Focusing on topics such as value, effort, personal and intentional growth, kindness, purpose, pain, and more, motivational speaker Derek Daniel Guajardo said Tuesday morning that part of being on the “growth journey is exploring things so you can expand.”

Speaking at a breakfast at the Martin Center, Guajardo referred to two essential topics, the “law of the mirror” and the “law of growth.”

He said both elements focus on how business students could “elevate the value that they see in themselves” by reflecting on who they are, what they can do to reverse adversity and where their careers are supposed to go in a professional, personal and spiritual sense.

“The smallest steps forward would eventually complete the most giant journeys,” said Guajardo, who spoke to an audience of around 80 people in Paul & Judy Andrews Hall Room C.

Guajardo said he decided to come to Texas Wesleyan thanks to Enactus Vice President Catherine Smith, who requested he appear to bring knowledge to her colleagues.

“She does everything with excellence,” Guajardo said of Smith. “She wanted to bring value to the students, and that helped me catch a vision for being here building the student leadership team and having a great time this morning with the larger group.”

Smith said she saw a necessity and therefore provided an opportunity to extend personal development to the Enactus team and the other students, faculty and staff who could benefit from hearing Guajardo.

“I am very happy to provide the opportunity to students and faculty,” Smith said. “I believe communication and leadership skills are important in everyone’s life, mainly students; that is the reason why I wanted to extend the opportunity to the rest of the business students.”

Human Resources Coordinator Lindsay Trammell attended the event and said she was impressed by the talk and the way Guajardo was able to convey his message to the student audience.

“I think he (Guajardo) brought a lot of good points regarding self-esteem, respect, intelligence, and value for students who are recently starting,” Trammell said. “He hitting those points was probably the best encouragement that he could give the students in the room.”

For Wesleyan students who couldn’t attend Guajardo’s speech, or want to seek more Guajardo content, he is on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn as “Strong Life Coach.”