If it weren’t for Hector Barreto, Sr., I probably wouldn’t be in this business. Hector was a restaurant owner from Kansas City, born in Guadalajara, Mexico. In 1979, he dreamed of putting together a national Hispanic chamber of commerce. A year later, the Minnesota Hispanic Chamber of Commerce was founded, and we invited Hector to be the keynote speaker for our first annual dinner. We went to the airport to pick him up about six hours before the event.
Lo and behold, he didn’t speak a lot of English. I was a little concerned. I thought, ‘Boy, I don’t know if this guy’s going to be able to connect with our audience,’ which included a lot of corporate executives. But I could feel his energy and his passion for uniting the Hispanic business community, and by the time we got him to his hotel, I was convinced that this guy’s charisma, humility, passion, and personality would win everybody over. I was right. The audience loved him. Shortly after, we joined the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and our board here appointed me to sit on its board of directors.
I was so impressed with Hector. He was a very real human being and a lovely guy. Two of his customers and best friends were [former U.S.] Senators Bob Dole and John Danforth. When I went to my first national meeting, both senators were there to greet us. As a young man, I was able to travel all over the country with Hector. He raised my awareness of the gigantic Hispanic population that was about to explode in terms of buying power and political influence. We were regular visitors to the White House, and throughout the 1980s, I had personal meetings with President Reagan, President Bush, and many corporate executives. Hector took me under his wing and gave me the confidence to emcee major events, and meet and introduce presidents and CEOs.
Without Hector, who passed away a few years ago, my life would have been totally different. Here was a restaurant owner who couldn’t speak much English and wasn’t well educated, but he significantly raised the stature of the Hispanic business community. At the same time, he changed a lot of young professionals’ lives by putting them into positions to meet important political and business leaders. We all owe a lot to Hector.
