1 00:00:01,740 --> 00:00:05,040 Robert Plank: From humble beginnings as a first generation 2 00:00:05,100 --> 00:00:09,600 Mexican American in a Texas border town. It's Edward H. 3 00:00:09,660 --> 00:00:14,400 Munoz here, and he has succeeded in establishing a remarkable 4 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:18,840 track record in the engineering materials world. He worked for 5 00:00:18,900 --> 00:00:23,760 33 years for Celanese, which is a company that recognized his 6 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:27,885 skills at building diverse multinational teams to grow the 7 00:00:27,885 --> 00:00:32,865 business, survive takeovers and help the company become a world 8 00:00:32,865 --> 00:00:36,525 leader in its market. He's lived to tell a tale, and now it's in 9 00:00:36,525 --> 00:00:40,245 this amazing book called Challenges, Triumphs, and 10 00:00:40,245 --> 00:00:45,525 Heroes: Memoirs of My Celanese Odyssey, and he is here to give 11 00:00:45,525 --> 00:00:50,970 recognition to Celanese's heroes and weave this captivating story 12 00:00:51,090 --> 00:00:54,030 of his personal journey in this amazing book that we are 13 00:00:54,090 --> 00:00:57,750 discussing today. So Mr. Edward Munoz, how the heck are you? 14 00:00:57,570 --> 00:00:59,610 "I'm fine." 15 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:05,520 Edward H. Munoz: I'm feeling good, feeling good. I, as you 16 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:11,640 might know, I have Parkinson's. I have it a little bit under 17 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:15,480 control. No one can control Parkinson's. There's no There's 18 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:20,360 no cure for it. So it affects me in different ways, but I do a 19 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:25,340 lot of things to keep going and still live a lifestyle that I 20 00:01:25,340 --> 00:01:32,660 enjoy, do yoga, shoot baskets in the morning, speech therapy. 21 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:37,820 Yoga can affect your speech, so if I start to sound funny, you 22 00:01:37,820 --> 00:01:41,540 might know the reason. But anyway, what I'd like to talk to 23 00:01:41,540 --> 00:01:48,980 you about today is the exciting life that I led for 33 years. I 24 00:01:48,980 --> 00:01:54,260 started with celinese in 1967 after graduating from the 25 00:01:54,260 --> 00:01:58,220 University of Texas at Austin with a chemistry degree, 26 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:03,360 celinese was getting into engineering materials. Its 27 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:07,320 background had been fibers. You might have heard of fortrel, 28 00:02:07,380 --> 00:02:12,780 celines, fortrell, it was the king of polyester. They don't 29 00:02:12,780 --> 00:02:18,180 like to brag about it, but they were the leaders in polyester 30 00:02:18,180 --> 00:02:23,600 technology, the polyester suit, polyester bottles, polyester 31 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:30,140 fibers. But they wanted to move into high value engineering 32 00:02:30,140 --> 00:02:38,000 materials, so they came up with a few some not so good, but they 33 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:44,320 had a winner in a polyacetal by the brand name of silicon. The 34 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:51,400 competitor was Dupont. So we had Dupont, the giant Dupont, and 35 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:57,160 the little celines, and they and the little celenes, hired this 36 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:01,440 Mexican American chemist down in South Texas to help out with the 37 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:10,920 technology. And I did that. It was a technology challenge, but 38 00:03:10,920 --> 00:03:17,580 I had a lot of help. I had a PhD sitting just 30 minutes away, 39 00:03:18,060 --> 00:03:26,720 who had really invented the product. Somehow he got stashed 40 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:31,220 away in the basement of a laboratory, not recognized, but 41 00:03:31,220 --> 00:03:35,060 I knew what he had done, so I tapped into his knowledge, 42 00:03:36,860 --> 00:03:42,040 brought out the best, and solved him a lot of problems, and we 43 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:50,440 established silicon as a leader in the materials world. For a 44 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:58,420 while, DuPont was DuPont and GE were leading the pack, but after 45 00:03:58,780 --> 00:04:06,120 a few years, we had market share, customer credibility. And 46 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:10,500 just a few years ago, a couple of years ago, Celanese, I was 47 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:15,240 retired. Then Celanese bought the engineering material resin 48 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:19,560 business from DuPont. DuPont exited the business. Celines 49 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:25,580 bought it. So that was the first and interesting challenge and 50 00:04:25,580 --> 00:04:28,460 success that I can point to. 51 00:04:28,460 --> 00:04:34,280 Robert Plank: So his story, right? You, you changed the 52 00:04:34,280 --> 00:04:35,900 world with some of these materials. 53 00:04:36,140 --> 00:04:41,020 Edward H. Munoz: Well, the people down the line, change the 54 00:04:41,020 --> 00:04:47,620 world, and we help them. And I did it, not only in Texas, but 55 00:04:47,620 --> 00:04:52,540 having been recognized as somebody who contributed, I was 56 00:04:52,540 --> 00:04:57,220 sent to Germany because we had a joint venture in Germany making 57 00:04:57,220 --> 00:05:02,040 some of the same type of materials. And. And so Celanese 58 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:09,960 owned 45% of that German company. 55% was owned by the 59 00:05:10,020 --> 00:05:16,980 huge German company Hirsch sounds funny because it's 60 00:05:16,980 --> 00:05:26,900 spelled funny, H, O, E, C, H, s, t, but herch was part of a huge 61 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:31,460 conglomerate called I gay Farber, and that was Hitler's 62 00:05:31,460 --> 00:05:37,820 war machine. So after the war, General Patton broke up that 63 00:05:37,820 --> 00:05:44,740 huge company into half a dozen. The biggest three parts of it 64 00:05:45,220 --> 00:05:52,780 were Hirsch, bear and BASF. Now BASF and bear did a better job 65 00:05:53,500 --> 00:05:59,800 in giving recognition to their name, selling, selling A's and 66 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:09,180 hers, kind of laid back. So when I went to Germany in 1984 I took 67 00:06:09,180 --> 00:06:17,040 over a staff that were basically ex Nazis, and it was a 68 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:22,640 challenge, starting from the first time I met my colleague. I 69 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:25,880 got off the plane at Frankfurt, we sat down in one of the 70 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:32,240 lounges. He looked at me and says, Pierre Munoz, welcome. We 71 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:36,320 are very glad to have you. But I thought your company was going 72 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:42,880 to send an American. I said, Dr Barr, I am an American. You 73 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:47,740 obviously have a lot to learn about the US and America. I have 74 00:06:47,740 --> 00:06:52,900 a lot to learn about Germany. Let's help each other. It was 75 00:06:52,900 --> 00:06:59,560 tough, but we, after four years, became good friends. 76 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:06,000 Robert Plank: Yeah, and what was some of that toughness, like, 77 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:08,700 like, over all these decades, all these companies you work 78 00:07:08,700 --> 00:07:13,560 with teams solving problems. But it's never straightforward, is 79 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:17,040 it? It's never a straight line. There's personality problems, 80 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:21,080 production problems, just planning problems. I mean, tell 81 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:24,140 me about where have you struggled? Where has the stress 82 00:07:24,140 --> 00:07:24,380 been? 83 00:07:25,279 --> 00:07:30,739 Edward H. Munoz: Well, culture is one, but I'll tell you 84 00:07:30,739 --> 00:07:39,319 personally, what I think is the is the keenest and most 85 00:07:39,319 --> 00:07:46,599 challenging part. Of my journey, and it would be of anybody's 86 00:07:46,599 --> 00:07:49,719 journey, trying to do the same thing, climb the corporate 87 00:07:49,719 --> 00:07:55,779 ladder. The hardest part was balancing your ambition to do 88 00:07:55,779 --> 00:08:05,039 that with family, family versus career. That was the hardest 89 00:08:05,039 --> 00:08:08,999 part, and I'm not sure I in fact, I know I did not succeed 90 00:08:09,599 --> 00:08:14,519 in the family part so much I got divorced. For one thing, it led 91 00:08:14,519 --> 00:08:23,479 to a divorce. But every cloud had silver lining after that 92 00:08:23,479 --> 00:08:28,879 divorce, I married a wonderful woman, and as I wrote the book 93 00:08:29,299 --> 00:08:35,059 this last couple of years, in fact, last year, we celebrated 94 00:08:35,059 --> 00:08:40,659 our 30th anniversary. So great the second one took but you 95 00:08:40,659 --> 00:08:49,599 know, kids suffered, and there was, there's some scars, but 96 00:08:49,599 --> 00:08:53,679 they've healed, and that has been one of the biggest 97 00:08:53,679 --> 00:08:59,139 challenge. And I think everybody's going to has to face 98 00:08:59,139 --> 00:09:03,419 that challenge and recognize how much do I want to give up here, 99 00:09:04,559 --> 00:09:07,199 and what do I get? What do I give? 100 00:09:09,540 --> 00:09:12,240 Robert Plank: Yeah, sacrifice. You can do it all. 101 00:09:13,620 --> 00:09:16,620 Edward H. Munoz: Yeah, I think, I think you can get a balance 102 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:23,540 that leaves you satisfied. And I think one of the reasons I wrote 103 00:09:23,540 --> 00:09:30,860 the book was to actually, as the as my kids and grandkids read 104 00:09:30,860 --> 00:09:37,100 the book, they tell me, my grandkids, Grandpa, I didn't 105 00:09:37,100 --> 00:09:39,800 know you did this. I didn't know you were here. I didn't know you 106 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:49,720 did that. So it's, it's a satisfying accomplishment, as 107 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:50,800 far as I'm concerned. 108 00:09:51,940 --> 00:09:54,460 Robert Plank: Oh yeah, well, there's some some messages here, 109 00:09:54,460 --> 00:09:58,660 and what we're speaking about, right, these ideas of pursuing 110 00:09:58,660 --> 00:10:03,240 your dreams, pursuing. A career embracing the risk. And then, 111 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:06,900 after all, that's done, if you have lessons to pass on to the 112 00:10:06,900 --> 00:10:09,420 next generation, if you're thinking about writing that 113 00:10:09,420 --> 00:10:13,440 book, write it to get yourself immortalized, because you won't 114 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:17,820 be around forever. And it's helpful just to get this, these 115 00:10:17,820 --> 00:10:20,340 ideas solid, that way others can learn from them. 116 00:10:20,820 --> 00:10:23,120 Edward H. Munoz: Robert, you got it, you hit it on the, on the, 117 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:28,520 on the head. You're not going to be around forever, and you've 118 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:35,060 got to leave something behind. I have history as one of my one of 119 00:10:35,060 --> 00:10:43,480 my hobbies, and it's just so interesting to read what people 120 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:48,160 were. You know, people have changed, yes, but right at the 121 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:53,620 bottom of bit of your stomach, values and morals have not 122 00:10:53,620 --> 00:11:01,620 changed. Which which leads to different cultures. Different 123 00:11:01,620 --> 00:11:09,420 cultures treat those morals in different ways. And I stress the 124 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:14,040 part where I was a Mexican American in a in a corporate 125 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:24,260 world that was really dominated by Anglo males. And you know 126 00:11:24,260 --> 00:11:32,120 what, looking back, most of the racism that I'll call racism 127 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:37,220 that I ran into, yeah, so some of it was bad, but most of it 128 00:11:37,820 --> 00:11:45,820 was not, was not mean spirited. I'll give you an example. When I 129 00:11:45,820 --> 00:11:50,740 started working in Texas, I worked in a huge factory where 130 00:11:50,740 --> 00:11:54,880 we were making the plastic that I talked about Silicon was a 131 00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:58,720 mile long. I wasn't one end. There was another engineer on 132 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:03,600 the other end, and we used to trade data every day. We didn't 133 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:06,480 have cell phones. We didn't have the systems we have today. It 134 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:11,940 was all by phone. So I'd call him and say, Hey, Bill, what 135 00:12:11,940 --> 00:12:14,700 have you got? This is Ed Munoz. What have you got for me today? 136 00:12:14,700 --> 00:12:21,080 And would exchange data. So one day he happens to be in my end 137 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:26,180 of the plant. He hasn't met me yet, only by phone. He walks 138 00:12:26,180 --> 00:12:31,940 into my office. I was kind of a bullpen office. Several desks is 139 00:12:31,940 --> 00:12:40,900 Edmund here. Let's say Edmund. Edmund. Who? Edmund Yost, my 140 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:46,540 desk mate, that's not all. And I'm saying, what's going on? And 141 00:12:47,020 --> 00:12:52,300 he looks at me and says, Ed, you don't realize when you introduce 142 00:12:52,300 --> 00:12:56,920 yourself on the phone, when you say, this is Ed Munos, people 143 00:12:56,920 --> 00:13:02,280 hear Edmund Yost and Bill, who's still standing in the doorway. 144 00:13:02,940 --> 00:13:07,920 He looks at me, oh, gee, over the phone. I thought you were an 145 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:13,380 American, and I look at him. I said, Bill, I am an American. 146 00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:17,880 Oh, of course, of course. Sorry, sorry, it's just the way you 147 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:20,780 brought up, you know, just how we perceive people. 148 00:13:21,620 --> 00:13:24,680 Robert Plank: Yeah, that's a cute, funny story, and takes us 149 00:13:24,680 --> 00:13:28,520 right back. And that's why it's great to read a memoir like 150 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:31,940 that, right? Where we can kind of, like, experience the past as 151 00:13:31,940 --> 00:13:35,540 you have with, like, different time, and it's almost like an 152 00:13:35,540 --> 00:13:40,100 alien world, right? Like the the 70s, 80s. I mean, it's it used 153 00:13:40,100 --> 00:13:43,600 to feel like a few decades ago. Now it's like so long ago, and 154 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:47,140 then we can still get, like you said, there's the there's like 155 00:13:47,140 --> 00:13:50,020 the morals and the ethics and the lessons and the culture. 156 00:13:50,020 --> 00:13:53,140 There's some things that, even with everything else around us, 157 00:13:53,140 --> 00:13:57,040 like that technology changed so much. But then there's some, 158 00:13:57,040 --> 00:14:03,000 like universal humanity that has not changed and and you this 159 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:06,300 book, and what are you working on now? You see that you're in 160 00:14:06,300 --> 00:14:10,080 kind of more like the the retirement legacy, passing on, 161 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:14,760 the the message years, the kind of keeping the Parkinson's at 162 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:17,640 bay and staying physically fit. But what are you currently 163 00:14:17,700 --> 00:14:19,860 working on? What do you have to look forward to? 164 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:25,880 Edward H. Munoz: Well, I'll tell you, I've been busy just with 165 00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:28,760 the pandemic that we experienced a few years. A couple of years 166 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:36,800 ago, I was a member of I took up photography. I didn't take it 167 00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:41,500 up. I really devoted more time to it. I've been a photographer 168 00:14:41,500 --> 00:14:46,960 bug ever since I can remember as a young child. But I was a 169 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:51,640 member, or I am a member, of the artists of Palm Beach County in 170 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:56,320 Florida. When the pandemic hit, we thought that was the end of 171 00:14:56,320 --> 00:15:01,080 the world. The artists were didn't know what to do. Yeah, so 172 00:15:01,140 --> 00:15:09,120 I, I talked to them and told them, Well, look, what we need 173 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:16,500 to do is sit down and write a mission statement, a vision 174 00:15:16,500 --> 00:15:21,680 statement, a strategy, a plan on how we're going to survive this, 175 00:15:22,340 --> 00:15:25,520 and I can't do it alone. It's going to be a team effort 176 00:15:26,300 --> 00:15:30,980 anyway. Make a long story short, we formed an organization, a 177 00:15:30,980 --> 00:15:38,480 team, and put a strategy together. We had 50 to 70 178 00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:43,120 members, and we were losing them daily after we put the plan 179 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:51,700 together. Well, let's jump to today. The pandemic hit hardest 180 00:15:51,700 --> 00:16:03,780 that 19 2000 22,021 2025 we have over 250 members today. So we 181 00:16:03,780 --> 00:16:10,200 not only survived, we have flourished. So I've been part of 182 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:16,020 this artist community now, and as a photographer, I take part 183 00:16:16,020 --> 00:16:24,452 in their exhibits. You mentioned my website, it's blue.com it's 184 00:16:24,452 --> 00:16:30,632 really about photography. I've traveled a lot, visited a lot of 185 00:16:30,632 --> 00:16:34,352 places, and I've documented those places with my 186 00:16:34,352 --> 00:16:39,692 photographs, and so that's really what spent most of my 187 00:16:39,692 --> 00:16:41,920 time doing, and family. 188 00:16:43,780 --> 00:16:46,000 Robert Plank: I'm looking at the photographs. It's amazing. 189 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:51,520 Antarctica, China, Great Wall of China. Hawaii, coastal Maine. Is 190 00:16:51,700 --> 00:16:54,460 there any of these areas that you think is like the was the 191 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:57,580 most beautiful or most profound? Because sometimes you hear about 192 00:16:57,580 --> 00:17:01,320 this like you, you look out on the Grand Canyon or the polar 193 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:04,080 ice caps, and you're just like, forever changed. Is there any 194 00:17:04,320 --> 00:17:06,960 location on Earth that really took your breath away, 195 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:12,660 Edward H. Munoz: in a way they all did, but that's not really 196 00:17:12,660 --> 00:17:15,000 the answer you want. Is it because it doesn't 197 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:21,216 differentiate? They'll tell you how I differentiate it. I am 198 00:17:21,216 --> 00:17:28,056 most comfortable in Alaska. I don't know what it is. It's the 199 00:17:28,056 --> 00:17:35,136 fresh air, the density that, or lack of density of population or 200 00:17:35,136 --> 00:17:39,516 traffic, except in the summer, of course, but most of the time 201 00:17:40,176 --> 00:17:47,740 it's a place where there's no distractions. I love Alaska. The 202 00:17:47,740 --> 00:17:56,920 most impactful was Antarctica. I felt I wasn't another planet. In 203 00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:01,560 fact, the little storybook that I wrote on Antarctica is with 204 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:07,380 pictures. Antarctica is a continent without streets or 205 00:18:07,380 --> 00:18:13,980 highways, nothing, nothing's paved. The only streets, quote, 206 00:18:13,980 --> 00:18:19,620 unquote, belong to the penguins. They get in line and form little 207 00:18:19,620 --> 00:18:26,540 furrows that you follow. It's a place where, place of extremes, 208 00:18:27,380 --> 00:18:33,500 the coldest temperatures, are recorded in Antarctica, the 209 00:18:33,500 --> 00:18:41,080 highest winds, the lowest humidity. It's indeed, like 210 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:53,200 another planet, third place that struck me as so strange, but yet 211 00:18:53,260 --> 00:18:59,020 there was something in deep in me that said it's strange, but 212 00:19:01,420 --> 00:19:08,760 it's like part of my birth, part of my origin was Tanzania and 213 00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:15,300 the Serengeti you get off, and the first thing that hits you is 214 00:19:15,300 --> 00:19:23,540 The smell of coffee, the smell of plants, the musky smell of 215 00:19:23,540 --> 00:19:35,540 animals, earthy, primal, no skyscrapers, just man as You the 216 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:45,100 we visited, a Maasai village. They live like generations and 217 00:19:45,100 --> 00:19:50,500 generations of their of their kin have lived, but they're 218 00:19:50,500 --> 00:19:56,980 happy different world, right here in our own world. So those 219 00:19:56,980 --> 00:19:59,680 are the three places that really, really hit me. 220 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:02,940 Robert Plank: Yeah, I love your passion for this, and you're so 221 00:20:02,940 --> 00:20:06,780 right, we have all these little micro worlds that are all 222 00:20:06,780 --> 00:20:10,860 available to us, right, just a plane flight away to check out 223 00:20:10,860 --> 00:20:14,640 some of these places. And if we're if we have all these 224 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:17,520 commitments, obligations, excuses, reasons, we can't 225 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:20,040 travel, well, hey, we can do the next best thing and check out 226 00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:25,940 your photography of all of these places, at EDS, blue.com, and 227 00:20:26,120 --> 00:20:29,300 you've given us all sorts of little lessons here in our 228 00:20:29,300 --> 00:20:33,380 conversation Ed, there's like the project management aspect of 229 00:20:33,380 --> 00:20:36,620 things with your photography club, right? You think about, 230 00:20:36,620 --> 00:20:40,420 well, you figure out some, some goals, plans, meetings, people, 231 00:20:40,420 --> 00:20:45,040 assignments. You've talked to us about the culture and the value 232 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:49,480 of people and and go going out and building your career. You 233 00:20:49,480 --> 00:20:52,720 told us about sacrifice and family. We've jumped around. But 234 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:55,540 I want to make sure that we talk about you and your book and 235 00:20:55,540 --> 00:20:58,540 what's important to you, especially in these last few 236 00:20:58,540 --> 00:21:02,100 minutes. So do you think in our conversation, there might be a 237 00:21:02,820 --> 00:21:06,420 hidden question that I should be asking you. I just don't know to 238 00:21:06,420 --> 00:21:06,960 ask you. 239 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:12,480 Edward H. Munoz: Well, it would be, what was the most impactful 240 00:21:12,540 --> 00:21:19,920 event in my life, probably because I did have one that 241 00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:27,500 changed the course of my career, I think, and the course of my 242 00:21:27,500 --> 00:21:34,640 marriage and family. Along with it, when I married, I married a 243 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:39,680 girl from the same neighborhood in South Texas that I was from, 244 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:44,740 also Mexican American, not wonderful girl, by the way. We 245 00:21:44,740 --> 00:21:54,700 have remained friends and and my my wife, my current wife, knows 246 00:21:54,700 --> 00:22:02,220 this, and she has also a good relationship with her. But when 247 00:22:02,220 --> 00:22:06,240 I started in that long, large plant that I mentioned, you 248 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:11,760 know, mile long, I settled in pretty nicely. I was getting 249 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:16,500 comfortable, and everybody around me were the kind of 250 00:22:16,500 --> 00:22:22,580 people that did a good job, left what they did. Love to go home 251 00:22:22,580 --> 00:22:30,140 and grill and have a barbecue and drink beer, watch sports on 252 00:22:30,140 --> 00:22:38,360 TV, and I had a friend who he was married and had a kid just 253 00:22:38,360 --> 00:22:45,700 like like we did. So the two families were very close, and 254 00:22:45,700 --> 00:22:57,100 one day actually was the day that the Munich horror in the 255 00:22:57,100 --> 00:23:02,160 Olympics happened when terrorists assassinated, killed 256 00:23:02,580 --> 00:23:13,380 several Israeli sports people, my friend and I were going to 257 00:23:13,380 --> 00:23:21,740 work listening to The news on the horror. And as we stopped, 258 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:27,920 about to cross the busy highway into the plant, somehow, some 259 00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:32,840 way, when we got to the stop sign, I looked over at the 260 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:36,620 oncoming traffic and said, um, traffic's kind of heavy. It's 261 00:23:37,220 --> 00:23:40,660 going to take a while to find those, you know, a gap. So I 262 00:23:40,660 --> 00:23:46,780 settled back, and my friend was driving. All of a sudden, the 263 00:23:46,780 --> 00:23:50,320 car started to move across the highway, and I thought to 264 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:54,640 myself, what is what is he doing? And that's the last thing 265 00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:59,200 I remember. The next thing I remember. I was on the pavement. 266 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:07,080 I was very injured. 267 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:16,680 Everywhere. I blacked out. I came to again, this time in the 268 00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:19,260 in the ambulance that was taking me to the hospital, 269 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:25,880 and I heard the driver say, I'm taking one to the hospital. We 270 00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:30,500 need a coroner for the night for the other and I know my friend 271 00:24:30,500 --> 00:24:38,480 had died. Somehow that event, as I recuperated, I kept asking 272 00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:46,480 myself, why? Why Steve? Why not me? Why not both of us? Somehow 273 00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:53,320 that changed me. A few weeks later, after I returned to work, 274 00:24:53,980 --> 00:24:59,800 I went to my boss and said, I want a new assignment. Send me 275 00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:05,940 an. Anywhere. I can't stay here anymore. And that's when I had 276 00:25:05,940 --> 00:25:11,340 already done my my heroics on on helping them produce silicon 277 00:25:11,340 --> 00:25:15,540 they sent that's when they sent me to Germany, and I started to 278 00:25:15,540 --> 00:25:23,000 move Germany, here and there, and my wife was my current my 279 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:30,080 first wife said, I left Texas. I want to stay there. And I said, 280 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:32,300 I'm sorry, I can't. 281 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:41,980 So there I went, on a new direction. And in fact, I end 282 00:25:41,980 --> 00:25:42,460 the book 283 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:52,420 by saying that I love the movie Saving Private Ryan. And the 284 00:25:52,660 --> 00:26:00,780 movie has a scene where the aged old Private Ryan is visiting his 285 00:26:00,780 --> 00:26:08,640 captain's grave, and he's saying, I hope I was worth 286 00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:17,820 saving. I hope that I've lived a good life. And I'm thinking the 287 00:26:17,820 --> 00:26:27,320 same thing as I see my friend's face. So that's the personal 288 00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:31,340 part that I haven't told 289 00:26:33,500 --> 00:26:36,740 Robert Plank: I'm glad you did tell it. Yeah, you lived the 290 00:26:36,740 --> 00:26:41,440 life. You've seen things, many places, locations and dates, and 291 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:45,040 it's all in this book, challenges, triumphs and heroes, 292 00:26:45,100 --> 00:26:50,620 memoirs of my celines Odyssey that's on Amazon by Mr. Edward H 293 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:55,660 unios, and not Ed What did they say? You're they misheard your 294 00:26:55,660 --> 00:26:56,380 name as 295 00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:00,220 Edward H. Munoz: Edmunds. Oh, Edmund Yost, 296 00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:04,860 Robert Plank: yeah, so it's not Edmund Yost, it's Edmonds Munos, 297 00:27:04,860 --> 00:27:10,740 and you can also find his website at EDS blue.com to see 298 00:27:10,740 --> 00:27:15,720 all that photography. And there's so many galleries there. 299 00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:19,140 There's Yellowstone, there's St Augustine, the Danube River, 300 00:27:19,140 --> 00:27:22,100 Cancun. It's beautiful. There's many pictures, but we really 301 00:27:22,100 --> 00:27:25,280 want you to go and check out challenges, triumphs and heroes, 302 00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:29,480 memoirs of my celines Odyssey. But before I let you go, Mr. 303 00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:34,400 Edward Munoz, it's time to ask you about a fun or interesting 304 00:27:34,460 --> 00:27:38,420 quote or lesson that has served you in life or in business. So 305 00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:41,260 what comes to mind as far as a fun or interesting quote or 306 00:27:41,260 --> 00:27:41,680 lesson. 307 00:27:43,119 --> 00:27:48,459 Edward H. Munoz: A quote or lesson, okay, when I was in 308 00:27:48,459 --> 00:27:57,219 Mexico, one of my assignments was to be Director General cell 309 00:27:57,219 --> 00:28:05,219 Mex in Mexico, the largest chemical company in Mexico. And 310 00:28:05,219 --> 00:28:09,059 my two shareholders, big shareholders were Carlos Slim, 311 00:28:09,179 --> 00:28:13,859 who's one of the big billionaires on this planet, and 312 00:28:13,859 --> 00:28:20,099 Isaac Saba, who's not far behind. And when I got there, 313 00:28:20,939 --> 00:28:25,159 the staff, I recognize the staff was saying, Mr. Saba wants this. 314 00:28:25,159 --> 00:28:30,139 Mr. Saba wants that. My message to them was, listen, you don't 315 00:28:30,139 --> 00:28:39,559 work for Mr. Saba. You report to me. So quietly, one staff member 316 00:28:40,339 --> 00:28:44,675 became a good friend of mine said, and if you repeat those 317 00:28:44,675 --> 00:28:48,635 kind of things, you're going to get fired. I said, You know 318 00:28:48,635 --> 00:28:54,395 what? It won't be the first time that that I hear that, but it's 319 00:28:54,395 --> 00:29:00,479 this is what I always think when I hear I might get fired. You 320 00:29:00,479 --> 00:29:09,059 know, I was looking for a job when I got here. So, well, that 321 00:29:09,059 --> 00:29:10,559 was my Yeah. 322 00:29:13,980 --> 00:29:18,060 Robert Plank: Anyway, yeah, that was one of many adventures that 323 00:29:18,060 --> 00:29:21,920 we can find out about in the book, challenges, triumphs and 324 00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:26,720 heroes, memoirs of my Celanese Odyssey. Edward H Munoz, it's 325 00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:29,240 been such a blast speaking with you. Thank you for sharing. 326 00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:34,280 Edward H. Munoz: Well, thank you, Robert, for having me and 327 00:29:35,300 --> 00:29:40,960 listening. You're a good listener. That's you're a good 328 00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:47,800 listener. That's very important. You humble me, sir. All right.