A 4th Grade Drop Out Invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos While Mopping Floors

[Music] leymah that cheetos anyone flamin hot cheetos so hot carefully eat him [Music] Cheetos flamin hogsback dangerously Richard Montanez was a dropout he could barely read or write in English and mopped floors for a living but that changed when he stood up to America's top executives when pitching a billion-dollar idea the son of Mexican immigrants Richard was raised in Gua Ste California during the 60s with wasti being a tiny farming town he lived in a one-bedroom apartment with his mother father grandfather and 10 siblings they all rolled up their sleeves and picked up rapes for a living but it wasn't enough to get by my whole life was about leftovers and about donating about getting in that welfare line no one ever told me that I could be something great it was one of the many struggles that he faced one day Richard's mother was getting him ready for school when he burst into tears why are you crying she asked I don't want to go to school everybody speaks English I can't even speak a word he pleaded his mother didn't give in and made him go as his uncle walked him to the bus stop he looked up to the green bus and asked why can't I get on the yellow bus why do I have to get on the green bus he didn't know what discrimination was but he could feel it from the stairs in the third grade he brought a burrito to school for lunch his classmates had never seen one before and wouldn't stop looking embarrassed Richard hid it in his bag the next day he begged his mother to make him a bologna sandwich instead she made him two burritos one for him and one to share with a friend by the end of the week his mother's burritos were so popular that he started selling them I learned that at the moment that there was something special about being different that there was a reason that we all just couldn't fit into the same box while he started to warm up to the other students he still struggled with his English so in the fourth grade he made a decision that he would regret he dropped out of school under the sweltering heat he worked in the fields and took on odd jobs slaughtering chickens washing cars and picking weeds he saw no way out of his life of poverty until his friend told him about a job opening down the road in Rancho Cucamonga a frito-lay plant was looking for a janitor they were willing to pay more than what Richard was making $4 an hour it would pave the way for a better life with insurance benefits and social mobility at the time Richard was 18 and could barely read or write in English so he asked his wife to help him fill out an application he met with the hiring manager and was hired on the spot when he broke the news to his family his grandfather gave him some advice that would always stick with him make sure that the floor shines and let them know that a Montanez mopped it Richard promised to become the best janitor frito-lay had ever seen and he made sure people knew it every time someone walked into the room it would smell fresh I realized there's no such thing as just a janitor when you believe you're going to be the best as they say your attitude determines your altitude and that turned out to be true for Richard in the mid-1980s frito-lay had fallen on tough times to boost morale the company CEO Roger and Rico encouraged every worker to act like an owner most of them brushed it off as a cliche but Richard took it to heart I didn't know what I was going to do didn't need to but I knew I was going to act like an owner after mopping floors for nearly a decade he gathered the courage to ask a salesman if he could help him on his day off the salesmen agreed and brought him to a convenience store in the Latino neighborhood while the salesman restocked inventory Richard scanned the shelves across the room I saw our products on the shelves and they were all plain Lay's Fritos ruffles and right next to these chips happen to be Mexican spices at that moment he realized that frito-lay didn't have any products that were spicy or hot it was a huge missed opportunity for the Latino market a few weeks later Richard picked up some Mexican corn from a street vendor as he took a bite he had a revelation what if I put chili on a cheeto he thought it would be a crazy idea but realized nobody had given any thought to the Latino market it was then that Richard decided it was time to act like an owner one night he was working late when a machine broke in the assembly line leaving a batch of undusted Cheetos Richard considered it a stroke of luck and took some home he and his wife spiced them up and nailed down a recipe when they gave samples to their family and friends they were hope so Richard decided to turn his idea into a product that others could enjoy but first he would need to get one person's attention Frito Lays CEO he grabbed the company phone book and started flipping through the pages until he found his number without hesitation Richard called it his assistant picked up mr. and Rico's office who is this Richard Montanez what division are you with California you're the VP overseeing California no I work at the Rancho Cucamonga plan oh so you're the VP of Operations no I I work inside the plant you're the plant manager no I'm the janitor the assistant pause one moment she finally said Richard was connected with the CEO and told him about his idea he loved it and told Roger that he would be at the plant in two weeks moments after they hung up the phone lines started ringing off the hook the president called the division president who called the vice president who made more calls to reach the plant manager they were all demanding to know who was this janitor that just called the CEO when the plant manager found Richard he stormed up to him and yelled who do you think you are do you realize what you've done everybody's coming then he told Richard you're doing a presentation Richard thought to himself who do I think I am what right do I have to call the CEO he had never done homework in school and now he had to give a presentation he was clueless about what he should do next when he went home that day he told his wife he was in trouble she calmed him down and came up with the idea of going to the library to learn about marketing strategies they found the right book and copied the first five paragraphs word-for-word when they went back home they filled up a hundred bags for their samples and drew their own design on each one on the day of Richard's presentation he bought his first $3 tie as he gathered his bags his wife stopped him at the door don't forget who you are she said go get or belongs to us when Richard walked into the boardroom himself here I was a janitor presenting to some of the most highly qualified executives in America he delivered his presentation with confidence until one executive stopped him how much market share do you think you can get he asked Richard start shaking he had no idea what he was talking about but then he quickly thought about the last time he doubted himself and the lesson he learned in the third grade on every Tuesday - after school trainers would pull up one of them was for the Latino kids when it came time to stand in line Richard purposely walked into the other one you should have heard my friend looking at me because Loco you're in the wrong line this is your line this is where they told us to get in and I looked at my friends this is the truth I said this they have cookies inside as he got closer he second-guessed his decision what if he got rejected even worse what if the trainer's told him he doesn't belong when I got there what do you think those two ladies did they filled my pockets with cookies why did I get in that line I was hungry when you're hungry for that thing you want to accomplish you won't be afraid taking in that lesson Richard stretched his arms wide and said how much market share the room fell silent as the CEO stood up ladies and gentlemen do you realize we have an opportunity to go after this much market share he said with a smile he turned to Richard put that mop away you're coming with us six months later frito-lay started testing Richards idea in small Latino markets in East LA if it was a success they would sell more if it failed Richard would have to go back to mopping floors it seemed that there was a big group of executives who wanted it to fail they thought I got lucky they were paid big bucks to come up with these ideas they didn't want some janitor to do it Richard proved them wrong by 1992 his idea now known as flamin hot cheetos was sold across the u.s it became one of the most successful products in frito-lay history making the company billions of dollars today Richard is PepsiCo's vice president of multicultural sales and marketing and teaches ei classes not long ago a student asked about how he was able to teach without a PhD I do have a PhD he told them I've been poor hungry and determined this is the story of how a janitor created America's favorite snack what did you find inspiring let us know in the comments below [Music]

Channel: Hook

Views: 5,154,950

Rating: 4.9440966 out of 5

Keywords: how cheetos are made, how cheetos puffs are made, flamin hot cheetos, flamin hot cheetos inventor, cheetos inventor, cheetos janitor, hot cheetos janitor, cheetos, who made cheetos, behind, behind the hot cheetos, flamin' hot cheetos inventor, how flamin' hot cheetos are made, flamin' hot cheetos, hot cheetos, success stories, success story

Id: _1y6bpdT3a4

Length: 9min 29sec (569 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 29 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/SIMULATIONTERMINATED]

This is the actual American Dream. What a beautiful man.

[u/chickennuggz420]

That’s really cool. I always wonder just how vast the barrier to creation has grown due to our established standards of education.

So many inventions and discoveries of amazing technologies and processes throughout history have been made by poor paupers and common people.

It’s apparent that formal education is somewhat of a financial barrier to most people in today’s world.

[u/Taymerica]

Spicy Doritos were my favourite.. I'm curious how the IP translated to other brands? Did they have any ownership with the hot chip brand or is it such a basic additive that you can just jack the flavor like that?

[u/ToiletBomber]

Kudos to that CEO for being open-minded.

[u/Redditdrone1337]

The American Dream

[u/HoneyShaft]

Good for him. I remember being a kid when flamin' hots came out and it was the biggest thing at school. Kids wanted them more than candy.

[u/womackyousonofabitch]

my flamin hot butthole thanks him.

[u/Puppy_Coated_In_Beer]

Even though I know he eventually gets successful with it, I was so worried the entire time the execs would just steal his idea.