Creeping across the pasture land. Got dirt on
the boots and a working hand. From the milk house
home to the auction call. These are the folks
standing strong and tall. Yeah, this is... Welcome
to the Bullvine Podcast. In 2006, Francisco Rodriguez
didn't own a single registered cow. By 2023,
he'd co -bred a World Dairy Expo Supreme Champion.
But here's the thing. When that moment finally
came, he realized the journey mattered more than
the banner. Today's guest is Francisco Rodriguez,
fifth -generation Colombian breeder, co -founder
of Proterra Genetics, and the man behind Shakira.
Marcella, and a breeding philosophy he calls
the decade rule. In this conversation, we dig
into why world -class cows still take 10 years
from vision to peak, how he uses genomics as
a tiebreaker instead of a starting point, and
why he rebuilt his entire life around a framework
called 25 -25 -25 -25 after his wife told him
she was done. Whether you're chasing banners
or just trying to keep your herd profitable through
a tough decade, This one's going to make you
think. Let's get into it. And it kind of all
started back in 2012 when we first met you, first
did an article about you. You were just a young
veterinarian from Columbia who had come to Madison,
started working with DeLaval and the robotic
milking systems. Our article at the time, we
titled it Passion with a Purpose, which we've
talked quite a bit about since then. And you
talked about even at that time. juggling your
career between your family farm back in columbia
and your dreams for holsteins in north america
and then fast forward to today and quite a bit
of stuff has happened uh you've had a world you've
bred a co -bred a world dairy expo supreme champion
your family and yourself has bred uh half the
columbian national champions in that time you've
moved from de la val to founding in a partnership
with your tropical dairy system and some other
grand champions. So it's great to catch up with
you again, and we're going to go over some of
that stuff. That sounds fantastic, Andrew. Thank
you so much. And it has been an interesting 13
-year journey since the day we started talking
for the first time. Yeah. Now, let's start where
we left off. We did the article. It was called
Passion with a Purpose. And you and I have discussed
since then, looking back, how that meaning or
that phrase has evolved for you over those last
13 years. What does that mean for you, this journey
you've been on? You know, it is interesting because
it means perhaps you were able to see something
with your wisdom, something that at that time
I could not see, but perhaps it was used there,
right? Because that's exactly what you do when
you're, When you're loyal to your own feelings
and when you really do what you love. Some days
ago, I was thinking about what's going on with
my life right now. And I said, you know what?
So I came up to the conclusion that everything
I do, I love, which is passion. But everything
I do has a very strong why, which is purpose.
And I said, passion and purpose. And I immediately
thought, oh, that's what Andrew Hunt, that was
the headline of that article back then when we
met first time. So he saw something that now
I still think is the core of who I am. And that
core, that essence hasn't changed, Andrew. What
has changed perhaps is the context, is a little
bit of more maturity, understanding better. how
to, what that means, right? Because sometimes
you can put that purpose more self -centered,
more driven towards yourself. But what life teaches
you over time is the most important is how that
purpose is used with that passion to serve others
and help others and have an impact. And that's
essentially what has changed or evolved strongly
over the past 13 years. Now, you talk about changes,
and when we first talked, you compared moving
to Madison to being a pilot asked to run a Formula
One car, and you were working with some of the
biggest dairies in the world in North America.
A lot of great things were happening. You were
traveling the world. Now you've left Ileval,
and you've launched Proterra, and you're building
something entirely on your own. What would be
your race analogy today for what you're doing?
I'd say today I want to be the leader of those
pilots and help those Franciscos that arrived
when they were 26 years old, thriving, hungry,
and looking for a better life. And with everything
that I have learned and I know how I can help
them, mentor them, coach them, and serve them,
whether they are part of my team or they are
part of any of the teams of the businesses that
I'm related with, or they are just people that
are out there looking for somebody to help them.
And it's not just about racing that Formula One
car as a pilot, but everything that needs to
happen around that leader as a person to make
sure that that is a sustained success. Because
that's the other thing. What you learn over time
is not about winning a championship or running
the championship. That is about how do you sustain
success in the long run. Now, you have this,
you identified something you call the decade
rule. The idea that world -class achievements,
like in cattle breeding and in everything you
do, takes time to develop and harvest. So walk
me through how you came up with this decade rule
and how you discovered this pattern. Yeah, that's
also part of that self -reflection or self -discovery
and self -work that I have done, especially during
the last year, where sometimes you run, run,
run, run, and you do, you do, and you become
a doer. brings you to moments where you need
to start thinking, wait a minute. What am I doing?
Who I am? And you start doing this introspection,
right? So this was one of the outcomes. What
I have done in the past and putting all the dots
together and saying, okay, what has worked? What
hasn't? And life sometimes is more about deleting
instead of adding. And at this age, the most
important is Try to move aside things that don't
add value to your life or are not relevant anymore.
Otherwise, you become too heavy to fly. You need
to stay lighter and be able to flow, right? So
I said, okay, what has happened? Especially when
Marseille, the great -granddaughter of Jacob's
Gold in Brittany, became the Colombian national
champion and the... Latin American champion,
I thought, what's interesting about that cow?
And when I looked at the journey of that cow,
from the time we started conceiving the idea
with John Erbsen of reinvesting the money from
the sale of Shakira, to the time Marsella became
all these, the most important cow in Latin America,
it took us exactly 10 years, from the conception
of the idea to the top. of the cow and then i
looked back and to shakira and it was exactly
the same thing 2012 was when we bought the clone
we became friends with john we started breeding
cows and then shakira 2022 20 blah blah then
the cow becomes all the expo champion and then
becomes supreme champion not for us for others
but it was part of that journey because even
when we made It's an apple to a caliber. And
we knew that there was a dream, there was a vision.
In that journey, we knew that we were not going
to own the cow for a long time. Because I did
not own a farm in the States, but I had the vision.
John is a fantastic breeder. But for a superstar
like an athlete, they need also the right environment
with a great exhibitor. That's why when we show
up at Madison, and she was a two -year -old cow,
we were looking for opportunities openly. And
then is when I decide, we talked to a lot of
people and a lot of people love the cow, but
then finally was Jacobs the ones that bought
it. And then she became champion and a well -known
cow worldwide 10 years after. And then I went
back to when I started Colganados with my parents.
And since the date we started with the first
cow milking in our project to the day we had
our first national champion back in Colombia,
we started Colganados as a pilot project, mother,
father, and son, in 2007. And we had our first
national champion in 2017, and she was also the
supreme national champion of Colombia. So I don't
think there is just a coincidence, but there
is a pattern. And that pattern is explained in
two phases. It's when you have an idea creation,
or you create a product, and then when you have
product deployment. And I think that a good idea
requires at least five years of ideation and
development, and then you need five years of
deployment. And when you look at these cows,
almost all of them went to the top at five years
old. which is the product development deployment
phase. So it's very clearly laid out. You have
two phases, ideation and development, five years.
Do it right. Japanese are great at that. They
don't launch a project just for launching it.
They take the time to think through, plan accordingly,
put all the pieces together, and when they deploy,
do it with excellence, and then in five years,
you will harvest the crop. And that's how I came
up with that concept or that idea. That applies
really well. It has applied really well. And
if you think through, most of the champions are
five -year -old cows. Right? So it makes sense,
at least in this industry. I don't know. It may
apply as well, but that's what I have seen. And
you spend a lot of time doing reflection. That
seems to have been a key part in your development
goals. Yeah. Every day, Andrew, every day. I
was not that way, you know. I have the fortune.
My wife is that way. My wife is that way. And
for some time, it was very hard for me to understand
many of the things that she was telling me. And
I was like, maybe we don't get along anymore.
But it was that I was in doer mode and she was
on self -being mode. And while she was more,
taking care of how she was, her health, her mindset,
heart sales, soul set, the things that really
matter, I was more focused on business, success,
money, and those things, and that creates a disconnection.
But all of a sudden, we go through some circumstances,
and I decided for a second time in my life to
get back on track, on my faith, on God. on self
-centered, self -improvement, reflection, meditation.
And like magically, all of a sudden, we are more
aligned with my wife than ever before. But we
just needed to be on the same level of consciousness.
We were not there. It was way ahead of my time,
but in a very short period of time and through
experiences of life, I was able to get there.
So she's my biggest, that's why I say she's my
biggest mentor. She's the person that teaches
me the most, and she's the person that puts me
centered and helps me connecting again with that
spiritual and that kind of reflection side of
things, Andrew. And it's neat because you really
have thought about all of this, and it's really
neat how you break down the product development
and the process, looking at it in hindsight.
and how you can really kind of see the patterns.
And you've had a lot of success that would help
show you the patterns over the years. For young
breeders who are, you know, it seems like everything
has to happen tomorrow. Everything has to happen
quickly because there seems like everything just,
it isn't working unless you achieve success early.
I think your perseverance is kind of the testament
that it doesn't have to happen tomorrow. So many
people get discouraged that it doesn't happen
in two, three, four years. It doesn't happen
right away. You kind of have to plan and have
a vision. What would you say to those young breeders
on why it doesn't have to happen tomorrow and
how to build the plan and the vision for tomorrow?
Yeah, the difference is where you put your focus.
Are you focused on the end result and the money
and the ribbons? If that is the answer, then...
very likely you're looking at the wrong place
because that's not success. And money is not
the blessing. The ribbon is not the blessing.
The blessing is having the passion, the love,
the care, the perseverance, the connections,
the relationships. Those are the blessings. And
enjoying them and focusing on the process and
then do it with excellence. With true passion,
excellence. Because when you do it with passion,
you're not working. You're having fun. When you
do it with excellence, the results will come.
And if you put passion, excellence, and perseverance,
that ribbon, that success, that money will for
sure happen. But many people get lost, and they
don't enjoy the process, and money doesn't bring
fulfillment. Money brings a very, or a ribbon.
Even winning a championship, I always tell my
friends, my parents, everybody, when we're winning
a championship, I always tell them, enjoy this
moment. Because it's very ephemeral. It happens.
If you want to cry, cry. If you want to party,
party. If you want to dance, dance. Because tomorrow
is going to be a different day. And that moment
with that level of adrenaline and fulfillment
is gone. So this to say that if the other thing,
the process, if you don't love the process, then
you won't be able to feel fulfilled. And there
is a big difference between winning and being
fulfilled. Winning is momentarily. Fulfillment
is something that you feel inside that regardless
if you win or lose, you feel that you have done
your best and you are at peace with yourself.
And that's why it's very important because You
will not always win. And the only way to stand
back up and come the next year and be there at
the competitive level is because it's not about
the win. It's about you feeling fulfilled and
be able to do it again. One of my favorite pictures,
and I haven't used it a lot, but I know you have
as well, is you showing Shakira as a yearling.
You didn't win. She was maybe not the show -style
heifer. She was a little more conditioned, a
little more substance but not style at that stage.
But you're walking out of that ring just beaming
because you were so happy that you had had the
chance to show her, your own bred animal, at
World Dairy Expo that you're walking out as proud
as if you'd won Supreme that day. And I look
back now at that picture and you're like... If
you'd known where you'd placed, you'd say, why
is that guy beaming so much? But you're as proud
and as happy as anyone. Now, you know, two years
later, she calves in, or a year later, she's
calved in, and she's done spectacular. But at
that time, she hadn't done everything yet. You're
as proud and as happy as almost, almost as the
day she was supreme. You did party hard when
she won supreme. I will admit that. It was always
interesting for me to look at you at that time
and say, he's as proud of her winning or placing
wherever she did because it's fulfilling your
dream of just being there. That it was amazing
for me to see that picture. And we had no clue
what was coming. At that stage, it's just you.
You'd sat kind of not top of the class and you're
coming out happy. And then a year later, she
sells and does well as a two -year -old. And
then a couple of years later, she goes on to
be supreme. And you were quite happy then. What
was that feeling like for you when she was supreme?
Andrew, now that you mention this, every time
I walk in the ring with her, I was supreme champion.
Perhaps she was not yet. But that day, I was
a champion. I was a champion of life. I was a
champion of self -improvement. I was a little
kid in the mountains of Colombia that... Back
in 2006, I didn't own any cow, any registered
cow. I only have seen catalogs for 20 plus years,
admiring all the great breeders in North America,
Latin America, Colombia. But I didn't have the
chance. I only had dreams. So when I had the
opportunity to go in that ring with that animal,
I was just so thankful. With God, with life,
with my partners, with my friends, with my family,
with my wife, to be there. I was a champion.
So I was just having a blast with the cow. I
was just doing my everything, my best in there,
doing it with excellence, clean. When I look
at that picture, the shirt was completely clean.
The jean was completely clean. Everything in
that picture shows that it's about the process.
Everything, see the cow was doing her, the heifer
was doing her best. She was so clean. I still
remember when John was, we were getting her together
in the shoot. She was white, of course. But she
was the whitest and cleanest cow that come into
our ring. Because if there is something about
the Erfsen family, is they always are very proud
of what they do. And I have learned so much about
life with them. How humble, but how clean everything
is. They take pride in what they do. The cow
was clean. The calf was clean. I was clean. I
was happy. I was into it. Doing everything possible
for her to do her best. But I was not focused
on the result because back then we didn't know
what was going to happen. I was just doing it
with excellence and pride. And then later on,
whether she was ours or she was under others'
names or somebody else was in the altar, I felt
the same happiness and pride because at the end
of the day, it's about the memories, it's about
the friendship. And I realized that that gave
me the possibility to create something. Whether
it was mine or somebody else, it was our creation
to enjoy. And that's why I always would go to
the Jacob's String and have a blast with Tyler
or with Isabel or with the kids or with anybody
in that team, because that was a creation that
gave us the blessing to enjoy with them and even
with many breeders around the world. I will never
forget. When she was champion the first time
and we were taking the picture by the willows
there at Madison, there were cars with a horn
cheering for Shakira. Shakira, like if she was
a famous, you know, a diva already. And that
was so cool because that blessing and that creation
was not something only we enjoyed. It was something
that has given so many blessings and enjoyment
to people that doesn't even have the opportunity
to meet her in person. I mean, just think about
the amount of fans that these amazing cows have
worldwide that have never stepped into a World
Dairy Expo. But they don't miss a magazine, a
picture, social media. So we have been so much
joy with her. And that's how I feel. And every
time she succeeds with something, now with her
daughter, with the Have No Fear daughter, with
Shara, I feel so happy. I feel again a champion.
Because that's awesome. Now, an offspring of
Shakira is one of the most talked about young
cows in the industry. And it's awesome that she
succeeds for the Genosource guys. And still is
part of that creation. So that's what it means
to us, Andrew. I think it's almost full circle.
Because when you and I have talked a lot of the
times, you talk about being a little boy just
looking, and you mentioned it here today, just
being a young boy looking at the catalogs and
dreaming about, cows like that and then now here
today there'll be this young boy somewhere in
the world who knows where because as you know
the world dairy market is changing rapidly but
there's a boy somewhere who's got the dream like
you had and it's neat that you know there's almost
a model or an inspiration that you can provide
to those young boys or young children on what's
possible because you know you weren't from a
heartbed you weren't from a And here you are.
You've achieved the success with help. You're
very gracious about the partners you've had.
But you've also achieved a lot of it through
your own passion and determination. So I just
think about those young children that you're
providing the inspiration to for the next generation.
Andrew, and there is a very important part of
that. When God gives you blessings and you have
the gift of creation, because we are... We are
part of God. I mean, the best example of that
is when a man and a woman get together and love
each other, create life. So we create. We are
creators. And God gave us that gift of creation.
That's what we do. And whether it's a man and
a woman creating a new life, which is a son or
a daughter, or it's both of us in this podcast
talking about and vibrating. and inspiring others
that will connect through it. Now we're creating
feelings and somethings. The question that we
need to ask ourselves is, champions for what?
The champion is not the end objective. And if
somebody thinks it's the end objective, that's
ego. Because then that's to say, I'm the best.
And for me, champions for inspiration. You vibrate
a champion. What can I do with that? What I can
do with that is show other kids around the world
that if I could do it, they can do it. Power
to serve. Money to help. So we really need to
ask ourselves, for what? And the message I would
like to align with what you're saying, and look,
we didn't talk about this before, but it's perfectly
aligned. It's because... We're more aligned than
we think. That's why we're here. If people, if
I want to leave a message today, if I have great
champions like Shakira, like Marseille and many
others, I just want that to inspire others. Believe
in yourselves and go for it. You know, it's interesting
when you talk about that and I think about it
because, you know, most people, hey, co -breeder
of a... supreme champion worldwide phenomenon
cow that would probably be the pinnacle of achievement
but your passion didn't stop there and that's
what i always think and i always see that i understand
it's more about the the journey and the passion
than it is about the result and that's when when
you when you talk about marcia uh and how you
know we didn't just cash in the check and move
on you guys we're looking for what's next or
where's the next passion project So can you walk
me through, you know, what prompted the purchase
of the daughter from Brittany and how it evolved
into Marseille? Yeah, so when we sell Shakira,
I have always been very thoughtful and mindful
of what to do with earnings or blessings like
that, right? Because very quickly, you can spend
the money in the wrong way. And we're here for
the long haul. I mean, yeah, I enjoy life, and
I can tell you. I was doing this with my daughter
and my wife the other day, and I feel blessed
of being able to travel to more than 30 countries.
And actually, my little daughter is six years
old, and she has traveled to 11 countries already.
So I'm a person of experience. I love to spend
money and experience. But I'm a person that also
likes to be smart about, managing money and and
so on so the first thing i tell john is john
i really want to make sure that some of the earnings
of shakira will be invested to create the next
project so i did two things i bought some jersey
animals with pat conroy and then i john john
said no jerseys john said i said okay Let's go
to, why don't we do something? I really like
that Jacob's going with Brittany. I think she's
a hell of a good cow. At that time, she was not
as big as she is right now, but I think she's
a family. I think out of the Jacob's breeding,
she will be the cow. And I said, hey, John, would
you partner? And he said, yeah, let's do it.
With that kind of investment, yes. And then we
talked to Norm and Nabels, and we said, hey,
let's go and let's do a trip to Quebec. So we
jumped on a plane, the three of us. We go there,
we arrive to Jacobs, and then at that time, it
was when Beauty, the seed daughter of Brittany,
was champion in Madison. And then I said, it
seems like the good cross on that cow, at least
for now, is seed. And they had a heifer, Bermuda,
that she was seed daughter of Brittany. Then
we bought her, and we brought her to the United
States. She went to become a very good 87 as
a two -year -old. Then we flushed her to avalanche,
trying to bring the apple blood to that family.
So we wanted to, same thing as we did with Ocalibra
and apple to create Shakira, now we did with
Brittany and apple to create the new one. And
then we created embryos. Some of them were implanted
in the U .S. And then we exported four embryos
to Colombia. And then in Colombia was born Colganados
Avalanche Beauty. She went to be excellent 93.
And then I said, you know what? She's a very
well -ordered cow, but she lacks power. She needs
power. And the best bull for power for me at
that time was Diamondback. And it will do two
things. Number one, bring power. Number two,
another shot of apple, which normally works really
well. I mean, some people would say you're crazy
when you line breed too much, but I can tell
you. I have four champions, national champions
that are line bred three times to apple. So Marseille
is line bred two times to apple. Shakira is line
bred to altitude three times. And Marseille is
two shots of apple. And Delia, which is another
cow that I bred that was intermediate national
champion and we served grand in 2024, is an apple
crisp. out of a diamond back. Diamond back. Right?
So for me, it's just like when a cow line breads
well, you just go for it without fear. And Marseille,
right on. Here we have an amazing other cow with
way more power. It was one of the most powerful
that I have seen out of the Brittany family.
Black, jet black, beautiful. And her personality
is just so amazing. She combines the best of
apple with the best of Brittany. She becomes
national champion and then she becomes the Latin
American champion. It's always interesting when
I chat with you about the breeding side of things
because you don't talk into, oh, this bull was
high in this genomic number or that genomic number.
You kind of talk more in regards to what that
family and what that bloodline has and what it
goes through generation after generation. different
components or different elements from each family
it's really neat that you approach it that way
versus you know this one was a plus six for legs
and i needed better legs you look at more it
as a what does that element for that family or
thing breeding pattern have and you work from
there and it's a proven very successful for you
yeah and i will go back to 2005 perhaps that
2004 2006 I had the opportunity for one day to
have in my car a David Brown in Colombia. I didn't
own any hostings. I was in the angus business.
And I needed a hoof trimmer. And somebody told
me, hey, David Brown is living here. He may hoof
trim your angus cattle. Give him a call. So I
called David Brown and I said, hey, David, I
have these angus. Do you mind coming and helping
me? They are going for a national show. And David
very graciously said, no, absolutely, I will
go. A cow is a cow. And we were in the car and
I said, hey, David, you have very many champions.
What advice would you give me? And he said, champions
are made out of your eye, not made out of the
numbers. So if you really want to create champions,
you really need to look at the mother, at the
sire, the breeding patterns. And that's how you
will make champions. And then I learned from
John Irvson. He always said Francisco is better
late and right rather than early and wrong. So
I combined those two. And that's why when I'm
going to make a champion, I always look at the
mom. I always look at the sire. And I am not
there for what's the more shiny or the latest.
I'm not in the fashion in that. I am in the mode.
of, okay, I need to see, I need to look at the
breeding pattern, and then, of course, I look
at the numbers, because if I have two full brothers,
and I did this two days ago, I was choosing bulls
last week, during Christmas is my time to pick
bulls. So I texted my jacket, hey, I looked at...
We had the opportunity to meet in Cremona, and
then I said, hey, Mike, which bulls out of Hapnot
you have? And then he said, hey, I have Image
and Diesel, and these breeds this way or that
way. Every time I can talk to the breeders. So
I talk to Jordan Seamers. Hey, Jordan, what's
better, the P family, the H family? How do they
breed? I talk to McDuckett. Hey, how is this
cow breeding? Because then I have my study about,
them, the sire, I talk to the breeder, and then
I go for the bulls that with the numbers, if
they have similar numbers, I would pick the one
that has more milk, more fertility, and better
numbers. So if, and then I heard, or I read once
in an article, and I think it was Matt Angel
from Lucky, he said, I think it was him. If I
make a mistake, please forgive me, but I think
it was him. Genetics is not the addition of numbers.
Genetics is the addition of genes. And then I
tell people, if it was about numbers, everybody
with a computer and a calculator will make champions
and great cows. But unfortunately, it's not that
easy. Numbers are just one portion. But to be
at the excellence and at the highest level, you
need to combine the art of David Brown the knowledge
of Jordan Erbsen, the science of the genomics,
and then you will be at the excellence. But if
you want to take the simple route and just think
that with a calculator or just with art, you
will get there. No, you need both. You need science.
You need art. It's interesting you bring up David
Brown because my first trip to Columbia ever
was fitting cows for David with a crew there.
And it was probably the most interesting fitting
experience of my life. But the lessons you learned
from David, the talent and the vision he had,
he had his demons, but his talent and vision
was second to none. So another major thing that
you and I have always talked about, and now it's
changed, is you were very passionate and did
a fabulous work while working for DeLaval. But
in 2022, you decided to switch gears. and move
on to a different direction and you started Proterra.
Can you kind of describe how that transition
happened and why you realized that that was maybe
the time to make the transition? Yeah, absolutely.
Just give me one second because the computer
is going to run out of battery. Yeah, so, okay,
Proterra. The journey of Proterra begins in 2006
when I graduated from university. And I had to
make a decision. Am I going to be a business
owner or am I going to be an employee? And I
followed the example of my mother and I decided
to start my dairy herd. I decided to start my
consulting firm. And I said, I'm going to be
an entrepreneur. That's what I was made for.
That gave me the gift to create. That's what
I'm going to do. I'm going to create business.
But then two months later, DeLaval shows up and
has me a proposal to become a sales manager for
all the Andean countries and Central America.
And in the beginning, I said, no, I'm not interested.
But let's do the interview. So one of my friends
told me, hey, why don't you do the interview
process, Francisco? You are this little. young
man in Colombia and a company like DeLaval will
show you the world. So just give it a try. Understand
you're young and energetic and passionate, but
give it a try. And I decided to do that, Andrew.
So I joined DeLaval for three years. And then
at year three, when I was in Colombia, I said,
okay, I'm done. Unless a bigger opportunity shows
up. And right there, I received an email from
DeLaval USA saying, Francisco, are you willing
to move? and then i moved to the united states
and i said okay i will move for three years only
but every three years life gave me a new challenge
with delaval and i was having so much fun but
always in my mind i was going to go back to an
entrepreneur and i never left that actually on
parallel while i was working for dilaval i grew
my dairy in colombia from 10 milking cows to
400 milking cows i grew from having nothing to
In the last decade, breeding 50 % of the national
champions. And I am in the clothing business,
and I'm in the board of directors of the clothing
business and other businesses. So I was always,
and when I was in Delaval, I was very intrapreneural.
I was not the typical executive that goes for
the bonus. No, I give it my all every single
day. And if I was leading the robot business,
I managed it like if it was my business. And
always, let's go, let's grow, travel, be on the
road, presentations, promotions. We were in Vegas
together, Andrew. I was in Ontario. I was in
Vancouver. I was in Australia. I was in Chile.
We built amazing projects because I was an entrepreneur
in that firm. But during the pandemic, before
that, when I was planning, one of the best projects
I planned was when I met Mike McCloskey in 2018.
And very quickly when we're in the car, I say,
Mike, what's your purpose in life? And then with
all the admiration that I had for him because
I wanted to meet him for six years, I was always
looking at this guy that is very ingenious, and
he was for me the Steve Jobs of the dairy industry.
I have all this admiration, and finally I can
meet him through DeLaval at a restaurant in Chicago,
Tavern and Rush. We're with the CEO of DeLaval.
We are with the North American president. Mike,
and we're talking about, and I say, hey, this
guy is just awesome. And I said, hey, have you
seen robots? And no. Okay, let's go to Michigan.
I go to the Schuller family to see robots. When
can I pick you up? Oh, pick me up. I'm going
to be at the airport. I think it was tomorrow
or in two days or something like that. I go,
I pick him up, one hour in the car or 15 minutes,
and I say, hey, Mike, what's your purpose in
life? He says, my purpose at my age and so on
is to work for tropical agriculture. And he says,
what's yours? And I said, Mike, I have been in
the States for almost a decade. I have learned
a lot, but I am from the tropics. And I think
the opportunities are amazing. And if there is
an opportunity to transform dairy and beef in
the world, it's in the tropical world. And then
we said, okay, maybe we can do something together
in the future. We built a friendship. Next weekend,
I was staying at his house with my family. We
were riding Paso Fino horses in Indiana. We were
doing a little bit of everything, enjoying life,
riding horses, breeding horses. We were designing
robot projects. We became very good friends.
And then we started a little breeding project
with Gir and Girolando, and we went to Brazil.
We brought the genetics to Canada, and then we
started developing that, but it was a small project.
one more of the projects we were doing. I was
doing more. He was doing, of course, more. But
when the pandemic hits, Sofia tells me, Francisco,
I'm done. I need to go back home. And I said,
well, is that an option or is that a decision?
And she tells me the decision is made. We need
to go back home. I need to go back home. You
can do whatever you want, but I'm going back
to Colombia. And then I was thinking, okay, Can
we find a happy medium? Because I still think
that. And then it was the Puerto Rican project.
So we decided to go back to Colombia. And then
I was going to live in Colombia and manage the
Puerto Rican project, Proterra, with Mike, but
from Colombia, among many other businesses. It
was going to be just one more business. But very
soon, this business starts growing and growing
and growing. And then we decided to move to Puerto
Rico and devote most of my time. to run the project,
and here we are. Now, you talk about the Patera
project, and I know the philosophy behind it
is, you have the saying, embryos are transformation,
semen is evolution. Can you unpack that for me
or describe what you mean and what you're doing
with this project? Absolutely. Our project started
with the development of embryos in an efficient,
low -cost, effective way. And the reason for
that is in the tropics. and grazing, you need
crossbreeding in order to be successful. There
is no other way grazing in the tropics to be
successful. You need both. You need the willingness
of the indicus to survive and the willingness
of the taurus to produce. And when you put those
two together, you have the girolando, which is
an amazing animal, like the brangus, to provide
both the resistance and the productivity. And
that's the only way to keep an F1, is through
embryos. So the only way to really go to a country
like Nigeria, 28 million cows, one liter per
cow per day of production average, and multiply
that by 16 in three years, of course, with management
and everything, is with a Girolando embryo. That
transforms a country. That transforms a project.
And when you look even at a dairy farm, if you
really want to do genetic transformation in one
generation, you can use the best of the best
of the females and the males, even in purebreds.
And then you can advance your herd. I did it
in Colombia. I started in 2007 with a commercial
herd. And there have been people breeding for
60 years with ordinary artificial insemination.
And in less than a decade, I was the highest
production herd in the country in 2017. And I
had bred the national champion and supreme champion.
So if you want to transform a herd in a project,
embryos. And once you do that, then... you go
with artificial insemination, and then that's
why I say evolve. Evolution takes time. Transformation
is disruptive. Embryos are disruptive. Insemination
is the highest penetration, but it's part of
an evolving process. So it's interesting how
you explain that. So from my understanding, it
is that you're using embryos to get the fastest
instant genetic gain and then building on that.
using ai going forward so that you keep that
genetic gain sustained but it is a combination
process how has this project been going and what's
been the response to it the project has been
amazing we have been our project or our our mission
is to transform uh projects countries countries
the tropical world really needs food is where
more people are born every single day dairy beef
so we are doing transformational projects in
Puerto Rico which is our home base in both dairy
and beef we're doing transformational projects
in Latin America we're doing transformational
projects in Africa and we're doing transformational
projects in the USA so it's doing amazing and
we also have been working very closely with ST
Genetics and with Juan Moreno, which is also
our very dear friend, also Colombian, where we
work on both sides. We work on the female side,
we work on the male side, and very soon we will
be releasing the bull lineup of gear for the
world out of the United States. We have the full
brothers and sisters of the highest Brazilian
bulls and cows. uh they will be available worldwide
so we're fulfilling our vision and we're also
on own um slick whole stains that the combination
of slick hostings tolerant whole stains and the
indicus cattle now we can deliver and deploy
any project around the world and now one of the
visions we have is to take a slick whole stains
to the highest level so that in the future A
farmer like Paul Genetics or like A2A2 is not
optional, but really you can have that trait
within the best males or females in the industry
so that it becomes a no -brainer. So that's where
we are right now, a lot of collaboration with
ST, with Juan, with Mike, and having a lot of
fun with a lot of people, doing a lot of partnerships
globally, and here we are, yeah, that's fulfilling
missions and visions. Now, two things. First
of all, am I right to understand that there are
descendants, Jiro descendants of Shakira? I think
you told me one time that you'd had Jiro descendants
or crosses onto the family at some point. Or
not just Shakira, but of the bloodline. Yes,
I have descendants of Apple that are Jirolandos.
I have descendants of Brittany that are Jirolandos.
I cross them with the best Jiro boots out of
Brazil. So I go to Brazil to look for Jiro. Andrew,
one of the things that I love the most, and I
have spent two weeks and weekends, is doing bull
analysis and selection. It's just amazing. I
analyze the Holstein bulls, the Jersey bulls,
the deer bulls, crossbreeding, matings. Now in
the Nellore, in the beef industry, I'm also in
the beef right now. So I just love that because
that's where my passion resides, right? And using
that little bit of talent that I have been able
to prove, through all these, let's say, achievements
or these projects. And, yeah, so absolutely,
I have done Girolandos with the best gear and
the best horses in the world. That's cool to
me. So when I started the Bullvine, I did articles
early on, and I'll call it on two Colombian different
men. One was yourself, so this story is really
neat to come full circle with you. But then the
connection with another Colombian who you just
mentioned was Juan. And that was back when he
was just getting into using or bringing sex semen
to the market and having challenges to get AI
companies to use sex semen and all of that. So
this year's past year, it was neat. I got to
nominate him and he did achieve international
award winner at World Dairy Expo with how well
sex semen has gone for him. So those two stories
are two that I started early on and they've come
very. Full circle. And then to have you two kind
of working together now, to me, is just everything
kind of coming into one package. Now, I have
had the pleasure to work with Juan quite a bit
over the years. And he is very much, I would
say, maybe different than what I've had interactions
with Mike McCloskey, who is your other very much
strong mentor outside of your wife there. How
would you describe working with Mike and Juan,
and how do they complement each other? How are
they different? How has that gone? It's very
interesting. I mean, when I was – I remember
one day I was having a meeting, I think, with
Mike, and I posted a picture on social media,
and your dad sent me a Facebook note saying,
many people would like to be a fly on that wall.
And I listened to that conversation. And another
time, he sent me a message saying, keep flying
with the eagles or something like that. Your
father has always been, your family, for some
reason, has always been very supportive of me,
even with a phrase, with a word, or with an article,
or with whatever. And when I was with Mike and
with Juan the first time on a meeting room in
Puerto Rico, I thought of your father. You don't
know this, but I thought of that phrase that
your father, send me that day to facebook because
that alone for me is such a blessing being able
to spend my time with two of the smartest most
successful people i know inside and outside the
industry this morning i was in the gym five in
the morning and i was running and all of a sudden
i see fair life in a commercial on the tv screen
and i'm like How crazy is this that I'm 5 a .m.
in the morning in the gym and the person that
created that product is my partner? And 7 a .m.
before starting this interview with you might
cause me. Being able to work with them, being
able to see how they work, their passion, their
commitment, their perseverance, their purpose
is... It's such an inspiration, Andrew, and I'm
so thankful for that. Because at the end of the
day, you are who you surround with. And, yeah,
that's amazing. And they are, of course, very
different. I mean, not only on how they are,
but also age. I mean, Mike is 70 -plus years
old. One is the next generation, and I'm the
next generation. So at the end of the day, Mike
is the wisdom. Right? He's the person that has
done the most and has lived the most. Then you
have Juan, which has also a lot of knowledge
and power in his brain and how he does. And I,
when I moved to this project and I started working
with Mike, I said, you know what, Mike? In this
partnership, I'm going to be your student. And
you're going to be the professor. And I'm going
to always treat you with respect. Because independently
of the economic result, if I can learn from you,
that will be my best result. And by spending
time with both of them, that's how I look at
them, with a lot of respect, a lot of appreciation,
take the best of each one of them, and I'm learning.
I'm the student. And every day, Andrew, I consider
myself a student. You know, it's interesting
because... If you were to look at our industry
and you would say, who are the two biggest icons
you could have as mentors? Obviously, Mike and
Juan would be right at the top of the list. Yet
I know from talking with you, if I asked you,
who is your biggest mentor, influence, greatest
partnership in your life? I know it's neither
of them. And it's someone else. Who is that?
My wife, Sophia. And why and what makes that
different for you? Because for me, business is
only 25 % of life, of success, of what I call
success. And I have this very clear vision in
my mind. I can actually paint it. The first 25
% is centered on yourself. And the biggest decision
you make, there is two very important decisions
that you make for you. as a human being. The
first one is your faith and God, your relationship
with God. And the second one is who you marry.
And the first, so my first 25 % I work every
day so hard on me, on who I am and how do I stay
healthier? How can I do more exercise? How can
I eat better? How can I meditate more? How can
I be more thoughtful? And the second is God.
And what do you believe in? And for me, it's
very clear. I believe in Jesus. And for me, Jesus
has been the best leader ever. And if I can live
somehow, my source of inspiration as a leader
is Jesus Christ. And then when I look at my relationships,
my baseline, my everything is my wife. And then
from there, having those three aligned, I can
talk about the rest and have people like Juan
and Mike being part of my life. But without being
mindful of who I am, without the faith and the
strong example of Jesus and the support, example,
and help of my wife, nothing else would have
been possible. You know, it's neat, and I sit
here as you talk, and we've gotten to know each
other quite well over the years, and I think
about when you share the story on how you first
met your wife. and when you first brought it
to the farm in the rainstorm, and not sure that
it would make it past that first date to sit
here today and hear you talk. It's like just
come so full circle, but I remember the whole
story, and I think it ties to something else
you've said to me, and you've said it more recently
as well, and it stuck with me. It's certainly
true in my case. that women are more emotionally
mature and more in touch with their soul than
we are. And my wife, being a psychiatrist, in
which she does, I can easily say the same to
you as, oh, light years ahead of me on that front.
But can you describe how Sophia helped you, and
both our wives have similar names, Sophia, helped
you come in touch with that? Because I think
that is something she brought into your life.
Yeah, I mean, I don't know how to explain it.
I just know that when I met her first time, I
saw something very special in her way, her values.
You know, Andrew, when you look at a woman, you
really need to look at her values, who she is,
what she believes in. And I have never met a
woman with stronger character values, with such
a level of love and care. I mean, she's the most
aligned person I know, for sure. after jesus
christ and i'm not kidding after jesus christ
and after reading a lot of people and i have
never met somebody so aligning between what she
feels what she thinks and what she says and she
lives her life with excellence you look at her
and for me she's inspiration she's healthy she's
fit she speaks when she needs to speak She has
done an amazing job with our daughter. When I
look at my daughter, it has been Sophia's work.
And perhaps one of the most important things
you have kids, and if there is something that
fulfills, is when you see them growing and becoming
good people. And when I look at my daughter and
I say, you know what? It's just amazing what
Sophia has done. And that's her base creation,
is our daughter. Our daughter is homeschooled,
unschooled. Sophia does absolutely everything
education -wise, exercise -wise, everything.
And when I look at Sigal and I see such a sweet,
amazing little one, it's just one more reason
to admire Sophia at the level that I do. So it's
a combination of everything that she does. It
was neat because we were all recently, yourself,
Sophia, and your daughter, and my wife and I
were all in Italy, and we watched your daughter's
show, and that was another. 360 moment for me
as you were walking around with her and the pride
obviously and her pure joy her pure joy of just
showing in the ring which did remind me of when
you were showing Shakira a relevant place she
was just happy to be in there and living the
dream and I asked you after the class and stuff
like that and I asked about school and everything
like that and you shared that the greatest thing
we were able to do was having Sophia teach Seagal
about following her dreams. And there's the pride
and the joy in your family at that moment and
all the time. But just following dreams, I think,
is the biggest lesson it seems like you guys
are trying to instill in Seagal. And she's a
beautiful, beautiful little girl. Yeah, Andrew,
I'm leading by example, you know. I always bring
Seagal to the farm, to the lab, and she's giving
her little projects. Learning that, teaching
her that in life, you earn stuff, you work for
it, you have to put the hours, you have to plan.
She has shown animals in Colombia, the U .S.,
now Europe. We're so blessed. We're not millionaires
by any means, but we feel millionaires in the
sense that we have lived and provided experiences
to our world. We're millionaires in experiences.
That's what I want to convey. And every opportunity
we have to show our daughter the world, educate
her, provide her with perspective. Perspective
is a very important word. Take her to see that
the world is different. There is people with
different needs. And when we were entering the
ring, first of all, she was so happy when Alberto
Medina was getting that calf ready that she was
happy dancing and having so much fun. And we
were so happy with Sofia to see that because
she was, enjoying the process. But even the day
before, because she didn't know she was going
to show, that was a surprise that I gave her.
And the day before, I said, hey, Seagal, we need
to go to Milano. And she said, for what, Daddy?
I said, because we need to buy your white pants.
And you need to look the part. You need to have
your white pants, and they are going to be from
Milano. So we go to Milano. We buy her white
pants, and she's going to look great the next
day. Alberto had the cap looking great. And before
entering the show ring, she tells me that, Why
my legs are shaking? And I said, Sigal, that's
something that all of us felt sometimes. I get
very emotional with this because that's exactly
what I want to provide my daughter. That she
has all these feelings to know that all the sacrifices,
the goods, the emotions, the happiness. And then
when she was in the ring, the cap was a little
bit hard on her and all of that. I'm helping
her. But then the moment she was in front of
Nathan's wife that she was judging, Seagal did
so amazing walking that calf. I was stunned.
I was like, wow. She did it so professionally.
It was 20 seconds where the calf used, led perfectly.
Seagal led perfectly. And when she ends up, she
said, Daddy, did I do it with excellence? And
I said, Seagal, you did it with excellence. You
did it fantastic. So it was an amazing experience,
Andrew. What's your advice for young people?
What advice would you give to them if they want
to achieve success? Andrew, what I said, I think
it was in the middle of this podcast. Focus on
the process. Have fun. Be thankful. Enjoy the
blessings. And with clarity in your mind that
blessings meaning health, passion, purpose, connections,
love, then you will achieve the rest. Whether
it's a barn full of cows, with 40 cows, or with
thousands of cows, whether that's a ribbon at
a show, whether that's money, if you do what's
right and you focus on having fun in the process,
you will achieve success. Okay. And one last
thing. If you could go back and tell the young
veterinarian who landed in Madison in 2011 about
what he was going to achieve or what the journey
ahead would be, what would you tell him? Wow.
Follow the dream. That was Francisco Rodriguez
on the Bullvine Podcast. If you want to go deeper
on the decade rule, the full timeline from Shakira
to Marcella, how he reinvested that Supreme Champion
check, and what his 25 -25 -20 -25 life framework
actually looks like day -to -day, head over to
thebullvine .com and read the full feature article.
And if this episode made you think differently
about your own 10 -year plan, share it with someone
in your barn or your breeding circle. That's
how this stuff spreads. Thanks for listening.
We'll see you next time on The Bullvine Podcast.