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“I have found that Latinos aren’t always as confident about their ability to achieve success,” said Sosa. “And when I say ‘success,’ I’m not talking about personal wealth. I’m not talking about making money necessarily. I’m talking about having whatever success we want in life.”
Some of Sosa’s personal successes include helping found the largest Hispanic advertising agency in the United States (Bromley Communications, which began as Sosa & Associates); serving as media consultant on six presidential campaigns; and achieving recognition as a writer, speaker/lecturer and, in recent years, a portrait artist.
Sosa first read Napoleon Hill as a 23-year-old commercial artist for a neon sign company and credits Hill’s 17 principles for success as changing his life. Needless to say, he was thrilled to be selected to write the Latino version of Think & Grow Rich.
His assignment was simple: find 17 Latinos, using each as an example of one of Hill’s principles. Sosa already knew numerous successful Latinos who fit the bill. Writing the book gave him the fascinating opportunity to meet and interview others he did not know and learn more from them.
Several chosen for chapters were originally migrant farm workers, such as Anna Cabral, the U.S. Treasurer. “Nobody was born with a silver spoon in their mouth,” he said of those profiled in the book, noting that all whose achievements are chronicled followed one or more of Napoleon Hill’s principles — and many could have been placed in multiple chapters.
Chapters elaborating on the Hill principles include Jesse Treviño, who succeeded as an artist despite losing his right hand in Vietnam; Linda Alvarado, who shattered the glass ceiling to become president and CEO of one of the largest construction contractors in the country; and Father Virgil Elizondo, a founder of the Mexican American Cultural Center.
Sosa sees Latinos as tending to limit themselves due to core values rooted in their Spanish Colonial/Catholic culture, where the underlying message is that of interdependence and that it is better to be poor and humble, placing Latinos at odds with America’s Anglo/Protestant, individualistic and achievement-oriented society. What Latinos must learn, said Sosa, is how to combine and make the most of both worlds.
One of Hill’s principles is “Definiteness of Purpose,” but Sosa stresses this does not mean neglecting family or basic values and personally promotes a holistic approach that seeks success equally in career, family and community involvement. This includes a relationship with God. Sosa calls it “having it all.”
“Science has proven that our mind is capable of changing reality,” he says, citing quantum physics and his chapter on Charles Garcia, founder of Sterling Financial Investment Group, which began in a broom closet and grew to international success. Garcia has enabled people to set goals higher than they ordinarily would by posing the question, “What would you want to accomplish in your life if you knew you could not fail?” “Fear is what keeps us from setting high goals,” said Sosa, noting it is possible to create new realities for ourselves if we can overcome this fear.
Sosa describes another key factor in success as putting together a “Mastermind Alliance,” which means gathering around you like-minded individuals — directly or indirectly — to help you reach your goals. Having the support of one’s spouse is also crucial.
This doesn’t necessarily mean, Sosa adds, that both spouses must be in the same line of work, but that they understand the importance of working with one another to help support each other’s personal goals. “Part of happiness is supporting your spouse, understanding what they want and doing our best to help them achieve it,” he said.
Sosa and wife Kathy are examples of this, having supported each other throughout individual careers in advertising/marketing and now as artists with their own unique styles. Kathy is also an interior designer.
The couple has an active family life as well, with eight children, 12 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, all of whom live in the area. Several have joined them as artists, with Sosa artwork displayed both in a Lavaca Historic District gallery downtown and in their larger studio/gallery in Floresville. (Both galleries show by appointment, with information available at www.sosagalleries.com.)
Especially dear to Sosa’s heart is a series of life-size portraits he has painted titled, “Hidden Heroes — The People Who Keep America Working.” The Latino subjects of these paintings are, as Sosa says, “the people who do all the hard work in this country — build the buildings, build the homes, pave the roads, cook the food and take care of the children.”
Sosa readily admits that his original goal in life was to become another Picasso. “And I think there’s still enough years to achieve that,” he says with a laugh. His artistic goal was sidelined years ago with the need to earn a living for his growing family, leading to his founding and/or involvement in a number of successful local advertising agencies, as well as becoming the U.S. chair for DMB&B/Americas, a network of 23 advertising agencies in the United States and Latin America.
In addition to his late-blooming career as a portrait artist, another recent project of Sosa’s is MATT.org (Mexicans and Americans Thinking Together), a think-tank that brings together people from the United States and Mexico for dialogue in solving the problems of both countries. Sosa is the group’s CEO, while Kathy serves as its editor-in-chief.
Supposedly in semi-retirement, Sosa’s zest for living and adventurous spirit do not allow him to sit still for long. Perhaps the best word to describe him is the Spanish inquieto. “It’s a combination of a need to do something,” he says, “a need to fill my time with productivity.”
And, as always, it is a productivity that involves reaching out to others. “My reality is focused on continuing to understand what motivates people,” he says, adding, “and how to expose them to new creative and exciting things.” |