Adam Torres and Tony Chi-Su Gutierrez discuss MegaMix Expo.
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Show Notes:
MegaMix Expo is making a difference in the community and creating a platform for businesses to connect. In this episode, Adam Torres interviews Tony Chi-Su Gutierrez, Founder & CEO of Megamixexpo.com, explore MegaMix Expo and Tony’s vision. Adam Torres will be on site conducting live interviews.
About Tony Chi-Su Gutierrez
Tony Chi-Su Gutierrez is a dynamic business leader and community advocate with over 25 years of experience in driving growth and innovation across Southern California. As the CEO and Founder of MegaMix Expo, Tony spearheads the premier annual event that connects diverse industries and enables growth opportunities throughout the region.
About Megamix Expo
The MegaMix Expo is a vibrant event that brings together diverse industries, including healthcare, technology, and entertainment, fostering innovative collaborations and enriching networking experiences. Key features include:
Interactive Workshops * Led by industry experts, these sessions provide actionable insights and practical skills for attendees.
Networking Opportunities * With hundreds of exhibitors and participants, the Expo serves as a crucial hub for forging meaningful connections.
Support for Local Businesses * Emphasizing locally-owned ventures, the Expo partners with Chambers of Commerce and minority business coalitions to enhance visibility and support.
Innovation Showcases * Attendees can explore cutting-edge products and services, gaining immediate feedback from potential customers.
Entertainment Elements * Live performances by local artists create an engaging atmosphere that encourages attendee interaction.
Inclusive Community Environment * The Expo fosters a respectful space where all participants feel valued, promoting collaboration across diverse groups.
Accessibility for All Businesses * Various sponsorship and exhibitor packages cater to businesses of all sizes, ensuring broad participation.
Continuous Engagement * The event aims to build a lasting community through follow-up events and online platforms, facilitating ongoing collaboration.
These unique features position the MegaMix Expo as a standout opportunity for businesses seeking growth and connection in Southern California.
Full Unedited Transcript
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters. My name is Adam Torres, and if you’d like to apply to be a guest on the show, just head on over to missionmatters. com and click on be our guest to apply. All right, so today we have Tony Chi-su Gutierrez on the line, and he’s a founder and CEO over at megamixexpo.
com. Tony, welcome to the show. Hey, good morning. Happy, Thursday, man. Tony, I’m telling you, , we’ve talked we met at one of Elias’s events recently, and now we’ve had a couple of conversations and I swore you’ve been on the show before, but I know this is your first time. I’m like, man, Hey, welcome.
We get to finally do this and I’m pumped about mega mix expo. So we got a whole lot to talk about today, but I just want to get us kicked off with the show. I want to get us kicked off with you as an entrepreneur. We’re going to get into Megamix Expo. We’re going to talk about all that. Of course.
We’re going, by the way, for the audience, just so you know, we’ll be announcing a partnership. I’m going to be going out and doing some interviews and just all kinds of good stuff we have planned. But before we get into all that, Tony, I want to get into you, man. Like, how did you get into this entrepreneurial game?
Well, and Adam, thank you , for the, for that question. And I think a lot of people in these days right now, you know, A lot of people work for, for corporate America, they work for some, business and a lot of people have inspiring motivation to be a business owner. And I have that. If I look back into , my journey, I had that since I was 10 years old, 10 years old.
Let me tell you what was the first business, man. No, my first business was my mom asking me. Mijo, what do you want for your birthday? And I wanted, a portrait photo of me in a suit. Stop. When you were 10? 10 years old. I’m serious. Was this like a TV show? , , what? Were you watching a TV show?
Where’d you get this from, man? You know what? I don’t know. I just, I don’t know. At 10 years old, I guess in my mind. What did your mom say? What did your mom say? She’s like, my son is not normal. My mom was like, she’s like, are you serious? You want a photo in a suit? I go, yeah, I want to go buy it. I want to go, I want to go buy a suit and I want to take a picture in a business suit.
And in my mind, I can honestly think maybe at that time, I wanted to be a business owner. All the way back then. So I think that’s when my journey started. Yeah. What do you remember your first business like? Okay, that’s when you had the inspiration, but what’s the first thing you sold?
Or a service or like, what was that? Were you the candy guy? Were you the basketball card guy? Guy? Like, take me back, man. What was the first one you remember? Oh, 100%. I was the in front of my house the, the ice cream guy that was selling with the. You had a food item. Go ahead. So I had a food, we used to sell fruits.
My mom used to go to the swap meet and sell fruits. My mom had me selling fruits. We were I think I was like 14 years old. They called it junior careers. We used to go door to door in people’s homes. I don’t know if you ever experienced that. They have a box of candies and they would knock on doors and get introduced.
I remember. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I was selling that. And then I, In college, I got exposed to Amway and I got involved in Amway back in the day when it was more like product sales. That was one of my first ones and I’ll tell you mine on Amway. When I was in, I still remember, when I was in 6th grade, my parents had somebody come over And I was one of my buddies and their parents sold Amway.
So they did that whole meeting thing and everything else. And my parents looked at me and they were like, do you want to do it, Adam? And we don’t, we’re not really in the business, but do you want to do it? And I was like, sure. And then I was selling soap. I was hawking soap when I was like sixth grade, all my, for all my mom’s friends or anybody that talked to me was getting some soap.
Yep. Yep. That’s awesome. Yep. So you were selling everything early on. Okay, so you had the vision, obviously you wanted, you had the suit, you had, oh, I didn’t ask you, you got the picture, right? Like you got the picture. I have the picture. Yep. You still have it, right? 100%. Yep. Oh man, I got one day, man.
You got to send that to me. I got it. I got it. You know what? I’m going to go into my box of pictures. I’m going to take it out and I’m going to do it before of me at 10 and then me now in my fifties. Oh, you gotta send that to me, man. I love it. I love that. That might be the thumbnail for this episode. Oh my God, you know what?
Adam, you just gave me an idea. I’m gonna talk about, I’m gonna put my journey at 10 years old. That’s amazing. So when, when did you, like, let’s fast forward a little bit. , When did you get kind of, obviously when we’re kids, we’re selling stuff, we’re making money. It’s fun. When did you get, I don’t want to assume, but for me, that’s how it was.
When did it get serious for you? When were you like, okay, this is my call. And like, this is what I do. And it doesn’t have to be a particular business. I just mean being an entrepreneur in general, where is it like, yeah, this is what I do. When did that happen? it’s always been in my soul and my gut, you know, what I wanted.
I was pulled into a corporate America and I’m not going to bring up the name, but I was pulled into corporate America when I was 25 years old. And so I started my new journey there of corporate America university. Right. And, and I was learning so much stuff that, It was, wow, you know, my first year, second year, my third year, but have I did like four years of corporate America in my heart, I was thinking, wow, these guys are making billions.
How would I, so I started asking a lot of questions on processes, shipping, how do you guys do this? The accounting, I understood the accounting side. And so towards about , eight years ago, I decided to leave corporate America. Because there was a door that was opening and I took that open door and I was so nervous, so scared, but I said, you know what?
If I don’t do it, it’s never going to happen. So I took the leap of faith. I have a business partner and we merged our businesses together. And eight years ago, I became a full service business owner, entrepreneur. Left the W2 world and decided to take my journey on to you know, to building me.
What was it like? I know you mentioned you were scared. I believe that’s the word you use. I know I was. I know I was. I’m still, I’m still scared. I’m like, man, am I still doing this thing? And nine years later, I’m like, how am I even here? But anyway, I still get nervous. But That being said, I’m curious about like and I asked this question, not just because I’m curious, but also because I know there’s some other people out there that are maybe considering doing something or they’re at that moment in life, right?
Like we’re looking back eight years for yourself. I think nine or 10 years for myself. So we’re looking back right now, but there’s some people that are either about to make that decision or they’re in the middle of it. Like they’re going through that fear right now. So I’m curious about like your support system around that time.
I know for me, all my friends thought I was crazy. Like, they’re like, are you kidding me? You’re doing what? Like my entire support system. I mean, I had people that stopped talking to me and and it’s not, cause they dislike me. They just didn’t know how to deal with it. They thought I was having some type of breakdown or something.
Cause I had a really good, I’ve been doing, you know, I’ve been doing really well. Why? I mean, I was managing a little under 200 million. I’ve been working in finance for 14 years. I have my series six, seven 63, everybody listening. I have none of that. Now I’ve. Giving up finance completely other than doing interviews for financial experts.
But I had all that. And then, and then they’re like, you’re going to go be a media guy. What the heck, what are you talking about? So I don’t blame them for thinking that. But that was a very difficult point for me because it was like, you know, not only was I scared, but everybody, I was kind of like by myself on it for, for the most part.
What was it like for you? Like, what was your support system? Like, I’m just curious. Well, let me tell you , my family, you know, , my partner when I had at that time was like, you are insane , you’re gonna leave. So for everybody, you’re gonna leave insane. Everybody listening that like, if somebody’s saying you’re insane, it’s okay.
You got, you’re in good company. Go ahead, , right? You’re gonna leave a good paying job for a nice, it’s a big corporation that I worked for. Mm-Hmm, . And you’re gonna go do that. And two things, I made the right decision because a year and a half later, two years, they laid off about 600 of the sales team, the executive teams, and I would have been one of them.
Number two, my support system was all the years of being in corporate America. My job was, to get out and meet businesses and engage in businesses and sell them to a product or service. Okay. So I was getting to know business owners. Okay. So I kept my database and, for those of you that want to become business owners or looking , to do something with your, you know, with your life and make some changes find the right partners and the support that you need to get a business going, because.
It’s not just, I want to be a business owner. Well, no, you got to learn about accounting. You got to learn about taxes. You got to learn about legal. You gotta learn about marketing, you gotta learn about your finances, how to protect yourself. Oh my gosh, it’s a lot of stuff, but you don’t do it alone. You do it with a community of people, like minded individuals, who have the same best interests, not just in you, but in themselves.
So, get around entrepreneurs that are gonna support you. And that was my message. My hook and before I even left corporate America, I would say about maybe a year before I resigned I was already doing all the paperwork. I was already doing everything like I was like, it’s gonna happen When I don’t know but I was I was doing what needed to happen So I can make that decision.
That’s amazing. That’s helpful and I’m glad because, you know, there’s people out there that need to hear that. And everybody’s journey is a little bit different. Like some people have it more planned. Some people it’s accidental. Some people maybe got displaced completely. And they didn’t have the choice of leaving corporate America.
And they were asked to leave. to leave. I mean, especially during COVID and people downsize and all that, like, , you happen to have made the choice. So there’s a lot of different variations, but thank you for sharing your story on next time. I know it’s very helpful. , let’s get further into Megamix Expo.
Let’s spend some of the time we have left on that because I’ll tell you, man, I am so excited. Like ever since I heard your vision for what you’re doing, how you’re doing it, Santa Anita race. a couple of times. I the other day, a straight want some more. He’s on t I’m not, I don’t know muc was there with people tha I don’t want to get email race.
I don’t know anythi Okay. Other than I was th and had a lot of fun, but
Every year it’s growing. I guess just to get us kicked off. Talk to us about Megan McExpo, like, , what people can expect. Like, just talk about us about the event overall in your vision, what we’ve talked about. Absolutely. So my vision and, and how Megamex came to life was, you know, everybody understands we all went through a really tough time during the pandemic.
So one year before the life was going to come back to normal my business partners and I, we were discussing what should we do to re engage in the community and help the businesses that are going to be, that are going to be struggling. To reopen, to get clients, to brand themselves, because it, for, for all that time that everybody was stuck.
Everybody was just not making money or, you know, just stuck, right? So we created the Megamix to support our community here locally in the Los Angeles area. And then we branched out to Inland Empire and then Orange County is next. So Megamix Expo is about branding. Networking, educating yourself, doing workshops power networking, you know, everything that I talked about for those entrepreneurs that want to learn and get associated with the right people to help them grow their business, services, whatever the case is, but it’s about bringing revenue within our community, our location.
So, if anybody wants to grow our, we’re on our seventh expo. It’s called the San Gabriel Valley Megamex Expo and it’s specifically for our community. Now it’s a two day event. It started, check this out, Adam, a three and a half hour networking event at the Hilton of San Gabriel. And now it’s a two day full day event at the beautiful Santa Anita Park racetrack.
Wow. And we’re just growing and growing and people are just loving. There’s so much transactions, there’s so much business being made, relationships being, being created, and it just warms my heart to see that. People are thriving and more importantly, Adam, that revenue is being created because that’s what it’s all about.
Wow. And so what is it? I mean, that’s, that blows my mind. I hear these stories all the time where it’s like or it’s like you’re bringing together community and it doesn’t mean necessarily for an expo, but just in general, it’s a business, it’s a business idea. In this case, it happens to be an expo. You bring together the community, you bring together a lot of, you know, Good people that are that, you know, want to help each other, that want to support, that want to learn that like a lot of different things.
Why do you think this has been so successful? Like what, what do you think the secret sauce is that makes this thing keep going? Because first off, to be at year seven, that’s an, that’s, that’s an accomplishment. Like, why, what do you think makes this so successful? Why is it succeeded? No, thank you. Thank you for that.
The success has been the people has been the, the energy, the diversity that we have, all the types of businesses that come. It’s all businesses. The mega mix is about inviting all businesses to come out. I know there’s certain events that certain pockets, you know, like investors, health and health and beauty.
We just brought it all together. So that if you come, you come for different reasons, right? So, when you think of Mega, you know that you’re gonna come because you’re gonna get to know All types of businesses. The ladies, there’s something for the ladies. There’s something for the guys. There’s going to be a a fashion show, live entertainment, food.
You know, there’s a food fusion area too. We’re going to have some cars, you know, guys love cars. It’s going to be. A show of beautiful cars, dealerships, financing will be, you know, being contractors, there’s going to be a contractors area, a health area as well. And then we do have a VIP lounge for those, you know, high rollers that want to spend money and want to network specifically with VIP.
We’re going to have a VIP space for, and, and, and we’ll, we’ll be catering to our VIP in a very high fashion. So that’s what I’m doing. I’m so excited. Where’s my space gonna be, Tony? I’m going and I’m gonna be interviewing people and having some fun. Where, where’s, where’s my space gonna be? Let’s get down to business here.
Come on. The audience wants to know . You know what’s fun about this, Adam? Is that Yeah. When you go to mega mix x explode.com. Mm-Hmm. You scroll down, you’ll see a map. Okay? Oh, mm-Hmm. . You get to choose, you get to choose your map. So. You get to choose your space. And so, as we get closer to the expo, you’ll be able to see all the types of businesses that are coming.
Yeah. So you choose your spot and that’s where you are. And then we give you all the digital material that you need, like a flyer, and we showcase you. Through our email campaigns and all of social media. So as soon as we’re fully sold right now, we’ve already been doing marketing. Oh, yeah. You know, we want to make sure that you get business now.
And talk to me about that. Is there still more? So is there still, you know, spaces available or booths or like, how do, how do people participate? Like, talk to me about that a bit. Yeah, just go to megamixexpo. com, scroll down and it says become an exhibitor. You just click on there. You’ll see the map. You choose it.
And then you just pay your booth. It’s super easy. Just, just fill in, you know, fill it in, fill it in. In the, in the notes area make sure, you know, you put any questions or anything that you need. You choose your booth number. Obviously, it’s going to be open because there’s not something there. Choose your booth number, we’ll call you back.
We’re going to ask you for your logo and a photo of yourself, and your website or wherever, you know, wherever you want us to send the referrals, and we start your marketing of your business immediately. That is not an extra fee. We include it in there because we’re a marketing agency. We just, , it’s just part of the package and we want you to win.
Cause at the end of the day when you’re winning, it’s not about creating revenue at the expo, it’s about creating revenue now so that, so that you could start marketing the expo yourself as an exhibitor and start creating a buzz. Hey, guess what? I’m in, you know, I’m in finance or I have a body shop here locally.
I’m going to the mega mix expo in March. Hey, you know, or you guys create a discount. Hey, if you give, if you put Megan McPhixel on the promo code, I’ll give you 20%, whatever the case is, whatever your business is. We want you to start now and not wait until March to get the word out there. Wow. No, that’s, that’s great.
It’s a great, it’s a great concept and year over year. I mean, you, we’ve had some conversations and this thing keeps on growing and growing. And I saw that layout and I thought, I’m on the website right now, just for everybody listening, obviously, you’re driving your car, keep driving, don’t, don’t do this.
But if you’re sitting at your desk or you’re like, Hey, what’s this Megamix Expo thing? Super easy website, megamixexpo. com. And what, what Tony’s talking about is if you just, you know, you go there, right there, it looks like we’re , as of this recording, we’re 124 days out. And when this is live, probably we’ll be closer to, you know, 110 days or so.
This is, these normally go live in about two weeks, but you scroll down and then you’re going to see that map. that Tony was talking about and also some cool videos and other things that just go even further and further into the concept and into like the other things there. So that’s, that’s awesome, man.
I love this. This is great. Oh, you know, we didn’t get into that, man. Come on. How do we not have the dates here? Oh, sorry. March, March. Come on. They’re over here. Everybody’s listening. Like, what are these guys talking about? When is it? Come on. Don’t keep us waiting. March. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah Yes, March 12th and 13th. It’s it’s two full days. The, Thursday is from 9 to 6 p. m. And then the Wednesday is from 2 to 8 p. m. And then the exhibitors get to set up in the morning from 9 to 1. And then we’ll, we’ll have a bunch of activities going on. One of the things that I’m going to tell you that we do things very differently is, we say buy a booth, share a booth.
Okay. For those small business owners that are listening that honestly, , maybe you think the, price of the booth might be a little higher and you want to share a booth and you’re just a one person, two person, right? Business and at the expo, you want to. Get out and go network and walk around and but you can’t because you’re the only person share a booth with somebody We’re totally cool with that.
Just remember if you do an 8×8 It’s an 8×8 space if you’re gonna share a booth just remember that’s the space that you have. So find somebody that you like Find your par partner find your find that person that you know that you tag team Well share a booth with totally cool with that And if you do share a booth, we will also give you the marketing materials individually so you can promote yourself individually from now until March 12th and for the 13th as well.
So, I’m so excited for Los Angeles County. I’m so excited for the businesses. Just warms my heart and warms my team’s heart to see that, that people are excited about their futures and their lives here in the area. Amazing. Well, again, that’s March 12th and 13th, Santa Anita Park, which is in Arcadia, California.
Tony, man, I just have to say, I’m glad that we finally got a chance to do this and that bring you on the show and that story from 10 to 50 or whatever you said, the story, I like, I can’t wait to see that picture, man. That’s going to be a great social media post. That’d be amazing.
That being said, if somebody wants follow you or connect like, , how do they do that? And of course, for the event, for everybody listening, megamixexpo. com, , we’ll put that link in the show notes. So you could just click on it, head right on over, get your booth, get your marketing materials.
But if anybody wants to follow your journey, Tony, how do they connect? Well, you can find me on LinkedIn. My name is very unique. It’s Tony Chi, C H I hyphen S U and then Gutierrez, G U T I E R R E Z. I’m literally the only person outside of my kids with that last name, and I’m on Facebook as well. So, hit me a direct message that you heard this podcast, so I can accept you, just in case, you know, there’s a lot of spam going on.
Yeah, yeah, no. Just drop in a message that you heard it on Adam Torres show, and let’s connect. Whatever I can do to help, just let me know. Okay. Awesome. And I think you’re coming too, right? No, no. I’m there. I’m there, man. I told you. I told you. No, I’m in. I’m there. I’m going to be on site doing interviews.
And we’re going to, do some pre interviews. And we’re just, man, I can’t wait. I’m pumped. This is going to be, this is going to be a lot of fun. And I hope that to see many people from our audience and hear this. to come out and stop by, stop by my booth, see what’s going on. I’m, excited to, to get to connect and also reach new audiences.
So it’ll be a lot of fun to be in person out there. And again, we’re going to put all the, all those links in the show notes, so you can just click on them, head right on over, grab the and grab your booth and speaking of the audience, if this is your first time with mission matters and you haven’t done it yet.
Don’t know what you’re waiting for, hit that subscribe or follow button. This is a daily show. Each and every day we do new content, new interviews, and deliver new and hopefully inspiration that’s gonna help you along the way in your journey as well. So again, hit that subscribe or follow button. And Tony man, again, thanks for coming on.
Yes, sir. Thank you very much.