Speaker 1: I'm grateful in that I never had anything handed to me.
Speaker 1: It's always been clear to me, and I've been very
Speaker 1: appreciative of everything that I have. I know and I
Speaker 1: recognize that I have that because of my hard work
Speaker 1: and my dedication. Enrique Santos is a humble yet outspoken
Speaker 1: personality sitting in a highly regarded position in his career
Speaker 1: with a strong philosophy of giving back. There's a long
Speaker 1: list of contributions and accomplishments Enrique has fearlessly made in
Speaker 1: the public eye as the popular host of two prominent,
Speaker 1: nationally syndicated radio shows on I Heart Radio Good Morning Familiar,
Speaker 1: Hello Hello. Enrique has leveraged his successful and often humorous
Speaker 1: voice to lead the charge on social responsibility in his
Speaker 1: local community and beyond. Throughout his esteemed career, he has
Speaker 1: interviewed several political figures and celebrities, and has used as
Speaker 1: influence to not only speak on behalf of out known
Speaker 1: or communities, but to also join those communities together. Enrique's
Speaker 1: integrity makes him an indisputable leader who has assembled a
Speaker 1: diverse broadcast team. Even though the executive producer, he shares
Speaker 1: the wealth with others. You know his team so you know,
Speaker 1: so everybody gets a piece of the hi, but we
Speaker 1: all put a little piece of something on the table
Speaker 1: and we all talk about it before it short starts.
Speaker 1: As a team, we come up with ideas. Instead of
Speaker 1: one person having to do all the work, everybody has
Speaker 1: to put in part. I guess that's why the show
Speaker 1: is very successful too. That was executive producer of tumanian
Speaker 1: Us Julio Ramirez talking about his boss, colleague and friend
Speaker 1: of over ten years. This morning, we're guests at the
Speaker 1: I Heart Media Miami Studios or the show is broadcast daily.
Speaker 1: The studio walls are adorned with Neon signs stating encouraging
Speaker 1: phrases like do what you love and good vibes only,
Speaker 1: And throughout my morning speaking with the broadcast team, it
Speaker 1: became very clear to me that those luminous words aren't
Speaker 1: merely motivational adages. They are a manifestation of Enrique's positive
Speaker 1: spirit and leadership. Is it possible to truly love what
Speaker 1: you do? And if so, how does one get there?
Speaker 1: On this edition of On the Job, we sit down
Speaker 1: with Enrique Santos to hear about the unique path he
Speaker 1: has taken to a chief success and ultimately happiness. Well,
Speaker 1: I would say I'm just a simple radio guy, but
Speaker 1: that wears a bunch of different hats, and I would
Speaker 1: say that I'm a I'm a blessed guy because I
Speaker 1: I do what what I love radio for me is
Speaker 1: really it's it's a way of life and so much
Speaker 1: of my life that's just my dame, but my life
Speaker 1: is dedicated to to to my profession. Especially in such
Speaker 1: crazy times that were that that we're living. People need
Speaker 1: a friend, especially doing morning radio, because you get to
Speaker 1: dictate basically what people's days are gonna look like, whether
Speaker 1: it's going to be a good day or a bad day.
Speaker 1: There's something in Spanish it doesn't really translate into English,
Speaker 1: but it's called confianza. When it's like that confidence, it's
Speaker 1: like it makes it okay, you have the green light.
Speaker 1: Latinos are very warm people when you're able to uh
Speaker 1: connect through the radio waves and and people feel that
Speaker 1: connection and they look at you, not just or at
Speaker 1: least in my case, when it's not just Enrique the
Speaker 1: radio DJ, Enrique my friend, and they want to talk
Speaker 1: to you. They want to hug you, they want to
Speaker 1: tell you how their day went, they want to tell
Speaker 1: you how how important it was that topic that you
Speaker 1: just talked about this morning. That to me is is success.
Speaker 1: My first job was working for my family business at
Speaker 1: a video store, and that moved to bagging groceries at
Speaker 1: a public supermarket in the state of Florida. Um. That
Speaker 1: was a lot of fun and uh. But as a kid,
Speaker 1: I remember always and my passion was always to be
Speaker 1: a police officer. So I've had, I would say, several
Speaker 1: a couple of mentors in throughout my life. I would say,
Speaker 1: first my uncle Eddie, who became a UH state trooper
Speaker 1: for the Florida Highway Patrol. He's just not retired a
Speaker 1: couple a couple of months ago. But I remember as
Speaker 1: a kid, Wow, my uncle Ettie became a trooper. That's
Speaker 1: so cool. And I used to sit in his police
Speaker 1: car and play with the lights and with the sirens
Speaker 1: and listen to the police radio. And I think that indirectly,
Speaker 1: you know, planted that seed in me and that I
Speaker 1: wanted to be a a police officer. A couple of
Speaker 1: things I can say that I'm very very proud of. Obviously,
Speaker 1: when I graduated the police academy. Um, it's something that
Speaker 1: again it wasn't easy because at that time I had
Speaker 1: to go to part time night academy because I has
Speaker 1: had a full time job dispatching, So I would dispatch
Speaker 1: at night on the midnight shift, sleep during the day
Speaker 1: and get up in the afternoon and go to a
Speaker 1: night police academy. I financed that myself because the police
Speaker 1: department wasn't hiring. They sponsored me through the police academy.
Speaker 1: So that was a big achievement for me because it
Speaker 1: was just like my first car. It was just like
Speaker 1: my first video camera and VHS. You know that my
Speaker 1: grandparents helped me to co signed to get me in
Speaker 1: my first car. But you know, I put that money
Speaker 1: down and I made those payments. My I was very
Speaker 1: humble but very hard working family. I can't say I
Speaker 1: was ever hungry. In other words, there was never a
Speaker 1: meal that was missed at home. Mom and Dad always
Speaker 1: provided middle income family. We weren't rich, but my parents
Speaker 1: are still in me. You know that everything that should
Speaker 1: be grateful for everything that I have as much or
Speaker 1: as little, but everything I've had always in my life,
Speaker 1: it's something I've never had to hand me down. I
Speaker 1: didn't get an inheritance, and I thank God for that,
Speaker 1: and I and I thank the universe in the world, world,
Speaker 1: world for that. I'm very grateful. And that early on
Speaker 1: the vehicle came with that installed already. It wasn't an
Speaker 1: add on, you know, it wasn't it wasn't an upgrade.
Speaker 1: I feel bad for a lot of you know, people
Speaker 1: that have life too easy, have things handed down to them,
Speaker 1: and then you know, they hit an obstacle and they
Speaker 1: look at it as a brick wall and they can't
Speaker 1: figure out that they can get over and go around it.
Speaker 1: So how does someone go from police officer to radio broadcaster?
Speaker 1: So I was a police explorer since I was a
Speaker 1: teenager from from there, right out of high school, I
Speaker 1: became a police dispatcher. I then went to the police
Speaker 1: academy and became a police office or UM. One day,
Speaker 1: calling the radio station that I listened to, UM, the
Speaker 1: program director picked up the phone and I wanted to
Speaker 1: know the name of a certain album. The guy who
Speaker 1: picked up was the PD of the station, and like
Speaker 1: how Enrique Sound didn't invite him over, And then the
Speaker 1: next thing you know, he offered him a job part time.
Speaker 1: San Enrica left police work and became a full time
Speaker 1: employee next thing, you know, Enrique sitting and the spot
Speaker 1: where they were, and that's where his journey began. I
Speaker 1: always like broadcasting and radio and entertainment and comedy, but
Speaker 1: I didn't imagine making a career out of it. But
Speaker 1: one thing led to another, and my program director friend,
Speaker 1: you know, I had developed at that skill and that
Speaker 1: interest and and it was on Spanish, and my Spanish
Speaker 1: was kind of choppy, but it got better doing overnights
Speaker 1: and stuff, thanks to mom and dad, because they are
Speaker 1: immigrants from Cuba, and they always told me, hey, here
Speaker 1: at home, when you get home, you speak in Espanol,
Speaker 1: you speak in Spanish. So grateful that they instilled that
Speaker 1: in me and that they had that rule at home,
Speaker 1: because as thanks to them, I am bilingual. I'm probably
Speaker 1: one of the only broadcasters in in I think in
Speaker 1: the country, if I'm not mistaken. That's doing the type
Speaker 1: of radio that I do where we can do it's much.
Speaker 1: It's not just bilingual radio, it's bi cultural radio. So
Speaker 1: I never envisioned making a career out of radio. But again,
Speaker 1: life is full of of of opportunities. And when they
Speaker 1: tapped me to to host the UH the Morning Show,
Speaker 1: it was like Wow. So you know, I kept my certification,
Speaker 1: I stayed on and I still am a reserve police
Speaker 1: officer for the City of Miami. So again, it's I
Speaker 1: blessed that I'm able to do what I love. I'm
Speaker 1: so passionate and it's like a new calling, right getting
Speaker 1: into broadcasting, but still able to hang on to my
Speaker 1: original career, which was law enforcement. And I'm able to
Speaker 1: give back and inspire other young people uh to stay
Speaker 1: away from drugs and gangs and and violence and a
Speaker 1: life of crime, because if they see what I've what
Speaker 1: I've been able to accomplish, you know, my hopes are
Speaker 1: that they can see themselves mirrored in in in what
Speaker 1: I do daily. You're listening to On the Job the
Speaker 1: podcast from Express Employment Professionals. One company is on a
Speaker 1: mission to put a million people to work each year.
Speaker 1: Sounds like a big number, doesn't it not to Express
Speaker 1: Employment Professionals seeking a skilled labor position or administrative ortment.
Speaker 1: Maybe you're an executive looking for a career that fits sporting.
Speaker 1: We take pride in connecting the right people with the
Speaker 1: right company. Express Employment Professionals is on a mission to
Speaker 1: put a million people to work each year. Let us
Speaker 1: help we'll open doors for you. Go to express pros
Speaker 1: dot com to find a location near you. Welcome back
Speaker 1: to On the Job and the story of Enrique Santos,
Speaker 1: who has worked hard his entire life. Every single situation
Speaker 1: that you find yourself in life, every single challenge, every
Speaker 1: single worry that you have, every single day that you
Speaker 1: get up and you say to yourself, what am I
Speaker 1: doing here? Why? You know? I don't like this nine
Speaker 1: to five. I don't like this job. I don't like
Speaker 1: getting up and doing that. You know, you have your ability,
Speaker 1: you have the ability to change, to change that, but
Speaker 1: if you don't take the first step to make that change,
Speaker 1: it's never going to change. At least take that first step.
Speaker 1: We're surrounded by opportunities, so open your eyes to those opportunities.
Speaker 1: One of the main thing is that sometimes it's sitting
Speaker 1: right in front of you don't realize, and it's an
Speaker 1: opportunity that could be a conversation. If something smells wrong,
Speaker 1: if it feels wrong, it's probably wrong, so do something
Speaker 1: to change it. If you know what someone is having
Speaker 1: a bad day and you're able to help that person
Speaker 1: and engage that person in that conversation, you don't know
Speaker 1: where that conversation may lead. Just be open. Open to
Speaker 1: the universe, to opportunities, to conversations, to people's vibes, talk
Speaker 1: to somebody. Follow your instinct in every single scenario, I
Speaker 1: feel good in this place. I don't feel so cool
Speaker 1: in this in this place, something's off here. Follow your instincts.
Speaker 1: I follow away instincts all my life, and it's never
Speaker 1: steer me wrong. I call him Mr Gala or gla
Speaker 1: what is the right pronunciation? Because everyone invites him to MC.
Speaker 1: I was like, dude, how many are you gonna do
Speaker 1: per year? His position so much work and he's not
Speaker 1: the type that says no never. He's just so workaholic.
Speaker 1: I do have a problem with um disappointing people. I
Speaker 1: feel as if, you know, if if I'm able, if
Speaker 1: I'm in a position to be able to help somebody,
Speaker 1: and I have to say no. I do have a
Speaker 1: like a guilty conscious, like wow, I should have. Things
Speaker 1: do end up stacking up sometimes, and there there are
Speaker 1: occasions when I, you know, I have to pump the
Speaker 1: brakes and say, you know what, I need a day
Speaker 1: or two. I need to disconnect. I'm blessed to be
Speaker 1: in a position becomes a big responsibility and when people
Speaker 1: look up to you for for certain things, as a
Speaker 1: community leader, as a role model in our industry, as
Speaker 1: a leader in the LGBT community, as UH leader in
Speaker 1: with for the in a voice for the immigrant community,
Speaker 1: especially with so much negativity it's being spread and so
Speaker 1: many fears. There's a lot of people that are scared,
Speaker 1: genuinely scared people they need someone to turn to, they
Speaker 1: need a friend. Sometimes it's hard to shut that door
Speaker 1: or say, you know what if I lose an hour
Speaker 1: of sleep, but I know that I'm gonna be able
Speaker 1: to help X amount of people, even just one person.
Speaker 1: I I have a hard time telling myself no because
Speaker 1: of that. If it's in our community, you know, since
Speaker 1: the station's in Miami, so it's a committee. We're gonna
Speaker 1: try to like help not just give the news, but
Speaker 1: we give the news here, and what gives the news?
Speaker 1: What are you're doing about it? Enrica will be like,
Speaker 1: somebody better find that person, bring him on the show,
Speaker 1: tell the story or whatever. Help they need. This kid
Speaker 1: they got beat up and the video went viral, but
Speaker 1: they don't follow up on the story. We talk about
Speaker 1: the problem and look for a solution. Last year I
Speaker 1: was a young man, was seven years old. Wrote a
Speaker 1: letter to me, and I'll show it to you. He
Speaker 1: sent it through his mom. Autistic kid writes a letter
Speaker 1: to me telling me how he was bullied in school
Speaker 1: and how these kids broke his glasses and that I'm
Speaker 1: his best friend. Sorry, So how could I tell that? No?
Speaker 1: We brought him to the show. The kid was beyond himself.
Speaker 1: We cut his hair. I called the superintendent of the
Speaker 1: school's superintendent took it personally. He says, I'm gonna take
Speaker 1: care of this. One had lunch with Jose, talked to
Speaker 1: the teachers, talk to the kids who are bullying him.
Speaker 1: So that's the power of radio. That's the power of
Speaker 1: connecting and the sense of responsibility. So when they asked
Speaker 1: me to walk, to be a team leader and organize
Speaker 1: a team, and to host autism awareness name, how could
Speaker 1: I say no? To say no, I'm I'm saying no
Speaker 1: to who knows how many Jose's. We cover all the
Speaker 1: nationalities from our listeners and so, and I think his
Speaker 1: voice is neutral. He doesn't sound to Puerto Rican or
Speaker 1: two Cuban, so he his voice is just perfect for
Speaker 1: everyone to like and listen and he's the guy that
Speaker 1: stays in between. I think that I'm respected amongst my colleagues,
Speaker 1: especially the people that I lead in the industry, specifically
Speaker 1: the jocks that wear a bunch of different hats. But
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, normally I'm the first
Speaker 1: one in and the last one out. So I think
Speaker 1: there's a certain level of respect and that I'm on
Speaker 1: the front lines. So I wouldn't ask you to do
Speaker 1: something that I'm already not not doing. It's a lot
Speaker 1: of hours and a lot of people say, oh, you
Speaker 1: host six to ten o'clock and go take an apse. No,
Speaker 1: at ten o'clock is when the problem start. We have
Speaker 1: a million different things that have to be produced for
Speaker 1: the next day, and then we have a bunch of
Speaker 1: other meetings that we've got to jump into. And then
Speaker 1: talking and being respectful to to other people and having
Speaker 1: the time. That's something I gotta get better at, being
Speaker 1: a better listener and giving people the time that that
Speaker 1: they deserve, and being transparent and being sincere, and when
Speaker 1: I'm having a bad day, just opening opening the mic
Speaker 1: and being sincere with my listeners and saying, you know what,
Speaker 1: today's a bad day. I have a headache. Today's a
Speaker 1: bad day because I'm worried about this. So it comes
Speaker 1: at a high price because your personal life and business
Speaker 1: and your career kind of all mixes. But that's part
Speaker 1: of what this career comes with. It's not a nine
Speaker 1: of five job where you just punch out and then
Speaker 1: you just you're able to disconnect and do something totally different.
Speaker 1: This is something where I'm connected, and uh, you need
Speaker 1: to be on top of you know, world events and
Speaker 1: current events and things are constantly changing and what's important
Speaker 1: in a priority Right this second, something can happen in
Speaker 1: thirty seconds, which changes all of our days. And again,
Speaker 1: it's it's a blessing that I'm able to do what
Speaker 1: I do, but it's a very big responsibility because I
Speaker 1: need to know the topics. I need to know what
Speaker 1: I'm talking about. But again, I don't like preaching to
Speaker 1: to my audience. I always tell my people, my followers,
Speaker 1: what I do, why I think the way I think,
Speaker 1: why I'm voting on certain topics, which is taboo, especially
Speaker 1: within the Latino community. You know, it's very people don't
Speaker 1: say who they vote for. That's like with us, you
Speaker 1: don't talk about that. No, I think it's important for
Speaker 1: me to talk about that this is why I'm doing it.
Speaker 1: Let's have a healthy conversation and we can we can
Speaker 1: all learn from and hope that that that makes sense.
Speaker 1: It's ever changing and we're always learning myself and everyone
Speaker 1: on my team, and what my goal is obviously is
Speaker 1: to be able to replicate what I've been able to
Speaker 1: accomplish with my team, but create a bunch of these
Speaker 1: same winning teams. I'm blessed to have talented people that
Speaker 1: come up with a plan and strategize that their hearts
Speaker 1: are in the right place to be able to recognize talent.
Speaker 1: It's very fulfilling. Now with my most recent step, I've
Speaker 1: worked for the major broadcasting companies in the country Spanish.
Speaker 1: I started with Spanish Broadcasting System, that went to Univision
Speaker 1: and now this new vertical that we just launched at
Speaker 1: I Heart I Heart Latino. Mr Mark Anthony, who's a
Speaker 1: personal friend, and he'd asked me why do you do radio?
Speaker 1: This way with me explaining my industry to him and
Speaker 1: him explaining his business and kind of fusing those things
Speaker 1: together and really sitting down with Mark inspired me to,
Speaker 1: you know, leave a great position that I that I
Speaker 1: had at Univision and just to strive for more, not
Speaker 1: to feel bad about It's nothing wrong with you always
Speaker 1: and always challenging yourself and always looking for and making
Speaker 1: better new goals. So I would say that Mark I
Speaker 1: would attribute my being, you know, one one of the
Speaker 1: mentors that that really impacted my life. He really took
Speaker 1: me from being broadcaster, not just not just a broadcaster,
Speaker 1: from DJ to boss. Would you say that your career
Speaker 1: was a case of being in the right place at
Speaker 1: the right time. I don't believe in look. I think, yes,
Speaker 1: you can be at the right place at the right time.
Speaker 1: If your heart and is in the right place, and
Speaker 1: you're really dedicating a hard working person, you can achieve, honestly,
Speaker 1: whatever you want. Not to make it sound cliche. Life
Speaker 1: is full of opportunities to being able to recognize those opportunities,
Speaker 1: to be open and receptive to to to change and
Speaker 1: not be afraid to to take that leap. But if
Speaker 1: you work hard enough for something, you you can attain it,
Speaker 1: don't I don't like lazy people, and I recognize that
Speaker 1: right away, and people that either get complains it in broadcasting,
Speaker 1: getting too comfortable is death. Two careers to two projects too.
Speaker 1: You've always got to be thinking a step ahead. Again,
Speaker 1: it's such a fast paced, constant and ever changing business
Speaker 1: that that we're in that you need to be able to,
Speaker 1: you know, balance a bunch of different things at once.
Speaker 1: You need to be able to morph yourself into different positions.
Speaker 1: So it is a big challenge, but hard work pays off.
Speaker 1: Hard worker is always gonna outshine even you know it it
Speaker 1: canna be a very talented person. But if you're not
Speaker 1: dedicated and you're not a hard worker, someone that doesn't
Speaker 1: have that talent that you have, not it may not
Speaker 1: be as good as you. But they're you know, they're
Speaker 1: more dedicated and apply to what they're doing, they might
Speaker 1: outshine you. I definitely love my job and working with
Speaker 1: Enriqua and the team, and the alarm goes on and
Speaker 1: I don't have to drag myself out of the bed.
Speaker 1: You love what you do, and when you love what
Speaker 1: you do and you don't care if you work even
Speaker 1: on the weekends, my heart and the team it's fun.
Speaker 1: We travel, we you know, as a team, and working
Speaker 1: with Rik it it's it's it's really fun. I'm honestly
Speaker 1: blessed making this huge move to I heart media. You know,
Speaker 1: I was very I was established and very successful on
Speaker 1: Spanish radio working for Univision. I was making good money.
Speaker 1: I had my team again going back to Mark Anthony,
Speaker 1: and he helped me open I opened my eyes. Hey,
Speaker 1: you don't have to be an employee anymore, or just employee.
Speaker 1: That's okay. If you're happy with that, and you're satisfied
Speaker 1: with that, you can stay there and you can talk
Speaker 1: to your hundred and five. And in broadcasting we can
Speaker 1: do that. Casey Casem's and the Dick Clarks and may
Speaker 1: they rest in peace and people that really open doors
Speaker 1: for us and broadcasting. But literally, these men worked until
Speaker 1: they almost checked out. I always achieved for more, and
Speaker 1: I wanted more, and I like the challenge, and I said,
Speaker 1: and let's head this new vertical. So I would say
Speaker 1: also one of the major major accomplishments of my life
Speaker 1: were to launch this its awesome animal. I'm looking for
Speaker 1: us to grow our footprint and with with our events
Speaker 1: and our reach, that's my goal to really to grow
Speaker 1: the footprint and to open up the doors and opportunities
Speaker 1: for other other broadcasters also not just in the Spanish field,
Speaker 1: but in the bicultural field. That's so important right now
Speaker 1: and in in in the country. I'm Liz Reagan and
Speaker 1: that was Enrique Santos. And that's all for this edition
Speaker 1: of On the Job. Find out more at Express pros
Speaker 1: dot com and you can listen to every podcast this
Speaker 1: season at Express pros dot com slash podcast. This podcast
Speaker 1: is produced by Decibel Studios in New York, I Heart
Speaker 1: Radio and Red Seat Ventures. You can subscribe on I
Speaker 1: Heart Radio and iTunes, where we hope you'll leave a
Speaker 1: nice review that helps other folks find us. And of
Speaker 1: course you can listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1: See you next time On the Job.