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It is with great pride and the conviction that each of the following lines will reinforce our identification and commitment with the organization, that CMI presents a special edition of its bulletin, devoted to our founder, don Juan Bautista Gutiérrez.
We traveled to don Juan Bautista’s past – he was also known as don Juanito- to find the roots of the Corporation, with a story that was difficult to summarize but will help us understand, appreciate and contribute to the present and future of CMI.
Thanks to the collaboration of the fourth generation of the family, this special edition of the CMI bulletin presents a brief biography of don Juan Bautista that will walk us through important moments in our founder’s life, his long travel to America and the beginning of his first businesses, founded on effort and his love for a job well done.
We will share anecdotes of the first CMI businesses, which constitute the foundation of today’s Corporation.
Naturally, these businesses were founded on the values and the philosophy that characterized don Juan Bautista’s way of thinking and working; we can now share this with you thanks to the people that lived with him and shared memorable experiences. We truly believe this story will inspire our readers.
Don Juan Bautista Gutiérrez was born on June 15, 1895 in Campiellos, Sobrescobio, Asturias, Spain. His parents, Dionisio Gutiérrez and Casimira Blanco had 4 children: Adela, Casimiro, Modesta, and the youngest, Juan Bautista.
Don Juan Bautista was only 6 (1901) when his father, Dionisio Gutiérrez, emigrated to America, following the advice of a close friend, who said he was living in Cobán, Guatemala, a very beautiful place and a good place to work. In search of new opportunities and a better future for himself and his family, our founder’s father left from the Port of Gijón towards Veracruz (Mexico), where he disembarked and took a train to Tapachula and then rode on horseback to Guatemala.
On his way to Cobán, don Dionisio Gutiérrez arrived in San Cristóbal, Totonicapán. He found the place very picturesque and it reminded him of Campiellos. He arrived at night, and immediately the neighbors offered him all the help he could need. During his stay, he realized this town needed many things.
Don Dionisio Gutiérrez started his life in Guatemala renting a room that served both as sleeping quarters and store. (He later bought the house where this room was.) He started out buying grain (like rice, beans, sugar) in 100-pound bags in Quetzaltenango and then sold it by the pound in San Cristóbal.
A good 99% of the San Cristóbal population was Mayan, except for the Peñalonso, Botrán and Gutiérrez families. When don Dionisio came to San Cristóbal, he realized that native population ate food with their hands, which caused continuous diseases. He taught them the use of cutlery but as it was not available in San Cristóbal, he began to sell it.
After arriving in Guatemala, don Dionisio would write to his wife and send money with every ship bound to Gijón. After a while, doña Casimira Blanco de Gutiérrez realized her husband had no intention of coming back home, as his letters and remittances became less frequent. She shipped their eldest son, Casimiro, who by then was 17, to seek for his father in America. Shortly after meeting his father, young Casimiro wrote a letter to his mother saying they were very happy and that San Cristóbal was a beautiful place with a wonderful weather.
He was born on the high Asturian mountain, where men form their character with effort and austerity.Asturias, Spain San Cristóbal, Guatemala
Doña Casimira, certain that her priority was her family and not willing to lose hers, decided to travel to America in 1910 to reunite with her husband and child. She sold everything: house, animals and all her belongings and traveled to America with her daughter Modesta and little Juan Bautista. Her oldest daughter, Adela, stayed in Campiellos because she had just married Francisco Martínez, native from Sobrescobio, Asturias, Spain.
In Guatemala, little Juan Bautista took a placement test and was awarded the elementary school certificate. He was good at mathematics (he could figure out square roots and the rules of three quite well, but he didn’t know much about calculus or logarithms). He knew biology and whenever he was asked where he had learned it, he answered “at Universidad de Campiellos” because there they lived very close to nature.
Young Juan Bautista started to work as a storekeeper at his father’s store, a job he didn’t quite like. He used to say: “I don’t like just shooing flies off the counter” meaning that he didn’t like sitting and waiting for people to come in to buy. He would rather go out and sell. He did different jobs for this father.
He tailored with his sister, Modesta. Together they unstitched a pair of don Dionisio’s trousers to learn about the cuts and to make a pattern for more trousers. Young Juan Bautista did the fabric cutting and his sister Modesta the sewing. He was also a photographer and soon he became the town’s photographer and the City Hall’s official photographer. And since there was no electricity in the town, he became a candle manufacturer.
When don Juan Bautista was 17 and worked at the store, he realized that they needed an accountant to keep good track of money and to know if they were making profit or losing money. Therefore, he decided to study accounting. There were no accounting programs in San Cristóbal, Totonicapán, so he had to enroll in the Escuela de Comercio in Quetzaltenango.
It took him a three hour bicycle ride to go to class. He closed the store every day at 5 P.M. and attended classes starting 8:30 in the evening. He spent the nights in Quetzaltengo with the Pontac family and rode back at 5:00 A.M. every morning to open the store. Doña Casimira and her daughter Modesta cooked Spanish food every Sunday. Soon other immigrant Spanish families heard about it and would come from nearby towns for a Sunday lunch at the “Comedor Gutiérrez”.
In 1923 don Dionisio was ill and decided that he would sell everything and go back to Spain with his wife and his granddaughter, America. Modesta, married in Guatemala to Avelino Canella, and her brother, Juan Bautista, decided they would stay and offered to buy the store and pay for it in installments.
They created a society to buy the store. Don Dionisio accepted the offer and went back to Spain with his wife. Don Juan Bautista and his brother-in-law, Mr. Canella, would send don Dionisio money from the sales of the store to pay the installments and this money allowed him to live decently in Spain.
On March 19, 1925, as he returned from a walk in Campiellos, don Dionisio felt very ill. Doña Casimira, worried because her husband wouldn’t return, sent her granddaughter América to look for him. He was found near the house and was helped inside, but he immediately passed away. When don Juan Bautista was informed, he traveled to Campiellos to be with his mother, who also was frail by then.
On that trip don Juan Bautista met Felipa, his future wife. Don Juan Bautista went to visit his uncle Antonio, the town’s tailor, who had a picture of a very beautiful girl. When don Juan Bautista saw the picture, he inquired about the beautiful girl.
His uncle replied: “She is Felipa, daughter of Remigio and Isabel Gutiérrez Alvarez, from Villamorey (a town close to Campiellos), in Sobrescobio, Asturias. They don’t want their children to emigrate to America so they moved to Jerez de la Frontera.” Don Juan Bautista gathered all the necessary information to find her and went after her.
After several months of relationship, don Juan Bautista and doña Felipa married on April 2, 1927 in Sevilla, Spain. As soon as doña Felipa arrived in San Cristóbal, she began to work with Modesta. By then the RESTAURANTE GUTIÉRREZ was always crowded on Saturdays and Sundays and ALMACÉN GUTIÉRREZ now had a hardware store and a gas station.
Shortly after don Juan Bautista had bought from his brother in law his share of the businesses, a terrible accident occurred. Checking how much propane was left in a gas cylinder, an employee lit a candle and set the the entire store on fire That night was described as a “night of terror”; and everybody in town helped extinguish the fire. Don Juan Bautista still honored the deal and bought the share of the store from his brother-in-law.
The next day, at 10:00 A.M., clients started to arrive. The young couple was devastated, but cleaned up the place with a strong will to move on, selling to clients what they asked for. Even though those were very difficult times, some creditors came to the store with trucks loaded with merchandise and told them not to worry about the previous or new debts, that they could pay whenever and however they could. Other creditors were not as graceful and demanded pay, which forced don Juan Bautista had to ask for third- party financing, which turned out to be extremely expensive.
Although doña Felipa was pregnant, she stood by her husband and worked day and night. That same day, the “old store” as they called it, was up and running again and doña Felipa took over during the first days while Don Juan Bautista pursued other necessary arrangements.
Accounts should be crystal clear, just as chocolate should be creamy and thick.
- Juan Bautista Gutiérrez
On July 23, 1931, during the town’s annual festival, doña Felipa gave birth to a baby girl, named Isabel (doña Isabelita). The following years were full of hard work for the young couple. On November 10, 1932 their youngest child was born, he was named Dionisio.
Mayoral elections took place around that time, and don Juan Bautista was elected Mayor of San Cristóbal. Among other things, he improved the condition of the streets, drainages and water services. He introduced electricity and built the bridge over the Salamá River, which after 75 years still serves the community.
By the end of 1935 don Juan Bautista had paid off all the fire-related debts as well as the debt to his brother-in-law, Avelino Canella.
You have to pay the debt before you start partying.
- Juan Bautista Gutiérrez
Early in 1936 don Juan Bautista was visited by Mr. José Fanjul, one of the largest rice growers of those days, who lived in Mazatenango. He was his rice supplier. He suggested investing in a rice mill, but don Juan Bautista convinced him that it would be better to invest in a wheat mill to supply flour for the region, creating jobs at bakeries. He encouraged and invited him to be his partner. That was the beginning of Fanjul y Gutiérrez Limitada, under the commercial name of Molino Excelsior.
Don Juan Bautista continued to do business and promote economic development in Quetzaltenango. He made the necessary arrangements with ESSO and built a gas station that opened its doors to the public towards the end of 1936. Later, don Juan Bautista traveled to Germany to buy machinery for the mill. He also hired a young German named Shultz, who would be the first executive to manage the mill.
Don Juan Bautista started with less than 50% of the shares of the mill. However, Mr. Fanjul’s son spent all his fortune looking for gold, and had to sell his shares of the mill. Don Juan Bautista gradually bought his shares until he owned them all.
Simultaneously, don Juan Bautista managed and supervised both Gasolinera Gutiérrez and the construction of Molino Excelsior. Work intensified because don Juan Bautista bought the Chevrolet dealing agency and a few years later he also became the dealer for Opel German cars. His different businesses were doing well and don Juan Bautista, who never stopped dreaming and working, bought La Sevillana, a supermarket specialized in imported products from Spain, England and Germany, where he also sold the Spanish wines that he had imported for years.
In 1947 the Gutiérrez Blanco family moved to Guatemala City, because doña Felipa’s health was frail. She suffered from high blood pressure and Quetzaltenango’s altitude was harmful for her.
Don Juan Bautista joined a group of businessmen from the Capital city with whom he decided to build a wheat mill in Guatemala City by the name of “INDUSTRIA HARINERA S.A.” or “INHSA”. Don Juan Bautista and one of his partners from INHSA traveled to see what type of machinery would be more suitable for the new mill.
Don Juan Bautista recommended Bühler, a Swiss-German brand and the other partner recommended the Italian Golfetto brand, which they finally picked.
Additionally, they looked for a strategic alliance in the United States. Don Juan Bautista preferred an alliance with Pillsbury but his partner preferred General Mills, and the alliance was made with the latter. The majority of shares of INHSA (fifty one percent) were sold to General Mills and Don Juan Bautista felt he was being excluded from the business; therefore, he decided to found Molinos Modernos.
Don Juanito realized that in MOLINO EXCELSIOR and MOLINOS MODERNOS there was a surplus of bran and he tried to find a way to use it. He initiated a business of animal feed and named it ALIMENTOS MARISCAL, managed by his son in law, Alfonso Bosch, as General Manager. Don Paco Pérez de Antón was involved in this operation with the purpose of optimizing it and promoting the animal feed business. They sold different types of animal feed (bovine, porcine and poultry).
Sales were less than the production of animal feed. To use the surplus, INCUBADORA IMPERIAL was founded. They sold one-day chicks to MAYAPAN corporation. Later, MAYAPAN went broke and don Juan Bautista suggested a valuation of the company to receive it as payment for money owed to INCUBADORA IMPERIAL. He paid a difference and acquired MAYAPAN.
Get out of a bad business, quickly.
- Juan Bautista Gutiérrez
Pérez de Antón, guided by don Juan Bautista, suggested merging into a single operation. He bought a piece of land along the Villalobos slope, Guatemala, and they founded Avícola Villalobos, consisting of MAYAPAN, LA FELICIDAD, INCUBADORA IMPERIAL and a small poultry processing plant was opened along Calzada Aguilar Batres (the current number one poultry processing plant is still located in the same place).
In 1967 don Juan Bautista, together with his son- in law, Alfonso Bosch, officially opened the restaurant “Los Pollos”, which served a special recipe of chicken with French fries, beer and soda.
In 1971 don Juan Bautista, now together with his son, Dionisio, Don Francisco Pérez de Antón and Javier Iraizos, tested additional recipes and ingredients before they finally opened the first “POLLO CAMPERO” restaurant, appointing his son Dionisio as President of the business.
On October 4, 1974 don Juan Bautista suffered the terrible loss of his youngest son Dionisio and his son-in-law, Alfonso Bosch, who were performing a heroic mission for the Rotary Club. His grandchildren from the Gutiérrez Mayorga and the Bosch Gutiérrez families faced the responsibility of continuing the work their respective parents initiated; they were progressively incorporated to the companies, as their age allowed it.
In 1977, year of the family succession, don Juan Bautista, with the support of Francisco Pérez de Antón, Andrés Sedano and his grandchildren, created an emblematic decentralized corporation with the purpose of generating new businesses: CMI.
God helps those who help themselves.
- Juan Bautista Gutiérrez
Through the pleasant and familiar narration of Doña Isabelita de Bosch, Doña Esperanza Mayorga de Gutiérrez, Francisco Pérez de Antón and Andrés Sedano, we discovered important traits of don Juan Bautista, that we summarize in the following lines.
Don Juan Bautista has been described as “a man with such a particular charisma that drove you further... he was a natural leader. When you met him, he would make you feel enthusiastic and you would follow him. He was a fighter, never considered anything to be difficult; he would push you to do your best and would tell you “Yes, it is possible, let’s find the way”. He would never back away. As a great leader, he was honest and fair; a good man. He was an extremely kind man, but at the same time, he was firm. His kindness had rules that had to be respected.”
He was a positive person who loved being surrounded by people with the same attitude. He was a great communicator, he got along fine with people and everyone felt good around him. Both don Francisco Pérez de Antón and don Andrés Sedano said that more than advice, they always received good examples and a positive attitude from don Juan Bautista.
His positive attitude about things is perhaps one of his most important teachings. Somehow don Juan Bautista inspired the joy of leaving behind the unpleasant things and moving on, in the same easy way he lived his life. If he had a problem, he never showed it. That is the best advice: to face life with a positive attitude.
Francisco Pérez de Antón (don Paco) comes to the conclusion that there are two types of people in this world: those who face life with positivism and those to whom everything looks dark. Don Paco saw that positive spirit in don Juan Bautista in the beginning of Avícola Villalobos when they began to build the first hen houses for the breeding birds that would produce fertile eggs for the incubators.
Don Paco had two jobs: to work with the formulation and to monitor the operation. He told us that he had a carpenter-builder that worked on the construction of galleries for the chickens. This carpenter invented a combination of concrete and iron to make the pillars of the gallery. However, after he executed the most difficult part of the job (introducing the trucks to level the land, introducing light, water, etc.) one day the gallery fell over the floor. Don Paco rushed to let Juan Bautista know what had happened. He thought don Juan Bautista would complain about the gallery falling, because he thought it was the easiest part of the process.
To his surprise, don Juanito said: “Ok, if the gallery has fallen, we are going to build it again; and you continue with your work.” That positive attitude was one of the characteristics of don Juan Bautista: he was not a self-defeating person, no matter what came ahead: thunder, lightning or a fallen gallery.
Don Juan Bautista was not a joker, but he was always happy. He was a person with a happy spirit, always with a smile on his face and he had the generous and playful heart of a child. Doña Esperanza de Gutiérrez shares a very pleasant anecdote that demonstrates that playful attitude of our founder. “We lived in the same house. The Rotary Club had asked me to bring two cakes for the charity competition. That night, as he always did, don Juanito went to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator and cut a slice from each of the cakes to taste them!”
There is an interesting anecdote that shows how positive don Juan Bautista was. On February 4, 1976, the day of the great Guatemalan earthquake, don Paco Pérez de Antón thought that nothing had happened. He realized the extent of the earthquake when he drove along Avenida de las Américas and saw the cracked buildings. Later, along zone 11 he saw toppled walls because then many constructions were made of adobe. When he arrived at the incubation plant, at 7 A.M. he met straight faces. He walked into the incubation plant and when he opened the doors he saw that all the eggs were smashed against the floor.
Each incubator had a capacity of 99,900 eggs (those were Chick Masters incubators), equivalent to three weeks of production, 3 weeks with no chicken! Later, around 11 A.M. don Juan Bautista arrived and saw whole mess. As they left, someone took a picture and don Juanito smiled for it. Without any doubt, he, with his demeanor and attitude, sent a message of positivism: “If you are positive you are already ahead, because you don’t hurt yourself ahead of time, thinking that something will turn out wrong”.
Ok, if the gallery has fallen, we are going to build it again, and you…continue with your work
- Juan Bautista Gutiérrez
“Don Juanito was an admirable man in every sense of the word, not only for his natural intelligence but for how he made you feel. He was great, but humble. He was a normal person that treated everyone as an equal. He didn’t care if someone was the most important executive of a corporation or the janitor who swept the office floors.”
- Andrés SedanoHe was very down to earth and you would feel comfortable around him. No matter how successful he was, it never went up to his head. He was never arrogant, he was quite humble instead, and never praised himself. Andrés Sedano tells us that he was the same from the moment he met him, and never changed despite how successful he became. “And that” he says, “is something to admire”.
Don Juan Bautista’s work culture was strong. He was always ready, an early riser and he was always the first to arrive to the workplace. He motivated people with his own example. His daughter, doña Isabel de Bosch, tells us that her father was always thinking about work. Even before having grandchildren, he constantly thought about them and he wished that they would have a better life. He impressed his work culture on his his children and grandchildren.
Doña Isabelita tells us two stories of how don Juan Bautista instilled her own work drive. First, on Sundays, don Juan Bautista gave her a candy jar that she had to sell at 5 candies for a cent. Later, when she completed her secretarial studies, don Juan Bautista told her: “Give me that little paper” (the diploma), and she never saw it again. Then he told her “Let’s see how much you have learned. Tomorrow you are coming to the office with me.” He gave her a job that entailed a lot of responsibility. In those days, each invoice had to be stamped with tax stamps and doña Isabelita had to calculate the tax stamps to be used and having him supervise her work upset her.
Once there was a mistake in the calculations, approximately ten cents’ difference , and don Juan Bautista said: “Look... this is not possible, are we giving money away? He was like that, very strict, always in search of excellence. He was very loving to his grandchildren and he also taught them his work culture. Doña Isabelita remembers that one of his grandchildren didn’t want to go to college so he gave him a job sweeping the patio of Molinos Modernos, and that’s how they started to work together.
Be honored and you will be honored.
- Juan Bautista Gutiérrez“He was a very simple and genuine man, altruist, fair, loyal and loving. A family man interested in keeping the family together. He enjoyed Christmas with the family, with everyone home having fun. He enjoyed his grandchildren very much”, says doña Esperanza.
Don Juanito was an indisputable, natural leader. As a boss, he interfered very little in his subordinate’s activities; he would let them be, he would delegate naturally. This doesn’t mean he left his business adrift; don Juan Bautista wanted everyone to share his philosophy of permanent austerity and attention to detail.
Don Juan Bautista had the strong conviction that companies were cost centers and expressed that “profits are outside and costs are inside”. He always said that nothing should be wasted and that we had to use things rationally. “Always think about an economy in times of scarcity, a war economy, so we keep costs in sight at all times”.
He knew the basic variables of each of his businesses and always had them in mind. He would ask: “Did we sell? How much did we sell? How are the credits? How are the accounts receivable? How are the banks? Is our debt being reduced? He kept track of 4 or 5 variables and with this information he knew the course of the business; he was a controller. He was a visionary; he enjoyed searching for new business opportunities, new challenges and was always eager and searching for new projects to undertake. The diversity of the current businesses of the Corporation is rooted in his constant search for new ideas.
It is possible, let’s find the way.
- Juan Bautista Gutiérrez
Don Juan Bautista tried to do different things. For example, for some time he was in the apiculture business in a farm “Parador Los 13” where he also kept sheep and goats. More than to increase his fortune, he sought to generate new ideas, to create.
He didn’t stay long in the bee business, but he performed some small scale experiments with sheep. Don Juan Bautista used to say “In Spain this is normal (to raise sheep); you take the wool and the meat is delicious.” Then, he went on to small tests trying to understand the business before concentrating all efforts on that project. Some business didn’t pass the test, so he set them aside.
Don Juan Bautista was a dreamer and an entrepreneur. He was far from making a sophisticated financial analysis for an investment (as it is done today, considering many assumptions and key variables). When he thought something could work out and he figured out what he wanted, he defined exactly where he wanted to get. Even if he didn’t know how to get there, he followed through. A clear example is his desire that all Guatemalans could have access to fresh chicken. He knew what his objective was, and the solution he found was to provide sales agents with freezers having the capacity to freeze 15 to 20 chickens. This originated the first national cold network with 100 freezers around the country.
Don Juanito always sought to integrate companies. He proved it when he acquired Alimentos Mariscal. The idea of buying this food plant started in the 30’s. The flour business was located in Quetzaltenango where the wheat was grown. As preferences changed and the need for flour and products increased, mills located in the capital city became more competitive and don Juan Bautista said he couldn’t be competitive if he had to bring the flour from Quetzaltenango to the capital. Therefore, don Juan Bautista said he had to build a mill in the capital and he bought the land where Molinos Modernos is currently located, with the last US$50,000 he had.
The experience of the first mill (Excelsior, the first electric mill at that time) was the starting point in realizing the problem the mill operation faced at that moment: a surplus of bran and grits. In finding ways to use this surplus, he decided to buy an animal feed manufacturing plant and use this surplus as raw material.
Nobody said it would be easy.
- Juan Bautista Gutiérrez
Don Juan Bautista loved animals. This is how he first bought the animal feed manufacturing plant and then began selling one-day chicks to promote the sales of animal concentrate the group produced. Years later, he started raising pigs.
Don Paco Pérez de Antón tells us that when don Juanito suggested the idea of raising sheep, he refused it. As he was not the type of person who would impose his ideas on others, upon don Paco’s refusal, he desisted.
Doña Esperanza told us another story related to his many trips around Guatemala: “In one occasion we traveled together from Xela to Guatemala. He was driving but started feeling sleepy so he asked me to drive while he lay on the back seat and got some sleep. We drove along the coast road and as we approached Mazatenango, a pig crossed the road right in front of us. I stopped abruptly to avoid killing the pig, and don Juanito flew off the seat.
Nothing serious happened, but it was a quite scary. Before starting off again, he told me: “Well, Esperanza, I am glad you didn’t run over the pig. Now, continue driving.”
During the 50’s, being an entrepreneur was not easy because everything had to be invented, there were no previous references. It was a difficult time but don Juan Bautista always said that we need to have the best people and pay them as best as possible.
Don Juan Bautista had the vision of creating groups, selecting good people, people with the same values as his: honesty, willingness to work and knowledge that the success in life comes from hard and honest work. And this is how he surrounded himself with well prepared and the most creative executives the labor market could offer at that time.
Once he hired the best people, don Juan Bautista motivated his employees, both economically and emotionally. Economically, because he obtained their best work by paying commissions and bonuses. Emotionally, by praising their good work: “You are doing well”, that was the expression he used, says Andrés Sedano. “You are doing well, you are doing things just right and you have a great future”.
Andrés Sedano told us that the intensity of his ideas
Be competitive. If there are sharks, you have to become one.
- Juan Bautista GutiérrezBakers buying flour in Molinos Modernos, as a result of the law of top prices enforced by the Guatemalan government. Picture by JLB
Don Juanito really gave into his ideas and followed through. When he had something in mind, whatever it was, he talked about it with any person around him. He shared his ideas equally with an executive or with the person seated next to him on the Galgos line bus going to Quetzaltenango (he frequently traveled by bus even though he could drive). He was talkative and could easily initiate a friendship with just about anyone.
was reflected on the manner don Juan Bautista drove. Don Juan Bautista had a green Ford with mechanical transmission. “When you were riding next to him, he would talk so much he would forget he was driving. As he talked, he forgot to change gears and he drove on first gear with the revolutions to the limit. But he was excited, talking to you, sharing his ideas, what he wanted to do or what a project was about”.
This gives us an idea of his capacity to focus (not necessarily on what he was doing, driving) but on those things that mattered to him. Driving was something normal, not relevant, but the conversation was very important for don Juan Bautista. Sometimes, he drove in second gear half the way from Guatemala to Xela (a little over 150 km). At the end, as Andrés Sedano tells us, he would say to him: “Don Juanito, change gears or you will ruin the engine”.
But he wasn’t only a talker, he was also a good listener. If somebody told him: “Don Juanito, what if there is a more efficient way of doing this? He would not close his mind to the idea, but would consider the suggestion instead and use it. Then, he would continue with his own idea, improving it with the suggestion provided. “And if you started to talk about business with him, you could see a sparkle in his eyes, one that you cannot see in all the people” says Andrés Sedano. “Why? Because he was excited to communicate his thoughts or he was so fascinated with the idea that he would immediately share his excitement with you.”
“For him, happiness was to keep the family together, to help others and to provide
Profits are outside the company, what´s inside are costs.
- Juan Bautista Gutiérrez
opportunities” as recalls his daughter-in-law, doña Esperanza de Gutiérrez, who shared with us advice from don Juanito that marked her life. He said: “Always face any situation that comes to your life”.
Doña Isabelita says the best advice for life she received from her father was not to look at the past but always into the future. He would always say: “Move only forward”.
The ability of don Juan Bautista to look forward and to undertake what he wanted to do is reflected in a story told by don Andrés Sedano. “I don’t know if what I am going to tell you defines him a bit, but it’s how I see it. At that time, American cars were very low. We rode to check a garlic plantation; I think Francisco Pérez de Antón was going with us too. It was a rough unpaved road and the bottom of the car continuously hit the road. We were talking about garlic (exports, prices, harvest, diseases, etc.). Every time he heard the car
bottom hit the road , he said: “Silence...” and kept talking about the garlic. And the car hit again, and he said again: “Silence...” What does this mean? My interpretation is that although don Juan Bautista disliked the sound of the car hitting the road, he neither slowed down nor stopped the conversation, because for him that noise wasn’t an obstacle to reach the garlic plantation quickly.
Any other person would have slowed down, because the car could be damaged, but don Juan Bautista was focused on the exportation of garlic the next year.”
Don Juan Bautista was guided by his inner bible, which told him to always follow the right path. He was fair, true and loyal to everyone. That is why he expected employees to be loyal, honest and hard workers above anything else; those were his basic principles.
His daughter said don Juan Bautista always told her “No shades of gray, things are either black or white”. “Therefore, of course, he drastically kicked liars and thieves from his heart. It did hurt him if someone failed him or played foul; it upset him very much”.
Doña Isabelita tells us that at the mill it was not uncommon to see men leaving on horses loaded with sacks full of wheat. Very often he chased them because he knew they were stealing wheat. He told those people they could not come back anymore. He wouldn’t miss anything.
Maintaining don Juan Bautista’s culture of work and passing it on from generation to generation, as has been happening, is a great challenge. Don Juan Bautista was a person with a lot of qualities, as Andrés Sedano would say: “He was one of those unique persons that are hard to find. Of course, don Juan Bautista passed down values that are very important, but there is something more difficult to pass down: the vision, the leadership, the enthusiasm.
Doña Isabelita knows that if don Juan Bautista were alive, he would want all members of Corporación Multi-Inversiones to live following his own values: hard work, sacrifice, keeping one’s job in mind, not only for the good of your own family but for the good of all the people that work with you and he would want us to be prepared to face the challenges that society imposes on us.
Doña Esperanza reminds us that he would also want us to achieve happiness. He believed happiness cannot be measured in money, but in how we can help others improve their living conditions. Don Juan Bautista liked to create work and see people roll up their sleeves and work hard, because he used to say “Nothing is heaven sent; everything requires hard work”. He derived happiness from helping others and watching them make the best of this help.
This great man, this special human being, incomparable, barely described by this narrative, will always remain in CMI. His legacy, his vision, his positivism, will make sure at CMI “Accounts will be crystal clear and chocolate, creamy and thick.”
To the fourth generation of the Gutiérrez Family -the New G-, for sharing their memories and some of the pictures used in this bulletin.
We especially appreciate the contribution from doña Isabelita Gutiérrez de Bosch, doña Esperanza Mayorga de Gutiérrez, Francisco Pérez de Antón and Andrés Sedano, for their time. Also, we appreciate their sharing with us so many unforgettable anecdotes of don Juan Bautista. They not only enriched the contents of this bulletin but also allowed us to share experiences of our founder from first hand sources and the origins of CMI.
Interviews:
Doña Isabelita Gutiérrez de Bosch
Doña Esperanza Mayorga de Gutiérrez
Francisco Pérez de Antón
Andrés Sedano
Documento prepared by:
New G, Francisco Pérez de Antón, Memorial de Cocinas y Batallas. Primera Edición. Guatemala. Santillana, 2002.
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