Facing the daily grind with a sense of dread can be all too common, but what if the key to a thriving workplace lies within joy and wellness? This is the revelation Simon Cohen, CEO of HINGCO, shares with us, discussing his transformative philosophy that harmonizes high performance with happiness. By integrating wellness, mindfulness, happiness, and giving into the very fabric of a company, Simon argues that we can create a culture where employees don't just eagerly await the weekend but instead find fulfillment and joy in their daily work. This episode is an eye-opening discussion on redefining workplace culture, putting people first and proving that care and respect for employees isn't just nice—it's smart business.
Can gratitude really change your life, or is it just another buzzword? We tackle this question head-on, breaking down the relationship between gratitude, success, and fulfillment in a way that's far from platitudes. We're not just talking about feeling thankful; we're exploring how these emotions can be cultivated to strengthen our personal and professional lives—as Simon shares, they're muscles that we can build and define. From insights on post-traumatic growth to the vital role of continuous education and empathetic leadership, this episode is your roadmap to a more resilient, fulfilled life that celebrates both our triumphs and our challenges. Join us in discovering how serving and appreciating others can be the bedrock of not just a successful career, but a life well-lived.
Facing the daily grind with a sense of dread can be all too common, but what if the key to a thriving workplace lies within joy and wellness? This is the revelation Simon Cohen, CEO of HINGCO, shares with us, discussing his transformative philosophy that harmonizes high performance with happiness. By integrating wellness, mindfulness, happiness, and giving into the very fabric of a company, Simon argues that we can create a culture where employees don't just eagerly await the weekend but instead find fulfillment and joy in their daily work. This episode is an eye-opening discussion on redefining workplace culture, putting people first and proving that care and respect for employees isn't just nice—it's smart business.
Can gratitude really change your life, or is it just another buzzword? We tackle this question head-on, breaking down the relationship between gratitude, success, and fulfillment in a way that's far from platitudes. We're not just talking about feeling thankful; we're exploring how these emotions can be cultivated to strengthen our personal and professional lives—as Simon shares, they're muscles that we can build and define. From insights on post-traumatic growth to the vital role of continuous education and empathetic leadership, this episode is your roadmap to a more resilient, fulfilled life that celebrates both our triumphs and our challenges. Join us in discovering how serving and appreciating others can be the bedrock of not just a successful career, but a life well-lived.
Welcome to Voice Like a Lion podcast. I'm your host, steven Pemberton, and today I'm super excited to talk to someone who was introduced to me by a mutual friend, and this is Simon Cohen. He is the founder and CEO for 26 years of HINGCO, a world-class logistics company specializing in international cargo transportation that's been certified for 13 consecutive years that's in a row as the best logistics company to work for in Mexico. Simon has twice been awarded the most trusted CEO, in 2017 and 2023. In 2022 and 2023, simon plays in the top 20 for the most influential people in the transport and logistics industry. Simon, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Steven. It's a pleasure to be here.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for joining me. I'm really excited because I've talked to so many founders. I've had people on the show that have done upwards of hundreds of millions a year. But for someone like you that has built not only what we would consider in the world's eyes as like success, but doing it in such a way that there's still joy, that there's still love, there's genuine enthusiasm not only from you, but, it sounds like, from the people that also work for you and the company that you've built. That I've not heard of. So I'm really excited to hear how you've been able to build such an amazing culture.
Speaker 2:You know, when you realize that we're dying every day, that time is really fast and that you will not be able to go back when you were 20, and that you realize that you know life's a blimp, that we're super vulnerable and that we can just transcend at any time, you start enjoying life in a different way. You know it's a matter of perspective and once you decide that you want to have a happy life and fulfilled life, then you can start building on top of that right. So the theory or the hypothesis starts with you cannot have a happy life if you're not happy at work. You cannot have a happy life if you're not a high performer. Life is too short to be happy only the weekends. So we need to work hard, but also to play hard and to enjoy.
Speaker 2:You know I have read hundreds of books of business books, have been in Harvard and Stanford and MIT, have been in London Business School, in all these incredible universities in the States and abroad, in Mexico and everywhere, and I have never read one single book that tells you hey, when you arrive to the office, you have to be serious and arrogant and stubborn or never. So why are we like that? Why do we try to take care of people the best way possible. People are the most important asset of every single company, so why are we mistreating our raw material, the?
Speaker 2:best most important thing for us should be people, and we need to take care of them.
Speaker 1:So what I gather from that and what I love is that I'm hearing this from the top of the food chain is what we would say, Because a lot of times when, like for me, my background is I was in. I was in. I was actually in supply chain and logistics for a Fortune 500 company in the States for about five and a half years. I was a mid management and I just remember hearing that from the higher ups.
Speaker 1:It's like you know, people is what we care about, but I can promise you that we would vote that place as like number 10 of 10 of worst places to work in the United States, because there was there was never a focus on people, and that's why I was able for me to go up the chain so quickly is because I just focused on my people. I focused on loving my people differently and the surprising thing was is when I treated people like people, they actually reciprocated that, treated me like a person and actually were willing to do better work. So how were you able to construct that? Because I'm sure I mean maybe, maybe your background is you just had this figured out from day one, but I would imagine that it's been an evolution over time for you to figure out how to build and actually love on people the right way.
Speaker 2:Sure, I will tell you the story later, but you know, bottom line, it is very important to take care of people, because people they have and they love their kids as much as you love yours. And it doesn't matter in which part of the pyramid of the organizational charge you are. You're human and you have feelings, so you have to respect that. But we're here to work hard. We're not here to have fun. But we can have fun, we can enjoy it. But we need to be high performance and happy, right? So I decided to, you know, to organize and to start, you know, doing this philosophy or implementing this philosophy that it's called high performance, happy people. So the theory is that if you sleep well, you eat well, you exercise, you meditate, you're grateful, you give charity, you help others, you have fun at the office, when you have to work, you will be another big athlete at work, you will be a high performer. So in our company we decided to put this philosophy it's called high performance, happy people into four pillars. First pillar, wellness. We teach our people how to sleep well, mandatory sleeping seminars for everyone. We teach our people how to eat well. We teach our people how to exercise. The second one is mindfulness. We teach our people how to meditate, how to be grateful, because you know when you're grateful, you can be happier. Right? You enjoy the good things and the bad things of life. Yeah, your pillar is happiness. It's okay to have fun at the office, and this cannot be a top down thing, it has to be a bottom up. So you, you as leader you have to put the atmosphere and to create the conditions for them to be happy and for them to enjoy, because we're not different, we're the same. It just happened that we're in a different position in the chart, but it's the same, right? And one thing that we cherish a lot in this happiness part is to give. When you're a giver and you go and you give charity and you help people and you make them better because of your presence and that that stands, at last, in your absence, then you can have an amazing, amazing life and fulfilled life, right?
Speaker 2:So the fourth pillar is high performance. So tell me what I don't know Tom Brady is doing, you know, the night before the Super Bowl. They're not working hard, they are not, you know, running a marathon. They're not staying awake until six in the morning working to prepare the you know game plan for the next day. They're resting, they're eating well, they're, they have visualizations. That's exactly the same thing in a high performance team, like a company. So this is the secret. The secret is to take care of people as people, to enjoy life, because life is too short and it's a blimp and we're dying every day. We're not living. When you're born, they turn around the sand clock of life and you cannot stop it, right, stephen?
Speaker 2:the problem the only problems that you don't know how much sand you have in your in your sound Right.
Speaker 1:Yes. So for everyone listening, simon is putting on a masterclass on how to be an insightful leader, because when I hear you talk about that, especially when you talk about the sand and the hourglass, there was a loved anime producer who he just passed away randomly, so a curatorial mama. He created Dragon Ball Z and he he died overnight. No one expected it. So Dimo, he, he metoma, so a blood clot in his brain killed him. How would he ever know that?
Speaker 2:Sure, how would he ever know that when I was 32, really young sorry to jump in because it's important. You know, when I started my company when I was 22 and I was a workaholic, the only thing I wanted in life is to become a billionaire. Like I really wanted money, money, money.
Speaker 2:If you can do it, I can do it. If Steve Jobs can do it, I can do it. If Bill Gates can do it, I can do it. It was for me a matter of focus and purpose, right, and I worked really hard. I worked 20 hour shifts for 10 years until one day I was traveling in Hong Kong. I was, you know, waiting for someone to get to arrive to a restaurant to have dinner with me, and I feel a big hit in my chest and I faint. Next thing, I know I'm in an ambulance going to a hospital in Hong Kong and they diagnosed me with a heart attack when I was 32. Wow, when you arrive to the hospital, you know, after all these exams, they told me hey, simon, you know something? It's not a heart attack.
Speaker 2:You were born with something called Wolf Parkinson's White disease. I had that. You have it. So you know what that means. So I have Wolf Parkinson's White, which is kind of uncomfortable and it's crazy, but I never knew about it. So then they told me but you have a lot of stress. If you don't slow down, you will die. Wow, and you know, for some time I just thought that the doctors were crazy. And then I came back to Mexico and I went to the doctors. They told me you have Wolf Parkinson's White and a lot of stress. And I said, you know, I don't trust them either. And then I went to the States and they told me, after a few thousand bucks, you have Wolf Parkinson's White and a lot of stress.
Speaker 2:So for a year I was struggling with my health, stephen and I decided to go, you know, to the Caribbean, you know, to an island in the middle of nowhere, to start to get rid of my medicines. Right, because medicines, they can help you, but also they can kill you. Right? I was super intoxicated with medicine. So one day the power went out on the entire island and I was there with my three daughters and my wife and they started crying.
Speaker 2:It was very dark. So I told my three daughters girls, let's go outside to see the stars, right? So I was laying on the floor in the sand with my three daughters on my belly, my wife on my back, you know, looking at the stars, and I said, right there, I'm the wealthiest guy on earth. Wow, my daughters asked me hey, dad, why are you crying? And I said, literally I don't know the date that I'm going to die because, you know, with Wolf Parkinson's White we have this thing called Southern Death. And I said but I'm going to be the happiest person on earth from now on and no one will interrupt me to achieve that goal. So I started planning my life towards happiness and fulfillment, and this is why we learned so many things about happiness and fulfillment.
Speaker 1:That is honestly, this is the first time I've had a guest on. That has moved me to the point of becoming really emotional, because that I mean that really speaks to me, because not many people have what we have. As far as that heart condition goes, it's rare and I just remember being told because I used to have those spells where my heart would kick into the palpitations and I'm going at 220 beats per minute and they told me it's like if you go, if it's any more than 15 minutes, you need to go to the ER, and it's like I've had them for hours and they said hours. And it's like, yes, hours. And they said we're surprised you're even alive.
Speaker 1:So you telling you, just explaining your story honestly, is shifting my perspective and I hope everyone listening is shifting your perspective on what wealth really looks like. Yes, you can have as many zeros as you want to in your bank account. You can be in the Forbes top 100 richest people in the world, but if you're not fulfilled, if you're not happy, you don't actually have real wealth. You just have what everyone else thinks as wealth.
Speaker 2:And I love that. Thank you, steven. Thank you and for your audience.
Speaker 2:It's very important to realize that people believe that having money will solve your problems. And sometimes more money, more problems, and the bigger the banking account is, the bigger the problems are. So you have to be grateful for what you have, but also for what you don't have, and you have to appreciate life that way. And one of my favorite quotes in my book, which is called Fulfilled, is when you get what you want, is life directing you, but when you don't get what you want, is life protecting you. And if you make your best effort and you don't get what you're dreaming or your goals or your achievements, I mean it's okay, it will be better. The two worst, worst news that I have received in my life with time. They became the best news in my life With time. So you have to understand life in a different perspective and try to understand life from the end to the beginning and not the way we live it usually from the beginning to the end, because we believe that we're eternal and we're not.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, that in speaking on time, there was a moment where I got to see the basically the hour glass flip, where I get one message from my parents that I had an aunt, a great aunt, pass away and at the same moment, I get another text from a friend that they are expecting a baby and I in the literally five minutes apart. And that's why, when you're sitting here and you're talking about time, I love the way that you're putting all of this. This is for people listening. You need to listen to what Simon is saying. This is going to change your life. Finding gratitude not only for the things that you get, because it's easy, especially in the Western culture, it's just go hustle. The more you can get, the better you are. If you don't have success, then you're not worth anything, and so many people tie their worth to their net worth. But I don't believe that's the right way to do it, and especially when you're saying to go find real value, gratitude and the things you didn't get, and that is super insightful.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but you know what success first we have to define.
Speaker 2:Yes, get to define it, then we will have to define happiness and then we will have to define fulfillment. Okay, success is a feeling. First of all. You know there's people selling chewing gum in the streets in Mexico that they can feel more successful than being Bill Gates one day. Right, because they sold the entire box of chewing gum and they feel successful. Right, a little kid that jumped and made, you know, I don't know, a flip in there. They can feel successful because of that. Maybe, a little kid playing football on the streets with two shoes as a, you know, as a goal, they can feel successful because they scored. Right, that is success, a feeling.
Speaker 2:Second, what is happiness? Happiness is being at peace, and happiness is bidimensional. I can be happy for being here. Well, I cannot be happy at home. It's not the case, I'm just inventing. Right, I can be happy at home, but, you know, not happy with my friends. I can be happy with my friends and not happy with my parents. Okay, happiness is bidimensional. Okay, and don't confuse happiness with euphoria. You know, if you're a chief fan and they scored and they won the Super Bowl, you know that is not happiness, that is euphoria. Okay, that is being excited. That's not happiness.
Speaker 2:Happiness is being at peace and fulfillment. When you are fulfilled is when you look yourself at the mirror and you feel at peace. When you look at your wife, your husband, your partner, whatever, and you feel at peace. You look at your kids, and you're at peace. Your work, and you're at peace. Your friends, and you're at peace. Your parents, and you're at peace. And your siblings, and you're at peace. And you go 360 and you go back to the mirror, stephen. You look yourself again, you breathe in and you feel at peace again and that's being fulfilled.
Speaker 1:So what do you do when you're going through this cycle? And even, as you mentioned near examples like you have peace here, you have happiness, you have fulfillment here, but it's not in every area. How do you find fulfillment in each area of your life?
Speaker 2:So work it out. You know it's, it's depending on your vision of life, and I think that you can work out relationships. You can work out, you know, your feelings, your sentiments, it's, it's, it's, it's like a muscle. You know, like my good friend Talben Shahar is always saying, ptsd Everybody knows PTSD when you are, you know, in a trauma, then you can just go back to normal. The most important thing is to go to PTG post-traumatic growth so when you come back better, then you can grow.
Speaker 2:This is the anti-fragile situation, right? So it's very important to understand where you're coming back. If you have a tragedy, if you fail in something, if you're not doing well, hey, listen, you will come back stronger and better, and that's, you know the purpose of life and that's exactly where you want to go. So, if you want to have peace with your wife, start talking in a different way, start taking care of her in a different way, start doing things that are going to change, because when nothing changes, if I change, everything changes, and it's not blaming others, because we're always blaming others. She's not behaving well, my people are not working hard enough. Dada, dada, it's all a matter of blaming someone. Why don't you look at the mirror. You look, see yourself at the mirror and try to think what can I do different in order to become a better human being? And that's exactly the question you have to ask yourself.
Speaker 1:And that is the perfect question to ask, and I think that that takes courage to look in the mirror and say you know, maybe I'm not as great as I once thought I was. Maybe there are some things that I need to work on to better the relationship, to better the business, to better my friendships. And being able to do that in such a way, especially as you are describing it, that is the way that you have true fulfillment in each area. But to the person who's listening, and you go and they go, hey, that's amazing, that sounds great, but what is a practical way for me to actually do that? So I've looked in the mirror. I've realized there's some deficits I have. Would you suggest I read books? Would you suggest I go to conferences? What do you suggest I do?
Speaker 2:Smile. It's easy, it's cheap. Everybody smiles in the same language. Stop being mad with crazy things that are not controllable. Hey, it's raining, so I'm mad. Really, you cannot control that. Control the controllables, that's it. Put the best energy into your everyday activity. Start with your own energy, start with your own perception of life. You are frozen. I don't know if you're there or not. I'm sorry, I'm here, I'm sorry, good thought so start with yourself.
Speaker 2:Start by putting good energy into your days and making the day for someone else, because when you really appreciate someone else's success, you're in a different level. When you arrive to the office and you just high-five someone in the elevator or on the aisles, or you see someone and you give them the little piece of chocolate that they like, that makes a difference, but it's not for them, it's for your own, it's for yourself, and you can just thrive with that because it's just being human. So, yes, continuous education and learning is very, very, very important. That they stop growing, you start dying. Yes, learn, but the leader of the future is not the brightest, he's not the one that shouts the most, it's not the most energetic. He's the one who knows how to listen more. He's the one that has the biggest heart. That is the leader of the future. Knowledge is not enough.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I can easily see why you've been so successful in your endeavors because you approach it differently than 99.9% of people I've ever talked to. Even some of the most successful people I've talked to do not approach life the way that you do. And the way that you approach life, it seems, has dictated the level of success that you have encountered. Because when you are talking about treating people like people, for you it's treating the C-suite like people. They get to treat the mid-management like people. The mid-management treat the frontline managers like people and the frontline managers treat the frontline like people. Now, all of a sudden, you have a company that moves as one body. There's unity instead of division.
Speaker 2:Sure, and you know what is a leader, because sometimes you have to play the role of a leader. Yes, a leader is the person that brings the best out of their teammates in his presence or her presence, and that last, that energy lasts in her absence or in his absence. Okay, when your energy stays there when you're not there, that's when you are a true leader. And then what is a selfless leader? A selfless leader is the one who serves Okay, the pyramid. Usually you know the organizational chart. The people in the bottom have to serve the people on the top. What we do is we flip over this chart and ask that we are founders, that we are the CEOs. We need to serve our directors, the directors need to serve the managers, the managers need to serve the supervisors, and once you do that, you are super cohesive, right. So you're one team, one team, one single team, and we can just move faster. And that's what we do here. We listen to people, we understand what their needs are and we're here to serve. And if we serve, we'll thrive together.
Speaker 1:And that's what I hear. I mean because the way that you guys approach taking care of your employees as people, as a whole person. So you're talking about wellness. You talked about them getting good sleep, actually taking care of their bodies, being able to practice gratitude, which, for a lot of people that I've talked to, they've always said well, gratitude is just hocus pocus, but it's not you. If you wake up and you just say thank you, if you go to bed and you say thank you, you actually start your day and end your day with a word of gratitude, whether you are someone of faith or not. I promise you that will change your perspective on what that means. Because waking up, you are not promised that. Like we talked about earlier, you are not promised to wake up. So just saying thank you that I lived another day. It could be the worst day you've ever gone through, but just ending it with a thank you, opening it with a thank you, that will change your perspective.
Speaker 2:Sure and not only being grateful, but also being vulnerable. And being vulnerable and telling people what your feelings are and what's going on in your life and, you know, sharing some things that are sometimes private, but they will understand you better. So if you put the conditions for everybody to speak out freely and then you can just understand what's going on behind the scenes. But because people are telling me always ah, you're a dreamer and you know, because you're successful, and that's why you say that and I'm like no, no, no, I'm so successful because I'm happy, not I'm happy because I'm so successful, right? So that's very important. I'm successful because I'm happy.
Speaker 2:And what is success? A feeling I don't care how much money I have compared to someone else, I am just fulfilled. I'm comfortable with what I'm doing because I'm doing it with my best effort. Now, very important, we need to be hungry and ambitious and want to have the biggest company in the world, but without losing the humbleness. Right, we need to have our feet on the ground always, and that's what happened with people that are, I would say, successful in the way that everybody uses that word.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:You know it's, they start getting money, they start, you know, being a little famous and they lose it. And you know being humble, I believe is the most important characteristic of a good leader and that's what I believe.
Speaker 1:Yes, I agree with you 100%. I'm honestly, I'm just so fascinated with you as a person. I'm usually about this point in the podcast. We've already talked about your business. We've talked about how you founded it. We talk about all of that but, honestly, none of that matters, because you are sharing the roadmap for people, whether they're in a job or whether they are a founder, whether they are a billionaire. You're giving people the roadmap to living a fulfilled life, which is much more important.
Speaker 2:Correct. You know I don't know if that's the secret recipe for everyone or the secret sauce for everyone, but at least if you get some inspiration from what I'm saying, I'm going to be happier tonight. You know it's. For me it's very important to transcend that way. I don't want to be remembered when I die as the wealthiest guy in the cemetery. I want to be remembered as the person that changed many lives and then help people, you know, to thrive and to be successful. And that's, you know, what I believe pure inspiration, right. And every single day, every morning that I wake up, I say, you know, thank you, I have another opportunity. I just have to run faster. And, you know, grow bigger. And, you know, bring more things to the table here. But also, you know, without losing, you know, the ground right. Just keep your feet on the ground all the time.
Speaker 1:Yes, and that's so good. So what are some ways of people want to connect with you, which I hope everyone listening wants to at least follow along on your journey. How do they connect with you?
Speaker 2:Sure, you know I'm on social media Instagram, tiktok and LinkedIn. You know, at Simon Cohen S, simon Cohen's, and you can find me there, and some of my publications are in Spanish, but I promise you know many of them are in English also. So I promise I will put translation and I will try to put you know as many as I can in English, for sure. So just go there, click there, send me a message and I will send you back another, a couple of tips, a couple of words, and I hope I can help you change your life for the better.
Speaker 1:And I know you have with me, and all that will be in the show description as well, so you don't for those of you listening, you don't have to like. Ok, how do I type this all out? It'll be down there in the show description. Just make sure to click on it. We'll have it all linked out. But, simon, before I let you go, I always ask this one question at the end of the show, and I'm actually fascinated to see how you answer this, because you have a completely different perspective than most people that ask this question to. The question is is what is something in your life right now that you are overcoming?
Speaker 2:So, luke, we have challenges every day in life and business and family. You know the vision, you know the mission of the companies. You know your personal journey. I believe that that is a personal challenge when I'm overcoming right now, which is being the best version of myself. I want to keep growing, I want to keep learning. I want to learn more from people that I don't know, you know and I get. I have to get to know them better. So I'm working on it, I'm working hard on it and I'm trying to build better teams. I don't know it's, it's part of the journey and I'm continuously trying to become a better human being, and that's something that it will never end. So this is my constant pursuit of happiness and fulfillment. Right, it's constantly trying to become a better human being, learning more, sharing more and trying to, you know, to put as many things in my brain as I can.
Speaker 1:That reminds me of a quote from Matthew McConaughey. So Matthew McConaughey was, I believe he was at an award show and Matthew McConaughey he. The quote that he said was he got asked a question when he was younger who's your hero? And he said give me a minute to think about it. So he comes back and he says and the guy asked him who's your hero? And he said it's me in 10 years.
Speaker 1:So he meets the guy in 10 years and he goes well, are you your hero now? And he said no, not even close. He said talk to me again in 10 years. And so in 10 more years, he asked him are you your hero yet? And he said no, not even close. And he said I will never become that, that version of me. He said but I, my goal is to always keep chasing, and I believe that that is exactly what you're saying, and I think that that's such an amazing way To look at life, because that is the ultimate goal is becoming the best version of you. And so I just want to thank you for joining me here today on the show. I want to thank you for all the amazing nuggets. If it wasn't for anyone else listening, it was for me, so I just want to thank you for being here.
Speaker 2:Sure, my pleasure, and please don't forget to you know, read the book. The book is called fulfilled. You can find it on Amazon right here. Okay, it's a very simple book to read and I will ask you for a big favor, give me a number. Give me a number from, let's say, 35 to 200, just randomly, and we will open up the book and we'll see what quote comes out. Okay, this is just a random Listen one 96 one 96.
Speaker 2:Okay, that's almost in the end. One 96, one second Right here 196. Actually that's the last page of the book. I will go one page before. Okay, there is no growth without suffering. That's the first quote. Second quote living is about flourishing as human beings. Third quote quote we must bloom. So wait, wait, wait. We must bloom so that when it's our turn to with, we do it with dignity. Hmm, the next one success is a feeling in the soul, not a number in the bank account. So that's exactly how the book is written. Wow, and you know, it's highlighted. It's super simple and I believe that there's a lot of things that they can buy and they can get and they can learn if they just Read it carefully.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. I'm glad that I picked that number because those quotes speak directly to me as a person right now. So that's amazing.
Speaker 2:Awesome. So thank you so much, stephen, for having me, and you know, let me know if I can be of any help. I'm here to serve.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Thank you so much and same to you. I'm here to serve however I can, whatever you need and for those of you listening. Thank you again for joining us on this episode. We'll see you in the next one.
Speaker 2:Thank you.