Michael Bonilla

Believe it or not this section is always the hardest for me to write about. I really don’t enjoy talking about myself. I enjoy having people talk about themselves. What do people want to know about an author? Background? Experiences? Belief systems? I enjoy breaking things and putting them back together. What kind of person am I? What kind of person do I want to represent? Let me tell you a brief story that tells you what kind of person I am. Back in the early 90’s I was sketching out my design for a boxcar derby car for boy scouts. This was my first race and I couldn’t think of the type of car I wanted to build. To say the least there was zero inspiration. I scribbled out some designs on this piece of paper and eventually after running out of paper went into the den to find more paper. I stopped for a second and glanced over by the window. After staring out of the window for a second (maybe several minutes) I saw my father as he was pulling into the driveway with his 1990 White Dodge diesel, you could hear it for miles. Then it hit me. What if I used his truck as the design? I re-read the instructions and rules for the derby. The boxcar kit came in a small cardboard box with a block of wood we could use to make our cars. The instructions read as follows: • Must have 4 wheels • Must weigh X LBs, no more and no less. • Must be X inches long by X Inches wide. So, that being said. Nowhere in the rules/instructions did it specifically say “this boxcar must be a car”. So, for the first time in the boxcar derby history. Michael Bonilla entered a truck. To which everyone started laughing. It was a small wooded version of a 1990’s Dodge Ram 2500. With a big Pepsi decal on the driver side door. So, we called it the Pepsi truck. I placed my ‘car’ on the race line for the first race and hoped for the best. The judges looked at it. It met the weight requirements, the size requirements and had the appropriate amount of wheels. So, we raced and I waited with anticipation for the results. As I was short I couldn’t even see the race. All I heard was, “Pepsi truck 1st place.” After all 5 races that day I kept hearing those same words over and over again. After sweeping that year’s event. The following year I decided to change it up and make a replica of the Mach 5 Speed Racer Car, in which I came in third place. That next year every ‘car’ was a truck, besides mine. Don’t bend the rules, don’t break the rules, test the rules and test the boundaries of the game you are given. Look for loopholes and exploits in the system. I’m unsure what kind of insight that might have provided. Nevertheless, this book is the longest, most through and probably well thought out I have written to date. I’m an author, a consultant, a former agency owner, an avid golfer, a husband and most importantly someone who enjoys giving back through teaching.