Christopher Hidalgo

07/11/2020

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Introduce yourself: 

21, Los Angeles, CA, Pepperdine University, Accounting Major

My plans after graduation include pursuing a career in banking or consulting. My career aspiration is to build rehabilitation cafes all over Los Angeles that offer employment housing for homeless people while simultaneously granting them the opportunity to work and giving them a safe place to reintegrate back into society. 

How do you define success? 

Success to me is being happy. Learning from eastern traditions, Buddhism describes the first law of life as life is suffering. So to bridge the desire to be happy in a world of suffering means to understand the meaning behind suffering, in essence find a meaning for your life that is worth suffering for. So dream big and find meaning behind the responsibility you were given! 

What are your goals/dreams and where do you see yourself in 5 years? 

5 years from now I’ll be 26 and 4 year out of college. Hopefully married or engaged to my Love. A part of wanting to go into the banking industry is to understand real estate. After interning with Deloitte and Christina Development Corp, I’ve realized debt and equity loans are a huge part of building a real estate portfolio. As a Bank of America intern, I currently work in the wholesale and credit banking department which deals specifically with asset-based loans and lending backed by cash flow. But in essence 5 years from now, I want to start using my real estate and banking knowledge to work with nonprofits homeless shelters to start creating entry job opportunities for the homeless in Los Angeles. 

What motivates you?

My relationship with Jesus Christ motivates me. My childhood as well as my close relationships have shaped my personality type to be hyper competitive in empathetic ways. In reference to Jesus, He was on a mission and sought out the world’s largest problem...to conquer the sins of the world. Similarly, I know I’m not the messiah but I always gravitated towards taking on large challenges head first. My advice is if you’re going to dedicate your life to a vocation, make sure you enjoy what you’re doing. For example, growing up in Los Angeles and seeing the homeless population not receiving help has been a huge vocational pull. Finding my passion for the art of coffee and tea, for me it makes sense to start homeless rehabilitation cafes because that is an industry that I am passionate about. 

What is something that you do (a habit or daily practice) that you believe helps you achieve your goals or be productive?  

Self-awareness is key. I am constantly trying to self-reflect in order to gain more self-awareness. Because once I know who I am to you, and who you are to me, I can serve you not only better but more efficiently. This is very evident in leadership. The leadership Greats all knew who they were. 

Who is your inspiration and why? 

Father Greg Boyle and his creation of Homeboy Industries will always be my inspiration as to how someone can embody the love of Jesus Christ. 

Life motto or favorite quote?

“If you don’t hustle, you don’t eat. Hustle harder.” - Sean Coombs. 

Anything else you want to share? Perhaps a project you’re currently working on or something valuable that you learned from an experience?

To those who are reading this, you are special and loved. You are special because you have a gift no one else has. Go out and find it. A current project I am working on is called MorningWithGod.net. I sell coffee and tea and give 100% of the profit to charities in Los Angeles. Recently, MorningsWithGod.net bought 50 backpacks full of school supplies and gave the backpacks to the incoming kindergarten class of Norma Coombs.