Family, Leadership, and Playing The Long Game | Mario Lopez

What if the secret to long-term success isn't working harder, but staying true to who you are? 

In Part Two of our conversation, Mario Lopez shares why the strongest careers are built on strong values. From family and leadership to authenticity and relationships, he explains how playing the long game has shaped both his personal life and professional success. 

Mario Lopez is an actor, television host, entrepreneur, and bestselling author whose career has spanned more than 40 years. Best known for his role as A.C. Slater on Saved by the Bell, Mario has become one of entertainment's most enduring personalities through his work as a television host, producer, radio personality, and entrepreneur. 

In Part Two, the conversation shifts from career to character. Mario shares how meaningful relationships have created unexpected opportunities throughout his career, why his wife has been the anchor behind his success, and how leading by example has shaped the way he parents and builds teams. He also discusses protecting your personal brand by saying "no" to opportunities that don't align with your values, surrounding yourself with the right people, and why authenticity, not trends, is the key to lasting influence. 

Key Points 

• Why relationships, humility, and a strong reputation often create the greatest opportunities. 
• How family, leadership, and surrounding yourself with the right people provide the foundation for long-term success. 
• Why authenticity, consistency, and playing the long game will always outlast chasing the latest trend. 

Quote from the Episode 

"The audience is smart. They respond to authenticity. They can tell when someone's phony and someone's not." — Mario Lopez 

Resources & Links 

Mario Lopez
Website: https://www.mariolopez.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariolopez 

If this conversation encouraged you to think differently about leadership, relationships, and building a life of lasting impact, subscribe to The Entrepreneur's Studio and leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Then share this episode with a leader, entrepreneur, or friend who could benefit from Mario's reminder that the strongest brands—and the strongest lives—are built by staying true to who you are. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:21

When trying to figure out your brand, I think you need to figure out who you are as an individual first. Stay true to that, be consistent with that. And I think over time that will bode well as opposed to constantly trying to keep up with the trend.

Chris Allen 0:40

Welcome back to the Entrepreneur Studio Podcast. This is part two of our conversation with actor, television host, and entrepreneur Mario Lopez. In last week's episode, Mario shared his journey from child to actor to building a career that has lasted more than four decades. He talked about the challenges of reinventing himself after the success of Save by the Bell and how he intentionally built a personal brand that could stand the test of time. In today's conversation, we shift from career to character. Mario shares the values that have anchored both his personal life and his professional success. And he shares why discipline starts at home and why saying no to opportunities that don't align with your values is often just as important as saying yes to the right ones. I'm Chris Allen, and this is the Entrepreneur Studio Podcast helping you run and grow a better business.

SPEAKER_00 1:51

Well, I think when something's not there, again, like uh you you sort of have to pivot and be real with yourself and what you're good at or gravitate towards or people in your life. I I'm big on relationships. I really you you don't necessarily have to be the smartest person in the world. Um, but I think if you're a hard worker, again, disciplined consistent, you show up, you make good relationships, you're polite, you're just a uh a nice person. I really do feel it goes a long way. And when you meet a lot of people, those relationships sort of present opportunities too that maybe you wouldn't have considered before. And that happened with radio, that happened on Broadway, that happened with hosting initially, happened when I call fights now for uh because I've had such the background for um Netflix. Uh I'm gonna be doing the big Tyson Fury, the heavily championship, I just did the Canelo Crawford. So I those are areas that I never would have thought that I've gotten, but it came through relationships, relationships. People that I've met people that said, Hey, you know, have you considered this or would you be interested? And had I not kind of struck up the uh those relationships, I don't think uh those opportunities would have ever presented itself, or nor would I've ever considered it. So when they say it's kind of like who you know, it doesn't necessarily mean who's high up on the ladder, but I just think the more people you know, you leave a good impression, you're authentic, you're nice, um, I think it does go a long way.

Chris Allen 3:18

That's awesome. How do you think about actually maybe this is a different way to ask it? What stresses you out?

SPEAKER_00 3:24

I get stressed out every day, but not not uh because I'm always like I've got like guarded optimism. I'm still that kid from Chula Vista that didn't really grow up with much. And I feel when people start making money, they can go one of two ways. They can be very flashy and and and kind of a show off with it, or they can be like, oh, I better save it because I know everything can end like this, and and uh like a rainy day. I'm always have a rainy day sort of sort of attitude. I don't know if my my cause my old man's sort of like that, so it just kind of rubbed off, but that's why I've always maintained still a hustler mentality. I've never really been one to kind of and sort of rest on my laurels, and um, and I don't wanna I don't wanna retire. I mean, I'm about to be 53, and I don't um I don't want to have any plans to to to want to slow down. I want to be like Dick Clark, be there for the kid, you know. You know, I think a person has to have him, especially a man has to have a reason to wake up and do stuff. Plus, I got three kids that are in uh Catholic school. I guess pricey. So oh, but but I I here's the big difference though, in all seriousness, I love what I do and I love the space. So um it doesn't feel like work and and I'm blessed enough to be able to continue to do stuff here, but I'm never too um in setting my ways to where I wouldn't consider something else.

Chris Allen 4:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:48

Because I did all those different things, even now, like at this point in my career, I'd I'd be still open to considering different things in pivoting yet again.

Chris Allen 4:55

Well, I mean, and open-minded the relationships plus open-mindedness is what uh I think really gave you the I can see an opportunity here, I can see how it fits. So I I want to talk about uh, you know, managing your brand here in just a second, but I just want to go back to how you met your wife at uh in on Broadway. Can you just tell us what happened?

SPEAKER_00 5:14

So one of the things I always wanted to do is uh be on a Broadway show, and it was sort of like a big bucket list thing, and and um had the opportunity for six months to do a show called The Chorus Line. Somebody here told me they saw me on it, right? Yeah, that did he said he saw me. He said I was all right that night. So thanks. So I was thank you. So I was there for six months, and um the first four months, um, I had gotten out of a relationship maybe about I don't know, nine months prior. So I was kind of having fun and you know going out and stuff, and it's eight shows a week, and it's it's it's a lot of work. But I just kind of got tired. I was at that point in my life where I just kind of got tired of just kind of you know partying and having fun right there. Just kind of just kind of hang whatever. And the last two months of the show, my wife had come uh to be a part of it. She was coming off of another uh Broadway show called Crybaby. She had done the show before, but she just went to go left and did that. So she was there, and I see this like cute little can girl on the side of the stage. And uh I kind of tried to talk to her and she wasn't really kind of feeling me. And then uh I was like, just to be nice, and then I was like, okay, whatever. And then we obviously we kept seeing each other, and and um she still wasn't really kind of giving me the time of day. And then I thought, man, uh she's she's tough. And then and finally, you know, we had a little conversation, and um she succumbed to my pressure. She said, I like to think my charm, but my pressure, and uh she said she'd go out with me, and then she brought her friend. Um, and then finally I got uh a chance to go out with her uh alone and and uh and we hit it off, and then we were just kind of we were hanging out every day. But it was again, it was only like at this point, about a month left. So I said, She lives in New York, I live in LA. I'm not gonna, there's no way this is gonna, I'm gonna just enjoy our time while I'm here and you know we'll have fun. And then who knows if I'm here and she's in LA, maybe we we'll meet up again. So I didn't think anything of it. But at the time, so we said we went our separate ways when the show, when the run ended. At the time, there was Skype. Remember Skype? There wasn't uh FaceTime or anything like that, and that kind of saved because I wasn't I wasn't trying to maintain the relationship, but I started to miss her, and uh, we Skyped and she'd come out. It got to the point where I'd fly her out um every couple weeks and stuff, and she didn't like the show she was doing. She went to go do the Little Mermaid. She's like, I don't want to play a fish anymore, I'm not having fun. Um, and it was summertime. So I said, Hey, listen, and I was really missing her at this point. And I said, Here's the deal I said, you're not happy with your show. You say you're thinking about quitting anyway. It's summer. I said, Let me take care of your apartment for the next three months. Come hang out in the summer for LA. If at any point you're not happy or you think I'm crazy, whatever, just go back and no harm, no thought, right? So she came out, and then the couple months ended. And she I said, I don't want you to leave. You want to leave? She's like, I don't want to leave either. Cut two, married now. Yeah, you know, been together like almost 20 years, three kids, three dogs. And it just sort of happened. Yeah, it just sort of like I wasn't, I was like, I woke up and it was like, Oh my god, I'm married with three kids, right? But she's awesome, she's awesome. And honestly, my life even went to a whole nother level and got better once um she came into it and I got married. I think when a man has um like an anchor like that really grounds him in in something to to um put things in perspective, um he uh can really focus on career all the in and and anything else in life that he wants to accomplish. Once that's sort of part of my life, at least for me, when that kind of got handled and settled, I had more time, energy, and focus on on career and other things that that I wanted to do. So I really do kind of credit her a lot for um allowing me to or me focusing on on everything else and taking it to the next level.

Chris Allen 9:08

Yeah, but think about it, like the the Hollywood space that you're in, 20 years isn't that a very common thing.

SPEAKER_00 9:15

No, that's like 50 years in Chicago. Yeah, yeah. And not to be and not to be like goofy or anything, but better than ever. Jesus Christ, better than ever. So yeah, that's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah, try to squeeze one more kid. She didn't want to let it. She was like, nope. I was like, nope. She said, not with me though. You got another one, not with me. I said, All right. What are you saying?

Chris Allen 9:41

Yeah. All right. Well, that was awesome. Thank you for that. Thank you for the lessons. Sometimes I get to ask the curious questions, you know what I mean? So, you know, I was I was glad that you you answered that one. And I would say uh similar, right? It's an accelerant when you have somebody that can really look you in the eyes and hold you accountable and challenge you and things like that. It's a huge deal. Yeah, absolutely. Well, you know, one of the things that you've done really, really well is like, you know, you were talking a second ago about like, well, this is the stuff that I put my name on. You don't do that willy-nilly. You know what I mean? There's a curation thing, and I love the anchor of the framework that you with the four Fs about how you're like, okay, well, this is how I make a decision. But tell us some of the stuff you've said no to that would not have been very Mario Lopez of the brands.

SPEAKER_00 10:22

Well, it's stuff that didn't fall into those uh four F uh buckets, but like when the cannabis space sort of started coming into, you know, I just didn't want to sort of kind of like and there's nothing wrong with it, obviously. Uh I know it's legal a lot of people.

Chris Allen 10:34

They're like you're from Chula Vista.

SPEAKER_00 10:35

Pardon me? They're like, You're from Chula Vista. Yeah. You know, it doesn't have medicinal benefits. I was just okay. It was just not really, yeah, yeah, it's just not, you know, it's not my thing. Just off the top of my head, I just remember that was one. And there was other um sort of gambling stuff, and so you know, again, not there's anything wrong with it. And I've been to Vegas and I go, I just didn't want to kind of just didn't really feel like it was my brand and what else? Stuff like other racy kind of, you know, stuff that maybe I wasn't um just sort of feeling. Well, yeah, which is again, it just wasn't I gotta be able to. I always think, am I gonna be able to um be on talk show or do a podcast and be able to talk about it from an organic place in something that I can relate to? And if I can't, then I'm not gonna do it.

Chris Allen 11:17

Yeah, yeah. You know, that's really good.

SPEAKER_00 11:19

Well, one of the things like I can tell I talked about the wipes, easy, right?

Chris Allen 11:22

I know. Yeah, you know, yeah. Talked about that one too, easy almost. It's the best seller. I'm gonna look you up. I gave you a shirt. You know what I mean? Right, that's right. So we're we're at uh this is the the world that we're in, right? We're at an HR conference. Um, we do the the HR software and all these kinds of things. And I think one of the things we wake up and think everybody uh think about every day is building teams. And you've had to do the same thing because like, you know, we've talked a lot about like you know, your choices and the team uh family that you've put around you and and the family thing being huge. But like you've had to build a team and the relationships being so powerful. Talk to us about how you think about building teams that can really carry the brand or how how you work with teams, you know.

SPEAKER_00 12:18

No, it's it's incredibly important. No, no one um has any sort of level of success uh alone. I don't care who they are. You had to have people that you rely on that helped you, that that you can count on and that are supportive. Um, aside from having that great foundation at home, that that really helped me um sort of settle and focus. My my outside team, whether that was my um uh manager or or or the agent who I've had now for 20-something years. Yeah. So even the friends that you keep around you too, um I I've you know, as I've gotten older, my circle has gotten a little smaller. Um just because you you don't have time for any sort of uh nonsense and um I know what I want and I know how I'm focused, and either they're they're gonna be with me and to help help me stay on that path, and you don't want any sort of uh uh uh distractions and and you sort of start to recognize that as you as you get older. And I think you have to align yourself with people who are also like-minded, who are also goal-oriented, who also sort of want the same things out of life. It doesn't necessarily have to be in the same entertainment space or what have you, but just again, are ambitious, are motivated, are also disciplined, and I think that really does help. You know, you hear that old expression, show me that uh your friends are and show me you really are and there's a lot of truth, uh truth to that. So, you know, I've I've been uh blessed with not just uh a great family, but also some good friends that that have been there. And and I do have some new friends too that have come in that are close, but for some reason I'm got put them in my life and they just sort of clicked and and resonated, and but they've also been very uh uh beneficial just all the way around.

Chris Allen 13:55

Yeah, yeah. Well, what's kind of like uh whether it's a maybe a book or a mentor or another idea that you have, what's sort of like uh uh key piece of it could be advice or like a phrase that you live by or something like that that's really become a part of you that you learn from somewhere else.

SPEAKER_00 14:11

I've always just my sort of mantra um is you know, I try to work hard, stay focused, do the right thing, and I feel the right things will happen for me. And I sort of surrender uh to that. You don't want to be too controlling, control everything. You gotta sort of be open to to to to change because it's inevitable. So it will come. Um for example, uh NBC just got rid of their whole syndication uh department and stuff in my show that I've done there. Oh my gosh, from extra to Access Hollywood 18 years now, it's gonna they're gonna the whole department's gonna be gone. But I've already got like I'm doing a new show uh coincidentally with my wife on Lifetime called The Balancing Act. Wow. Um I'm but right now we're figuring out some other uh stuff and which way we're gonna go and and the podcast space now is is uh having a lot of visual mediums and um iHeart approaching me about doing something with Netflix with them. So I'm trying to figure out the other, you know. So again, I'm always you always kinda sort of evolving and and pivoting. Um and you have to be sort of like water and just kind of and just kind of uh flow with it. So uh, you know, maintaining that uh that sort of attitude I think is key.

Chris Allen 15:24

Yeah, it's good. What is uh kind of the key to managing public versus private life for you?

SPEAKER_00 15:31

I mean, for me, I what you see is what you get. Like I'm this is this is who I am, and I think once you're that's one of the reasons I think I've been able to kind of hang out for 40 some odd years now in this business is I think I've always been pretty true. That same kid from True La Vista, and I think the audience, they're smart and they respond to authenticity. And they can tell when someone's phony and and someone's not like themselves, and so um I think being true to who you are and and uh not changing, being real, being disciplined and consistent, that I think is incredibly valuable for your for your brand um and uh and sustaining.

Chris Allen 16:13

That's good. Well, I you know, we've we've talked about a lot of stuff. I had a question here, but I'm gonna deviate. Okay. Um, what is uh the most impactful thing that you said to your kids that they were like, thanks for telling me that a while later? Well, they're still small. My kids, you know, we're talking six. Um, it could be about toys. They were like, Damn.

SPEAKER_00 16:39

You know, I I uh I one of my biggest my kids are growing up very different from how I did. And one of my biggest uh concerns, I don't say fears, but concerns was like I don't want spoiled kids. I don't want spoiled kids, I don't want brats. So I made sure that I'm extra sort of tough on them as far as uh uh when it comes to discipline. So you limit Christmas. So I mean, you know, they're not Christmas. The best compliment I get all the time is that it makes me feel so good. Is what you know, Mario kids are so nice, they're so polite, they're so sweet, and they really are. They're really polite and they're good kids. And I think I I try to lead by example. They see me with a strong work ethic, they see me get up early every morning, they see um they're not with me, they see me go to math on Sundays, they see me, and so I think showing them by example um they they know that you know there's no laziness allowed at Casa Lopez. Yeah, and uh um and they see how I treat people. So and I think that's the best thing you can do for your kids. Showing people uh you're treating them with respect, you're being nice, and I always tell them what's the most important words, and I always please, thank you, you're welcome, excuse me. So they repeat it back to me. So um, you know, I I I feel really uh proud to see and my wife's been uh great about that too, and we're united in that front. Um so the the the the kids I talk about the kids for a second, so now like my son who's doing this movie, he's the only one of my three kids that wanted to kind of get into this business, which I try uh I strongly try to discourage knowing how tough it is. And he said, Ah, but I really want to do it, Dad. And this I was like, All right, you want to do it? Okay, then start taking classes, start taking classes, show me you want to do it, start doing little plays. This and that I was like, okay. And then he started doing it, he was he was doing well. Okay, let's get an agent if you want to do that. He met with them and he was very personable. Cut two. Now he's done. I think he's doing like his fourth movie. He just did a little thing with um Kathy Bates and uh um uh Matt Lock. And he's on this latest season, which has an air gate of the Lincoln Lawyer. He's doing the movie right now in Buffalo and he just flew back today to go back to LA to do the Lincoln lawyer, and he's got to fly back. So he's doing great. What? Uh he's doing, I was like, look at this guy, this guy, I can't believe so. He's doing great. And my daughter, who actually I thought initially might want to be into it, she doesn't like to be in front of the camera so much, but she's like a little Paul Abdul. She's all of a sudden this great little choreographer, and she's like choreographing kids and yet's and bar mitzvahs and doing all the stuff for school dances, doesn't it, you know? And uh um she's loving that and performing. And my youngest, I see he's he's a character, he's a little menace. I'm just gonna try to keep him out of prison. Um, but uh, and all the kids are very pretty athletic and stuff, so but he's like doing really well in his kickboxing and wrestling and all this stuff. So the kid's schedule now is is like a full-time job for us, and it's it's a whole, you know, you're basically an Uber, and you know, and it's it's a tough kind of uh keeping up with them. But yeah, I'm constantly on them about um how important it is to uh and I always stress, of course, school comes first. But and if you want to do these activities and stuff, you gotta you know obviously maintain your grades, and and that's a tough balance with all their activities too. But I'm kind of taking a page out of my parents' book and keeping them busy every day, too. Yeah, yeah.

Chris Allen 19:54

I mean, that you said they're six and they're doing all that.

SPEAKER_00 19:57

Well, the six-year-old does it every day. He has something after school, and even in summertime, he's uh he's going like these little summer school classes and he's got little um wrestling camps, and he's got there's there's my son from the movie is going to Ohio State for this wrestling camp after that. So yeah, so they're all they're busy. Yeah, that's incredible.

Chris Allen 20:14

Well, one of the things that I just wanted to ask is kind of like to close us out is you know, there are people who could be stuck in one version of themselves, right? What would be something you could say to an entrepreneur or somebody in a leadership role or any of us that are that we feel stuck in one version of ourselves? Something you've been able to do is break out of that. What would what advice would you give us to figure out how to break out of that one version?

SPEAKER_00 20:38

I think you should be open to whatever is is offered to you and actually seek it and search it. You may be opening yourself to a whole new uh world. Again, I try to meet as many different people as I can in many different walks of life. I love hearing about new perspectives. I love just kind of having a healthy dialogue. Unfortunately, it seems like we can't do that on social media. So you should try to do that in real life with uh with these people. And again, I I feel that these opportunities will present yourself. And I think when asking to or when trying to figure out your brand, I think you need to figure out who you are as an individual first, stay true to that, stay be consistent um with that. And I think through time, you got to play the long game. And I think over time that will uh bode well as opposed to constantly trying to uh um keep up with the trend. I've never tried to want to keep up with a trend or be like the hottest thing, you know, like singers try to do all that. I've tried to be consistent on uh I know who I am, I'm gonna stay that way. You can like me or not, but at least you can't say that I was phony or like that um I I I was never, he used to be one way, he used to be the same. You know, he was he's he's consistent. And I think familiarity brings comfort. So if you stay consistent in shoe who you are, people are gonna respond to you and they're gonna like you because the world's always changing. And if you can be somewhat of a consistency in their life, it's gonna benefit you, both financially and just in life. Yeah, I think so. Man, that's awesome.

Chris Allen 22:08

Let's give AC Slater a big round of applause. Hey, thanks for coming. Oh, you've got it. Oh, we're done. All right. Thank you for listening to today's show. If you enjoyed this conversation, be sure to subscribe to the podcast and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. We'll see you next time.