David Quintanilla is a lecturer of Business Law & Ethics at The University of Texas and co-owner of Cavanaugh Quintanilla PLLC. “Mr. Q” has served as a VP of Legal & Finance in the healthcare industry, CFO of his family’s business in the restaurant industry, as well as having worked within the non-profit space. He received his BA in Government at UT, his law degree from St. Mary’s University, and his Masters in Public Policy & Philosophy from the London School of Economics. Above all, Mr. Q is not only a friend of the show but an amazing person dedicated to making the world a better place.
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TRANSCRIPT:
0:00- 1:09 Intro
1:09 Mr. Q being Alec’s first and only Latino professor in college — what does that say about where we need to go as a country, state, community?
3:03 Mr. Q’s legal expertise in helping people create businesses and plan estates; Moving from working with the family business to discovering his passion for teaching
8:19 What’s important to know for someone trying to find what their meant to do?
15:38 Find what you’re good at & enjoy, makes you money, and what makes the world a better place — imagine a Venn diagram
16:16 The daunting decision 18 year olds are tasked with — what do I want to do with my studies and my life
18:10 Is there a problem with the education system steering kids towards specializing and pigeon-holing themselves into a specific career path as early as age 12?
24:04 The utility and power of seeing different perspectives and being empathetic towards multiple
25:28 The world isn’t just black and white — there’s plenty of grey area. Why it’s important to ask what’s around the corner
28:29 The importance of unity as human beings despite differences in perspectives and belief systems
30:15 The toughest things Mr. Q teaches with regards to ethics and morality in his business law teachings
38:51 The effects of GroupThink, Conformity Bias, and Self-Confirmation Bias
44:23 The 50s-70s responding to hippie culture by saying “no everything exists within this strict box”; Boxed in ideology and the flaws of this way of thinking
45:40 Gone Baby Gone’s ethical dilemma: 2 tough decisions making us question where we draw the line in society on certain issues and who gets to make those choices
52:00 The slippery slope of making bad choices = “Incrementalism”
53:00 Alec’s journey of walking through the perspective of pessimism/ baggage and coming back to his belief in resiliency and optimism, how putting his ideology through the gauntlet yielded more confidence in his original belief than prior
58:21 What is law school really like
1:09:12 Dallas vs Austin
1:12:35 Characteristics of a good lawyer
1:14:35 Mr. Q’s 3 biggest motivators in life
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Recorded in January 2021