The interviewee’s seat is occupied by ishmael cove. However, until July 1, 2016, the Cuban who was trained in Art History and Journalism spoke, from his role as host of CNN in Spanish, with figures from the political, glamorous and sports life in vogue. Now “lightness,” “endogenous motivation,” “holistic high performance,” and “self-inquiry,” his vocabulary since he became a strategist—he dislikes the title motivator—take over the cameras and those who through leadership they seek to align their conscience with well-being.
—A strategist trains and you, as you mentioned, have trained to say goodbye to your achievements: you have done it with journalism. Do you plan to do it with this facet as a coach?
“Wow! Well, I don’t know, because every day I’m more passionate about meeting people. (…) When I see a human being who exudes lightness and who is not frowning, in emotional and energetic constipation —I call it emotional or energetic constipation— I am fascinated. So, I don’t know if I’ll say goodbye to this stage in the near future, but I can tell you something: I’m open and ready for a return to journalism.
He confesses that he feels more serene and capable of sharing a philosophy from a high conscience. He sums it up in 15 words and in the third person: “Knowing how to be consistent with the vision that Ismael has of both journalism and the world.” Journalism, world. The first time he associated both terms was in 1997:
“I decreed: ‘CNN. And now in Spanish?’. I turned around and told Josy Jiménez, a fellow presenter of mine: ‘I’m going to be there.’ And she looked at me, I was 26 years old, and she told me: ‘Of course, Ishmael. You’re going to be there.’ Look at the power that the word has.”
And not just the word: he entered as a freelancer from Toronto; he covered the visit of Pope John Paul II; and he decided, on his own, to move to Miami and report political and economic events and the ravages of the hurricanes. But one day, while he was working on the newsletters, Cynthia Hudson came to convince him that his wit should be on an armchair: “’What do you do in the newsletters? You have a versatility that must be exploited’. And “Cala” emerges, the talk show that was the model for Larry King translated into Spanish, ”he says.
—Do you think that a journalist can live happily during a lifetime of exercise?
—I don’t think it’s impossible, but the journalist who only trained with what they gave him at his journalism school cannot be. Because what has made me successful as a human being, and indeed as an interviewer, was not given to me at university. (…) They did not give me positive psychology, they did not give me emotional intelligence, they did not teach me non-violent communication to be able to ask questions where judgment is not the primary thing. And I see that there are many journalists who obviously are not going to be happy nor are they going to have radiant and perfect health because they get too much bad blood in the exercise.
—How do you find serenity in a job that requires immediacy?
—Serenity is not passivity. (…) I’m not talking about a sedentary serenity. I’m talking about inner serenity for productive speed, but don’t take away your inner peace.
And if journalism is taking away your peace —which it sometimes does— you have to look for resources, you have to learn chi kung, yoga, neuroscientific meditation, tapping, whatever makes you go to oases and breaks where you can recover your center. of your energy
—Does fame take away your peace?
—Yes, fame can take away your peace. And in fact, I wanted a great break from the fame and media overexposure that I got as the host of “Cala” on CNN. (…) And I said: “Pause. Pause. I choose peace.” Because? Because I felt like I didn’t have the skills.
—So, what was the first thing you did on July 1, 2016?
—It was a bittersweet celebration, really, because the last program left me feeling empty: it took me months and months and months (…). Because when I left journalism, I felt that I had left my profession and that I had gone to a magical bubble.
Because in journalism you have a level of rigor, you face the world. (…) In the world of journalism there is the beautiful, the ugly and the ultra-toxic. So one has to prepare for that. Now I say: “Do you want to get back into that again? Think it over”. And I say: “Yes, because if everyone who awakens his awareness goes to the easiest way, who is left in the media, where there is a need for light?” Then yes, I think I’m ready to go back to the trenches.
And he refers to the trench where the lights rule and the regressive countdown until hearing “on the air” because he never broke away from written journalism: every Tuesday he publishes a column, qualified by Cala himself as positive, in more than 30 digital spaces in Latin America .
—Do you agree with what Andrés Hurtado said on his show: “You were the sun of CNN”?
—I respect Andrés a lot and his energy touched my heart. How am I going to agree or not? It would be a bit arrogant. What I can say is that CNN is a sun in my heart, because it is a company to which I am enormously grateful. (…) I’m open to going back there.
I made myself available to my executives and told them: “If I serve you, if I add value, if you think there is room for Ismael back, why not? If I did well before, I think I’ll do better now.”
ishmael cove share your confidence with Tania Maria Lopez, his mother, the woman who always respected his audacity and who takes his courses. Although she was unable to travel to Peru with him and hear his voice at the Convention Center last March 18, the emotional ensemble is even stronger than when Cala was 14 years old and gave up joining the front ranks of religion. .
On March 18, 2023, Ismael Cala gave a seminar in Peru. Photo: Making Connection
“Why did you become disenchanted with the priesthood?”
“Oh, can I be honest with you? On the subject of celibacy. A teenager who masturbates cannot be celibate. Excuse me. I speak things as they are. I no longer try to like everyone. (…) I was, like any teenager, interested in discovering my hormones, where they were taking me.
Now his interest is moving towards convergence: press and mentoring. A convergence that already had a whereabouts when Larry Kingthe American celebrity, offered him time and didactics: “I think it went extremely well for me because I had a great teacher and I think, humbly, I was a very good disciple.”
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