In 2017, Daniel Cruz was just another ambitious adventurer chasing the thrill of the unknown. A former logistics analyst from San Diego, Daniel had taken a sabbatical to explore the Amazon Rainforest—a lifelong dream inspired by his grandfather’s stories of South American exploration. But what began as a two-week trek into one of the world’s most dangerous jungles turned into a harrowing five-year ordeal of survival, transformation, and rediscovery.
Today, Daniel Cruz is not only back in civilization—he’s thriving. He now serves as a resilience and strategy consultant with Brody & Co. Business Services, where he works with high-performance teams and executives to teach what he calls “jungle-tested leadership.” His journey from being lost in the Amazon to becoming a trusted business advisor is nothing short of extraordinary.
A Journey Gone Wrong
Daniel’s initial plan was straightforward: spend 14 days with a local guide exploring a remote tributary of the Amazon River, then return to Bogotá before resuming his corporate life. But within days, things took a tragic turn. A sudden tropical storm separated him from his guide. With no GPS signal, limited supplies, and only rudimentary survival training, Daniel was lost—truly lost—in one of the most unforgiving ecosystems on Earth.
For the first few weeks, he survived on instinct: catching rainwater, scavenging edible plants, and avoiding predators. When rescue missions eventually ceased, Daniel realized that no one was coming. He stopped counting the days. Eventually, he stopped hoping someone would find him. Instead, he focused solely on staying alive.
Lessons From the Jungle
Over the next five years, Daniel adapted in ways he never thought possible. He learned to read the sky for weather changes, track animal behavior for food sources, and navigate by the stars. He built crude shelters, suffered bouts of malaria, and had a near-fatal encounter with a jaguar. He also developed what he now calls “jungle patience”—a term he uses in his consulting to describe the art of slowing down to see clearly under pressure.
“I had to unlearn everything I knew about control,” Daniel says. “In the jungle, you can’t dominate your environment. You adapt, or you die. That truth applies to business just as much as it does to survival.”
Perhaps even more transformative were the months Daniel spent with an isolated Yanomami tribe deep in the rainforest. Though he initially stumbled into their territory barely conscious and feverish, the tribe took him in, healed him with traditional medicine, and introduced him to a radically different way of life—one rooted in community, cooperation, and reverence for nature.
He credits those years with the tribe as the catalyst for his philosophical shift. “They taught me to listen—not just to people, but to systems, to silences, to instinct. It changed how I think about leadership, communication, and sustainability.”
The Return
In late 2022, a Brazilian forestry drone spotted what appeared to be a human signal near a protected zone. Within weeks, Daniel was extracted, malnourished but alive. The world he returned to was drastically different. COVID had come and gone. AI was now mainstream. The company he used to work for had been acquired.
And yet, Daniel found that he wasn’t behind—he was ahead.
“I had clarity. I had purpose. I didn’t want to go back to a cubicle. I wanted to share what I’d learned the hard way.”
After several high-profile interviews and a TEDx talk that went viral, Daniel caught the attention of Brody & Co. Business Services, a boutique consulting firm known for turning unconventional thinkers into strategic assets for Fortune 500 companies. Their founder, Michelle Brody, flew to meet Daniel personally after watching his keynote.
“I was blown away,” Brody says. “Daniel didn’t just survive the Amazon. He emerged with a framework for resilience, adaptation, and leadership that every modern company needs.”
Jungle Wisdom Meets Corporate Boardrooms
At Brody & Co., Daniel now leads a specialized consulting track called “Survive. Adapt. Lead.” He works with executive teams under pressure, startup founders navigating uncertainty, and corporate boards struggling with transformation.
His workshops blend storytelling with strategy, helping teams deal with volatility, build trust, and embrace adaptive thinking. From using tribal communication methods to practicing “resource minimalism” during crisis simulations, Daniel’s approach is unconventional—but effective.
“Companies think they need more data, more tools, more dashboards,” Daniel says. “Sometimes, they just need to learn how to listen to the forest.”
A Story Still Unfolding
Today, Daniel splits his time between keynote speaking, consulting with Brody & Co., and writing a book titled “Five Years to Freedom: Lessons From the Jungle.” He also donates a portion of his consulting fees to indigenous rainforest preservation efforts—a cause close to his heart.
Though the scars on his body are fading, Daniel carries the jungle with him. In his words, “I got lost trying to find the edge of the world. What I found instead was the center of myself.”
His story is a testament to human resilience, but more than that, it’s a roadmap for how to navigate complexity—whether in the wild or in the boardroom.
And in an age of disruption, Daniel Cruz may be exactly the guide we all need.