Why enduring rejection is the key to achieving anything, with Miguel Hernández

I think that, in general, most people take few risks and it is logical because everything that we do not know, that is outside our comfort zone, is going to scare us. But everything that is interesting in this life, coincidentally happens outside the comfort zone.

It is clear that if you want to have a super boring life, you stay in that little circle, but what I assure you is that the most interesting things are always on the other side of the comfort zone. Always.

— Miguel Hernandez

Miguel Hernandez (@grumomigs) is the CEO of Grumo Media, a company that creates fun and effective explanatory videos for startups and large companies, and which has had clients such as Walmart, Microsoft and actor Ashton Kutcher.

In addition to that, Miguel is a veteran of the Udemy online course platform, where he has published 8 courses that already have more than 27,000 students in total.

Miguel has been following his own path since he found his first job and because he didn’t like what he was doing, he devised a plan to create his own position within the company. After that, he’s continued to do things his own way, which has led him on all kinds of adventures, from getting the inside scoop on a Hollywood set, to going broke trying to create his own web app, to getting the co-founder from Reddit to share one of his videos.

In our conversation, Miguel and I cover all of that and much more. We make a complete review of his entire career, from when he left his native Bilbao until he created Grumo Media, and we talk about topics as interesting as…

• Why learning to manage rejection is the key to success
• How to learn any skill from scratch
• What is the key to discover what to do with your life
• Or what strategy Miguel followed to find his wife in just 2 months

I warn you that today’s episode is long, almost 3 hours, and sometimes we get a little involved, but it’s worth listening to because it’s full of wisdom and because Miguel’s story is fascinating.

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quick index

1:37 – Presentation of the guest

2:41 – Start of the interview

5:52 – How he ended up living in Vancouver

8:15 Why did you study mechanical engineering?

10:41 – Why working as a door-to-door salesperson was one of the best things you did in your life

15:38 – How he developed the ability to withstand rejection and how his perception of rejection evolved

22:57 – How he endured in a job that he did not like at all by inventing his own work

30:52 – How he learned complicated skills on his own and from scratch

34:52 – What is the correct method to create your own work within your company

40:20 Why did you decide to dedicate yourself to the audiovisual world?

43:41 – How he got into a Hollywood set

49:08 – How you decided to leave animation and start with something totally new

51:10 – How you started working in Hollywood without training

1:00:51 – Why your first project as an entrepreneur failed

1:03:57 – How he went from being broke to creating his current company: Grumo Media

1:10:32 – What did you do to grow your company in the most efficient way possible

1:16:55 – How to identify risks worth taking

1:21:16 – Do we take few risks in our lives?

1:25:59 – How he managed to go from having no clients to having a lot of important clients

1:28:40 – What has been your growth strategy: self-employed or permanent employees

1:30:57 – What is systematization and why is it important in a company

1:35:41 – How to systematize creative tasks

1:39:21 – Why has it limited the growth of Grumo Media and how did you decide how far you want to go?

1:45:27 – How he got Ashton Kutcher to tweet one of his videos

1:47:43 – In order to be successful, what role does luck play and what role does hard work and being very good at what you do play?

1:51:51 – Why he creates courses on Udemy and what he teaches

1:57:43 – The strategy he followed to meet his wife online

2:01:51 – How you have identified and befriended the “right people”

2:06:26 – Where did your motivation come from to do everything you have done

2:11:33 – What are you working on now

2:14:49 – Advice for people who don’t know what to do with their life

2:26:11 – What conclusions has he reached about what is important to him and what makes him happy?

2:27:49 – What 3 books have impacted you the most throughout your life?

2:32:01 – About what has changed your mind in recent years

2:33:35 – If you could go back, what advice would you give to 18-year-old Miguel?

2:37:39 – Where to find Miguel