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Writer's pictureStudent ACES

Meet Buck Martinez

See original story published by Bold Journey https://boldjourney.com/news/meet-buck-martinez/ here.


We recently connected with Buck Martinez and have shared our conversation below.


Buck, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.


I find purpose in making an impact on the lives of others. For 35 years, I worked for Florida Power & Light in highly challenging roles such as negotiating labor contracts and ultimately identifying and originating clean energy opportunities in the state to promote visibility, commitment, and economic development.


Fast forward to 2013, while still working at FPL, I was driving a U-Haul across the state with my daughter, Krissy Webb. During the ride, she asked me, “who will my twin daughters look up to?”After a long ride talking about how to prepare students-athletes to be leaders, Student ACES (ACE = athletics, community, education), a 501c3 with the mission to create Champions, was born.


Shortly after the start of Student ACES, and upon my retirement from FPL, my passion for mentorship and for helping those around me reach their highest potential, inspired me to found Impact Leadership and Character Consulting where I serve as an executive coach to individuals in many different roles from corporate executives to professional athletes and as a consultant to companies seeking to develop their management teams. Many of the clients I have the opportunity to work with embody the core values of Student ACES (Command Respect, Honor Your Word, Aspire to Greatness, Maintain Courage, Possess a Work Ethic Second to None, Inspire Others, Own a Winning Attitude, Never Settle, Sacrifice for Self and Team) and so I consider myself fortunate because our moral compasses are pointed in the same direction.


Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?


For 35 years, I had the distinct honor of working for FPL, America’s largest electric utility, serving more customers and selling more power than any other utility, providing clean, affordable, reliable electricity to more than 5.7 million accounts, or more than 12 million people.


Today, my passion fuels me. I am the co-founder and president of the Board of Student ACES, a 501c3 with the mission to create Champions, and the president of Impact Leadership and Character Consulting where I help organizations to develop their executive team and serve as an executive coach to individuals in many different roles from corporate executives to professional athletes.


My passion has also inspired me to author seven books Inspiring Champions, Building Blocks of Leadership for Young Adults, The Captain’s Leadership Playbook, Straight Talk, Man Up: Leading a Life of Honor, Seven Steps for Success, and Your Winning Formula – Discovering the Champion Within You. All of the books support programming and curriculum for Student ACES.


Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?


Believe in your purpose – Share your perspective, mentor others and listen. It’s imperative that you live your purpose, believe in it and stay true to it – regardless of anyone else’s opinion.


Practice with conviction – If you’re going to put it out into the universe, you might as well do it with passion, purpose and conviction. Stand by it and preach.


Be truthful to who you are and never compromise your personal core values –Stand firm for what you believe in and never compromise who you are or what you believe in for anything.


To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?


Everything. My family fled a communist Cuba in the early 1960s when I was just a small child to come to the United States with only $5 to our name. My parents worked extremely hard and instilled in us the importance of faith, work ethic, and surrounded us with family – family was, and still is everything to me. So much so that one of the core values of Student ACES, Impact Leadership and Character Consulting, and one that is very important to me personally is Sacrifice for Self and Team. We’re one family – we’re one team.


In addition to my three beautiful daughters, I have also been fortunate to be a father figure in the lives of many young men and women, two of which lived with us for some time. They too are my family; I can confidently say they have had as much of a positive impact on the lives of the Martinez family as we may have had on their lives. I am forever grateful that they came into our lives and extremely proud of all they have accomplished – all of my children.

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