Darrel Hernandez

 Darrel Hernandez works for one of the largest software company in the world…Oracle.  They are a cloud technology company that provides organizations around the world with computing infrastructure and software to help them innovate, unlock efficiencies and become more effective. Darrel sells customer experience solutions in high tech markets.  As a kid he was always into computers.  He was the one his family would call on if they had computer issues and he would do what he could to fix or solve the situation.  Often learning on his own.  At the age of 18 he landed his first job in sales. It was demanding but one of the most fun jobs he had.

 One of the benefits in Darrel’s field is that the market is always changing.  There is always new trend, a new problem, new solution. So, he is always getting a chance to engage with different organizations across the world and help solve their challenges. With that constant change comes countless hours of re-education, learning the new trends, learning how the client can adapt to it, and positioning a solution to help make the clients life easier.

 Darrel has had many obstacles he had overcome.  He lost his father right before he started High school.  As many people know high school is a curial age for a young man.  It is when you really start developing into a young man.  Another obstacle he had to overcome was having his son at a young age.  Going to school, working and being a father can be hard and stressful.  You learn at an early age how to stay focused and manage your time between school, work and family.  Having his son drove him to keep pushing forward. He wanted his son to have someone to look up.

 Growing up his mother had to really step up after the loss of his father. She had developed an entrepreneur spirit and started going to seminars on the weekend, reading more and soon started taking courses to become a real-estate investor while raising kids and working full time. She truly was his first mentor. At the age of 16 Darrel remembers reading the book “Rich Dad Poor Dad” that changed his way of thinking. He has had a few mentors along the way, an uncle who got him started on his career path, a manager who “showed him the ropes” on B2B selling and, even a couple podcast hosts and influencers he follows. He believes that with the introductions of mediums like blogs, podcasts and YouTube having a mentor doesn’t always have to be someone you know personally. It can be someone you follow and learn from.

 If you want to be successful, you need to put in the work and shift your mindset.  Darrel quoted Jim Rohn “You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with”.  His advice is surround yourself with people you look up to and who are successful.  Follow their lead and you will soon notice your habits changing in a way that will make you just as successful if not more.  Following that advise has gotten him to where he is at today. He studied hard and continues to learn from the successful people in his field. Once educated on a subject he offers up help to the people who need it, as a means of giving back & continued learning.

 Darrel believes the work/life balance is a fallacy. It’s all a mindset; your goals, plans and choices are meant to all work together. Often, he would go out for happy hour with coworkers and talk about work, life at home and hobbies.  Some nights he’ll invite his wife too, to meet him out before they head to their dinner plans.  It shows you have a life outside of work and other interests.  It is good to show your team and superiors what motivates you.  Him and wife now will often talk about strategies to sign a new customer.  Their relationship has actually become stronger because of it.