Jorge Calisto

Intro – 00:10

It’s because  I’m very thankful for what I have, even my problems. I’m very thankful for the problems I have. I think it’s a blessing from God. And when they give you a problem, it’s not a problem, it’s a challenge to make you stronger. And I think then I just give the all that everything is good. But even if things are going tough, don’t complain about it. Just do it, do what you have to do.

00:38

Hello and welcome to another edition of Expedition Business where we talk to inspiring South African entrepreneurs about the highs and lows of their business journey and how on earth they manage to keep the flame of business adventure burning. Because, facing your day with a smile is sometimes the toughest thing you have to do. But back to why we are here today. George Calesto is the founder of

01:08

Calistos restaurant that started back in 1992. But apart from Calistos, George is also the owner of a couple of franchises. He has started the Sauce Kitchen manufacturing the most amazing sauces. And he is also a partner of Allegiance Properties. But what impressed me the most about George is that he started his entrepreneurial journey back

01:38

when he was only 12 years old.  But before I ruin the surprise for you,  let’s listen to George.  

Christél: How on earth do you get the energy to do all of this? 

Jorge: It’s very easy, you just got to be thankful that you got a lot of passion. And I think passion gives you drive. I think you’ve got to always see the positive and there’s always light at the end of the tunnel.

02:02

Christél: Light at the end of the tunnel sounds like… 

Jorge: No. It’s… 

Christél: I can’t imagine you not being in the light all the time. 

Jorge: So, when I say light at the end of the tunnel, the thing is that everybody wants everything immediately. people need to understand you’ve got to sacrifice and you will never grow if there’s no pressure. So the best growth you’ll have is through tough times.

02:30

So that is why this… but there’s always light at the end of the tunnel. 

Christél: But it is as if everything just comes naturally to you. It’s because I’m very thankful for what I have. Even with my problems, I’m very thankful for the problems I have. I think it’s a blessing from God.  And when they give you a problem, it’s not a problem, it’s a challenge to make you stronger. And I think then I just give it all that everything is good. But even if things are going tough, don’t complain about it. Just do it. Do what you have to do.

03:00

Christél: Do I have it wrong that you started working when you were 12 years old? 

Jorge: Yes, so when I was 12 years old I used to actually pack vegetables and fruit into boxes, take it to the people’s cars or pack it into a trolley if they bought a trolley size and I’d work on tips. And let me tell you what was very good schooling for me. While my friends were riding bicycles, going to the ice rinks, I was pushing trolleys and saving money. And that obviously gave me a couple of years ahead.

03:30

Because obviously I started working for myself at a very very young age. It was because I saved every penny. But I will give the credit to my parents. My parents always taught us to save and my parents always taught us not to work for a boss. We must not steal other people’s jobs. We came onto this earth to create jobs 

Christél: Wow Wow 

Jorge: So I do give the credit to my parents  

Christél: You obviously from Portuguese

04:00

background.  Do you think that made a difference?

04:06

Jorge: Look, I don’t want to say it does because in every community if you take your South Africa, Portuguese, America you’ll get success and non-successful stories in all communities, in all races, in all genders. But what I do believe is that my parents, they were driven, they went through hard times, they lost everything in Mozambique in 1974. So we came to South Africa with nothing and we had to start all over again. Or let me rather say my parents had to start all over

04:36

again.  But one thing my parents knew is working for a boss, it will always work for a boss and it’s better if you create jobs  and help other people and you’ll benefit from helping others. 

Christél: Wow, it sounds so easy.

04:53

But working for yourself is not easy. 

Jorge: No, it’s not easy, but it is a state of mind. It’s a frame of mind. You just need to get the mind set and everything you see in life. Don’t see the negative. Take it and see the positive behind it. 

Christél: So never feel the pain, rather look at the rewards you’re going to get. And all the learning that you can do in between. 

Jorge: Correct. And if you fail, you haven’t failed. You’ll only fail if you give up.  So just push through, carry on.

05:23

doing  and sometimes don’t chase the money chase the deal. 

Christél: Okay, how would you see that? 

Jorge: So you know what has worked for me. I don’t chase the money because I believe if you chase the money it shows  and you lose focus on the deal but if you’re chasing the deal.

05:44

Once the deal is concluded, the money will come. So I always tell, especially the legions, I tell my agents, guards, don’t chase the money. You need to chase the deal. Get the deal through, negotiate. If we have to negotiate, we negotiate. must be a happy deal, it’s happy for everybody.

06:04

Christél: Just quickly going back to where it all started, I believe you were born in Portugal and then came over to Southern Africa. 

Jorge: Correct. So we were born in Portugal. We were a family of five boys. Then from Portugal, we went to Mozambique. We lived in Bahra. Then obviously after 1974, my parents came to South Africa.

06:29

And it’s actually interesting because I’ve got a Portuguese brother, I’ve got a Mozambican brother and I’ve got a South African brother from the same parents. 

Christél: Wow. 

Jorge: It was my oldest brother and the one that was after me, we were all born in Portugal, then in Mozambique.

06:47

My parents obviously had another son. 

Christél: Yes. 

Jorge: And then my baby brother was born in South Africa. 

Christél: Oh wow. 

Jorge: So we’re quite a bit of a mixed family but it’s all the same parents. 

Christél: Definitely very very interesting. But you have also immigrated back to Portugal. 

Jorge: Correct. So I’ve gone back to Portugal because of my daughter studying.  So my daughter, the oldest one, was 12.

07:11

Josh was 12 and the other one was 10.  So we’ve been living there for six years. But when we say immigrated, they’re there, they’re studying there, but I’m in and out of South Africa all the time. So I’m still extremely South African. 

Christél: So do you have business interests in Portugal as well?  

Jorge: I’ve started two restaurants there and I do a little bit of property there.  

Christél: OK. So how’s the restaurant business? Does it differ from Portugal to South Africa?  

Jorge: Look, it’s a different concept to the ones we’ve got here.

07:41

The culture is different and so is the mentality of the people. So it did take me about two years to understand them to see how it actually works.  But now we fit it in, we’re doing extremely well. We rated the best, for instance Zinni in Braga,  which is a Portuguese sandwich with a beer sauce. So we took the sauce, we played around, we created a nice easy sauce. It’s not too rich  and we’ve been very successful.  

Christél: And do you use your sauces that you manufacture here in Portugal?

08:12

Jorge: Funny enough we don’t, we don’t but we, in Porta I’ve got a sauce factory but we make different types of sauces  because it’s a different palette so although Portuguese they took chilies all over the world they even took chilies to India but in Portugal when you say peri-peri they don’t  eat a chicken with peri-peri and a bit of chicken they actually have a chicken that’s got a bit of peri-peri you taste it very very

08:41

delicious but it doesn’t burn you doesn’t give the burn like we have in South Africa so we more colonial Portuguese food in South Africa and in Portugal’s more tradition. 

Christél: Coming back to your restaurant you started that when you were 23, 24? 

Jorge: Correct I started building the restaurant when I was 23 and I turned 24 in September and I opened on the 15th of November so I just turned 24. 

Christél: And that was

09:11

a highly successful restaurant. 

Jorge: Very. 

Christél: It just took off like wildfire. Everyone spoke about Calistos. 

Jorge: Yes, but I think it was the energy we had with the staff and it was just good. It was excellent. 

Christél: So why did you move to Gillview? 

Jorge: So what actually happened was our first restaurant was in Turffontein, next to the Turffontein fire station. Then we built a second building on top of the first building and I think we did that in 94, 95. Then in 99,

09:41

1999 we build a new restaurant at the back in the same complex  we moved but then the area started changing the area.

09:50

It was just the time then that we moved to  Gillview and we built  in 2010 a month before the World Cup we moved into Gillview and that’s where we are still now and it’s been a blessing to us. 

Christél: And that was smooth sailing all the way, no hiccups? 

Jorge: Look we had a lot of hiccups as we moved because the staff, the kitchen had moved around everything had changed but you know what we dealt with it we’ve we every

10:20

day we faced a new challenge but after three four months we had everything running smooth and the boat was sailing again. 

Christél: All the parking was sorted out. 

Jorge: The parking was sorted out. 

Christél: Because there was a story. 

Jorge: There was a story we’re not going to go deep into it but we had a lot of challenges but the secret is every day.

10:43

We fixed and  we basically boxed a new fight every day.  

Christél: You look like you’re a master of fighting. 

Jorge: No, no, I was in business. You’ve got to fight.

10:56

It’s just a fight every day and you’ve got to be smart about it and you cannot let yourself get down on it. So you’ve got to take the problem, see the positive in it  and just make the right decision. 

Christél: So do you never ever get down that you feel, oh… 

Jorge: Look, I think we’re human and all humans get down, but  I always see the positive in a negative situation. I know, and a lot of people have come to me with all different… I’ve seen… So two weeks ago a gentleman said to me, no, his girlfriend left

11:26

him and he’s broken I said no she’s just given you opportunity to go meet ten new girlfriends why are you down? And he laughed and he moved on and that’s life. You can’t see the negative, there’s always a positive behind every negativity. 

Christél: But it’s difficult  to always see it and always be on the bright side of life. 

Jorge: I do agree with you but  personally I choose the positive side.

11:55

Because you know what, you’re sulky, you’re sulky on your own. And the truth is, my advice, no one likes a sulky.  Sulky sues, they’ve got no place in this world. 

Christél: And people won’t come to your restaurants. you’re sulky sues. 

Jorge: No, and telling people your life problems. Everything’s, it’s a blessing. Just think of it. Whatever problem you have, there’s other people that have more problems than you. Be thankful.

12:21

Christél: Speaking just of all the opportunities and all the developments that you’ve done from your Gillview restaurant you also started franchising. 

Jorge; Correct. So we started franchising if I’m correct it was 2010 or early 2011. I think we started negotiating in 2010 December. We started opening in 2011 January February. We opened our first store.

12:51

And we had a lot of challenges because the thing was to try sell your idea your concept to a franchisee and for them to see your vision. Because I believe that every store takes the personality of the owner So we had a lot of a lot of challenges, but we’ve learned because I was never in the franchise game so I’ve had to learn you basically bump your head and you move on and look, we’ve so we’ve been a franchise now for 15 years

13:21

since 2010  and we’ve been very successful.  And now we’re opening a branch in the UK. We should have been opened already, but then the UK, they rejected our visas for the staff to go train their staff.  So at the moment they’re actually in South Africa training the chefs for the UK.  We’re opening in Leicester  and we’re opening in Dubai very soon. They’re just waiting to finish shop and they’ll come over and train as well.

13:48

So I think it’s been a success story.

13:52

Christél: And you’ve also opened the fast food chain, Senhor Peri-Peri. 

Jorge: Then we opened the, which was a lesson learned, we opened Signor Calistos and we thought the public would understand. But then we had to rename it and relaunch it because there was a confusion because the takeaways, obviously there’s no waiters, there’s no service. Then some people who go to Facebook said the service at Calistos was excellent. The next guy gets, I went there, there was no service. What store? And then we realized not even at Calistos,

14:22

the Signor Calistos.  So what we did, we called them the Senhor Peri Peri and there might be something exciting happening soon which I’m not going to talk about today until the deal is done  but  that’s another brand of ours, the Senhor Peri Peri.  

Christél: And they’re all using your sauces? 

Jorge: Correct, so we manufacture for all the sources and spices for the Senhor Peri Peris and for the Calistos restaurants and we do make for other brands as well.

14:52

Not going to mention them because obviously it’s disclosure but we do manufacture for other people.  

Christél: Very very interesting.  Sounds like with all the things that you do, do you ever get time to just relax?

15:06

Jorge: Yeah, I make time to relax. I do enjoy family holidays. 

Christél: Yes.  

Jorge: I love my weekends, especially when I’m at home with the wife and kids.  We’re an active family.  So we do take time out. 

Christél: If you’re so active, what type of… 

Jorge: Look, we like to go down to the beach. We like to take good walks.  We like to go see new places. Look, I’ve got daughters, three daughters, so they love shopping. So they had it on its own. 

15:36

Women’s activity,  I hate going to malls but sometimes you do it because you have to.  

Christél: Why do you have to? To check on the credit card? 

Jorge: No, no, not at all. It’s just to spend time with the kids and  to also go out and  see what’s going on. But the truth is I hate shopping.  And I hate them all. 

Christél: Who likes shopping? 

Jorge: Women.  

Christél: Oh no. 

Jorge: Especially if they’ve got a credit card.  

Christél: Probably. If you’ve got a credit card that somebody else pays off. That’s

16:06

a difference? 

Jorge: No, no I think women love shopping. If a woman is depressed give her a shopping list or give her credit card, let her go shopping, depression is gone. 

Christél: So what do you do to get rid of your depression? 

Jorge: So look obviously I enjoy training, I train six times a week.

16:29

It helps me, train an hour and 20 minutes, not more than that I enjoy eating healthy but I love smoking a cigar. So I take 45 minutes to myself I enjoy a good cigar, I enjoy sitting around a table drinking, eating, smoking cigars. 

Christél: So that’s 45 minutes smoking the cigar 

Jorge: Yeah, so 45 minutes I normally sit, as you can see this is my office. So I’ve got my humidor here and so when I like to sit on my own and smoke a cigar

16:59

just clear my mind, relax. I take 45 minutes out with my cigars. It’s good company. Then, but when I’ve got friends and that we enjoy drinking, smoking cigars, eating, just having chit chats,  nothing too serious.  And funny enough, one of the things for me to relax is actually work. I love working. 

Christél: How on earth is that possible? 

Jorge; I think it’s, I just love working. So I don’t know if it’s an addiction.

17:28

But if you really ask me, George, do you enjoy working? I love working. So I even love working on a weekend. On a Saturday, I love coming in here. When we’re doing production, I love it.  And for me, it’s very, very relaxing, therapeutical. 

Christél: But you don’t get

17:46

busy with the production itself? 

Jorge: So I do, especially in the beginning, because all the sauces, I made them. So in the beginning, when I started Sauce Kitchen, I used to actually manufacture a sauce myself and one staff member.  And then we had a driver myself and one staff member. Then we started employing staff. And then obviously the little factory we were in, we moved into a bigger factory. And then from that factory, we’ve had to come to this factory for space.  So we’ve grown nicely since about, we started in 2015.

18:16

And we’ve had a lot of growth  and there’s a lot of room for us to grow. We’re still quite small But luckily we’ve got a very good product and we’ve got a very good name out there. 

Christél: I’m just thinking that there’s so many peri-peri sources on the market. Do you  believe there’s still space for growth?

18:35

Jorge: There is because we Calistos.  

Christél: Okay. And because you, George? George can do anything? 

Jorge: No, look, I do believe that. I believe with God’s grace I can do anything. I’m blessed. God loves me. But there is growth, but you’ve got to go out there and take it. It’s not going to come to you. So we are. So every day we try to grow. We try to get new plants every day. So we’re not… I’m happy where we are.

19:02

But I’m not going to sit and accept it. I am going to push forward. 

Christél: Any retirement plans in the near future? 

Jorge: Yes. I do believe, I actually believe I’m going to retire at a very early age. And when I retire, I obviously want to go to the next world and I think it’ll be at 106.

19:23

Christél: Okay. 

Jorge: And I know that you’re laughing and you think this guy is pushing numbers and aren’t realistic. But I really do believe, I’ve really got an inner feeling I will see 106. 

Christél: Okay, so what’s your big plan to get there? 

Jorge: A day at a time and never stop working. 

Christél: And never stop working? 

Jorge: Never stop. The day you stop working, you retire, you’re gone. And if you stop working, you’re going to age very quickly. So you need something to keep you young.

19:52

Christél: So what’s your big plan in 10 years, 20 years from now to keep busy? 

Jorge: So look, that’s a very good question. The truth is I don’t even know what I’m to be doing tonight. Although I’m traveling to Portugal, but I don’t know what I’m going to eat. I don’t know where I’m going go, where I’m going to go in the airport. I don’t even know where I’m going to sit tonight. So you take it day for day, as the mood goes. So a lot of people ask me, George, where do you see yourself in five years? Look, in five years, I’m going to be 63.

20:22

Okay, there’s anything I can tell you in 10 years. I’ll be 67 if you ask me where am I gonna be but you know what  I think?  Obviously, I’m gonna grow. I don’t want to go backwards. I will be great  and I’ll take it a day as it comes

20:41

I cannot try to plan a 10 year thing. But I think if you try to plan, you might mislead yourself because the economy is changing, trends change, palates change, there’s new…

20:56

New foods coming in and out. So we’ve just got to go with the daily, daily as it happens, you know concert planning and wasting time planning on something that might not happen Maybe God calls me in tomorrow and then I’m planning something for 10 years and I’m not here. 

Christél: Okay, but in the meantime, you’ve got your son running the factory. 

Jorge: Correct. So I’ve got my son working with me. Yeah, and then I’ve a Daughter as well. That’s Dana might that she wants to run the family. She says she wants to run

21:26

and the family empire. And then my younger daughter’s was also go get her, but she’s more, loves, she’s a very social person. She’s just like the mother, very social. She’s driven, but she wants to take more of an easier life. But I do see my kids getting involved in the business and I’d love to have my kids involved in the business with me. But will I ever back, a step back? I might take one or two steps back, but I’ll always be involved with them.

21:55

Christél: Smoking a cigar on the side.

21:59

Just telling them what to do. 

Jorge: No, no, no, no. If you call my son, he’ll tell you. I like they need to make mistakes. And it’s easier if they make mistakes while I’m around to correct them and guard them. Then if you try to tell them what to do and then one day you’re not here and then they don’t actually know how to make decisions. So I enjoy watching my kids make mistakes because making a mistake, it’s not necessarily negative. It’s actually very constructive.

22:28

Christél: Very, very, very good point.  So if you were 20 years old again, what would you do different? 

Jorge: I’d wear sunscreen every day.  

Christél: You don’t seem to have a problem. 

Jorge: No, say if I was 20 again, I don’t think I’d change anything.  But I would definitely have worn sunscreen every day.

22:50

And I don’t think I would have changed much. Because everything I’ve got today, every life experience is what’s actually made me today. So if I had changed it when I was 20, maybe I wouldn’t have been here today. 

Christél: Okay. 

Jorge: That’s what it is. 

Christél: But there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with your skin. Is that just good?

23:13

skin care? 

Jorge: It’s just good skin care. That’s one thing I’ve never looked after was my skin. 

Christél: Okay. So have you started in the middle? 

Jorge: No, but the dermatologist always says do I need to put some skin on my head? I don’t get time for that. 

Christél: Okay. 

Jorge: But if it was… No, actually you know what I would have done if I was 20? 

Christél: What? 

Jorge: I’d have had a hair transplant.

23:34

Christél: Okay, but you still have it. 

Jorge: No, but I don’t want a head transplant. I would have done a head transplant just to experience it. Because I think I quite enjoy my bald look. 

Christél; You’ve got this mafia look. 

Jorge: No, not at all 

Christél: Especially with a cigar. 

Jorge: You see, that’s where people…

23:50

that perception is wrong because a cigar is actually a gentleman’s  thing.  So in olden days cigars, they even used to put on white gloves to smoke a cigar. So it’s more of a gentleman thing. Then what actually happened was people get intrigued by mafia and that and then they want to look like mafias.  But the truth is  that’s not the case. You know…

24:13

To me, see mafias in a very different light  and gangsterism in a different light. 

Christél: Okay, so how do you see it?

24:22

Jorge: So I just believe it’s better to be a gentleman,  your business.  I do believe that there’s a lot of people are intrigued by gangsterism, by mafia and all that.  But the truth is, I don’t think it’s a very good life to live  because you don’t sleep at night. You’ve got a lot of pressures.  So I think it can be a very exciting life, maybe. But I think it’s got a lot of negatives behind it. 

Christél: And you don’t want to be there. 

Jorge: No, it’s not part of me. It’s just…  

Christél: You’re not going to reach 106.

24:52

Jorge: Yeah, you won’t reach 106 being a mafioso. You know that, you won’t reach 106. 

Christél: George, your,  we call it for R &R special, your ways of rejuvenating and refocus and re energize yourself. What would that be?

25:15

Jorge: So I think  for me to rejuvenate, I love my August holidays in Europe.  And if I don’t have an August holiday, it doesn’t feel the same to me. So I take, I like to have short breaks,  quite a few breaks. To rejuvenate, I find training is definitely one of them. keeps you young, keeps your mind very young, keeps you positive.

25:37

And I think it’s very important  to have a pet in your house. 

Christél: Okay. 

Jorge: It’s very, I think it’s very important to have, be surrounded with your kids and your family. And that is I think what rejuvenates me. 

Christél: So what type of pet do you have? 

Jorge: So I’ve got a dog and I’ve got cats. No, so we’ve got the main coon cat, so is, it’s…  So I do believe that pets  are very healthy to have at home. 

Christél: Okay. 

Jorge: That’s on a serious note.

26:08

Christél: I love it. I love it. When you say you train, what type of training do you do? 

Jorge: So I do intensive training. So it’s not heavy weights. It’s actually very lightweight. It’s a lot of stretching, a lot of repetitions, and with very little rest in between. And then obviously 80 % of your training is your stance.

26:29

Christél: That’s true.  Before we get to your diet, stretching sounds like yoga?  

Jorge: Oh no, so no, Okay, so maybe I just do a little bit of stretching to start.  Train a lot, repetitions  and keeping your  heart rate above 100. 

Christél: And that you do six days a week? 

Jorge: Six days a week. 

Christél: Without fail? 

Jorge: Sometimes you do fail because of business. So if there’s a meeting or something I have to attend, then obviously I’ll skip gym, but I try not to fail.

26:59

Christél: Because it does have a negative effect.  

Jorge: Correct, because you don’t want to take two steps forward and then one step back.  So you’ve got to do it. It’s got to be basically consistent.  And diet. 

Christél: What do you see as a healthy diet? 

Jorge: So I enjoy it… You’ve got to have a high protein diet.

27:22

But I do take in my omegas and your oils, your natural oils  and  carbs. So I have carbs every day.  But I would say it’s more of a high protein diet. 

Christél: A gentleman’s diet. Meat. 

Jorge: Meat. I enjoy meat. I’m a meat lover. But basically what I always say is you’ve got to eat clean and train dirty. 

Christél: So how does that work?

27:49

Jorge: 80 % basically your food because that’s what you do every day and don’t… and you only train once. So when you train, you train hard, you sweat, you give 100 % for that hour and 15 minutes and when you eat during the day you’ve got to be conscious of what you’re eating. So your alcohol… so I’ll drink alcohol only every second weekend. 

Christél: Okay, interesting. said, I was an impression if you run restaurants

28:19

you having drinks all the time? 

Jorge: So I’ve been through that phase. It was a phase in my life where you’re drinking every day, you drink wine every day, you’re eating good food, but I lose 22 kilos. So it is very good. So I still eat at restaurants, but I just choose what I eat. 

Christél: And I suppose you only eat at your own restaurant. 

Jorge: So funny enough, 90 % of the time I eat in my own restaurants, but it’s funny enough, it’s just my favorite.

28:53

Christél: It would have been bad if you didn’t like the food that you served. 

Jorge: As you know, we’ve been saying, my kids live overseas. And every time I speak to them in the hospital, if I tell them I’m at Calisto’s, they say, Dad, we missed the Calisto’s food. 

Christél: So do they ever come back here? 

Jorge: They do. They were here for December. They spent two weeks here. We went down to the Cape. So we do. They should

29:19

be coming out this year again. So they’ve been coming out once a year. Because we’ve still got family and friends here so we do travel up and down.

29:29

Christél: If you can give advice to any entrepreneur out there, I think especially people that want to go into the restaurant business, starting sources, what would your advice be? 

Jorge: My advice is to be an entrepreneur, you’ve got to invest to create jobs and you should be working nothing less than 80 hours per day.

29:56

Christél: Okay. 

Jorge: And I the next question, but there’s only 24 hours in a day. So if you want to be an entrepreneur and you want to make money, you’ve got to have a minimum. The more staff you have. So I basically tell people I work about 3,200 hours to 4,000 hours per day. And it confuses people. But I say if I’ve got 400 staff member working a minimum of eight hours a day, think that gives you, I think it’s 3,200.

30:26

So those are hours that I’m actually working. Because if you’re to work eight hours a day, you’re only getting an eight hour period. So you’ve got to get people to help you push the hours.  And you obviously know how to manage them and put people in place to manage them. So that is your toughest thing  of…

30:47

starting a business is always your stuff. But I think the secret is to get your staff to start to think like you and for them to understand that to have a job it’s not a right, it’s a privilege. But they need to look after that privilege.  So I think that’s very important.  

Christél: Any other advice for the entrepreneurs out there?  

Jorge: You know what, have fun.  Don’t be scared.

31:17

Don’t be scared of failure. Failure is only when you give up.

31:21

as long as you’re trying because I mean I’ve been in business for about 35 years or actually longer because I started selling oil paintings at the age of 40. Yes. And one thing I’ve had a lot of failures in my life so when people look at me and everything looks like it’s sunshine and roses it’s not the truth. There’s been a lot of hard times, there’s been things that have failed, things that have closed, deals that have lost a lot of money in. But the secret is don’t worry about it, just push on and don’t give up.

31:51

It’s got a turn, but don’t give up Yeah. 

Christél: I think that is the most difficult part because most people would just give up.

Jorge: Correct, but there is one thing I would say to a lot of people that there’s one book that you need to read. 

Christél: And that is? 

Jorge: The Bible. If you read the Bible, teaches you how to make love It teaches you how to make money.

32:17

It teaches you how to treat your staff. Teaches you how to make good decisions. It’s a book that is not a story book. If you really look into the Bible, it’s a book that will teach you a lot about life. And if you can balance your life, you’ll balance your business life as well. 

Christél: Wow. That is profound. Very, very profound. And we often look to all sorts of motivational books.

32:45

Business books  and very seldom look back to the Bible. 

Jorge: You see, I think religion has killed the Bible. I think religion has made people they will tell you I think religion is a killer.  But if you take the book with an open mind, and don’t let someone else read it to you. You read it the way you understand it, that is you’re going to see it’s a lovely book.

33:12

It’s beautiful stories and it teaches at once. Religion says if your money is a sin and it makes you feel guilty for making money. But the actual truth, the Bible doesn’t teach you that.  Because if you look at everybody that was God’s favorite people, they were very wealthy people.  So if you look at King David, King Solomon,  look at the guy that his son went out with the pigs, whatever. He was a very wealthy man. So being rich is not a sin. Being rich is a blessing.

33:42

Being successful is a blessing.  And then there’s another saying they say the rich will get richer and the poorer will get poorer. That is most probably one of the most accurate saying you’ll ever find because they’re not talking about the rich people with money. They’re talking about rich people with mentality.  So if you’ve got a rich mentality you will get richer but if you’ve got a poor mentality you’re going to punish yourself. You will get poorer.

34:09

So it’s not a  money value system, it’s actually a mentality value system.  

Christél: Think that is the quote that we will use. 

Jorge: That’s it, the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer. 

Christél: That is so true and we often think there’s all sorts of other reasons why the rich are rich.

34:30

Jorge: Correct because everybody believes that they were born rich in actual fact that’s been proven that hard times make good men good men create good times and good times create bad men and I think the world is going through it now where If you’re born in a very rich family, so I think these statistics done it that by the third generation. They’ve lost everything and I love a saying from Margaret Thatcher where

35:00

And she said the best thing to start off is if you’re poor with very good parents.  And that, I’ll never forget that saying of Margaret Thatcher. She said one of her blessings is that you come from a poor family, but very good parents.

35:19

Christél: Thanks guys for listening to the story of Jorge Calisto and how he started  his entrepreneurial journey and still faces his highs and lows on a daily basis.  Remember to follow  this podcast and share it  with all your friends and family. We need your support to make the Expedition Business grow.