Rodrigo Zetina-Yglesias. He’s presently the Director of Operations for the Benrus company(https://benrus.com) and the former Operations Manager of Alex and Ani. He was also an intern at the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation and has been a member of several organizations, most notably, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  Rodrigo presently serves on the Board of Directors of the Rhode Island Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  But what is most notable about Rodrigo is his goal of becoming

the President of the country of Guatemala.

Rodrigo Zetina-Yglesias (left) introduces himself to one of the Hope students during the networking session of today’s Life Skills class.

 “I was born and spent a good part of my youth in Guatemala before moving to Mexico and then to the United States.  I would eventually like to return to give back to my native country” he said.

After the day’s ‘Life Skills’ host, Manny Rivas, brought Rodrigo to our Hope High School classroom and made Rodrigo’s formal introduction to the rest of the students, Rodrigo began telling his personal story of success.  “My intent was to return to Guatemala after graduation from Johnson & Wales University.   I gave myself three months to find opportunities here, in Rhode Island, before fulfilling my intent to go back to Guatemala.   But the network of successful people I had been developing throughout my time at Johnson & Wales began opening up opportunities for me.  It was at that time 

I realized the importance of building a positive personal brand and how my brand helped me create a network of successful, community minded people.   My network immediately helped me find a job I was truly interested in

and has continued to provide advice and new opportunities ever since.”

Rodrigo then shared his personal blueprint for success before ending the class with our scheduled 10 minute networking period for students to speak directly with ‘Life Skills’ class guests to exchange business cards and add to each person’s growing network.  Just a few hours after the class, Rodrigo sent me an email about his experience in our ‘Life Skills’ class.   The students should feel very pleased with Rodrigo’s perception of the class and their personal brands.  Here are some excepts of his email to me:

Stephen,
 
Thank you again for the opportunity to speak with your class.

Your have a very unique program and great students!   Their professionalism, manners and willingness to be inspired and to learn is something I haven’t seen anywhere else.   I’ve done speaking engagements at various universities and organizations, and by far, this is the most rewarding out of all.
As requested, these are the 5 road rules that, if injected into aspect –school, career, personal, etc. –you will have a much more positive outcome in life. These are:
1.      Get involved: belong to something. Anything.
2.     Say “yes”.
3.     Party with a purpose.
4.     Be flexible.
5.     Love what you do!
 
Again, I am very honored to have been invited back to speak to such a great group. Thank you very much and I hope to hear from you soon. Have a great holiday!
 
Regards,
RZY

Rodrigo Zetina-Yglesias

Director of Operations