John Rodrigues

About John

• Growing up, he always felt like he was smart, but his grades were terrible; he failed the first grade, and started feeling like he wasn’t as good as the other kids.
• After years of constantly feeling beaten down by the school system, he gave up and stop caring, eventually dropped out of high school.
• Before he dropped out, he signed up for a cooking class, and his teacher recommended him for a kitchen job at a local hotel.
• While there, he saw an ice sculptor carving a block of ice and was completely mesmerized; the sculptor took John under his wing and started teaching him the art.
• His yet-undiagnosed dyslexia strengthened his three-dimensional thinking skills, so ice carving came naturally, felt like he’d hit a “sweet spot.”
• Before long, his ice sculptures were in high demand...and he was only sixteen years old; he realized he could make a living doing the thing that he loved.
• Eventually, he went back to school and earned degrees from UC Berkeley and Harvard University.
• Now, his passion is public speaking and educating others about how to foster the strengths that come with learning disorders.