one thing that was common among them was their determination and hunger to succeed. It is this determination and hunger that helped them to overcome every obstacle on their path.
Getting Rich
We have all heard this popular phrase, “getting rich is easy but staying rich is not.” However, when Alex Mendieta was asked about his viewpoint on the same in an interview conducted by Men’s Health, his reply was quite the opposite in nature to this quote. He replied, “if becoming rich was easy, everyone would be rich.” He then goes on to explain his point of view “I don’t think getting rich its easy at all, and by that I’d like to stress the point that just because you know someone that made some money and lost it and never got back up again, they do not classify as rich! That was merely a lucky accident. I real rich person has a mindset and a set of skills that the poor simply don’t possess, and because of that, they can survive and thrive any ups and downs life throws at us”.
Alex Mendieta after 10 Years
Ten years, a decade is a long time, and many things have changed, just like Alex’s motto has changed from “work hard and no fun” to “work hard and play hard.” He also enjoys a flamboyant lifestyle, which is envied by many and dreamt by more. In a recent interview conducted by OK, titled “Interview with the Colombian Playboy,” Alex has said that there is no joy in earning money when you can’t enjoy life. He further adds, “some years back… and it hit me like a slap on the face, I was very rich but I found myself unhappy. I had spent all of my short life just working! And completely neglected enjoying life. So I went back to the drawing board and figured out I could not just work hard but also play hard. So I rearranged my work times where now I can work 70 hours weeks and still party my ass off and do tons of fun enjoyable things.”
Only the future can tell us what all is in store for our very own Columbian and what more will we hear about him!