Ted Lasso's Cristo Fernández: Fútbol Is Life, and It's Never Too Late to Dream

You know him as Dani Rojas on Ted Lasso. He's also a professional footballer with El Paso Locomotive FC, a filmmaker, and now the author of a bilingual picture book, Fútbol Is Life! / ¡Fútbol es vida!, illustrated by James Rey Sanchez.

But before all of that? He was a life insurance salesman who sold nothing for a year. 

This conversation is about what happens between the dream and the arriving. About injuries that turn out to be redirections. About why "be curious, not judgmental" might be the most useful thing we can teach — and keep learning ourselves.

In this episode:

• (00:01) The gotcha question: is Cristo actually a superhero?
• (01:27) The family example: why "the more you give, the more you receive"
• (03:32) What team sports teach us about not being the star
• (04:19) Injuries, rejection, and becoming a hustler: "I love when someone tells me no"
• (09:22) The market scene: remembering to pause and notice
• (10:31) What Dani Rojas reminds Cristo about joy
• (12:55) Embracing where you come from as a superpower
• (14:09) Collaboration, and never thinking you know everything
• (16:30) Why a children's book is the perfect format for dreaming big

Quotes worth stealing:

"I love when someone tells me no. It might not be no here, but it might be yes somewhere else."

"Aim for the moon. If you don't hit the moon, you hit a star. And if you don't hit a star, you hit some space dust — and that's fine too."

"There's not one single way of being Mexican or being American or being Latino. We all bring something great to the table."

Links:

• The book (Barnes & Noble): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/futbol-is-life-futbol-es-vida-cristo-fernandez/1148772346
• More episodes: https://pod.shiftingschools.com