The Executive Vice President of multicultural sales and community activation for PepsiCo North America shared his story of working as a janitor for the company, to creating their 'Flamin' Hot' Cheetos at the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce's annual event on Tuesday, The Kansas City Star reported.
Richard Montañez was working as a janitor in the Frito-Lay plant in 1976 in Rancho Cucamonga, California when he began to create a spicy recipe to put on plain Cheetos., The Star reported.
After getting his family and friends' approval he called the company's CEO who invited him in for a demonstration. Montañez bought his first tie for $3 and presented his product to the management team, according to The Star. His spicy recipe became one of the greatest snacks sold in stories all over the country.
Montañez didn't go to high school or college and told the audience during his keynote speech that it was his "Ph.D," poor, hungry and determined, that got him to where he is today, The Star reported.
Montañez claims his ability to "capitalize on a fast-growing population in the Unites States," have created top-selling products, The Star reported. Montañez's Cheetos recipe is the top-selling snack in some stores, and he has helped influence Hispanic products for KFC and Taco Bell.
During the speech he recalled a time when he was in elementary school and was embarrassed when he pulled out a burrito for lunch while all the other kids ate bologna sandwiches. He went home and told his mother he wanted a sandwich, too, according to The Star.
He said his mother said no and sent him off the next day with an extra burrito for one of the bologna-sandwich eaters. Montañez said that by the end of the week, he was selling burritos to his classmates for 25 cents each, The Star reported.
"If you're leading a company and you don't have diversity, you don't have inclusion," Montañez said at the event, according to The Star. "I don't know how you're going to survive."
