Meet Julio Gonzalez

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Julio Gonzalez. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Julio, so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room – for some that’s being the only person of color or the only non-native English speaker or the only non-MBA, etc Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?

I do not understand how to not be effective. The only person I work to impress is myself. I constantly challenge myself to do my best, be the best I can be, and to be there for others. It doesn’t matter what I do….whether it’s working with my customers, helping a friend, or even cooking a great meal, I seek to do better than the prior time.

Everyone around me knows that I am my own worst critic but its not about criticizing but rather improving.

Sometimes all our efforts do not lead to success but by learning from everything we do, everyone we interact with, we can strive for a better outcome.

This is something I learned growing up. We had our own home but lived day to day. We had to make the most of everything we had. I learned to do as much as possible, things like cooking to help my mom, and home remodeling to save money, to maximize what I worked hard for. In business I worked to educate myself as much as possible to be able to bring the greatest value to my employer. This eventually became my business and now I help small to midsize businesses the same way I helped corporate America.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

For 39 years I spent my career helping South Florida companies optimize technology in order to drive business value. In the early days this meant introducing technology to the workplace. I helped train countless individuals on how to use PCs to be more efficient and effective in their roles. Back then PCs were the wild, wild west much as is AI today!

Over the years I evolved to addressing operational issues in order to provide an effective technology solution and thus VCTO (Virtual Chief Transformation Officer) was born.

In my business I take the experience, and benefits, from my corporate roles and bring them to small and midsized businesses who cannot afford the luxury of a big consulting firm. Many business owners are “stuck” trying to make their businesses grow and don’t realized that with a little structure and discipline not only can they grow but be highly successful.

In order to broaden my reach I also started a podcast, From Stuck to Scaled: Growth Strategies for Small to Midsized Businesses, so business owners can learn each week new tips and techniques they can implement to grow their business and find the freedom they sought when starting their business.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Hunger for knowledge! This is my nature, my lifelong passion. I’ve often said I should have been born in Missouri, “the show me state” because I always want to know how and why. This has driven much of my success as I seek to understand everything possible about a situation to find the right solution.

Being intentional. I don’t like to do things just because. Why are we continuing to do the same thing over and over again. Perhaps it’s because customers prefer it that way or it’s “too difficult” to change, but knowing that you are making an intentional choice makes it the right choice. Intentionally making a decision,

Be a buffalo! Buffalos face storms and will walk towards them to lessen their impact and get through them quicker. Be the leader that faces adversity and takes charge. Everyone will come out better in the end!

For individuals early in their career journeys I would say keep an open mind. We are in a time where we have more overlapping varied generations than ever before. Listen to what the older generations have to say, not because they are right, but because they have more life experience. Take their experiences and leverage them for accelerated learning. Don’t be afraid to experiment with taking charge, driving change. It will be rewarded!

Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?

This is easy. There’s one person who was both my best and worst supervisor. On the best side I learned how to make decisions, approach situations effectively, take charge. On the bad side how not to alienate people, how not to create unnecessary turmoil. This individual was highly ego driven. He couldn’t share the spotlight. When you were on his side he was spectacular but heaven help you if you were on his bad side.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.vcto.consulting
• Instagram: @vctoconsulting
• Facebook: @vctoconsulting
• Linkedin: /in/jagonz
• Youtube: @wearevcto
• Other: Stuck to Scaled podcast – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/from-stuck-to-scaled-growth-strategies-for-smbs/id1811228615

Image Credits

The one studio shot was a professional photographer I paid to take photos, the rest are personal and friends iPhone photos.