Emilio Estefan

Join award-winning music icon and industry legend Emilio Estefan as he reflects on lessons throughout his life, his businesses, and what he envisions as the future of the Latino community.

Transcript

00:00:28:09 - 00:00:30:07
Gary Acosta
Emilio, thank you for being here today.

00:00:31:04 - 00:00:33:16
Emilio Estefan
Good morning, you look good.

00:00:33:22 - 00:00:38:15
Gary Acosta
Hey, feel the history when you're in this room. You feel it, see it everywhere.

00:00:38:18 - 00:00:53:12
Emilio Estefan
It's a lot of happy moments. You know, life is about happy moments. There's a lot of when you create music, you have so many emotions, you know, songs that you write and you don't know what to expect. And then you listen to them on the radio, in the club. And it's such a great feeling.

00:00:53:21 - 00:01:17:09
Gary Acosta
And if somebody who's in the music business has one hit, one hit, it's something that they never forget the rest of their life. And how many, I mean, you've had dozens, hundreds. Your book is one of the most valuable books out there in terms of the music that you and Gloria have written together. It's just phenomenal. So, Emilio, first of all, thank you for taking time to chat with me today.

00:01:17:09 - 00:01:44:01
Gary Acosta
I'm having these conversations with people that I admire, mostly people that come from the business world, people who are entrepreneurs, people who are trailblazers. You know, there are people who have different ideas about how to build a business and how to be successful. So I want to hear some of that from you. I'm also on a campaign to find ways to close the Latino wealth gap in America.

00:01:44:09 - 00:02:06:07
Gary Acosta
I want to see Latinos thrive even more in this country. So any little tidbit of advice that you have for our listeners would be tremendous. So let's first tell us about Emilio Estefan, maybe a couple of things that some people don't know about your upbringing when you came to the country. You know, what made the Emilio Estefan that we know today?

00:02:06:19 - 00:02:25:16
Emilio Estefan
I think what it made me was to go to a childhood that was very rough. Leaving Cuba as an immigrant, like a lot of immigrants that had to leave their country because of political problems, it’s [Cuba is] basically communist. I mean, I was 11 years old when the police came looking for dollars at my house and they saw how they pushed my mom and my family.

00:02:25:19 - 00:02:44:09
Emilio Estefan
And I knew if I get to 14 years to 15, you get any military age, you have to stay all the 15 years in Cuba serving the communist country. And then I cried all night and I told my mom, I have to go. My mom said, you know, I have to stay with your grandfather because, you know, he’s old he doesn't want to leave.

00:02:45:07 - 00:03:07:23
Emilio Estefan
So I always tell people in the 8 hours that I flew from Cuba to Madrid, I became a man. A man [from] a very wealthy family and got into Spain, became almost homeless. [I went] to a church and try to get food. And then Saturday and Sunday, I used to play the accordion. I swear to God I played the accordion in nighttime.

00:03:07:23 - 00:03:24:10
Emilio Estefan
I used to go outside, you know, and I told the guy, Listen, you don't have to pay me. Just feed my dad and me for food. And it was good because I played all the Cuban music and there was a lot of Cubans in Madrid. For lunch, I used to play and they tipped me and they gave me food.

00:03:25:04 - 00:03:26:17
Gary Acosta
But I had no family there.

00:03:26:17 - 00:03:27:08
Emilio Estefan
No family.

00:03:27:08 - 00:03:27:15
Gary Acosta
Wow.

00:03:28:01 - 00:03:51:10
Emilio Estefan
And I learned there is only one way to go in life to go from negative to positive. Don't come and complain. Try to make a better life. Try to prove yourself. It was hard, I can tell you it was really hard because, you know, I never learned English totally perfect. I never learned Spanish perfect. Even my grandson, my grandson told me the other day, Abuelo

00:03:51:12 - 00:03:54:08
Emilio Estefan
When you going to learn English? What are you talking about in English?

00:03:54:08 - 00:03:56:03
Gary Acosta
I think you speak English perfectly.

00:03:57:07 - 00:04:08:16
Emilio Estefan
But you know something? I think that I learned in your life, it's not about money. It's not about being number one. It's not about many Grammys, it’s not about achieving the Medal of Freedom, United States.

00:04:10:04 - 00:04:12:06
Gary Acosta
You never thought about it in those terms.

00:04:12:20 - 00:04:18:11
Emilio Estefan
I think the Medal of Freedom for me wasn't about me and Gloria, it was generating a hope.

00:04:18:21 - 00:04:23:12
Gary Acosta
The first husband and wife ever to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

00:04:23:12 - 00:04:46:02
Emilio Estefan
In the history. You know something? When I was getting the [unclear] I felt, I said I’m going to help so many kids and I help, you know, minorities, not only Latinos, minorities. We live in a great country, and especially Latinos. They need role models. And, you know, in the long run, I try to do the best that I can to leave a beautiful legacy to all the people and to inspire them.

00:04:46:18 - 00:05:03:12
Emilio Estefan
Nothing is easy in life, but when you do what you love, I always tell people choose whatever you want to do. You want to be a chef, be the best chef. You want to be a musician. Be the best musician. I never have the money to learn music. Everything that I know is said, you know, by ear.

00:05:04:03 - 00:05:07:18
Gary Acosta
Is that right? You never had a music lesson. Unbelievable.

00:05:07:18 - 00:05:23:09
Emilio Estefan
Like I couldn't even afford to eat. Going to school, I mean, I used to go, I used to wake up at 6:00 in the morning, go and work on Bacardi and then at 4:00, go to the school to 8:00 and 8:00, I used to dress in the car and go to an Italian restaurant and play the accordion for tips.

00:05:23:11 - 00:05:41:02
Emilio Estefan
Many nights I went home without even eating because they didn't feed me. That's what I tell the OMA and the restaurant that we owned. I said, Listen, all the employees, they have to eat. I don't want to see anybody to serve food that also need it because that's a horrible feeling. But I learned many things and the secret is to enjoy life.

00:05:41:05 - 00:05:41:23
Gary Acosta
Enjoy life.

00:05:42:01 - 00:05:48:16
Emilio Estefan
I always yeah, I always try to make the other person more important than me. I always feel that that's important to share time.

00:05:48:16 - 00:05:52:12
Gary Acosta
You live to serve others. I've seen that firsthand with you.

00:05:52:13 - 00:05:53:06
Emilio Estefan
Absolutely.

00:05:53:07 - 00:06:09:13
Gary Acosta
And Emilio, some people may know that you and I became business partners a few years ago with the L’ATTITUDE Venture and the L’ATTITUDE event platform that we have together. I'm going to talk about that in a little bit, but I just want to, you know, close the loop on what you were talking about in terms of your immigrant experience.

00:06:09:13 - 00:06:46:21
Gary Acosta
I think some of the adversity that people experience in their lifetime, especially early on, it either breaks them, because it does break some people, or it builds character in them. And for you, it was definitely the latter. It built character. It defined who you were. You made up your mind that you were going to make something of your life and you didn't know how necessarily you didn't have a formal education, but you knew that you had the will, you had a sort of, I don't know, a servitude mindset about what you wanted to be.

00:06:47:04 - 00:07:05:18
Gary Acosta
And I think, you know, that's who you've remained, which I think is even more remarkable, to be honest, Emilio, is that you have that very humble beginning and you have achieved the kind of success that most people can't even dream about. But you are exactly the same person that you've always been. And I can say that from firsthand experience.

00:07:05:18 - 00:07:08:13
Gary Acosta
I think that is the most remarkable thing about you and Gloria.

00:07:08:16 - 00:07:09:09
Emilio Estefan
Why change.

00:07:10:02 - 00:07:10:13
Gary Acosta
It works,

00:07:10:13 - 00:07:27:17
Emilio Estefan
Why change? Listen, Celia Cruz told me many, many years ago, said you can get a song to be number one, but you cannot buy love from the people or respect. We've been blessed. I mean, people are incredible, nice to us. They always say thank you, but I’m gonna say you don't have to say thank you. I do, because I feel I'm proud to be Latino.

00:07:27:17 - 00:07:45:02
Emilio Estefan
I'm proud that, you know, to be able to, I think, do things like work on the Olympics, work on the Super Bowl, perform in the White House. 46 events in the White House. I get a lot of Grammys. I think this was my 44th nomination for Grammys. But it really is not about that.

00:07:45:03 - 00:07:50:08
Emilio Estefan
It's about being happy. You know, some people it’s never enough. to me that's.

00:07:50:08 - 00:07:50:18
Gary Acosta
Really.

00:07:51:02 - 00:08:08:06
Emilio Estefan
True, especially rich and famous, because I'm a witness for that. I mean, they have a car [unclear] You know, sometimes, you know, simple life is better to me. One of the things that makes me the most happy is when I wake up in the morning, I get on a bike, I talk to all the homeless.

00:08:08:06 - 00:08:12:22
Emilio Estefan
I know, I know all of them in Miami Beach, and I feed animals in the morning.

00:08:13:11 - 00:08:31:19
Gary Acosta
I've seen you, you know, in meetings and I've seen you reach in your pocket and you still carry cash in your pocket, right? You still have a wad of cash in there. And that's, you know, you don't see that so much anymore. But. All right. So let's pivot a little bit. All right. So you were a gifted musician.

00:08:33:10 - 00:08:53:08
Gary Acosta
Obviously, you and Gloria got together and made beautiful music together. And, you know, you became a producer and you started producing others. But Emilio, you didn't stop there. I mean, you own hotels and you own restaurants and you own all sorts of other businesses. How did all this come about?

00:08:54:03 - 00:09:08:05
Emilio Estefan
It came out because, you know, I didn't want my kids to go through what I went through. Hmm. That insecurity, you know, to be sure that they don't have to go [through it] because it is really hard to go through that. I wanted to do something. I didn't do that by myself. I had the best staff in the whole world.

00:09:08:20 - 00:09:28:23
Emilio Estefan
I am the kind of guy that like to inspire people. My employees and my staff, always I say, is the best one that I have because they always [go] more than above to make things happen in a better way. I had the same stuff in my house almost 40 years. And, you know, I remember one time I was in the White House and President Obama said, what can I do for you? Absolutely nothing.

00:09:28:23 - 00:09:43:06
Emilio Estefan
Everything that I don't hear in the White House is because I want to be sure I have the ears of the president to tell, doesn’t matter, I'm not a Republican I’m not a Democrat. I don't believe in the parties. I believe in the person. And they when they buy me to produce things, they do it because they feel it's important to do that.

00:09:43:15 - 00:10:00:09
Emilio Estefan
I say, will you give me a ticket to the Christmas party. They say, Why do you want tickets for the Christmas party? You told me to do anything! So I brought my server, the guy who cleans my car, you know, the lady who dusts all the things at the house. And you know what, it was normal probably for me to go to the White House, being a producer.

00:10:01:14 - 00:10:08:10
Emilio Estefan
They walk into the White House and start crying. I start crying, too, because we take things for granted.

00:10:08:10 - 00:10:09:09
Gary Acosta
Yes, absolutely.

00:10:09:09 - 00:10:30:00
Emilio Estefan
And you know something, is dreams come true in this country, dreams come true in this country. And I think that's what L’ATTITUDE to me, when you guys and you and Sol told me to be part of L’ATTITUDE to me was like a dream, because I know every time you go to L’ATTITUDE and you live L’ATTITUDE you feel so positive, you feel dizzy. These people do it and these people are doing it and they're going to do it.

00:10:30:00 - 00:10:47:08
Emilio Estefan
And I am able to do it and we inspire a lot of people. And like I say, it's a great feeling. You know, I feel this is a great feeling. I think you only live once. To me, my biggest reward was buying a house for my mom and my dad next to my house. I used to go for lunch with them at 9:00.

00:10:47:08 - 00:10:48:06
Emilio Estefan
It doesn’t matter, Madonna was here

00:10:48:06 - 00:10:49:22
Gary Acosta
So buying a house was a big deal.

00:10:49:22 - 00:10:53:00
Emilio Estefan
Well, not only that, I mean, I used to have lunch with them 9:00.

00:10:53:02 - 00:10:53:11
Gary Acosta
Spending time with them.

00:10:53:14 - 00:11:10:16
Emilio Estefan
Madonna was here recording Evita because I’ve done many, many movies or Shakira or Jennifer Lopez or Gloria. I used to go back home, put them to bed. And you know something? When they passed away, I felt I got a great feeling about doing things. Being in the past, you never recover that.

00:11:10:16 - 00:11:30:14
Emilio Estefan
And I think you need to think about all the people, how you'll be able to make other people happy. It's a great feeling, believe it or not it’s a great feeling to have. I mean, talking about the homeless, it's not about the money. You know what the homeless tell me? What they are impressed is that I stop to spend time with them and listen to their stories.

00:11:30:23 - 00:11:32:13
Emilio Estefan
Sometimes, you know, I remember I give.

00:11:32:13 - 00:11:33:16
Gary Acosta
So you don't just drop a dollar.

00:11:33:16 - 00:11:48:11
Emilio Estefan
No, I mean, I give a piece of bread and the guy he ate half and then started giving half to the animals. I said, What are you going to eat tonight? He said, You know something? It makes me happy to feed some of the other, make the animals happy and things like that. And you know something?

00:11:48:11 - 00:11:58:13
Emilio Estefan
You learn. Listen, for simple people, you learn a lot of things because, you know, like I say, I see a lot of rich people and famous people that they bring, “The food is not good. I don't like this.” And, you know,

00:11:58:17 - 00:12:03:20
Gary Acosta
There's a homeless guy who has a little bit of extra bread and he wants to share. Absolutely. Or with animals.

00:12:03:20 - 00:12:11:23
Emilio Estefan
I never, listen, I never send back in a restaurant. If I don't like something, I just leave it there. But I never send the food back like some people that keep sending the food back.

00:12:12:08 - 00:12:13:17
Gary Acosta
I know some people like that.

00:12:14:00 - 00:12:19:20
Emilio Estefan
I’m looking over a plate that I can eat, you know what I mean? And that's that's a blessing. I think that's a definitely a blessing.

00:12:19:20 - 00:12:41:07
Gary Acosta
So I just want to comment on something you said. You talked about President Obama and your relationship with the former president of the United States, and you've been friends with other presidents as well. But I also know for a fact that, you know, at the first L’ATTITUDE event that you were at, you were in the green room and one of the executives from Wells Fargo was there.

00:12:41:16 - 00:13:01:16
Gary Acosta
And I introduced you to him and you gave him your card and you said, when you're in Miami, call me. We'll take you out, we'll take you out to dinner or whatnot. And I was amazed by that. He was more amazed by that. He ran to the to the hallway and called his wife. I just saw him the other day in Washington, D.C. He now is the CEO of Freddie Mac, which is a big, big company.

00:13:01:16 - 00:13:07:19
Gary Acosta
Good. Which is great. Which is great. And he brought up the fact that you had done that.

00:13:07:19 - 00:13:08:20
Emilio Estefan
Well he should call me now.

00:13:08:20 - 00:13:11:21
Gary Acosta
And I said, have you called Emilio? And he said no. I said, call him!

00:13:13:01 - 00:13:15:01
Emilio Estefan
You have to give me his number, right?

00:13:17:10 - 00:13:36:04
Gary Acosta
Yeah, for sure. So. All right. So I think the points that you made about your your businesses you were talking about your work ethic and you don't want your kids and your grandkids to have to go through some of the same things you went through. And that's what drives you to keep working and keep creating and keep forming new businesses.

00:13:37:03 - 00:13:55:03
Gary Acosta
And it seems to all happen organically and it happens based on relationships that you've also acquired over time. Because you may not do this intentionally, but you are an incredible manager of relationships. You stay connected to people.

00:13:55:03 - 00:13:55:22
Emilio Estefan
I love people.

00:13:55:22 - 00:13:57:02
Gary Acosta
You reach out to people.

00:13:57:02 - 00:13:57:22
Emilio Estefan
Absolutely.

00:13:58:06 - 00:14:07:21
Gary Acosta
You called me and you said, What's your shoe size, Gary? And I said, 12, why? And like two weeks later I get a pair of shoes.

00:14:07:22 - 00:14:11:02
Emilio Estefan
It is great, love is great to make other person happy, absolutely.

00:14:11:08 - 00:14:31:01
Gary Acosta
So that genuine nature that you have is your secret sauce, I will tell you that, sir. So that's really great. I think I got a pretty good understanding of how you basically built the businesses that you did. You talked a lot about the people that you've had work for you over time that are extraordinary.

00:14:31:01 - 00:14:49:15
Gary Acosta
And I will tell you that you attract what you reflect. You get great people to work here because that's what you project as a leader and they respond to you and they are inspired by you. And I know the people that work here and they love being a part of your extended family, so to speak.

00:14:49:23 - 00:15:16:20
Gary Acosta
So it is a really, really unique environment that you've created here. It is sort of an empire, you know, I don't want to, you know, sort of dwell too long on that. But this is an extremely successful man right here that has, you know, an incredible amount of assets that he's acquired over time. And you've done it with just some basic fundamental disciplines that I think you've always stuck with.

00:15:16:20 - 00:15:20:04
Gary Acosta
And it's impressive. And I'm just I'm honored to call you a friend.

00:15:20:08 - 00:15:31:22
Emilio Estefan
Thank you very much. And you know something Gary, I'm very organized. I do a lot of research before you know, my limitation of work. I want to be sure everything that I do, I try to do--

00:15:31:22 - 00:15:34:01
Gary Acosta
So how do you do that? How do you manage your time so well?

00:15:34:16 - 00:15:54:18
Emilio Estefan
Well, number one, I do--I plan things because if I going to spend time with a person, I want to be sure that I dedicate time for that person. I feel like I told you the minutes that pass by, you never recover the minutes. I mean, we learned with Kobe. I learned that with Gloria’s accident that your life can change in one minute.

00:15:55:11 - 00:16:13:00
Emilio Estefan
We were on top of the world and you know something, we went to see President Bush in the White House, and then we went to dinner on Sony and we got in the box before the concert. And we got into an accident. Gloria broke her back. And the the doctor said, I don't think she'll be able to walk again.

00:16:13:04 - 00:16:33:05
Emilio Estefan
No more babies. And I said, you know something? It’s this feeling about that what happened to me as a kid, it can happen with something else. And I said, why this happened now? But you know something, I think that made me and Gloria stronger. Even the marriage we had together over 47 years.

00:16:33:05 - 00:16:35:13
Gary Acosta
That accident made you stronger as a person

00:16:35:13 - 00:16:36:01
Emilio Estefan
I think when you love your person

00:16:36:01 - 00:16:36:18
Gary Acosta
Made your marriage stronger.

00:16:36:18 - 00:16:38:21
Emilio Estefan
Absolutely. I mean, you know something?

00:16:39:01 - 00:16:42:14
Gary Acosta
Because you realize how quickly it could all be--

00:16:42:16 - 00:17:01:16
Emilio Estefan
And, you know, some people need to learn that you can have all the money in the world you can have anything. Health is something you cannot buy. And my feeling is that the minute that I’m going to be enjoying with the family and friends, everything I do it to the max. I don't know, the next morning I be able to be back and so.

00:17:01:16 - 00:17:20:21
Gary Acosta
People call that being present, right? You don't use that language, but I know that's the language that people use referring to what you're just talking about. And I've been in meetings with you and I'll tell you, I am a mess with my phone. I'm one of those people that always has one eye on the phone. It's a it's a problem.

00:17:20:21 - 00:17:30:13
Gary Acosta
I need a fix. I have never seen that with you. I have never been in a meeting with you where you weren't completely present in that meeting and you've got 100 things going on.

00:17:30:13 - 00:17:36:04
Emilio Estefan
Yeah, you check my phone, I will have zero email zero texts. Because I answer every single one.

00:17:36:04 - 00:17:55:17
Gary Acosta
I know that for a fact. I send you a text message and like, either I get a response in 5 minutes or you pick up the phone and call me and say, Gary, what are you asking me here? But you are present and that is a gift. And I think it probably does account for your management of time.

00:17:55:17 - 00:18:14:21
Gary Acosta
You know, you stay present where you are, you get done what you're there to do, and then you move on to the next thing. I mean, we went from a meeting right there, and the next thing you know, you're in your studio and you're mixing a new song for a friend that's a big star and now you're over here doing this interview and your presence here, it is quite phenomenal.

00:18:15:14 - 00:18:42:11
Gary Acosta
I am on this campaign to find ways to close the Latino wealth gap in America. I want to see Latinos thrive. Our organization, NAHREP is all about homeownership and helping more Latinos become homeowners because we believe that's the first step to prosperity and wealth building. And Latinos do it all sorts of different ways. You can be in corporate America like Sol or like Oscar.

00:18:43:08 - 00:19:05:12
Gary Acosta
You could be an entrepreneur like yourself or like real estate brokers that are part of our organization. You can be an investor. Tell us your thoughts. If you if you were proclaimed the king or let's just say the CEO of the Latino community in the United States right now, what would you tell them that they all need to do today to live a more prosperous life?

00:19:05:17 - 00:19:18:19
Emilio Estefan
Well I’m gonna tell you, one of the things for me and Gloria all the way from the beginning, we wanted to be sure not only our house was saved and paid, that my mom and my dad's house was saved and paid, because I think that's give you a security.

00:19:19:13 - 00:19:21:03
Gary Acosta
You’ve got to have a place to live.

00:19:21:04 - 00:19:38:12
Emilio Estefan
Absolutely. And you know something? You feel secure when that happens. Number two is a feeling about the second generation. You're going to be surprised what is going to happen with the second generation of Hispanics in this country. Because you know something?

00:19:39:06 - 00:19:43:15
Gary Acosta
The generation that comes after immigrants. So first, second generation.

00:19:43:15 - 00:20:00:21
Emilio Estefan
Well, they’re still going to be immigrants, doesn’t matter what happens. You were born here, you’re always going to be Italian second generation, maybe U.S. second generation. But I feel the second generation, third generation of Hispanics, they’re still going to be immigrants, but, you know, they're going to be more educated. They're going to have more time to prove to the world who they are.

00:20:00:21 - 00:20:06:17
Gary Acosta
They're going to have an immigrant spirit but they're going to be more educated. They're going to be more assimilated of sorts.

00:20:06:17 - 00:20:22:10
Emilio Estefan
They're still going to be hungry. They want to show the world. They want to show their kids how proud they have to be about their heritage. And that's one thing they never can lose that. At the same time, I think that you'll see more Oscar movies getting nominated by Latinos. You get a lot more music

00:20:22:10 - 00:20:23:06
Gary Acosta
Yeah, please.

00:20:23:13 - 00:20:26:02
Emilio Estefan
But you know, it's happening is happening because you know something?

00:20:26:02 - 00:20:28:05
Gary Acosta
The first bit of momentum this year. Yeah.

00:20:28:05 - 00:20:32:14
Emilio Estefan
Yeah. But I'm going to tell you something. When I remember when I did conga

00:20:32:14 - 00:20:35:13
Gary Acosta
I don’t remember much about the Oscars except for Will Smith. But beyond that, it was.

00:20:36:13 - 00:20:37:08
Emilio Estefan
I produce him

00:20:37:08 - 00:20:38:10
Gary Acosta
I know, he's a friend of yours

00:20:38:14 - 00:20:41:00
Emilio Estefan
I produced him like, Welcome to Miami here.

00:20:41:00 - 00:20:43:18
Gary Acosta
That's right.

00:20:43:18 - 00:20:55:20
Emilio Estefan
I mean, he got a bad moment I hope that, you know, they recover from this, and he's a good guy. I know him that he's a good guy. So there's something good happening. I don't know what happened, but, you know, he's a good guy. People deserve a second chance.

00:20:56:07 - 00:21:13:18
Emilio Estefan
I think apologizing would be great. And he did. And I hope that they get together back to the whole joke and work it out. I hate to have bad feelings in your heart. What’s going to happen more and more and what I'm looking for, They're going to be hiring people.

00:21:13:21 - 00:21:29:01
Emilio Estefan
Not because you are a Latino, because we're qualified. And what happens we’re still going to be immigrants. We're still going to be the surprise at the end of the thing. They're going to say, Oh, my God, Rodriguez was fantastic. He was a great baseball player. It’s not because he was born in Puerto Rico, he was born in Cuba, in the

00:21:29:01 - 00:21:38:21
Emilio Estefan
Dominican Republic, in Mexico, he's because he was a good player, baseball player. We have great directors, great musicians. I mean the Latinos, you know something, they're hungry.

00:21:39:07 - 00:21:47:09
Gary Acosta
Let me interject something, though. I mean, because it does beg a question. So discrimination. Have you ever felt discrimination?

00:21:47:14 - 00:21:48:05
Emilio Estefan
Many times.

00:21:48:05 - 00:21:50:00
Gary Acosta
Okay, you have. So you got a real thing.

00:21:50:01 - 00:21:55:07
Emilio Estefan
Yeah. Seven times I went to Sony with Conga. Then they let me--

00:21:55:07 - 00:21:55:17
Gary Acosta
Seven times

00:21:55:23 - 00:22:12:12
Emilio Estefan
Seven times only money to go in and out to come back to Miami at night. Finally the time that they let me come upstairs to listen to a guy, he listened to the music and when he started to groove he said this sounds good, but he heard English and said, that would never work. That would never work.

00:22:12:12 - 00:22:19:02
Emilio Estefan
You have to take the tumbao out, you have to take the horns, you have to take percussion. I mean, the red essential would never play that.

00:22:19:02 - 00:22:21:03
Gary Acosta
Ah so they wanted to put you in a stereotype basically.

00:22:21:03 - 00:22:28:11
Emilio Estefan
But he made a mistake. He told me you have to change your last name. I stand up and I say, Listen, you like it or not, I'm not changing anything. I will not change my last name.

00:22:28:11 - 00:22:29:00
Gary Acosta
Change your last name.

00:22:29:03 - 00:22:35:04
Emilio Estefan
And I did a phrase that is in the play, a phrase to say about this is what America is going to look like, we should begin

00:22:35:04 - 00:22:37:15
Gary Acosta
I saw the musical, by the way, on Broadway, I did.

00:22:38:00 - 00:22:52:22
Emilio Estefan
It’s becoming a phrase that a lot of people react to that because it's a feeling. To make a long story short, when he told me, I said thank you very much. Seven years later, I was president of Sony. Tommy Mottola appointed me.

00:22:52:22 - 00:22:53:11
Gary Acosta
Wait a minute.

00:22:53:11 - 00:22:54:05
Emilio Estefan
Yeah.

00:22:54:15 - 00:23:08:21
Gary Acosta
You just said that you went presented seven times to Sony. They turned you down Every time they try to get you to change your name, maybe they consider it at that point, seven years from that point, you were the president of Sony Music.

00:23:08:21 - 00:23:26:11
Emilio Estefan
Sony. I mean, Gloria became really famous. And Tommy Mottola said, you know something? I think you have something that I think we can be able to do a new sound. And then it's when I worked with Ricky Martin, I worked with Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony and Shakira. Shakira grew up here. I mean, I manage Shakira.

00:23:26:11 - 00:23:48:12
Gary Acosta
But you have, I don't mean to keep interrupting you, but you have this kind of ownership mentality. I mean, you know, performers, they come, they perform, they work for somebody else. And then when their moment ends, it ends. That wasn’t your approach. You produced your music. You owned your music. You made sure that you got paid properly.

00:23:48:12 - 00:23:50:01
Gary Acosta
Am I wrong? I mean, where did you learn that mindset?

00:23:50:01 - 00:23:58:13
Emilio Estefan
Well, you know something, because we are better educated. Probably the old timers each other, they didn't care. But one thing that I.

00:23:58:13 - 00:24:00:13
Gary Acosta
I mean, did somebody mentor you, did somebody give you tips?

00:24:00:14 - 00:24:21:12
Emilio Estefan
Well, I mentored me. I will say my mentor was Quincy Jones. It doesn't get better than that. I mean, he's family. He's Emily's godfather. But you know something with me, Quincy told me a lot of great things that I mean, for example, Where you create a song, it’s great that you can own it if you can administrate it well.

00:24:21:12 - 00:24:43:16
Emilio Estefan
Me and Gloria, we took time to be sure. But, you know, one of the things that we did, me and Gloria, is— God gave us the opportunity to put me in that position is to help other people. Ricky was from Puerto Rico, like Jennifer, Shakira was from Colombia. Latinos try to always, when they're in a position, bring people.

00:24:43:16 - 00:24:47:02
Emilio Estefan
I work with Alejandro Fernandez with Banda Recordo, I work with Juan Gabriel,

00:24:47:02 - 00:24:48:08
Gary Acosta
To expand your experience.

00:24:48:08 - 00:25:06:08
Emilio Estefan
Yeah, I mean, Talia, all the way to when she was a little girl. Paulina, Shakira, you name it. But you know something, to me, I never see a person where they come from. To me Will’s the same. I never see color. I just got to say, you know, they ask him. I said, You feel discriminated? because, I mean, he was African-American.

00:25:06:08 - 00:25:16:14
Emilio Estefan
He was Latino. I say, I work with a guy that never saw a color. He saw about human being. And that's what we need to send a message to the world about, you know, equal opportunity.

00:25:16:20 - 00:25:18:15
Gary Acosta
I ask the question about discrimination because

00:25:18:15 - 00:25:19:20
Emilio Estefan
Because it's good to ask.

00:25:19:21 - 00:25:28:05
Gary Acosta
it’s clear that you whatever you experienced, you were able to persevere. You went over the wall, went around the wall, went through the wall, whatever it took to be successful.

00:25:28:06 - 00:25:37:20
Emilio Estefan
But I’m going to tell you why, because the best way to disprove discrimination is to do things right. You know that you can do it and do it better. And you can do it with pride and.

00:25:38:07 - 00:25:39:20
Gary Acosta
Yes, absolutely right.

00:25:40:00 - 00:25:40:21
Emilio Estefan
Absolutely.

00:25:40:21 - 00:26:09:06
Gary Acosta
Yeah, that's incredible. Let's talk about L’ATTITUDE for a second. So Sol Trujillo, our mutual friend, and I got together like 2016, 2017, and we started to contemplate creating a really, really significant event platform. I was inspired by South by Southwest. I know you've been there. It's an incredible event. Yeah. Sol being the CEO of a Fortune 500 company three times over.

00:26:09:13 - 00:26:46:10
Gary Acosta
And, you know, he thought in terms of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the Aspen Ideas Festival, those are things that he's been a part of. We combine those ideas to create L’ATTITUDE. My idea about it was, let's create a platform where Latinos can, you know, integrate, can actually interface with other professionals, find mentors, find capital, partner with, you know, other companies that they want to partner with. Just creating this really great platform where people can make connections that was my thought.

00:26:46:12 - 00:27:15:00
Gary Acosta
Plus have a great time and be entertained and all of the above. Sol is a thought leader, right? We've got to change the narrative about the Latino community. We’ve got to put a curriculum, we have data out there. We've got to teach the world the truth about Latinos. That's Sol, right. Together, we somehow created L’ATTITUDE. One of the first orders of business was we need to recognize people who have been trailblazers in our community and who have given back and set an example about giving back.

00:27:15:00 - 00:27:34:19
Gary Acosta
We honored you at the very first one that we had because you represent all those things. You came to that event and you said, Wait a minute, this is something that I would really like to be a part of, you know, And of course, Sol and I were thinking the same thing, how do we get Emilio to want to be a part of this?

00:27:34:19 - 00:27:48:08
Gary Acosta
You have a million things going on, Emilio. You’ve got I don't know how many businesses you own. Gloria is one of the busiest people in the world. Why L’ATTITUDE? Why did you decide that you wanted to be part of the L’ATTITUDE event?

00:27:48:08 - 00:28:08:09
Emilio Estefan
I know. I mean, you know something when you see Sol, Sol needed to do and create like you, L’ATTITUDE, you didn’t need to do that. You're doing this because you really want to make a change and show the world, you know, everything that Sol and you are, have been, doing is trying to promote the right image for our family.

00:28:08:09 - 00:28:24:02
Emilio Estefan
When I say our family that song that I wrote it says one color, one flag, one color. That's the way I feel about Latinos. I mean, you know something? When you go to L’ATTITUDE, people come from all over the world. They come from every city in the United States. They come from different countries. And, you know, something so beautiful to see this.

00:28:24:16 - 00:28:26:06
Gary Acosta
Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans got down the list right.

00:28:26:06 - 00:28:44:03
Emilio Estefan
It's unbelievable. And you know something? I think in a way you don't know how important for me is, because, you know, I feel right at home when I see people. I think it's visceral. You know, a lot of the topics that we do, I see a lot of young people and I love that, love that. I mean, being recognized for as long.

00:28:44:06 - 00:29:02:05
Emilio Estefan
All the generation is beautiful. But to see young people asking you question about how you did the record, how you financed the whole thing, you know, we were able to do and the days that we spent with L’ATTITUDE, so many great things for people because that's what we getting more people, then more people, and now we created more.

00:29:02:07 - 00:29:08:16
Emilio Estefan
We're going to create concerts. We're going to create that people can go not only enjoy the business side, enjoy our culture.

00:29:08:20 - 00:29:27:03
Gary Acosta
When are you going to go to an event where you're going to see the most powerful CEOs in the world have a conversation about the Latino marketplace and then at night go see a concert with some of the biggest names in music, and at the same time network and meet people like yourself from all over the United States.

00:29:28:00 - 00:29:30:10
Gary Acosta
I think L’ATTITUDE is the only place where you can do that right now.

00:29:30:10 - 00:29:51:00
Emilio Estefan
And listen, listen, a lot of people do connection there. But you know something, when I see Sol working and you so hard to make people proud, I have to be proud about you guys because really you know something, being part of the family of L’ATTITUDE. To me, it's been one of the biggest things that me and Gloria both. Because being recognized for our people,

00:29:51:12 - 00:29:56:05
Emilio Estefan
I mean, we got so many awards. I mean, we got the Medal of Freedom. We have the liberty.

00:29:56:16 - 00:29:58:10
Gary Acosta
We’re in this building, you can't wait two feet without seeing one.

00:29:58:12 - 00:30:14:01
Emilio Estefan
So many things. But, you know, this is our people. Even an award about, you know, everything we accomplished. Cibrian recognized for you, Mamayudar. That is so beautiful. Because you know something? I mean, they wish you the best, but, you know, when you have a kid, you don't know what is going to happen. Yeah, you don't know what is going to happen.

00:30:14:07 - 00:30:29:03
Emilio Estefan
I mean, Gloria's mom, she always wanted to protect Gloria, said, are you sure you want to be in the music business? Are you sure, you know? Alcohol? Well, how do you want to keep the house? And I said, Mom, don't worry about it. We want to do it. Well, you know something? She was so proud. I mean, at the end of her life, she wrote me.

00:30:29:03 - 00:30:54:12
Emilio Estefan
So we had so many beautiful letters of how proud she was. And, you know, a I mean, I mean, to me, I don't like to do predictions. I don't like to promise a lot of things. But I think, you know, it's great to be able to accomplish all the dreams that I never saw, that we can have a star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood in Las Vegas, in Miami, in so many places and so many awards.

00:30:54:12 - 00:31:12:13
Emilio Estefan
And when I walk in the morning in my house, I go and I have my Cuban coffee. I look around, I say, my God, we're blessed. We're blessed to live in a free country. We're blessed that we were able to accomplish a lot of the dreams We’re blessed to give back, I mean, do a lot of charity work, because I think, you know, some beautiful things to come back to a lot of need.

00:31:12:19 - 00:31:21:11
Emilio Estefan
There is a lot of need in the world. And by the way, sometimes it's not about money. It's about sharing time with people in need. I think we learned that with COVID.

00:31:21:19 - 00:31:30:00
Gary Acosta
That's a great lesson. And you know something that I think most people don't think about, but it's absolutely true. It's not just giving money. It's also giving of yourself.

00:31:30:00 - 00:31:50:03
Emilio Estefan
And, you know, I always look forward to go to L’ATTITUDE, because even myself, I get inspired when I leave, you know, San Diego, it feels so good just to see the happy faces, I mean, see how people want to open new business. They're looking for the information. They're looking for things that we find, in one place!

00:31:50:03 - 00:32:03:12
Emilio Estefan
You'll be able to find so many things that emotion is impossible. But more than anything else, I think what we leave is pride. Pride. I believe we bring unity, which is great, I think L’ATTITUDE brings people together. And that's a great message to have.

00:32:03:12 - 00:32:22:02
Gary Acosta
And I'm just going to end with that thought. Emilio, you mentioned the fact that you don't see yourself necessarily as Cuban per say. You see yourself as Latino. You see all Latinos as being part of the same culture, part of the same community. Not everybody sees it that way. Why do you see it that way?

00:32:22:12 - 00:32:26:21
Emilio Estefan
Well, I have to be Cuban the way I talk. It's totally Cuba. But you know something? I'm proud about the Cuba.

00:32:26:21 - 00:32:28:13
Gary Acosta
I know you're proud of the Cubans. That's not what I meant.

00:32:28:13 - 00:32:46:05
Emilio Estefan
But no, about what I said to you. I mean, to have and, you know, do the crossover. I tell people, listen, the crossover in Latinos is about from being Latino to America. We still have a little crossover because we have different food. We have different holidays. I feel I belong to Latinos

00:32:46:05 - 00:32:46:14
Gary Acosta
A bigger culture.

00:32:46:14 - 00:32:54:15
Emilio Estefan
I feel when I go to every country, when I go to Brazil, Argentina, Spain and Mexico it’s incredible.

00:32:54:22 - 00:33:12:05
Emilio Estefan
I've been so fortunate to, you know, even to have Medal of Freedom from this country I mean, which is really hard to get. I go to New York, I get all this Medal of Freedom from Panama, from Colombia, from Dominican Republic, from Puerto Rico it’s a beautiful thing because I feel unity is where we have the power that we need.

00:33:12:05 - 00:33:12:12
Gary Acosta
That's our strength.

00:33:12:12 - 00:33:14:16
Emilio Estefan
Absolutely. It’s a power.

00:33:14:17 - 00:33:17:02
Gary Acosta
And you see it in the flesh at L’ATTITUDE.

00:33:17:02 - 00:33:39:14
Emilio Estefan
And you know something? Absolutely. Unity is what they have to respect more the power of spending, and more than anything, on the politics. They know the Latino vote is going to become stronger and stronger and we're going to prove the world that we hope to get more Latino symbols that represent the Latino community, represent United States, America.

00:33:39:19 - 00:33:43:02
Emilio Estefan
We live in the best country in the whole world, and we're blessed to live in America.

00:33:43:12 - 00:33:59:18
Gary Acosta
Yes, we are. It is an incredible blessing. And you, my friend, are an incredible blessing to all of us, a great inspiration. We're all a little bit better off because of the leadership that you've put out there for us to follow in some way.

00:33:59:18 - 00:34:00:19
Emilio Estefan
I'm getting all red now.

00:34:01:01 - 00:34:10:11
Gary Acosta
Oh, come on. It's true. One last piece of advice for anybody listening about business or anything else that you want to talk about.

00:34:10:11 - 00:34:27:03
Emilio Estefan
Believe in yourself. Don't let anybody tell you this is not going to work. When they tell you that, be stronger, be proud of where you come from. Show the world that it doesn't matter where you come from. Even minorities. I mean, Latinos, of course, they belong close to our heart. But you know something?

00:34:27:03 - 00:34:29:09
Emilio Estefan
Don't let anybody tell you this is not going to work.

00:34:29:11 - 00:34:32:23
Emilio Estefan
Prove them wrong. And you know, you're going to feel—

00:34:32:23 - 00:34:33:12
Gary Acosta
Believe, believe, believe.

00:34:33:12 - 00:34:44:02
Emilio Estefan
Absolutely. And go to L’ATTITUDE because at L’ATTITUDE, we can show the world, you know, how proud we are. And I have to end this with a little kiss to you, because I love you too much.

00:34:44:02 - 00:34:54:18
Gary Acosta
Thank you, my brother. Thank you so much. Thank you.