We had the good fortune of connecting with Cristofer Pereyra and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cristofer, what matters most to you?
Fidelity. Fidelity to an identity and purpose has to be the most important principle to drive anyone’s individual career or the success of an organization. Take this COVID-19 times we are living for example. We have all had to adapt, evolve, think outside the box to do the work we do. That’s okay. Change is the only constant in life. But if we are to succeed at anything we should always remain true to who we are and what our purpose/mission is.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We of course don’t necessarily run a “business” in the traditional sense. But we are in the business of making leaders. Tepeyac Leadership, Inc., the organization I head, strives to form “virtuous leaders.” When you look at the world today, when you look at the news or social media, you are bound to find much. But what you will not see very often is exemplary, principled leadership. I am convinced that at the heart of the civic unrest and division there is in our country today is the lack of a moral compass in our leadership.

Tepeyac Leadership strives to form tomorrow’s leaders in all areas of human activity. We want our graduates to insert themselves into all those secular institutions of society which are in desperate need of virtuous leadership. In the US there are hundreds of leadership programs. Most are really focused on management skills. A manager moves people, but a leader should inspire them. The road for Tepeyac Leadership only goes back about six years when we identified the need for what we do. We set out to create a one-of-a-kind experience. Key to our success was the assembling of the right team of experts, who are the speakers during our program’s sessions. It is their expertise, witness and inspiring stories that are the backbone of our program.

Participants of our program, who tend to be young professionals, can’t help but to be inspired by what they see and hear. Most are ready to follow on the footsteps of their mentors as soon as they complete the TLI experience. Perhaps the biggest challenge we’ve faced has been COVID-19, which forced us to get out of our comfort zone. But it didn’t take long before we realized that in reality the pandemic had created an opportunity for our program. We are in the midst of seizing that opportunity.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
There is a small mom & pop’s restaurant in the west valley called Park Cafe. A perfect Saturday for my wife and I is an early hike (before sunrise) at one of the valley’s mountain trails, followed by breakfast at this amazing restaurant. A must, for everyone visiting the Valley.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer has been one of the most influential people in my life. He is one of my best friends and the person I go to when in need of clarity and direction. I never actually met the man. But through his writings, videos and the formation offered through the institution he founded, I continue to grow as a man, husband, father, friend and professional.

The message of Saint Josemaría is simple, we were placed on Earth to become the best version of ourselves by making the best of everything around us. Everything that happens to us, the most mundane and ordinary circumstances and activities of our daily life can be opportunities to love, serve others, do our work well and build our character by growing in virtue. St. Josemaria spoke of sanctifying the world by sanctifying ourselves in it. A carpenter does this by building the best chair he can possible make, paying attention to detail. A teacher does this by putting the extra work into preparing his lessons for the most effectiveness, caring deeply for the development of his students. We all have something to do. Those ordinary and daily duties we all have can become extraordinary when we invest all of ourselves in them, we do them with love and offer them up as a gift to others.

My encounter with this simple, yet profound way of thinking, and most importantly, doing everything, changed my life many years ago. It’s important to understand that what we are striving for here is “human” perfection. What that means is pouring all of ourselves into everything we do. It isn’t an idealistic expectation to become flawless human beings. Our flaws will still be there. It isn’t a matter of arrival, we will never be perfect. It is a journey. Doing things with “human” perfection means doing them with love, to the best of our ability. At the heart of it is sacrifice. Because love of course is sacrifice, and what our world most desperately needs.

Website: https://tliprogram.org
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tepeyac-leadership-initiative/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TepeyacLeadership/

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