Bernardo Moya is an entrepreneur, author, and founder of Best You. As the creator of the Best You Expo, his events bring together more than 10,000 people, whether he does them in London or LA. He sat down with Jessica Abo to talk about how he got to where he is today, his new book, Man Evolving, and the number one thing he believes everyone needs to be successful in life and business.
Jessica Abo: Bernardo, you’ve shared that responsibility has played a significant role in your life since you were a child. Please give us a sense of what that looked like.
Bernardo Moya:
My dad passed away when I was young when I was 15. Long before that, I was the captain of the football team. I was in charge of the class. I was a corporal in the army, so I always had that sense of responsibility.
When my dad passed away, I was responsible for my brother and my mom, and it’s something that I’ve always felt that I would always instead lead than be led. I was always the designated driver as well. So I’ve always wanted to be in control to a certain degree. I’ve had some bosses in my life, and they were great, but I prefer to be my one. So that’s it. That’s where it came from.
What were some of your first jobs?
Moya:
When I was young, I started teaching English because I was living in Spain, and then I became a DJ. Then I was running nightclubs before I got into real estate. I did so many different things, and then I had a construction company, but it was always with that idea in mind of wanting to do more and achieve more. But also with that sense of the reality of mortality. My dad passed away relatively young; he had so many things to do, and I wanted to make sure that I could achieve as much, if not a lot more than he did because of his age and the things I wanted to do.
What did you learn as a nightclub promoter, and how does that show up for you in your life today?
Moya:
When I used to run parties, it was all about bringing people together to have fun. So we come up with an idea and a concept, and then we would go out there and get people. It was then the idea of building, creating things, and being very visual. Since my early years, that has helped me develop many of the skills I have now. And I always say that. I think a lot of times, we underestimate the teachings we learn and the process of growing, evolving, and reinventing ourselves. So it helped me in what I do today.
What took you from promoting nightclub life to real estate life?
Moya:
I would love the idea of going and talking to someone and engaging with them and being confident and being charismatic or magnetic, whatever I could do to get people to either be interested in the properties or be interested in me, but also in what I was offering.
So yes, I think that transition of me running those parties and then thinking and visualizing and seeing everything I wanted to build in the future, which was these events that I do now, are very interlinked.
What happened in your real estate journey that made you lose it all?
Moya:
In Europe, we had two massive real estate bubbles. The first time I was 26, I shared that I had no money. I had a can full of coins, and I remember I had the last one and bought my son a tin of lentils. And the second one, I was 40.
I’ve hit rock bottom several times, as low as you can. And from there, I’ve always found the strength to come back. I’ve always come back stronger and never let adversity knock me down.
What got you out of that place?
Moya:
One of the things I am is resilient. I’ve had very dark days and bad situations, but I would always get up the next morning ready to fight again. And I would never look at the hole. I would be looking at where I am going and what I am doing. What am I aiming for? What can I do differently?
So it was always around that, looking for the solution rather than focusing on the problem. So I think any wealthy or successful entrepreneur, millionaire, or billionaire would’ve told you that you’re not an entrepreneur unless you’ve lost your money a few times and hit rock bottom a few times, but it’s made me who I am.
To what do you attribute your mental strength and clarity?
Moya:
What gave me the focus was NLP, Neuro-Linguistic Programming. I came across a book, Change Your Life in Seven Days, which got my attention. And then, I became a practitioner, a master practitioner, and a trainer. So in the process of me losing everything, NLP gave me a clear understanding. I wanted to do something different that had more meaning, which is what I do today.
And then promoting came back into play.
Moya:
It did. That was it. From losing everything in real estate and seeing everything that I had, everything that I owned, and everything that I knew disappearing in front of me, I suddenly, standing in the middle of the room, understood I wanted to do something differently. And then this opportunity came to me, about which I could promote the man I was learning NLP, Dr. Richard Bandler.
So I became his promoter out of the blue. And it was a big decision because I had to move countries. I had to leave my family at home. I commuted for three years, Monday to Friday, and I never promoted events but encouraged parties. I was good at marketing. I used to do that in real estate. Well, I built the world’s biggest NLP training company, NLP Life Training. And then, after that, I created The Best You.
Where were you when you had this idea for Best You?
Moya:
I started identifying that it’s a very fragmented industry, where the greats do great things, but those that aren’t great, trying to evolve and become great, didn’t have a platform. So that’s where you could only go to the yoga show, you could go to the meditation show, you could see Tony Robbins, or you could go and see someone else. And I wanted to bring everyone together because personal, professional growth means many different things to many others.
So I wanted to have something that was very anti-niche that brought anyone under a roof, and also give them stage time, which a lot of the time they didn’t have. And that’s where the whole idea of The Best You as a brand came from and all the different things I’ve done with The Best You.
How does The Best You Expo work?
Moya:
I visualized, “Instead of running one seminar, why can’t I run five or six or eight or nine?” And that’s what I started doing. We now have nine stages: Room for Women, Empowering Women, Best for Business, Passion to Profit, and Inspiration zone, where we teach people how to dance or martial arts. We put that event together. And then the idea is also to have exhibitors share their expertise. And it was tough.
The first one I did, I remember I didn’t sleep for four months. We worked hard. We had 3,000 attendees. I went to the door to see how many people were at the door, and there were 10, and six were in registration. I thought, “Oh my God, why has no one come?” And eventually, we had 3,000 people come up.
Who comes to the Expo?
Moya:
It’s for anyone and everyone. It’s the holistic approach. I think to become a better human; there are many different aspects of life that you have to look into. You have to take care of yourself; you have to eat well, exercise, meditate, and be surrounded by the right people—positivity, learning new skills, being up-to-date with everything happening in apps and blockchain, and everything.
Apart from that, it’s love. You have to be a loving individual and be open to love to become conscious of what’s happening in the world. That’s what The Best You means. So if you feel you are in that category, you should check The Best You Expo. That’s what it’s about.
You say that love is the one thing that everybody needs more of, both in their life and in their business. And it’s also a huge reason why you wrote your latest book, Man Evolving. Could you tell us more about that?
Moya:
Love isn’t part of the conversation of many. So as a conduit, as the person that brings other people to the forefront and provides them a stage, I want to take that responsibility of encouraging them to share more love, to talk more about love, because we all know. We all have friends who suddenly get bad news, and priorities change instantly. And we continue to focus on entirely worldly things that have absolutely no value at all. And it’s only what we leave and what we do, and especially who we love and feel loved, that will be important at the end of our day. So anything and everything that we do has to be around love.
So this book, A Man Evolving, is about my journey, but I’m trying to share it. I’m a man; I’ve made mistakes, many, and one of them is not being open enough and not being vulnerable enough. And we need to be able to come and step up and be honest and express love, most importantly. In this book, I open myself up, but it tries in a tiny way to encourage men and women to talk about love and express love.
You also wrote a book called The Question; what questions can we ask ourselves daily, every quarter, to ensure that we are living our best lives?
Moya:
We all have an internal dialogue and a voice that runs in our heads. And it can be positive, or it can be damaging. And the quality of your life depends on the quality of the questions you ask yourself. Because the answer isn’t necessarily an answer. The answer is the question. So we have to look and get up in the morning, and what can I do today differently? How can I become a better human? How can I make a difference? Who can I touch today? Who can I love today? Who can I show some gratitude to? What am I grateful for?
So the book asks those questions throughout the different sections and chapters. And I recommend people to have a notepad and ask them. So it was thought-provoking for me, and it was as thought-provoking as the fact that one of the questions I was asking towards the end of the book is, am I happy? What have I yet to do?
I wasn’t happy because I wanted to do many things, but I felt I couldn’t. So I could only put myself to publish a book once I asked myself those tough questions. When I did and I acted, that’s when I posted the text.
Finally, what’s next for you?
Moya:
To continue to talk about love, to continue to share the whole idea around being open and honest for us to be able to express our feelings. And I hope to share that on stages around the world. And I’m half Spanish, so speaking to the Spanish-speaking market is also essential. But apart from that, The Best You Expo. I want us to take this globally. We’ve got our conference happening in LA this year, and we intend to grow exponentially. I would like to see an event that hundreds of thousands of people attend, and I want this to be screened so millions of people can watch it and see it worldwide. And I want to have the opportunity for speakers and experts to share their expertise across the globe. So that’s my vision. And as long as I’ve got the strength, the nerve to go and do it, we’re going to do it.
