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The book From Fighter to Entrepreneur by Martín Ayanegui
"My philosophy is that what people say or think about me is none of my business. I am who I am and I do what I do. I expect nothing and accept everything. And it makes life much easier." (Martín Ayanegui)
A book about someone’s life. A book that tells the life and work of Martín Ayanegui? A book that recounts the journey of the owner of HomeOfficeHouston? This book, From Fighter to Entrepreneur, is all that and much more. It not only narrates the difficult steps the protagonist took to become who he is today, but also, in an act of honesty and emotional strength, Martín addresses death, terminal illnesses, drugs, and the many times he faced life alone. Like an existential cycle, Ayanegui also shares advice about business and about living well.
A journey that begins at a very young age, a book of personal growth that motivates young people and anyone who, no matter how many times they stumble, must get back up. A story based on everything he had to endure to become someone in life, a book that offers guidance for finding a better path, achieving peace, and gaining mental and financial stability. Martín Ayanegui shares all his achievements and setbacks, the hard moments in life that make you stronger, and the importance of never giving up.
From Fighter to Entrepreneur is a story of struggle, of a unique person with many childhood dreams who did everything possible to fulfill them, even when everything seemed against him. It offers advice to improve your quality of life, tells the story of a Mexican who emigrated to the United States as a child, knowing no one, yet determined to become someone, while never forgetting his roots. It’s a compelling story that makes you understand why this book is called From Fighter to Entrepreneur—and shows that you, too, can be that Fighter.
PROLOGUE
Reading the book that tells the life of Martín Ayanegui is, without a doubt, finding his voice to reflect on what has happened to him over these 52 years of life. A path that explains why that country and not another, why to build a family very different from his own, why to earn money to secure a future that goes beyond mere predictions.
This work is precise and, at the same time, painful. On one hand, it shows the satisfactions he has achieved in his life, but on the other, it is bitter, reflecting on losses that we always deem undeserved and unexpected.
I don’t know if it was a movie or a book, but I remember something I learned as a child that stayed with me forever: What would happen if you made a decision opposite to the one you took? Martín sometimes cannot explain what life would have been like if he had taken different paths, but he senses it. He knows it. He feels it.
Not taking drugs, not spending nights in clubs, buying a Versace shirt with a credit card he paid off over a long time, buying a limousine with his brother—these are all stories, and at the same time, decisions that shaped Martín’s life and set the countless gestures and signs that would design his way of living and working.
I met Martín last year. His instinct told him he needed a book—a written work that would put things in the desired place, meaning: I am this, this is my story, I have reached this point, and simultaneously, a motivational text for young people.
At that time, he was very sensitive due to the death of his nephew, a young man no older than 20, whose life ended at the hands of criminals in Tepito. That story evokes a cry that reveals the injustice of a life cut short so carelessly and with indifference.
Recently, I watched the new series about the Lyle and Erik Menéndez case, and one thing that struck me was Lyle’s great indifference—a young man who cannot cry, cannot laugh, cannot communicate. Life for him seemed like a misguided fiction. He sees what does not exist.
In contrast, this book is a hymn to life. It reflects the countless people who had an impact on Martín’s existence, especially in Houston, United States, but it also shows Mexico City in the ’70s, Chicago in the ’80s, and the adventures that gradually built the steps to reach the top.
Martín Ayanegui knew each step through strict willpower and an intact motivational drive: the peak would be what it is today. A reality he always envisioned and still sees now. A wife, Gabi, Guatemalan and Latina like him, two daughters, Mia and Emma, the light of his eyes, a company that allows him to create art, even as he complains about the little time he has for painting and sculpture.
Everything in his life came together like a massive puzzle, where decision and love of life provided the broad perspective for a Mexican in the United States to walk without stumbling. And if he stumbles, he rises and keeps walking.
—Mónica Maristain
 Martin Ayanegui & Family living the moment |  Business minds — Tilman Fertitta and Martin Ayanegui in Billion Dollar Buyer Times. |  Business above the clouds — Martin Ayanegui, Home Office Houston. |  Angelica Maria, Angelica Vale, Gabriela Samayoa and Martin Ayanegui featured on CNBC Million Dollar Buyer - at The Grammy Awards |  El Gordo Raul De Molina and Designer Martin Ayanegui featured on CNBCs Billion Dollar Buyer ready for the Grammys |
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 Governor Rick Perry and Lt. Governor David Dewhurst with Gaby and Designer Martin Ayanegui — a moment honoring leadership, and Texas pride |  Designer Martin Ayanegui with his daughters and MLB star George Springer — moments that inspire both family and legacy. |  When design meets determination — Martin Ayanegui with the GOAT himself, Tom Brady |  Driven by passion — Martin Ayanegui with Lamborghini icon Valentino Balboni. |
THE MOTIVATION BEHIND THIS BOOK
This book is for all those people who feel that life has given them setbacks, obstacles, or very difficult circumstances and who believe they will never be successful. Often, we say or hear someone say: “I am fulfilled,” which is a way of describing a productive life—with money in the bank to pay the bills, with a refuge—what I call family—and with the possibility of having fulfilled one or another dream. It is also for young people, who, immersed in the stories of a life that has crossed great challenges and climbed many steps, can reach a full existence, rich in satisfaction.
I think of the death of my father, the cancer of my daughter Emma, the early death of a nephew, Álex; the heart of my best friend Walter is with me in this memory, all to remember the immense losses that come with walking the life we have been given.
This is not a book that paints everything in rosy colors, nor is it a book meant to drag us down into sorrow or sadness. Rather, it is a testimony that seeks to give life purpose and motivation. Its philosophy is humble and personal, celebrating how beautiful life is and how wonderful it is to fight.
When I now look at wrestling—the sport for which Mexico is internationally recognized, that folkloric passion rooted in my culture—I also see a human being, myself, in constant evolution. As a child, I viewed this sport with disdain. In my family life and among my friends, it held little significance. One might have even called it “tacky.” Today, in my adulthood, nothing represents me more than lucha libre, a popular sport in Mexico known for its masked and colorfully costumed wrestlers. This sport has its roots in Greco-Roman wrestling, and Mexican wrestling has evolved its own distinctive characteristics. In Mexico, lucha libre is seen as entertainment, and wrestlers are often viewed as popular heroes. Lucha libre events are hugely popular nationwide and attract large crowds.
Writer Óscar Fernández draws inspiration from the passion, color, and beauty of lucha libre and explores the “clown” figure in wrestling—a character often undervalued and underestimated. He also uses the sport as a metaphor for the social problems of Mexico and Latin America. “Where there is a ring, there is passion and madness, there are legends, and from blood and sweat are born the dreams of misunderstood and even undervalued athletes; one of them is the enigmatic character in this story,” begins the novel.
I live life as a ring. I compare it to that space where one puts body and mind to emerge victorious. That is why I began thinking about writing a book that would tell my life story, dedicated to all those fighters who, despite loneliness, illness, obstacles, or disabilities, overcome impediments and reach limits even they never imagined—high peaks, dreamt-of summits.
It is not true that one is alone. In my life are my beautiful wife Gaby, my accomplice and the maker of many of my dreams; my lovely and talented daughters, Mia and Emma; my siblings Eric and Lupita; the HomeOfficeHouston team; the powerful and famous people who have trusted my work—each one of them has a place in my story, including my mother, who was absent for many years but has learned to forgive in recent times.
The University of Houston, where I became a Spatial Architect and Environmental Designer, is part of the education that has made me an excellent fighter. Business is in my hands, but the knowledge and learning I gained at the university is in my mind.
May this book be a lesson for young people who sometimes lack guidance. These texts come from my heart and my dreams, which have not stopped—they still spark—because life, after all, is about doing and desiring, aspiring and walking satisfied, surrounded by loved ones.