Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio has led a life of leaps - some of them quite shocking - starting with leaving his home country of Colombia at a very young age; living off of the streets of Venezuela; and reinventing himself - several times - in the US until he created his successful Miami-based event planning business, Cache Events, which he's now run for over 25 years. In Ep. 7, hear how Chamo:
Check out Episode 7 and others on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts!
Learn more about Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio and Cache Events at:
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Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio has led a life of leaps - some of them quite shocking - starting with leaving his home country of Colombia at a very young age; living off of the streets of Venezuela; and reinventing himself - several times - in the US until he created his successful Miami-based event planning business, Cache Events, which he's now run for over 25 years. In Ep. 7, hear how Chamo:
Check out Episode 7 and others on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts!
Learn more about Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio and Cache Events at:
***
Have guest ideas? Can't wait to hear what leaps will be next?
Subscribe to Life Leaps Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts! Follow, rate and review us - we're *brand new* so, it means a lot - and be the first to know when we launch new episodes each week:
*ACCESSIBILITY: Transcripts are available for each episode here. (Just click your episode of choice, and then click the "transcript" tab! And if you have any issues at all don't hesitate to reach out.)
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: [00:00:00] All life is like a roller. So I don't care about the downs because I know you're always, after you touch the bottom, you have to go up.
Life Leaps Podcast: Welcome to Life Leaps podcast. Hear inspiring stories of ordinary people who made extraordinary life changes. What drove them, what almost held them back. Insights for the rest of us considering life leaps big or small, because hearing someone else do it reminds us that we can too.
today we're with Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio, who's led a life of leaps. Some of them quite shocking, starting with leaving his home country of Colombia at a very young age, living off of the streets of Venezuela and reinventing himself several times in the US until he created his successful Miami based. Event Planning Business Cache Events, which he's now run for over 25 years.
Today we'll hear how Chamo navigated extraordinary setbacks and extraordinary strokes of luck. Found a career that does so much more than pay [00:01:00] the bills. Takes a very unique approach to sharing or not your ideas with the world, and encourages certain mindset when you're considering life changes big or small.
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: I was born in Colombia in a little town in the mountains. It's a little town that is beautiful and I love it, but I was feeling that I didn't belong there.
I wanna go to different places. I wanna see different things, new, different people that I finished my high school. I started going to college and I did one, one year of college, but I wasn't feeling. I didn't belong there like so they quit the college and I decided to go to Venezuela. Everybody used to go to Venezuela by then because the economy was very good.
People were looking like, when people are coming out to America, they're looking for a better life, for better opportunities. When I told one of my friends that from high school, they told me, oh my God, I wanna go with you. Why don't we go? I said, okay, let's go. We didn't know anybody in Venezuela, but we decide to go.
Life Leaps Podcast: You were 18? [00:02:00] Yep. When? When you left home. To move from Columbia to Venezuela. Yeah,
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: When I left on, on December 28th, I told him, my friends goodbye. I'm going to Venezuela. I'm gonna leave this country. I'm not going to come. But only my family knew that I was serious. My mother was like in shock when I left because that happened like in two or three days. I never told anybody my plans. I never like to tell anybody my plans because when you tell people your plans, usually they, they don't happen.
So I've been thinking like this all my life, even now. So I told my family and my friends like three days before, and my mother was like in shock. But my father, when I was leaving my house, when I was taking the downstairs to the main door, My father was crying like, would you take a son the cemetery to a funeral?
I never forget that. I mean that, that imagine is here in my brain. He was crying like a baby. But I said, have to go this for my future. I whatever life. I love you guys, but I want life.
Life Leaps Podcast: Were you scared?
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: No. No.
Life Leaps Podcast: Had you ever [00:03:00] been to Venezuela?
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: No. Never. I never been outta my country.
Life Leaps Podcast: Okay.
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: That was the first time.
I never traveled in my life before, but I was crazy. When you are young, you don't have that mentality or responsibility. That might've been like that all my life, and I like it, you know? So we have a little money and we took the bus to go for my hometown. Santa Rosa. I'm talking about 40 years ago. Can I ask how old you are
Life Leaps Podcast: now?
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: Oh my God, I'm 60 . 64 and a half. So it's
Life Leaps Podcast: been a couple years since you made this voyage.
Okay. Yes. Uhhuh. Okay. So you're on the road, you've never, you've barely left your hometown, which I think is a smaller town. Yep. In Columbia. Mm-hmm. . And you and this friend are hitchhiking to the border of, but you don't have papers to get through, and so you're literally hitchhiking every two miles or two kilometers before you know there's a border checkpoint.
You're getting in the car and you're saying, can you guys drop us off? Yep. A little before the toll uhhuh , because you have to sneak up and around the mountains Yep. To get around the toll. Okay. All right. So you get there. We
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: get to Caras. I, the friend that I was with [00:04:00] traveling, he had a cousin in Caras, but they never met each.
And he told me, okay, let's go to my cousin. Let's find out if he remembers who I am. And so we decided to go there. The worst place in Caras when I went to Caras and I saw that place like January 23rd. That's the name of the place. Okay. And he was discussing, he was living there and, but he was teaching in the University of Car.
He was a teacher. Very bright man, very wise. But his life wasn't that well cause he was living in that, in that place.
Life Leaps Podcast: Had you guys contacted this friend's cousin
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: before you just showed up? No, never before. They never met each other. Not even on the phone calls, never have contact before each other. And when we get there I says, okay guys, I'm sorry I don't have any commodities.
To have you here. The only thing that I can offer you a little bit, I mean it was like a baby's bed. Two people sleeping in the bed. Imagine that. So he was getting up every single day at six in the morning and we had to leave the house cause we were not supposed to stay [00:05:00] there. And he come back because they, his wife was teaching too.
She was a teacher. So everybody left the house at six in the morning and came back like eight in day at night. So we used to go to the streets, so car looking for jobs because we didn't know anybody. I was looking everywhere, knocking doors, looking for newspapers.
One thing that I remember very well, people used to have the newspaper stands, newspapers and magazines on the streets. And I used to ask them for the all newspaper and they told me no. So because I didn't have any money, I decide to look in the garbage, on the garbage on the containers where people threw the garbage and the newspapers and magazine.
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: Were you No, nothing, honestly, I was asking, I was begging for money on the streets. I was asking people, the other guy did have the courage to ask for money to people, but I said, nobody knows who I am. I don't care. So I was like a burger in Venezuela.
So without we survive, we were eating hotdogs or whatever and we survive. [00:06:00] Yeah. So I decide to look for jobs in the newspaper. when I saw they were looking for guys from Ecuador. To do different jobs in the house.
Life Leaps Podcast: They want people from the country of ead.
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: Yeah, I said, okay, I have to take the risk. I'm gonna tell these people that I'm from Ecuador, So we were working on the street after I saw on the newspaper, they were looking for a guy from Ecuador when I saw like $30 on the street and I instantly pick it up and my friend didn't know.
What I did and I told him, let's go to this place because I know I have the feeling that we can have the opportunity there and let's go. And he says, no, I'm too tired. And I told him, no, let's go. And he says, no. I told him no. I invite you for a hot dog and a Coca-Cola and let's go back. he says, we don't have any money.
And I show him the $30. he says, where do you get that money from? I said, I found you in the street. So we were in the mood and we're, it was your lucky day. You just found, you know, I always think there is always an opportunity. I always believe it. There is always an opportunity for you. So we had dogs.
[00:07:00] Coca-Cola and I asked the guy that was helping selling the hotdogs, can you please tell me where is this address? That I show him the address on the newspaper? I said, oh yeah, you have to go back like it's one hour walking back. You have to go there. So we went to that place. We went there and when I got to that apartment, there was a beautiful family.
Was a woman very pretty. So I told her I'm from Ecuador. Said, excuse me. My name is Gilbert, I'm from Ecuador, and the, her name was, uh, Maria Christina, and she was standing there. Okay. You have the job and your friend is looking for the job too. And I said, yeah, he's looking for a job too. And she said, I have a job for him.
Okay, both of you have the jab.
Life Leaps Podcast: Wait a second. So you guys have been in Venezuela for a week? Uhhuh , right After taking this crazy risk, Uhhuh getting into the country. Yep. You show up with no money, you manage to find a place to stay. You're basically hustling on the. To feed [00:08:00] yourselves during the day. Uhhuh , and taking day old newspapers from the trashcan.
Right. To try and find a job. Yep. And in the same day, you found 30 bucks. Uhhuh. a lot at that time. 30 bucks on the street. Yep.
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: You get a hot By then there was a lot of money. 300. Now it's a lot of money. By then, I'm talking about 40 years ago. That was a lot of money, so that was my .
Life Leaps Podcast: So you show up at this woman's place and you say you're from Ecuador. Of course you're not of course, but you're like, look, I'm from Ecuador. What do you need? I'll do that.
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: But I wasn't stupid. The first thing that I asked her was, had you been to Ecuador before? She told me, oh no, never. I said, ok, unsafe. I said, ok, safe.
Life Leaps Podcast: Why did she want someone from Ecuador?
I don't know. By then, she was looking for people from Ecuador, for whatever reason, for she got people working from Ecuador before with her. Ok. So that's what. Toreador.
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: Okay. I went to her house and I start well learning. Cause I didn't know anything, remember. So I was like, oh my God, now what is gonna happen? So I was taking care of the Aries, the dog. I was doing all the [00:09:00] errands, going to the bank, eh, buying groceries, doing everything battery. Three days later I was feeling guilty because one thing that I learned from my mother is never lie because honestly, my mother used to say, liars are like, That's the same thing.
So three days later I said, excuse me, ma'am, can I tell you something? I said, I'm sorry I had to lie to you because I was desperate. I didn't have any job. I didn't have any money, and I lied to you because I, I'm from, I'm not from Ecuador, I'm from Columbia. And she told me, I knew it. . . And I said, how come? I was laughing and I said, what do you, what I've been?
How do you know she knew Accent something? The accent. And she told me, don't worry, I know how you are, so you look nice. So don't worry. I mean stay here. Three weeks later, she send me to the bank to make it deposit. That was like eight 30 in the morning and the deposit was for like 4,800. Something like that.
There was a lot of money by then. a lot of money, [00:10:00] so I went to the bank and I never came back. I never came back to the house. What happened when I went to the bank after I made the deposit? Getting out of the bank because by Dening, Venezuela, the police, they asked for documents anywhere. Even if you were walking on the streets, if you were in the car anywhere, they were asking for documents.
So when I was leaving the bank, they asked me for documents, so I didn't have any documents, so they sent me to jail.
Life Leaps Podcast: So you make this massive deposit for this family?
Mm-hmm. a couple weeks after starting for them. You deposit the money, thank goodness. Uhhuh . And on the way out from the bank, they're asking for documents and they basically apprehend you. Yeah. Cause of course you don't have any. Yeah. Uhhuh, you're thrown into jail. Uhhuh, , and you're like, oh.
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: Shit. So I was like that at the end.
I was like, what is gonna happen to me?
Life Leaps Podcast: What are you
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: feeling at that moment? Just I was feeling like, uh, do you know my dreams? Like I was like empty honestly, to feel. I was crying. I was crying and was really sad. The first day that I went to jail, [00:11:00] they remember one guy asked me, I want your pants and I want your.
And I said, no, I don't wanna give it to you. And he told me, I'm gonna punch you and I'm gonna hit you. So, and I said, stay mine and gimme yours. When I put his pants on, after I gave him mine, they were completely wet of pee. And one of the guards came to me and I says, what are you doing with those pants?
And I said, he told me to exchange it because otherwise he was going to hit me. And he says, that guy has stiff, are you crazy? He, he has typh. And I said, I didn't. I stay with those pants until the next day, until they gave me another pants. And after that jail, they sent me to another jail where they put me with 39 more papers in one cell.
And I was there and I was telling people, please call this woman. This is the telephone number. Tell her that I'm here. So I was there for almost 10 days. 10 days, 10. Doing nothing. Couldn't shower. I was stinky. I couldn't even lift my arms because was disgusting. They allow us to shower nothing. I think it was two weeks, almost two weeks until she [00:12:00] shows up, Sheed up.
She the You worked for? Yeah. Okay. And I said, oh my God, what are you doing here? And she told me, I'm gonna take you out. I said, oh my God. And she brought me the other and she brought me toothpaste. She brought me everything to clean up. Cause I was stinky. I was disgusting. How did she know you were there?
Because I, she told me, I knew you made the deposit because I called the bank because when you didn't show up, I called the bank and they told me, yeah, he made the deposit. I said, something happened to him. So she started looking in in hospitals. She start looking for me everywhere until she find out that I was.
And she told me, yeah, one of the guys that you gave the telephone number, he called me and he told me that you were here. So pay lawyer by then. Pay lawyer. Uh, 4,500 and she took me out and I, when you get out of the jail with a lawyer, you got out with documents. So one month later after I came to Venezuela, I got my id.
Wow. . Yeah. That's what I see. Old life is like a roller. And [00:13:00] Karen, to me, my life has been a rollercoaster all the time, up upside downs. So I don't care about the downs because I know you're always, after you touch the bar, you have to go up and I roll my life. It's been like this all the time.
Life Leaps Podcast: So in a way, You ending up in jail for 10 days.
Yeah. Actually was a huge blessing because it's, yeah, spur could have injured a lot of ways. Yeah. But it basically caused this woman who you'd been working for. Yeah. Who now trusted you. Uhhuh. She got you documents, she hired a lawyer, she got
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: you papers. She took the risk because she didn't know who I was.
I was working for Heroine for two, three weeks and she took the risk to pay a lawyer $4,500 by. That is a lot of money. Now I'm talking about 40 years ago. She took the risk because she believe in me.
Life Leaps Podcast: So what happened next?
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: Okay, what? What happened next is I said I have to be the best for this family. I have to do the my best.
So I was doing [00:14:00] more than she has me. I was always offering. I was doing the best. I'm gonna do whatever I can and they fall in love with me. That was like a special relationship with both families.
Life Leaps Podcast: So how long did you end up working for this family? Four years. Wow. Four years. So that really everything you've told us so far was just the beginning,
She believes in me so much that at the end she was signed because she used to travel a lot and she used to say, okay, Gilbert, you, I'm gonna give you this. I'm gonna sign these checks in blank. Just the signature For anything you need, you please use these checks, but don't let my kids see the checks.
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: Don't let them see the checks because I don't trust them. I trust you. It was like that.
Life Leaps Podcast: Wow .At some point, obviously you end up in the us. Uhhuh. . Did this family help you get there
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: I came here because of them. Actually, after I was working for them for four years, I told her, I told her I wanna do another jobs.
I wanna go [00:15:00] to different places. I don't wanna stay here all the time. I'm sorry. I know I love you and you love me, but I wanna keep growing. I don't wanna stay in the same place all the time. And she told me, okay, do whatever you want, but if you are like a kid to me, don't leave. Do whatever you want, but stay here with us.
You were living there at the time? I was living there after a while, I decide to study studying bird traffic, but no, like controller. But I is working in travel agencies in airports, so I got the degree in Kara. When I was living in her house and I was working in another place in a famous restaurant, French food that is LaCava.
There is where, where I learned how to what kinda wines goes with this. Food without food Also taught me how to serve the table, how to serve up the dining sets, the silverware, the China, everything. I learned a lot with her because These people They were very fancy and very well-known in Caras.
So I learned a lot from them. And after a while I told her I wanna move to America. I [00:16:00] really wanna move to America because my brothers and my sister was living here.
Life Leaps Podcast: They, you come from a family of nine, right?
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: Nine people by then when, but I was the first one who move from, he left the house that way,
When I asked for the visa, she gave me a letter or recommendation He worked for me, a very nice letter saying, this guy is nice. There is no problem. I went for the. Consulate for the visa like at nine in the morning and I get it at in the afternoon.
I get it back, I think it was cause I get the letter from her because his family was very well known in Venezuela. What gave you the
Life Leaps Podcast: idea to wanna come to the United States? This nice comfortable life and with this family in Venezuela. You lived well, just, I thought that wasn't enough for me.
I was 22 years by then, I said, no, I need more. I, I was thinking about my future, about what is gonna happen to me in 10 years, what is gonna happen to me in 20 years? I'm always thinking about what is next, and to me it's like a cycle that you close the cycle and you have to.[00:17:00]
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: In Venezuela. I said, okay, it's time to move on. And Henry, my brother Henry and Lumar, my sister, they were living here and said, you're there by yourself. Why did you come here? We're here. There is a lot of here. A lot of people from my town was living there in In New Jersey. That was New Jersey. In New Jersey, okay.
And I decided, okay, yeah, they're right. I need. Like my family company, I need to be closer to them. That's what I decide to come to America to start all over again. From the bottom. That's a new chapter. America is a new chapter. I came to America for. I didn't speak English. I didn't have money. I didn't have enough money to buy a car, to buy my own things.
When I came to the airport, I told the first thing that I told my brother. He picked me up at the airport, John F. Kennedy. I says, Henry, one thing I'm gonna tell you, I wanna live by my own. I wanna have my own house, and I wanna have my own business. Those are my goals.
Life Leaps Podcast: You're 22 and you decided that
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: I said this is my goal in America and I'm gonna fight for it and I'm gonna get it.[00:18:00]
So remember that I'm gonna leave you someday cause I want my own life, my independence and and my own things. I came here and I got to New Jersey. And I New Jersey. Cause coming from Caras car for City, very modern by now is different. And I came to New Jersey. I said, oh my God,
Everything was ugly. I was feeling like, sorry, New Jersey. Sorry New Jersey, but I, sorry, New Jersey. But that's how I saw it. 40 years ago, my brother told me, no, don't worry, I'm moving to Miami. Gloria's family, his wife was living here in Florida and they were saying, what are you doing in New Jersey here?
This is Paradise. Later we moved to Miami. And we get too. Hi Aaliyah. Sorry. Hi, Aaliyah. But another, Was, I never expect America to be like this. What I saw, because I was expecting like some more, and I says, no, this is not my America. No, this is not the America that I want.
so I decide to start working, doing the best learning English
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: Did you speak English when you came here? No. No, no. Only Hello. And that's it. How'd you learn it? I went to the school, [00:19:00] four nights a week. When we moved from New York City to Miami to I Hated America. I was depressed for one year. I started working in a factory, cleaning the floors.
Throwing out the garbage. That's how I started. but I start going to every single machine the guys were working on because it was a printing company.
And I asked them how to, how they do it. And I was looking, all the time looking, can I help you clean the cleaning this, cleaning the in, changing this, putting the paper. And I was helping them all the time. All the time, and looking all the time, looking until three years later they told me to start operating one of the machines.
So I start operating one of the machine. I, I was very good on the machines and they start moving me to different machine, different ones until I learn all the mechanisms in the factory. And at the end, I was the manager, the factory to milk for years. But I learned every single thing in the. I [00:20:00] have the key.
I was opening and closing in the factory. I was working sometimes from eight in the morning until two in the morning. I was like a machine I was producing all the time because I think one of the success in life give more that you can give, always give more. I think that's one of my success. If they ask you for something, do this, try to do a little bit more, and people love that.
Life Leaps Podcast: was there a time when you wish we're really talking about, obviously two big leaps here, your leap from home to Venezuela? Mm-hmm. , and then from Venezuela to the us mm-hmm. . Was there a time in this US part when you just wished you had stayed in Caracas or Columbia? You wish you hadn't
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: done it? No. Once I did.
When? When I out Colombia, my idea was never come. I always walking ahead, never look back. And when I came to America, After one year I said, this is my country. This is my country. I love it. I'm gonna stay here and this is my future. and I [00:21:00] start. A car, uh, living by myself. I get the apartment, didn't buy it, but I was renting my own place. You
Life Leaps Podcast: did the things you told your brother you'd do. Yeah,
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: and after a while I said, okay, it's time to buy my own place. I decide to buy my apartment and I could afford it.
My, my apartment, my car, and I was so happy. I was by my own new by myself and I started going from there. That was just the beginning. Just the beginning. But when I was working in the company, that was a time where I said, ok, this circle is closing. The circle is closing this. Yeah, I have to move on.
Life Leaps Podcast: Same way you felt in Venice.
You got a four or five year itch
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: sounding. That's it. Yeah. Actually that you're right. It's time to move on. I'm 30 years old. I'm gonna be working in a factory for my life. This is not me. That's where I met Tyler, my business partner. Working in a party in, in Bo Raton.
Life Leaps Podcast: Were you attending the party?
Were you working? Yeah, I was. Yeah. I, okay, so you were at a party, guy's
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: working the party. I said, oh my God, you work here. This is cool. [00:22:00] How can I get a job, like a part-time? I have a job, but this will be cool. I like this. Okay. So he told me, okay, let's, let's start working. So we started working with a company in Bocaraton.
He was working with that company. So
Life Leaps Podcast: just like that, you meet a guy at a party, you say, Hey, can I start working with you part-time? Can I have a part-time? You guys exchange numbers? Like
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: what? Yeah. Exchange numbers. They call me, come this weekend. We're having a party this weekend. Come to work. So I went to work and I like the job and I started working there part-time, but I still was working on on the pretty company.
Life Leaps Podcast: And so what are you doing? You're helping, like helping party planning or
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: party planning, moving flowers, supporting center pieces on the table, fixing the table. This
Life Leaps Podcast: is starting to sound familiar to your current
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: business. Okay. Do doing things because I didn't have an experience, remember? Okay.
Life Leaps Podcast: Spoiler alert.
Chao and Tyler did my wedding. Yeah. , they did all the flowers. Gorgeous decorations
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: So when I saw that I have the attitude of the quality, To do what I was doing because I mean that, that was natural to me. They told me to do this and I was doing it good. I [00:23:00] did decorations, I was doing a lot of things, and they said, oh, it's beautiful.
Who did it? Me. And I didn't have an experience, but I learned looking too. I mean watching people doing it. So I quit the printing company and I start working all the time.
Transcribing...
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: Started from scratch again during the parties. And we were working there for almost three months, going to different places, doing different parties.
And I told Tyler, this woman we're doing everything and she's doing nothing. We're always on the, on the venues doing the woman who ran the business doing everything, the woman was doing nothing. And I, I told Tyler, no, no, this doesn't work for me. Let's worry. I, I know we can do this. By our own. I know we're good.
And I'm very good with numbers. I'm very good with money. And you're very talented with people and doing parties. Let's work together. I don't wanna work with this woman because she's getting all the credit. Because we were used to go to a party. Oh, beautiful. Who did this party? Oh, this person did it? No, it was us, but we couldn't see our name.
I says, no, no. [00:24:00]
Life Leaps Podcast: So you and Tyler became basically the two two main employees for this woman. Yeah. Who did, had bigger name drinking, event planning, whatever, and then you're basically like, wait a minute. Yeah, we're doing all the legwork. We can do this for ourselves. Uhhuh, Uhhuh, .
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: Okay. We, we told the woman, listen, we want, we don't wanna work here anymore.
She says, okay, no, let's do something. Let's be business partners. I said, okay, let's be business partners. We did a party. I don't remember what that was. Halloween. Halloween night. I'll never forget that. Party. The name of the party. Shadows in the night, the Halloween party, and they told me, okay, what name do you suggest for this event for Halloween?
I said, shadows in the Night. And they love it. They fall in love. And with the day party was a success, was beautiful. That was like 30 years ago. We made it for $6,000 30 years ago. Okay. That was a lot of money for us. But the woman got $3,000 and we got $3,000 and you did all the work. And I told Tyler, no way.
Life Leaps Podcast: This is still a no for
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: [00:25:00] me. No way. This is no for me. He says, what? He told me, what did you want? He says, no, I wanna be independent. I don't wanna work for anybody else. Come on, I'm 32 years old. You are like, he was like 26 or something. I said, no, I don't wanna work for anybody. When we decide to get independent, Tyler told me, we don't have any money.
We're gonna start the business. I says, I have credit cards. Let's start with the, with the credit cards. And we started the, I have a neighbor who got a little warehouse close to my house. Chill, have an air condition and nothing. She told us, okay guys, you can use half food during in my warehouse. And when you get very hot, you can go to my office and cool down there in my office,
But I start working. It was outside in my, and this is Miami. In Miami mean it's hot, very hot. Imagine during the summer working outside in the the garage. That's how we started. I remember very well the first thing we got was a little che. The flowers we spent hundred and 20. I said, oh my god. Hundred 20.
That's a lot of money. [00:26:00]
Life Leaps Podcast: Chama. What is driving you? Even when you took the leap from the safe factory job to the event planning thing, you could have stayed working with this woman and you still at least would've had a steady name, a steady paycheck. What is driving you to keep taking these risks?
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: I don't know.
There there is a point in your life. That's why I think. There is a point in your life that you have to think, what's gonna happen to me tomorrow? How I'm going to live the last days of my life, or the last years or whatever, how I'm gonna live it. And I've been thinking about that all my life. How is my future gonna look?
And one important thing carry in my life is I always for in my mind, What I wanted and I got it. I'm not rich, but I love my life. I live very comfortably. Yeah. I can travel anywhere I want. I'm not rich, but I live well. I was always looking for something
Life Leaps Podcast: and a way like reverse engineering.
Yeah. You, it seems like a theme I'm hearing is, okay, this is great for now and now that I'm stable, this is working, but is this where I wanna be Uhhuh in 10 years, [00:27:00] 20 years, 30 years, Uhhuh. And if the answer was no. You're like, all right baby, what's next?
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: What That's, that's how I see that is next.
Life Leaps Podcast: And also it seems like this sort of belief in yourself.
that I can figure it
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: out. Honey, you don't believe in yourself. You're not. That's why keep me going. Cause I always believe in myself. I can do it. The only thing you can say is I can do it.
Even if I go to low and have rollercoaster in my life, I said I'm going to go up. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel. That's why I see it. And to me it's, that's how life is. If it's, I think it's a boring life if you get everything.
I like to fight for things. Cause I give you sense to your life when you fight for things.
Life Leaps Podcast: So. You fought for this. Yep. You,
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: I've been fighting everything. I've been fighting all my life until I got what I want. This is what I want. I like it. I'm happy
Life Leaps Podcast: you convinced Tyler, that you guys could leap, that you could do this.
Yep. That you could start this business. Uhhuh, , and. You did
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: he believe in me? He believes that's the main point. I said, okay, let's do it. And he saw me and he saw me that, that I [00:28:00] was good with numbers, that I was good fighting for things because he knows that I'm a fighter, a good fighter. And he said, okay, let's do it.
Life Leaps Podcast: And how long ago did y'all start this business cache?
Was it cache events? Win with
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: cache events? We started 20, 28 years ago, it's a long time and we survive all the crashes of the economy all day upside down. So the economy, that economy crash, everyth 10 years. And we're still kicking
Life Leaps Podcast: Chao, seeing you and Tyler work together. Uhhuh.
Actually, it'd be hilarious to have him in here the way you two kick each other in the shins and mess with and bicker like the way y'all work together and compliment each other. And just seeing you the way I've seen you putting together flowers, creating beautiful spaces so that other people could enjoy it.
Mm-hmm. through like your art. Really? Yeah. It's art. You're totally engrossed in. You love it. It's hard work, but like I see you love that
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: craft. I think when you are really happy, when you do what you love, if you're doing something that [00:29:00] you don't love, you're unhappy that happen in the printing company. I was feeling unhappy at the end and I, since this is not me, the business with cache.
I love to do it because I It's art is working with art go to different places, different setups all the time. I'm going to Las Vegas next week. Next year I'm going to New Orleans and. That's my job.
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: Every, everything is different. it's not a boring life. That's what I like my life. I don't like boring life. I don't like to go to a company every morning at in the morning until five. No way. That's not me. . I like to move around. I like to do different things.
Life Leaps Podcast: Chao, how could you have known that this was the career, the lifestyle that would give you so much joy?
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: I never imagined that I was going to come this way. Everything was happening like little by little and little by little and fast, but is, I don't know, it's because. I think that if you have money for a Toyota, try to buy a Mercedes . That's why I think that's why I came here because you know, there is always money coming.
If you five [00:30:00] 40 that you're gonna get it. You get it, you're gonna get whatever you want, if you really want it, and you were with love. I think that's one of the secrets in life world with love and. Fight for what you want. And that's what I've been doing in my life and I like me.
Life Leaps Podcast: If you had advice for someone who was contemplating a life leap,
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: I think what I've been doing all my life, Karen, is follow your heart.
Follow your heart Is your heart. Tell you, do this. Don't hesitate. Do it. fight for what you want if it's in your brain, you can dream it, you can make. fight for your dreams. and never. I never tell anybody my dreams.
I just do it. I think one of the words mistake is telling people, what are you going to do?
Life Leaps Podcast: It's interesting cuz a lot of people would say, announce your intention to the world, but that obviously was.
What worked for you? Why would you say don't tell
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: anyone? For me, I don't know. Because there is people that is, always they set up.
You can do it, [00:31:00] but okay, you're gonna do it, but that's good. But always people are going to tell you bad. My mother used to tell me all the time, you can do it. You can do it. That's one thing, but not everybody's your mother, my dear
Uhhuh,
Life Leaps Podcast: you got that one? No, no. Uhhuh. Thank goodness. No, just kidding.
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: No, nobody's true.
Life Leaps Podcast: Can I ask you one question? How do you feel when you're working with a gorgeous centerpiece that you know is gonna be the center of some event or when you're visualizing like a blank?
Room, like a blank canvas. I've seen you create something out of nothing, literally. And so how do you feel when you're in that moment? Is it like a flow?
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: I think it's like a painter. it's like a therapy. It's like communicating with nature, with God, communicating with myself when I do my work.
It's like time doesn't exist. I said, oh my God, this is so beautiful. It's so beautiful.
Life Leaps Podcast: So many of us [00:32:00] would love to feel that way, and I think it's really.
Awesome to get to hear someone say it and I'm looking at you. This interview's in person. I can feel it. I feel that you mean it. Yeah, I've seen you in motion. I've seen you mean it. And I think it's inspiring.
Gilbert "Chamo" Osorio: It's like I said, do what you love and what you do. Otherwise, stay home. Thank you, Chao. You're very welcome.you.
Life Leaps Podcast: Thank you all for being here. We're a brand new podcast, so if you enjoyed it, go ahead and follow rate and review us in your podcast app so that we can know what you liked and others can find us. It would mean a lot. Last but not least, we'll keep you posted on brand new episodes each week when you follow us on Facebook or Instagram at you Guessed it like LEAPS podcast.
Till next time.