Juan Carlos Ruiseñor gained a new perspective on life while working in international sales for Starkey Laboratories. He was fitting a hearing aid on a young Mexican woman who had never heard sound—and who had been told she never would. He turned on the hearing aid and she heard noises for the first time. It was an emotional moment for her, her family, and Ruiseñor, too.
“It changed my life right there. From that point on, I started appreciating every minute, everything,” he says. “From then on, I treated everyone the same. It made me stronger as a person.”
He has always been a strong person, even when life wasn’t easy. Ruiseñor came to Minnesota from Mexico City when he was a teenager; and his family was one of very few Latino households living in the Lake Minnetonka area. He struggled to learn English and fit in at his mostly white high school. Despite the challenges, Ruiseñor thrived. He worked at McDonald’s as a teenager, and eventually he was named manager of the restaurant and sent to the company’s Hamburger University in Chicago for leadership training.
Ruiseñor then spent 11 years at Starkey, where he rose from positions in customer service to manufacturing and international sales. Since then Ruiseñor has embarked on a decade-long career in international sales, traveling all over the world on behalf of several employers. Today, he is international sales development manager at MinnPar, selling machinery parts to customers around the world.
Outside of work Ruiseñor serves on the Latino Council of the Boys Scouts of America and is active in politics. He also has done a variety of volunteer work, such as teaching English to other immigrants at the Lehman Center, working at a food shelf, serving on his local Linden Hills neighborhood council, and coaching youth soccer teams.
An avid athlete and sports fan, Ruiseñor enjoys playing guitar, reading, and spending time with his family.
