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Cristian Acero understands the litany of outside factors outside of people’s control. There are so many issues we face that are not of our own making. But there are other battles we wage that are born inside of us. Acero wants to inspire those fighting their own struggles to continue to push on, to persevere, and to keep trusting in their abilities.
Acero, director of development and construction at AutoNation, is candid about his own struggles with anxiety, communication, and the challenges of being an immigrant in the US.
Born and raised in Colombia, Acero grew up the son of a mechanical engineer father who sparked his early interest in engineering, which would then give way to more hands-on construction work. He’d eventually move to the US to pursue his passion.
Despite a solid technical background, Acero quickly learned that raw technical skills weren’t going to guarantee success. Acero took a class to learn AutoCAD, a program for drafting. It was a skill he wanted to build out, especially since he was unaccustomed to the US Customary System, having grown up using the Metric System. Coincidentally, an employer reached out to Acero’s community college seeking a draftsperson.
“I hardly spoke a word of English, but I wanted the job so badly,” the director remembers. “He asked me if I could design this project. I wasn’t sure that I could, but I committed to it. I would learn whatever I had to make it happen.”
Acero’s first job was anything but typical. He found himself babysitting his boss’s kids on the weekend, picking up trash, and taking messages despite not understanding anything that was being said on the phone.
But Acero would simply outwork everyone. He remembers a Christmas Eve when he was the only one at the office, working on plans for a client that no one else in the business wanted to deal with. Plans were always reconfigured, and the client was never satisfied. That client showed up with a burrito for Acero, a rare token of affection from a tough client. It meant a lot to Acero.
“I’m never the smartest guy in the room,” Acero says, “but I have thick skin. And I will work until I figure something out. The Lord has provided me with the strength to push through the challenges that come with that, and for that, I’m grateful.”
Those struggles include a continually inflating anxiety for Acero, because no matter how much he studied and learned, his English was taking too long to learn. While pursuing his master’s degree in construction management (he also has a master’s in project management from Cornell), it wasn’t the work, but the presentation that caused Acero panic. Every time he opened his mouth to speak English, he was thoroughly convinced he was going to embarrass himself.
The director has thought long and hard about why the language was so hard for him to learn. He remembers trying to take music lessons and multiple instructors politely giving up on him.
“My ear just isn’t very good,” Acero says. “I can dance, but you don’t want to hear me sing.”
But still, there’s a reason Acero has competed in Ironman competitions. He just won’t give up. In coming to AutoNation, Acero has spent nine years managing projects nationwide, coordinating teams, handling technical details, stakeholder relationships, and optimizing processes to deliver on schedule and on budget. It’s not always easy—that is, the communication piece—but he shows up every day committed to success and backed by a team that believes in the director.
Moving to the owner’s rep side of the business wasn’t a move Acero took lightly. Acero said those in the corporate world always cut such an intimidating and professional figure. He was always the man in the field making things happen, able to converse with construction workers in the Miami area who tended to speak Spanish. There would be far less of that field work in coming to AutoNation.
“What I really hope people understand is that if you keep showing up, if you keep doing the right thing, and you put your trust in God, you’re going to be okay,” Acero explains. “You just have to care about what you do and do your best. Being an immigrant who doesn’t natively speak English is difficult. It’s something I struggle with every day, but I keep showing up.”
A Rom-Com-Level Meeting
Sometimes parental scheming works out okay, at least it did for Cristian Acero. When his wife, Leah, was preparing to move to the US, her parents sneakily set up a dating profile for their daughter. They connected with a few potential matches and then turned the account over to their daughter, who was understandably horror-stricken at the prospect.
And yet, in the midst of it all, Acero and his wife would go on their first date and spend eight hours talking. They married a year and a half later, and their family grew shortly after that.
