A ulAMCnu L8SCnALl1?

Ask Cscar 8odrlguez abouL Lhe doLcom bursL and he may grln aL you as lf Lo say WhaL bursL?"
8odrlguez a 38years old enLrepreneur owns an lnLerneL buslness LhaL sells loose dlamonds Lo varlous
buyers 8uslness ls boomlng ln 2004 8odrlguez had sales of $ 206 mllllon a 140 percenL lncrease from
2003 8odrlguez's daLabase of almosL 60000 avallable dlamonds ls one of Lhe largesL ln Lhe lndusLry and
ls valued accordlng Lo hlm aL over $330 mllllon needless Lo say he's opLlmlsLlc abouL hls buslness
venLure
1he fuLure wasn'L always so brlghL ln 1983 8odrlguez moved from hls naLlve uerLo 8lco Lo Calnesvllle
llorlda wlLh llLLle ablllLy Lo speak Lngllsh 1here he aLLended communlLy college and worked aL a local
mall Lo supporL hlmself AfLer graduaLlon hls roommaLe's glrlfrlend suggesLed LhaL he work aL a local
[eweler l LhoughL she was crazy l dldn'L know anyLhlng abouL [ewelry" says 8odrlguez buL he Look her
advlce 1hough he worked hard and recelved hls dlamonds and dlamonds gradlng cerLlflcaLlon from Lhe
Cemologlcal lnsLlLuLe of Amerlca he wasn'L saLlsfled wlLh hls progress l qulckly reallzed LhaL worklng
Lhere l was [usL golng Lo geL a salary wlLh a ralse here and Lhere l would never become anyLhlng 1haL
drove me Lo explore oLher buslness venLures l also came Lo really know dlamondsLhelr prlclng and
Lhelr quallLy"
ln 1997 Llred of worklng for someone else 8odrlguez declded Lo open hls own [ewelry sLore Powever
buslness dldn'L boom Some of my cusLomers were Lelllng me Lhey could flnd dlamonds for less on Lhe
lnLerneL lL blew my mlnd" 8odrlguez recognlzed an opporLunlLy and began conLracLlng wellknown
dlamond dealers Lo see wheLher Lhey would be lnLeresLed ln selllng Lhelr gems onllne 8odrlguez recalls
one conversaLlon wlLh a promlnenL dealer who Lold hlm ?ou cannoL sell dlamonds on Lhe lnLerneL ?ou
wlll noL survlve" ulscouraged 8odrlguez says he Lhen made a mlsLake l sLopped worklng on lL lf you
have a dream you have Lo keep worklng harder aL lL"
A year laLer 8odrlguez dld work harder aL hls dream and found a dealer who agreed Lo provlde hlm wlLh
some dlamonds Says 8odrlguez Cnce l had one l could approach oLhers 8uslness sLarLed Lo bulld
1he flrsL Lhree monLhs l sold $200000 worLh of dlamonds rlghL off Lhe baL And LhaL was [usL me l
sLarLed Lo add employees and evenLually closed Lhe [ewelry sLore and goL ouL of reLall" AlLhough
8odrlguez does have some dlamonds ln lnvenLory he prlmarlly acLs as a connecLlon polnL beLween
buyers and suppllers glvlng hls cusLomers an exLraordlnary selecLlon from whlch Lo choose
8odrlguez ls now a savvy enLrepreneur and hls company Abazlascom wenL publlc ln CcLober 2003
Why ls 8odrlguez successful? !usL ask Lwo people who have known 8odrlguez over Lhe years Cary
Schnelder a realLor who helped bulld 8odrlguez's bulldlng says Cscar ls a very amblLlous young man
lam noL surprlsed aL all how successful he ls Pe ls an enLrepreneur ln Lhe LruesL sense of Lhe world "
Cne of Lhe 8odrlguez's former real esLaLe lnsLrucLors Poward lreeman concurs Cscar has always
been an exLremely moLlvaLed lndlvldual wlLh a loL of resources Pe has a wonderful personallLy and pays
close aLLenLlon Lo deLalls Pe also has an ablllLy Lo sLlck Lo Lhlngs ?ou could Lell from Lhe beglnnlng LhaL
he was golng Lo persevere and am proud of hlm"
8odrlguez ls keeplng hls success ln perspecLlve buL he also reallzes hls buslness' poLenLlal l Lake a very
small salary and our overhead ls $230000 ln a year l am noL ln debL and Lhe buslness ls breaklng even
l care abouL Lhe company l wanL Lo keep everyLhlng even unLll we Lake off and Lhen lL may be anoLher
ball game"

CuesLlons

1 WhaL facLors do you Lhlnk aLLrlbuLedLo 8odrlguez's success? Was he merely ln Lhe rlghL place aL Lhe
rlghL Llme" or are Lhere characLerlsLlcs abouL hlm LhaL conLrlbuLe Lo hls success?

2Pow do you belleve 8odrlguez would score on Lhe 8lg llve dlmenslons of personallLy (exLraverslon
agreeableness consclenLlousness emoLlonal sLablllLy openness Lo experlence)? Whlch ones would he
score hlgh on? Whlch ones mlghL he score low on?
3 uo you belleve LhaL 8odrlguez ls hlgh or low on core selfevaluaLlons? Cn whaL lnformaLlon dld you
base your declslon?
4 WhaL lnformaLlon abouL 8odrlguez suggesLs LhaL he has a proacLlve personallLy?