Fernando Mendoza: Running Toward the Flinch
Fernando Mendoza left comfort twice—first Miami → Cal, then Cal → Indiana—to chase growth, not guarantees. He calls the scary moment “the flinch,” and his rule is simple: do it anyway. As a kid he sold mangos door-to-door and beat that hesitation; as a quarterback, he treated every practice rep like a championship moment.
“I wasn’t the most talented early on,” he admits. “So I made every practice rep the Super Bowl.” That mindset—belief plus compounding effort—moved him from third string to a leader in the QB room.
Purpose fuels his courage. With his mom battling MS (his family’s ringside coach), he launched the “Mendoza Burrito” in Berkeley and raised over $11,000 for MS. Meaning made the risks worth it.
Fernando’s story reminds us: growth isn’t comfort. It’s choosing the flinch, honoring the rep, and letting effort compound. Check out this interview with Fernando Mendoza by clicking on the link below:
https://youtu.be/mnTiYAr2BaI?si=dYQKb98rr1Jsueqf