We Face Grave Threat United

During tough moments, a community comes together.

"Todo mundo everybody"as my good friend Leroy would once say.  To make sure you get through it, love kind of gets you by. That's what this community has meant to me. That's what my family has been for me. From mom, to dad, my sisters, my brothers and my best friends. In those tough moments is when some of the nicest stories begin to arise, you find beautiful stories in some of the most tragic circumstances life has thrown at me. Perhaps the most difficult challenges to date over the course of the last few months. What I've learned is that in moments of catastrophe, tragedy, there's great stress. There's love, there's friendship, there's family and there's community. They get us through the difficult moments and allow us to build big dreams.

Love

Being an entrepreneur isn't glamorous. It isn't all it's hyped up to be in beautiful Ciudad de Mexico, with its culture, with its people, with its vibe, trying to make the best of it. But really being frustrated, annoyed and upset that after seven years of just going and going and going nonstop, we were still in a position of grinding it out. Have these seven years been worth it?

To be honest, just about ready to give up. It's not that I don't love what I do. Don't get me wrong. I love what I do, but I don't know. Was it even worth it? The finances weren't stellar. The personal sacrifices were high. I had been at this for so long. By the time I looked up, after all this traveling and all this work, my 30s were gone. Was it worth it?

An amazing, accomplished doctor, surgeon and head of the women's health program for one of the most well known pharmaceutical companies, completely knocked me off my feet. Our first date was at Nueve Nueve Bistro, Mexicano. This was our first picture. I mean, completely out of my Lake, head over Hills.

There was something about the way she thought seem to complement everything I was thinking about. We were excited. And from them, twelve cities in a matter of weeks, all the dreams, all the hopes, all the ideas. She complimented them. And she had her own, too. We went everywhere. I had meetings in New York. She had meetings in New York. I had meetings all over Latin America. And guess what? We chased each other around Latin America,

Someone who understood exactly what it was to build something of your own. I mean, she was an established doctor at the World Trade Center of Mexico City. She knew what it was to start from scratch. Yeah-- and the difficulties. It was a match made in heaven. We both felt we understood each other at a different level, something we had never experienced with anyone else ever before. She called it magia, just that kind of story that's only in the movies. So what made me fall for her the most? Well, it's quite simple-- her mind, the person that she is, her big heart and, yeah, her advice. She always seems to know what to say.

Friendship

Over the course of the last several years one of the biggest blessings is that I've been able to build friendships across the Americas in the most amazing communities and cities, whether it be Argentina, Panama, Colombia, the United States Republic, Dominicana, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Belize. I've gotten to be all over, and the friendships are real. So I got on the phone and I called my best friend from College. I said, Andrew, I need your help. I have a big idea. I'm working on did the same thing with my sister, and of course, she was going to say yes, did the same thing with other friends across the planet. And the idea was simple. Bring together the best minds from across the Americas and develop projects and through our friendships, bring together the tools and resources to make those projects a reality. You'd be surprised how far that gets you. You'd be amazed at the projects that were brought to the table bar, none unique that could inspire not just one community, but the entire Americas, perhaps the world and minds that inspired others to want to help and give the tools necessary to make those projects a reality, not just in one country, but in many. So that's what we set out to do. The projects were presented before governments from all over the Americas, and they were well received, not just by them, but even multinational organizations received them and the result was amazing.

Diego Gordon:
I was expecting something big, and I got something big. The authors of these projects wanted to do more. They wanted to come up with other ideas with other people.

Hector H. Lopez:

This is the power of friendship. Friendship can take you far and can accomplish great things that can even get you by tough times.

When life throws at you the most difficult challenges, it always comes down to family.

My youngest sister is always the first on the scene, from moments of sorrow to moments of heartbreak to whatever wound I gave myself. She picked me up. And for the happiest moments. Oh, she's been there. And we celebrated essentially my twin, just ten years younger, far more creative, far more compassionate and far greater talent. She sings, she acts, she composes, she writes. Jehovah niece is one of the most creative minds I've met to date. Audio engineer, producer, creator, simply hands down a creative genius. He seems to understand how to read between lines and make things happen. He met my sister while she was singing, and he was attracted to her voice. That led to an amazing relationship. And we became fast friends. Obviously, I was the third wheel. It was awesome being the third wheel because we were always talking about what projects to build and how we can build them together, what bands we liked, what music we liked. And we were always hanging out. I just always found myself making great things happen with them. It was always an amazing time. And so this past Christmas:

Adriana Lopez:

We're going to get married!

Diego Muñiz:
So the plan is that we're going to get married!

The one who's most caring. And it's always about our protection, our safety. Our wellbeing is my sister, Mary, soldier. And she inspires all creative director for an artificial intelligence company. A 100% certified badass independent established the whole nine yards. That's money soldier and her husband, my brother-in-law Ray. He's a badass himself. Army Jag Corps officer, always making things happen and serving our nation. They're always giving us big news. This past Christmas wasn't any different. At the same time that my youngest sister was announcing her engagement, Marisol and Ray were announcing their big move from Nashville, Tennessee, to California. This had always been my sister's biggest dream, to live in California with her family. And so there they went to make their dreams come true.

On January 5, my family rushed to the ER

Surgery lasted all night,

Doctor #2:
but not very much longer.

Doctor #2
Nothing yet. Her blood pressure has been steady. We haven't put her on any life saving trips.

We found out that mom was battling cancer.

Then all this stuff, the United States is starting to shut down as millions of Americans are working from home. Now, thousands of schools have closed. Millions of Americans are working from home. When you avoid public places, you hurt sales at restaurants, retailers, mall. You've seen me. In fact, we talked to Uber and Lyft drivers said they've seen a 70% drop off from their sales from the last two weeks. There's no doubt 2020 has been rough. A battle against cancer against Code 19, being forced to close up business to be away from our loved ones. Postponed family wedding plans. A doubt about the future. Definitely hard.

Hector H. Lopez:
So what goes through your mind when you see all this going on?

Adriana Lopez:
It's everything from I think Mother Nature needs a break to be apocalyptic. How can I get more food?

Hector H. Lopez:
A few days after filming this, my sister developed the first symptoms of COVID. She's quarantined. Then, on a video call from California, my sister, Marisol, revealed she, too, was having breathing problems.

Dad:

We need to protect ourselves. The best way we can do.

Hector H. Lopez:

Does it scare you?

Dad:

It's different since it's our first time. Never, ever experienced anything like that. With faith and with actions. Right now we are boiling water because there's no drinking water in the stores no more.

Mom:

[In Spanish]

Hector H. Lopez:

It's just like mom to think of others before herself. It's a quality she taught me. And my sisters. We care for others. It's family. It's friendship. It's love that gets you. Bind. 2020 has been a year that has created a flashback of all the beautiful moments. And I'm thankful. I'm very thankful. And, yeah, it's not easy. Perhaps the toughest year of my life. But I have faith. I have faith. My sisters. They will be okay. Luckily, their symptoms are mild and have recovered. And my mom, I have faith, too. There's a larger plan at work. It's about friendship. It's about family. It's about building big dreams. And it's about taking action. The time is now.

We have ideas, friends and time.

For the most part, prior to all this, everyone always complained. There's never enough time. Well, now we've got it. And we have friends that have other friends, people in places that can bring major work to action.

Life is a dream, and it's up to us what we dream up. New York City taught me that.

Let's come together. Let's make a difference for the communities that we love, the people that we love. It doesn't matter where you're from, Latin America, the United States, anywhere in the world. We can overcome things.

It's time to come together. It's time to make big things happen. We can help. We can be instrumental in what comes next. And we can do it with the people we care most about. For the communities we care most about.

There'll be many naysayers. There'll be many people go, well, what can I do? But the truth is that it doesn't matter whether you're in Panama, in Mexico or in the United States. If you have big dreams, they can make a difference. And right now is the time to talk about it. So I hope you get together with us. I hope you come together with us.

Let's stay safe.

Let's stay United.