Learnings and Missteps
The Learnings and Missteps Podcast is about unconventional roads to success and the life lessons learned along the way.
You will find a library of interviews packed with actionable take aways that you can apply as you progress on your career path.
Through these interviews you will learn about the buttons you can push to be a better leader, launch a business, and build your influence.
Find yourself in their stories and know that your path is still ahead of you.
Learnings and Missteps
Breaking Boundaries: Elizabeth Ponce's path of Resilience
How does one transform from a budding entrepreneur to a celebrated leader who stands on stage at the Cowboys stadium? Join us as we uncover the incredible journey of Ms. Elizabeth Ponce, the inspiring president of Picasso Contractors and a dedicated community leader. Elizabeth's story is one of resilience, community engagement, and the pursuit of excellence, culminating in her recognition as Entrepreneur of the Year. Her commitment to giving back is evident as she plans to use her award's prize to further the mission of the National Regional Hispanic Contractors Foundation.
In our conversation, I share my personal experiences of overcoming adversity and building a business from the ground up. From navigating the complexities of managing a company with family members to facing the humbling task of rebuilding after significant setbacks, I explore the importance of authenticity and empathy in leadership. The challenges I encountered taught me invaluable lessons in understanding and respecting my team, which ultimately strengthened my relationships with both staff and clients. This episode delves into the art of effective hiring, mentorship, and the critical role of resilience, particularly for single mothers striving to succeed.
Discover the powerful impact of mentorship and leadership in the construction industry, where creating opportunities and supporting aspiring professionals can lead to transformative growth. We explore initiatives like the Luna Awards and the importance of community engagement in nurturing the next generation of industry leaders. Our conversation is a testament to the belief that with determination and the right mindset, anyone can rise from challenges and make a difference in the world. Don't miss the chance to connect with Elizabeth and gain valuable insights from her journey—mark your calendars for the Luna Awards and join us in celebrating remarkable achievements in the industry.
Connect with Elizabeth at:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ep2004/
https://picassollc.com/
https://regionalhca.org/calenda/luna-awards-nomination/
Make yourself a priority and get more done: https://www.depthbuilder.com/do-the-damn-thing
Download a PDF copy of Becoming the Promise You are Intended to Be
https://www.depthbuilder.com/books
I did struggle a lot in the beginning. I mean, we had a business that was growing. My ex-husband and my dad were a part of it and we were successful. But I was not authentic myself. I was immature. I'm 43 years old now and I was in my late 20s and I just stayed in the office and hey, whatever needs to be done, they will handle it, and I'll be here to just process paperwork. And then, getting to a point where I had to rebuild from nothing, that whole experience put me at a more down-to-earth person. It's like, okay, I need to be able to understand the employees.
Speaker 2:It's like, okay, I need to be able to understand the employees Going on L&M family. I'm super excited. I feel like I'm interviewing a construction celebrity Getting to not only me. You two are going to get to know Ms Ponce. She's the president of Picasso Contractors. She's super involved in her local community. I wish she was here in San Antonio, but she's not. She's the chairman of the NRHCA Training and Education Foundation, which I'm sure she's going to let us know what all those letters stand for. And recently she was on the 50 yard line at the Cowboys stadium receiving the entrepreneur of the year award. It was no small thing. There was a bunch of people or organizations that were sponsoring and supporting that event. Otherwise, I mean, you don't just end up on the 50 yard line for being a slacker. So super excited for you to get to know Miss Elizabeth and all the lessons learned she has discovered and continues to discover on her path to success. And here we go, miss Elizabeth, how are you doing today?
Speaker 1:Doing great. I had a blast yesterday. It was overwhelming, you name it. I felt it yesterday. It was pretty cool.
Speaker 2:So that was like this is super, super fresh. So tell us about that. How did that whole thing come about? Did you get nominated? Did you apply? What was the deal?
Speaker 1:Out of the blue. I just get an email from a colleague that is the president of the Urban Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, where we're a member of, and she's like hey, I nominated you for this award. You have to go do a presentation and there's some other people you're competing against. I was like I was already overwhelmed and appreciative because I was just nominated. So it results that they were narrowing it down to just two people a lawyer Hispanic immigrant lawyer and myself and we went and interviewed. We were in the same room. He went in first and then I went in second and they said by 3 o'clock today you should know the result. Well, 3 o'clock came around, didn't find out anything. I'm like, oh darn, I guess we didn't get it. Yep. A day later they called me and said you know what? We could not decide. So we ended up giving it to both of you.
Speaker 2:And I was like whoa, that's so cool.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, I mean it really didn't have to do a lot with construction. This particular award, it's just more of just being in business, giving back to the community and building up our surroundings, and so it's not an ordinary award that I usually get you know for projects or for just in construction in general. This is completely different and never even thought it was going to go this way. So we ended up getting awarded $6,000 to a nonprofit place, and obviously we're awarding it to the National Regional Hispanic Contractors Foundation that I'm a chairman of and we already have a good use for it, planning around it and making sure that we do great things with it.
Speaker 2:Oh, my goodness, well, congratulations. I think we just I just got super lucky, well, and you just came back from vacation too, right?
Speaker 1:Definitely I. You know, I guess in the last five years I've taken that this is my second vacation and we had a tremendous summer, had a lot of work. Thank god we have employees to manage and I told my husband I said we need a break, otherwise we we're gonna get burned out yes we took a week and a half.
Speaker 1:We did go see the canelo fight oh my goodness, personal level relate to them and be able to just talk offline, and so that was rewarding. And then from there we went to Chicago and spent a whole week over there and I think so we left Thursday and I want to say by Tuesday I finally left work.
Speaker 2:I know that you know what stands out to me and I'm super happy for you and grateful for you and to you. What stands out to me? I love seeing the smile on your face and the energy and this flood of amazing experiences that you've had in a very packed period of time. What I love about that is, you know, the short time that I've known you and the few conversations that we've had, it's clear to me that you care Like. You don't just care about your business, you care about the human beings, you care about your impact on the community. You care about the clients that you serve and the caliber of people that they are, and you take action in serving them. And so, like all of these highlights that you're experiencing right now are just evidence to other people that if you focus on service, if you focus on a purpose greater than yourself, life becomes super, super amazing. Or am I just misreading what's going on, ms Ponce?
Speaker 2:First, we want to give the L&M family shout out, or am I just misreading what's going on, ms Ponce? First, we want to give the L&M family shout out, and this one comes. This one's fun. This is the shout out. I got the message and it was this Jesse, you're better than mediocre, which I was like oh, I don't know if that's good or bad. The beautiful thing is it was part of the feedback I got from one of the courses. I was some online courses, I was teaching and I get to work with construction workers all the time, and I know that there was a lot of love packed into that feedback about me being better than mediocre. So shout out to all the family members out there. You already know Leave me a note, send me a DM, text me, leave me a review, whatever, so that I can read it out loud and celebrate you.
Speaker 1:No, I did struggle a lot in the beginning. I mean, we had a business that was growing. My ex-husband and my dad were a part of it and we were successful. But I was not authentic myself. I was immature. I'm 43 years old now and I was in my late twenties and I just stayed in the office and, hey, whatever needs to be done, they will handle it, and I'll be here to just process paperwork. And then getting to a point where I lost everything and was at a point where I had to rebuild from nothing, but actually making an investment. As far as me personally, touching ground and touching the bottom was what made me where I am now. Getting to a point where I lost where I lived, where I had to sell everything and anything that I owned, is what built me to to where I'm now. But that whole experience put me at a more down-to-earth person, at a relatable more is like okay, I need to be able to understand the employees so that they can produce for us.
Speaker 2:So you were just taught. You mentioned, as you were telling the kind of the backstory of that first business. You mentioned that you weren't as authentic as you are now and that was maybe one of the contributing factors to it playing out the way that it did. So what I'm curious about, because I know a lot of people think there's a certain way they should behave and operate and then when you actually get into the real world, that's not necessarily true. So I'm wondering why did you decide to operate in that way on that first business?
Speaker 1:So one of the things that happened to me is that we were at Love Field Airport and my employees basically had a stand down and they said they were not going to work for me anymore, they were not going to finish the project anymore, and in order for me to give in, I was kind of bullied where they wanted a raise and they wanted some other things to happen, and I didn't have any previous learning on how to deal with the situation in that manner or that way, and so I just kind of gave in and said, okay, well then, help me finish this project and I will meet everything that you want me to meet pay, raises or bonuses, whatever we ended up having to do. This was about eight years ago, and so I submitted myself to their needs and to their demands to be able to finish the project, because that was the one thing I did not want to let down finish the project. After that, I was in a situation where I was depressed. I was like is?
Speaker 1:it because I'm a woman? Is it because I'm so young? I was barely 28 years old and is it? What is the reason that they did that to me? And it had a lot of factors.
Speaker 1:My ex-husband was my ex-husband then. My father had been already let go from the business, and so I was alone, coming up to all of these gentlemen to finish this project, and so it was a contribution of a lot of things that developed to this point. But, taking a step back and it's like I don't want that to ever happen to me again I want to know what their demands are prior to, and I don't want them to feel like they're being mistreated, um B, before I even know like hey, you know what, I know I'm treating him bad and I know he's going to react, but I want to be able to know that have that upper hand to say you know what I'm pushing it, and that's the end result. I never wanted that to happen again, and so that's when I started thinking differently. Well, the only way I'm going to know what they face is when I go out to the job site and actually work side by side.
Speaker 1:By that time, everything had gotten out of my hands, out of control. I ended up having to go and sell everything that I owned, even my house, and then moving into a 1500 square foot home and rebuilding my business from $500 projects to $1,500 projects. But this time I didn't delegate it to anybody. I went with my employee to get it done and I remember the first thing we did it was a little Parkland clinic.
Speaker 1:We had to demo some cabinets and demo the floor and the ceiling. It was maybe like an 800 square foot office little building. And so I went with them physically and we had to do it at nine because the clinic was operational. And that's where I learned. I was like, oh my God, it's hot, I want to take a break. Oh my God. Oh, it's so dusty in here. Oh, this, this PPE, is so inconvenient. And so going through all those lessons of oh my God, they do go through a lot and anybody would say I don't need to go through this, I need to get paid more, I don't want to get paid eight bucks an hour, I want to get paid 10 or I want to get, but not until you actually live.
Speaker 1:It is when you don't comprehend it. And that was the biggest disconnection of I always say to my internal bankruptcy until after and so before, I never comprehended or knew what they lived through or what the process was to get a job done. Until now, up until maybe a year and a half ago, I would work side by side by them. There are some projects where we now disconnect buildings to make them like a storm shelter next to them and they got a big openings and all of that. I was afraid to submit proposals. I was like because I don't know if we can do that.
Speaker 1:And the first one that we proposed. We ended up landing and I was like I want to be there, I want to be a part of doing that, and now I feel the confidence that I know how it gets done. I know the process, I know the safety parameters that we have to follow and nobody can tell me hey, you know what. This happened because we didn't do this right. No, we create a plan and go and execute it, because now I know that I've been able to do it. Obviously, no template is always going to be used exactly the same everywhere else.
Speaker 1:But we from the upper management understand and comprehend of what is going to happen out in the field and having that connection with the employee now I've earned the respect from them. I've earned the respect from our clients who says you know what, if it gets down and dirty and it's on a Sunday night and she needs to finish by Monday morning when the kids come in, you're going to see Elizabeth on the job site.
Speaker 1:I'm making sure that it's happening, as opposed to in the past. Well, I'm going to come down on you if it doesn't happen. That is not a way to lead as far as my experiences anymore, my way is now hey, I'm right here to help you. Make sure that we get it done.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's what I love. One. It stinks, right, but sometimes most of the time, the best lessons I've ever learned happen through pain and failure, like I'll never forget them and then carrying them forward the way that you did. It's specifically getting out there when you're relaunching your business and doing it side by side with your team, helps the leader build empathy for the work. Side by side with your team helps the leader build empathy for the work.
Speaker 2:Part of your message there was like you're out there to understand what does this work feel like, because it's easy to have super high expectations and minimize a worker's complaints, but then when you go do it, it's like, oh damn, it's freaking hot out here, we need to do something about this. You go do it. It's like, oh damn, it's freaking hot out here, we need to do something about this. And so good on you for for, like, getting out there and just doing the damn thing. Now, as you were doing that and building your business, you said you started with a little kind of small hundred, five, fifteen hundred dollar deals. I imagine you got to build some pretty important relationships with your field staff. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Definitely with the field staff and with the clients as well. Having the work ethic that we have out there, that we're known for, has really brought in the business. So for a very long time I would say I don't have any employees. I don't want to have any salary employees because I don't know if I'm going to have work. I don't be able to meet their paychecks every week. A salary employee frightens me even to this day.
Speaker 2:But these people won't go away.
Speaker 1:They've been here for like five, six years. They've stuck around and they've managed to get a paycheck every week. It's a commitment from my end to say you're a salary employee.
Speaker 1:It's a commitment from my end to say you're a salary employee. It's hard, but they are here to invest into a business that they see growing, and I always when I received and even this past weekend we received this award. Yes, it's Elizabeth's name on there. It's Picasso, the company she owns name on there. But I tell my employees this has never been able to be possible without them.
Speaker 1:I mean this is my name, yes, but they are the ones that have made me, because they're the ones that represent the company as a whole. They're the ones that are building this whole empire that we all benefit from. The more the accolades that we receive wonderful, but the more business that we do get, the more opportunities are open. So in return, hey, you know what, Now we can do tuition reimbursement. Hey, now we can do vacation pay. Now we can do. What do you call those parties? Like once an annual anniversary parties?
Speaker 1:or gatherings that we do, we do three times the bonus when in the past we wouldn't do a bonus. We do spring, summer and then winter, and so those are some of the things that now they can benefit from. But we are now getting recognized and I don't know in the past if I had mentioned this to you, but one of the things is that we do final cleaning, we do general labor and I want to say about five years ago when we were rebuilding up, we had to just kind of go out there and pick different GCs to work for and whether we felt comfortable, great. And if we didn't, we still send people out there and just tolerate some of those cultures that we were not aligned with.
Speaker 1:But one of the things was that we would send you know laborers to go and help out, pick up trash. And sometimes our employees are like no, I don't want to go work on that job site. Well, why? Well, it's because they don't treat us right. Well, I don't want to go work on that job site, well, why? Well, it's because they don't treat us right. Well, all you're going to go do is pick up the trash. You don't need to worry about anybody else. No, but you should see how they treat us. So one of the times I went out there to the job and I was just kind of in the background watching them and I came across where another company employee literally is drinking a cup of whatever he was drinking a Coke or whatever and my guy was walking towards him picking up trash and he takes his cup and throws it in the floor in front of the employee and tells him there's your trash so you can pick it up.
Speaker 1:My employee picked it up and kept going and after he finished I said you know what I appreciate you doing that. I appreciate you picking up the trash and not talking smack or back at them.
Speaker 1:You just look down and keep forward. Later on we set up a meeting and I said I never understood why some of you guys didn't want to go until now that I have actually experienced it and seen it. And I said don't worry, keep up that same attitude, just get it done and move forward. Yeah, a couple years later, one of my employees said you know what? I've only been with you about six months, but I feel so proud to work for your company. And I said well, good, I said what happened. He's like I just feel so respected when I put on a Picasso vest and I said well, you're now having the accolades of what we had to go through, because now we don't only go out to the job site and do our work. We create relationships with those peers that we work with the plumber, with the mechanical, with the electrical and create those relationships where we're consistently doing ISD work.
Speaker 1:And that same little network moves from one project to another project. You might see them with one company, you might see them with another company, but that culture has been always there. You know what? We're going to always respect you and one of the things that my parents taught me is that if you're not going to say anything good about anybody. Just don't say anything at all. Maybe they're having a bad day, maybe they want to kick us in the rear? Well, we're going to turn around and if you need to slap me in the face, it's OK, but at the end of the day, we're here for a bigger something that it's just unobtainable sort of a feeling where it's going to leave a bigger impact in the industry. When we now get calls directly from the district.
Speaker 1:They go above and beyond the GCs and they call us and say, hey, we really need you to come and make that Picasso, look on that school, because you have something that make our schools different reputation and building that self-esteem to our employees, where, yeah, sometimes we get kicked around and we suffered, but now we're at top of everybody else. Yeah when some of those you know idiots that did that to us are not anywhere where we're at.
Speaker 2:So a few things. I applaud you because you were. You and your staff are way more patient than me. I've been in trouble so many times because I can't keep my mouth shut.
Speaker 2:Now it's been over a decade since I've been in the field, but I imagine the service that staying focused on executing the contract, delivering the services that you are expected or have committed to do to the highest quality, has and you just said it right that's what set you up to go direct for the school districts because they want the Picasso. Look, I mean, that's got to. When you hear that that's got to land some kind of way like hell, yeah, that, like thank you team, that's that's what we're going for. I'm curious because I know there's a lot of folks, friends, colleagues out there in the industry are starting to begin launch their own businesses or have been doing it for a little bit and they're stuck. It feels like on the first wave, whatever, that is one to three years. You kind of have to work I think you said vultures, work with some of those contractors that don't necessarily have the culture that your crew deserves, but getting through that sets you up to work for phenomenal clients that align with your values. How true is that?
Speaker 1:that that's you hit the nail on the head right there. You just you don't. When you're a teenager, you're dating and you don't even know who you're going to end up marrying. But you have to go through that process. And the same thing here. When you own your own business, hey, you're going to take every and any opportunity out there and then you're going to say you know what I am going to do, that second project for that client, or you know what I'm done? I'm not. This is not worth my headache, I'm going to move on. But you have to go through that process to be able to learn One of the things that I went to one of my mentors a long time ago.
Speaker 1:I was like how do you interview employees so that you know that you're picking the right person to work for you and I was like I was so I mean like, oh my God, you will interview them and you know exactly what they're going to be doing in the future. I don't know if you can read their mind or you can read them or what, but I sat in through one of the interviews he did and I was like you just get the perfect people and he's like no, elizabeth. And I was like you just get the perfect people and he's like no, elizabeth. He's like it's all about the experience and you eventually learn to read and know people. There's some people that are going to come and give you a perfect resume.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:Some people that are not going to give you the perfect resume and you have to find in between which one's going to work out for you and where you want to put them and which one is going to work out, work out for that position. But now, beginning of June, we hire maybe 80 to 90 people for the seasonal work and not only I but my HR Norma knows she's like yeah, I went ahead and took them, but I know they're not going to be up to your demand. She's like they're not going to last more than a week and we know that's unexplainable. Is that we always? We had a pot of money. Every time we say, hey, this one's going to last 12 hours or, you know, 40 hours. We would nail it down to the day, to the hour, but it's just a matter of getting to know your client, getting to know your employee.
Speaker 1:Obviously you don't want to judge them by their cover. I always give an opportunity, no matter what, and then the true colors come out, whether it's an employee or a client. One of the biggest things that, as you're growing and in the very first stages of your business, is the payment process. Obviously you want to get the job done and you want to get paid as soon as possible. What is that process? Is the first thing that if they're good to you and very trustworthy, whether they tell you, hey, you know what, you'll have a tick within a week, and if you have it within a week, you know what, I trust your word. And then if they give you the runaround for two or three weeks later, well, you know what. I don't want to be in that relationship.
Speaker 2:Yep, yep. I love the way you connected to dating because, yes, right, like you don't know, let's find out. And then it reminds me of a saying when someone shows you who they are, believe them, just believe them and move on. Go pick somebody else. You're talking about hiring, and of all the different weird jobs and responsibilities I've had in my life, hiring was the one I still suck at the most.
Speaker 2:When I look back at all the folks that I've hired to bring in from outside the company back when I was working and had that type of responsibility, I didn't do a great job. There's a few that were very high performers, like that really turned out to contribute big time to the company. There's a lot that did really good and they were solid performers. There's a lot that did really good and they were solid performers. But man, if I were to count the amount of times that I made a bad hire and compare that to all the other things that I've done in my career and in business, that's my biggest failure rate.
Speaker 2:So I'm always interested for any cheat codes and secrets to like. Figure out how to get better at that. And also, I'm not the guy to ask, because I'm great at promoting people not so great at hiring them. You mentioned that you have a mentor, and so, on the path from restarting your business closing the doors on the other one selling everything, then saying, okay, I'm going to do it again, but I'm going to do it different what resources was that mentor the only resource you accessed? Or were there other things that you tapped into to help you build the knowledge base you needed to get to where you're at today?
Speaker 1:So I want to say that the biggest resource was the necessity to provide for my four kids, because I was a single mom and I could not not be able to provide with them for them, because I didn't have any kind of support from anybody and everybody I know. At a certain point, when I had to let go of my father back in the day, I was shunned from my family because how could I have done that?
Speaker 1:How could I have let him go and so didn't have really a support system when it came from my family. I mean, again, I have an older half brother, but I am an only child to both of my parents. I don't have a huge family for people to kind of just turn their back. It was, you know what. I just need to make it this day so that was one of the biggest things is like okay, how am I going to pay bills this next week? Well, I need to go get this project or next project and just kind of go about it that way. I just use common sense. I don't have a higher education, I only have K through 12 and I and graduated when I was pregnant with my daughter at 17. And so that didn't make it any easier. But, just using common sense, I always have to ask two or three people.
Speaker 1:do you think this is right? Whether it's a mentor, whether it's a friend, whether it's just hey, you're having a networker. I always bounce ideas off other people and see, okay, well, I think that person kind of thinks like me and I really honor and respect their advice and I'm going to try it. I always come back to my own conclusion, but I believe I use everybody and anybody as a mentor. I'll go out there and just ask questions to people. Now, in the position that I am, I would say my surroundings are huge, because I've been mentored by McCown Gordon, I've been mentored by Turner, by Beck McCart, all these other schools. I've taken one or two things from them to be able to develop a common sense to my business. Just right now, talking to my staff during lunch, you would assume that we have a structured business.
Speaker 2:Right right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we have a HR, we have an administrator, we have somebody that's estimating, and then I oversee everything and just tackle whatever we need to get done. Today we had a new hire and she's going to do accounts, receivable and the invoicing and just paying out the subcontractors and all of that. I want to be able to structure ourselves to kind of have many departments. Yeah, but that's because now I see that from companies that I get mentored is like okay, let's give them single responsibilities as opposed to a thousand responsibilities.
Speaker 2:Yeah, break it up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, start breaking it up. So it's more of a hey, you know what? That's one of my goals. I want to get to and let's work towards it. But definitely have a person to go to, maybe twice a month, I mean every other month maybe have a lunch with somebody, and you will never find that one person that's always going to help you. I mean, and some people they're like I made a mistake at the beginning to ask people, can you mentor me, can you help me? And then they never did. But I would still say, hey, can we meet up for lunch. And then I'm like, hey, I'm going through this, how should I handle this? And unofficially they were my mentor, whether they accepted it or not, but they still answered questions for me.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, now, I love that for a lot of reasons. Like, I've had several people luckily right Then maybe they're just crazy and they didn't have any other options. But I've had several people luckily right Then maybe they're just crazy and they didn't have any other options. But I've had a lot of people reach out to me to mentor them and it's like in my head it's like okay, sure On what? And they're like okay, then I don't know. Like, if you want me to mentor you on salsa dancing, I can do that, but is that what you want? And so I think there's part, there's like two parts.
Speaker 2:One thing that you said that's really important is you're inviting somebody to lunch that has experience doing the thing that you're dealing with. So you have a very specific thing that you're looking for insight on. So I think that's super important for anybody that's looking to get a mentor. Have an idea of what for. And also, what I love about what you said is like not everybody can be a mentor, like not everybody knows how to mentor If you ask them. There are some people that I know that their attitude about it is if somebody asked me to mentor them, it's on them to set up the calls and tell me what they need. And da da, da, da da, which is, I mean, that's a way. I don't agree with that entirely, but mentoring is. It's a superpower and it can be accomplished in an informal manner, just like you said. Right, like I pick people, I have lunch with them, I ask specific questions and I get what I need.
Speaker 2:You know, one thing that you said reminded me of how amazing single mothers are, because I was brought up by a single mother as well, and you said one of the things was out of necessity, right. What? That's what helped you get to where you're at, right, what? That's what helped you get to where you're at, and so, on your path to growing your business, bringing it back to life, raising your four kids, there were some sacrifices you had to make along the way. And so maybe for the, for the single mother or, on the rare occasion, the single father out there, that is, is working to build and leave a big impact on the world, what insider advice would you offer them?
Speaker 1:I would say it's never going to be easy, whether you have a support system at home, to try to start your own business, or whether you're alone. You're going to face the same circumstances You're going to face. Well, how am I going to pay these bills? Sometimes it's better. My business has grown tremendously now. I got married in April to my husband that has been with me since the beginning of my business.
Speaker 1:He's been my best friend and now we recently got married. But just the wanting to be able to succeed and the wanting to be able to provide a better life for your kids, or just that drive that nobody is going to be able to develop for you other than yourself, just kind of motivates you. But life is hard on its own. I mean you make it harder. No-transcript, this one contract almost wiped you out, or it probably did. Well, you know what? You're still alive. You got two hands. You're going to have to get up and keep going. I've hit rock bottom where it's like you just see everything crumbling and you have no way of controlling it Right. Just let it fall apart. And once it's all falling apart, okay, try of controlling it Right. Just let it fall apart and once it's all falling apart, okay, try to piece it back together and start over Love it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, give yourself permission to be depressed. Give yourself permission to be sad, to be angry. I think that is expert OG advice, because the friction to like it kind of drives me a little crazy when people are like don't be mad, don't be upset, just like don't go be upset. And what you said, though, was here's the important part Give yourself a time limit, right? It turns out that when I get depressed, or angry, or fresh, when I got a lot of emotion pent up, emotion, one of the things I do to like process, that is, eat delicious, greasy, sugary, fatty food, and so it's like all right, jess, whatever happened wasn't great.
Speaker 2:You got half a day to go to the panaderia and get you some pink cakes and some marranitos, and let's go and pig out, and then, yeah, like, what are you going to do next? What's the next step? So I think there's deep wisdom in going into the abyss, or the darkness of the feeling for a period of time, because we have to process that emotion and we also need to get out of it. So, man, thank you for that. Now you and I have amazing tens, and you are the chairman of the NRHCA. How did that come about and why did you decide to take that responsibility? On?
Speaker 1:So it goes back to maybe 15 years ago I don't know my mom when she was in Mexico.
Speaker 1:She lived in Mexico some of her time and she was always into politics, la Politica going to the free and to all of this, and so I don't know if it comes from her or it's something that it's just kind of built in our genes. But I've always, and to this day, I tell my husband I was like I want to change the world and he's like you can't. And I said, yes, I can one day at a time.
Speaker 1:Watch me, watch me. Yes, probably years ago, I started with the association and became a member of it, and they're the ones one gentleman in particular, adam Trevino. So I worked for a construction company where my dad worked as a receptionist. And then, as I worked as a receptionist, this company was growing, doing all kinds of projects all over the United States. But then they came to a point where they closed their doors, but in the process, well, as they were letting go of people. Well, elizabeth, now I need you to help in the project management. Now I need you to help what supervisors are. Now I need you to help accounting. Now I need you to help all of these other positions. And so I would help.
Speaker 1:And I remember I went into the president's office and I said, hey, I'm getting paid $8 an hour. I've done a lot in the last two years. Can I get paid $10 an hour? This was in February of 2004. And she's like well, no, I think we can't afford it right now. You should see, they were closing all of these offices and letting go of all these employees. And I said, yeah, but I think I really do deserve this. And she said no. And I said, okay, well, I went and gave my two weeks notice. They didn't believe that I was going to do it. They didn't believe that I was going to do it. But then I leave and I'm like, well, ok, I feel so big and so competent that I can do all of these things, but with no education nobody would hire me. So I went from February to May and, like I think in April, I went on food stamps in Tana because I had already two kids and my husband then was working in a factory and wasn't getting paid like two hundred and ninety dollars and we needed to be able to provide for our two kids.
Speaker 1:And I remember going to the association because one of the things that I did for the previous company is like, hey, let's go to the networkers and find us jobs, yeah. So then I went back to the association. I was like, hey, can you guys help me find a job? And then Adam sat me down and he said you know what he's like. There's not very many women in construction. He said I don't know that you can find a actual job where they would hire you as a construction worker, but you already know a lot, elizabeth, why don't you start your own business? So I was like you know what, I probably can. I said I know everything and anything about looking for work and getting the work. And so I went to my dad and I said Dad, can I borrow $5,000 to buy the insurance and buy the asbestos license and everything I needed to get to have a legit company, the corporation? And so he let me borrow it and I established a company in May of 2004. Within that year we sold $60,000 worth of work. My dad would go do it at night, he would get employees to do it on the weekends, and so we kind of built it that way and moving forward.
Speaker 1:Again, being a part of the Hispanic Contractors Association, I met Frank Cortez that passed away. He used to be the MWB for DART and so he's like hey, there's a solicitation for asbestos of houses and apartments and buildings to be done in the new rail lines at DART. He had the blue line, green line, yellow line. He said I think you should go after it and he helped me, guided me in how to download the solicitation, how to put it together and what I needed to buy as far as insurance, and so we submitted. That was in 2006. We landed the project by 2007. We were already doing over $2 million worth of work.
Speaker 2:Son of a gun, so from 04 to 07.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they were giving us now, hey, go do this house for $30 dollars, go demo, innovate it, go do it. Okay, will we go do it, collect our money. Now let's do three houses, let's do this building this motel, this club, and so it kind of helped us build there. But they got the process as well. They're like, well, we need people to run for board members of the association. And I was like like, okay, I'll run. And so I ended up getting on the board and they're like Elizabeth, what are you going to bring to the table? Well, how does this even work? Because I don't even know what being the board member means Nobody ever teaches you these things.
Speaker 1:So with their guidance they're like, okay, well, you need to kind of do service hours to the association, help with events and try to go out and collect sponsorships. And so they taught me all of that. And so I did that. But then I also said you know what, guys, I still don't feel confident on how to submit a proposal. I don't know how to read plans, because when you do as best as removal, you don't need to learn how to read plans like you do for a construction project. All you do is just take the survey and off of those numbers you go. And so I was like can we get a class for how to do blueprint reading? So they got this other architect to come in and give us free classes. I'm like, okay, well, I need some accounting. How do we use QuickBooks? Can we find somebody that teaches QuickBooks? Well, elizabeth needs that. So, elizabeth, don't worry, I'll find the students. And it was more because, hey, I needed the information and other people needed to learn it too. So we kind of built up and so then we had a whole program. I'm like, okay, and then two years went by and hey, do you want to stay on board. Sure, why not? Two more years After that.
Speaker 1:Then I became secretary of the association, eventually becoming chairman of the association and then also in the process, building the Luna Awards. Because so I was sitting at the board meetings and they're like, yeah, we're having the golf tournament, we're having the day of the construction worker, we're having the clay shoot where we raise funds and this and that and the other. And I said, well, what are we doing to recognize women in construction? Well, nothing. I mean, elizabeth, go and put together a luncheon to recognize the women in construction. And I was like, okay, and then John and Yolanda had this great idea that Maria Luna had been here as an entrepreneur. She sold tortillas and she didn't know how to make tortillas, but she got her friends to make the tortillas and then she would go and sell them, and so that's how she started her business. And so, with their knowledge of putting these events together and with me somebody telling me well, I don't think you can do it, but go and try you know, that attitude.
Speaker 1:Well, you know what I mean. I'm going to go make it happen. And so we did. And the first year we had Luna Awards to recognize. We give out seven awards to women in the construction to recognize the administrative of the year, the business owner of the year. Well, the first year we had about less than 60 people attend our luncheon, and then the next year we had a hundred. And here we are now at five cities, and when we have it here in Dallas we have well over 800 people attend.
Speaker 1:And so, moving forward, just leaving those little impacts in the association have been now accolades for me, where I receive and people want to maintain me to be a part of it. And so now, moving on to as soon as I finished my chairmanship, we're like okay, well, all the chairmen from the past that have served move on to be chairmen of the foundation. Now COVID came around and we really didn't have an interchangeable kind of standstill for chairmen, and so I just kind of got stuck there for a little while. This is going to be my last US chairman, but one of the things that we want to leave as an impact is that we instilled a new internship program that we now take the turn or the bow, for the Phillips made the big sky that you need an intern. Let the RCA foundation help you find them and then put them in your companies. And so, just with this $6,000 scholarship that I received this past weekend, I'm putting it towards the association to create a luncheon to invite. There's some trade schools here in Dallas that focus in construction.
Speaker 1:And so we want to invite those students to come to a sit-down luncheon and have a TD Industries project manager at the table, have a superintendent at the table, have a project engineer at the table, so that way they can tell them what their jobs are and expose them more to construction and hopefully they can start building those relationships Like hey, remember I met you a few years ago, I want to apply for your company now. I went to trade school and I want to work for your company and so creating that exposure and I guess just because of the drive and the vision and the want to be able to help and support, not necessarily financially but just being there and listening to people, has been able to keep me with the association where they want me to be around, because it's just, it's a positive impact for everybody.
Speaker 2:Yes. So I mean, sister, you got a lot going on. But again, one of the things that I hope our listeners out there are taking from this like you're contributing so much to through your business, to your people and to the construction community, and then, through the Regional Hispanic Contractors Association, you're contributing so much to other contractors. Now we're talking about careers of folks entering the industry and expanding that influence, and so from the outside looking in, people might say like, oh my God, you're doing so much and how do you have the time, how do you have the energy? But I get the impression that you're energized by seeing the impact you're having on people's lives. Is that true?
Speaker 1:Definitely. I mean it's the adrenaline of I mean you have no idea how many people come and tell me that I've changed their lives, wow. And it's so rewarding Not only because they have a direct connection with me, whether they're an employee or it's one of. I mentor about 20 different companies. We meet at least twice a year or I meet with them individually at least once a month. Like not too long ago I posted it. We didn't win a job, but we learned so many lessons.
Speaker 1:And I get direct messages where they tell me you know what you just now motivated me because I've lost the last four and I wanted to just stop. And now I'm going to go ahead and submit again because I know you're going through it. But that's why we post what we post, or that's why we say what we say, because it does change somebody's lives out there. You just don't know how much impact that you have and thank God that people reach back out to me and say, hey, I appreciate you doing this or you doing that. But I want to say that the rewarding part of having my business is the platform that gives me the opportunity to do this. I couldn't have a business without my employees. It's a domino effect.
Speaker 2:You treat your people right, appreciate them and honor them. You treat your people right, appreciate them and honor them. It has this effect. It gives you an opportunity to have amazing experiences and contribute at a greater capacity. I'm so glad and grateful that you're sharing it with me and the L&M family, because it's very easy to be seduced by the idea that by starting a business I'm going to make a lot of money, and sure you can. But if all you're doing is taking, I think it limits the potential quality of life that a person can have. And so sure you got to get the money in so you can keep doing cool stuff. But when you go and contribute, share your gifts and talents out into the world, it has the multiplying effect and I think your story is a beautiful example of that. And I'm looking I'm here kind of nerding out on the website, on the RHCA website, and it looks like they got something going on here in San Antonio that maybe I should get involved with. What do you think?
Speaker 1:Definitely, and I will be there so you can be definitely my guest and attend the Luna Awards here in October. They have it in five different cities. The first one's in Houston on October the 3rd, which definitely I will be there. Sometimes we work really hard and nobody really recognizes us because we're the owners and they're like you make good money. But sometimes I'm up late at night, two, three o'clock in the morning, working make sure that these proposals get done right or that I have the time to be able to have an interview or go out there and mentor somebody.
Speaker 1:There's still work to be done within the business, but you're making some priorities on the top of your list first, then the second ones and for somebody to notice some of those things. Well, that's why we created the Luna Awards, because you are the business owners and we want to make sure that people know that you work hard to make sure that you have established business or that you're not a typical administrator that just sits in the back of a desk and does what everybody else tells them to do. No, you go beyond and above to make sure that everything gets done properly, and so those people deserve to get a recognition, and that's what Luna Awards does and that's what Luna Awards does is recognizes those people, specifically women, that have excelled in our industry. Because we're the minority there's not a lot of women in construction, but we're getting there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I'm sure you've noticed there's been a tremendous I say tremendous, maybe that's overstating it I know that. I've seen in my career I started in 95. I've seen in my career I started in 95. Compare then to now, like just the number of women that are in construction. I mean hell. I almost never go to a job site where there's not at least one woman. Back in the day you just didn't see, we didn't see women in the job site. And now they're running businesses and they're executives for the general contractor and they're installers in the field, and there's plenty of room for them.
Speaker 2:We need them, we need them, bad we need everybody.
Speaker 1:We're a little more organized.
Speaker 2:I follow you on LinkedIn. I'm a lurker sometimes, but I see you posting that you're speaking at local schools, engaging with students, engaging at universities. If somebody, if one of the listeners wanted to like get involved and start engaging with our youth about careers in the industry, what are some pointers you could give them?
Speaker 1:I would say be authentic, don't try to powder coat what oh? You're going to get paid X amount, $100,000. No, you know what. You're only going to get paid that if you work your butt off, you invest and if you put in those long hours I think that goes in any industry you can get paid really well, but you've got to do your personal investment. And so I would say be authentic when you're putting out there the information.
Speaker 1:Speaking to all these schools, I'm sure that in every city out there, a trade school, whether it's and this is the one thing that I just learned not too long ago is that it may be a trade school for high school students, which they will be impacted and learn. But then there's also those colleges or community colleges that have classes about construction, and you can even go and talk to those people, because some of those people that's why they went back to college or that's why they're in those community classes, because they want to know a little bit more about the industry. Just like any human being, sometimes we don't listen to our parents because it goes in one ear and comes out the industry. Just like any human being, sometimes we don't listen to our parents because it goes in one ear and comes out the other. Sometimes when you're sitting in front of that professor, that teacher, all semester long, it goes in one ear and comes out the other.
Speaker 2:But when?
Speaker 1:you come from a very different person from out in the field. You might leave one or two pointers for them to like oh my God, that is so true. I want to be able to try that. Or you know what I can relate to that. And so it's not necessarily just high school, higher education as well, or a trade school. Just go out there and you might end up learning something from some of these people as well.
Speaker 1:One of this high school that I visited I end up learning something from some of these people as well. One of this high school that I visited I was speaking and then one of the gentlemen's waited for me and after everybody left, he comes to me and he said do you think this is right what I'm doing? And I said so. He showed me his phone and he's like I print t-shirts and sell them and I'm doing it on Instagram. And then he's like I ordered them from China and they come in and then I print it on my computer and then I iron them and and I was like you got a little business and here you are, like 16. I'm not like you're going to become something when you grow up. I was just so amazed and I left very rewarding. I was like, oh my God, there's another Hispanic student right there, already setting his path.
Speaker 1:And so had nothing to do with what I said or had nothing to do with the purpose of that, but just to know that there's somebody out there that you know le está echando ganas and he's going to be successful. And so going through that is also rewarding for yourself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, anytime I get a chance to interact with high school students particularly, they're my favorite. Well, you know what that's a lie. Elementary kids are my favorite because they don't care, like they're totally to use your word authentic. And two of my favorite questions I've gotten from like third graders. One is why haven't you retired yet? You look old. One is why haven't you retired yet? You look old, come on. And then the other one is how much money do they pay you? Like they don't care, they're just good, like they're just curious, right, like what do you buy with your money? Like, yes, oh, love them.
Speaker 2:But high school kids, like you said, I think the most important thing for me that I practice, based on what you said, is just be just talk straight to them, because it's about connection more than it is educating them Right. It's about connecting them, letting them know that there's actual human beings that have problems, that learn, that struggle, that win in the industry. And so if they can connect with that's my kind of focus If I can connect with one or two students in that session and help them see that I'm living proof of what they can do, it's a win, like it's a straight up win and like trying to give them all the details and all the positions and all the career paths, like that's static. Yeah, be human. What do you say?
Speaker 1:No, absolutely. There was a graduation that they invited me to speak at for some scholarships that were given at the Southeast Chamber of Commerce and they gave me an award and recognition and part of my speech I told to the students. I said I've been in your shoes and the parents obviously went with their kids because they were receiving a scholarship and I didn't see them from the stage. But there was a young lady in the back of the room with her mom and the young lady was pregnant, and so I was talking about how I was going to day school for the 11th grade and night school for the 12th grade and telling them I ended up graduating and here I am still successful and had my daughter just turning 17.
Speaker 1:And the mom comes to me at the end and she said I never I thought my daughter's life was over because she was already. She's going to be 17 and she's having a baby. She's like I just thought she needed to marry off and hope to find a good husband, and that was it. I said, oh no, she's got so much potential and I said you just need to continue to support her and whatever she wants to go, be she will be her and whatever she wants to go be, she will be.
Speaker 1:One of the bad things about my ex-husband is that I would tell my son and daughter you can be whatever you want to be, you want to go to Harvard, you can go to Harvard. And he was not the right partner and he would laugh at me and he's like how do you tell them that that is not anything? You should tell your kids, because they're stupid, they're not going to succeed more than just stay here in Dallas and I said no, you need to be able to leave the world completely open to be whatever they want to be. And when my son is a chef and my daughter has a master's in accounting and a bachelor's in business administration, in business administration.
Speaker 1:If I would have had that mentality, this is all I'm made for, and my kids too, we would have never raised from where we're at. We would have been stuck there. And I do see that in our culture, hispanic culture, where it's like, okay, all we're made for is to go out and work in the field. Some of you guys are smart enough and probably know a few more things than the actual owner. You just need to put more effort and build your own thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. Oh, my God, I'm inspired and I know whoever's listening. You better be inspired because Miss Elizabeth is bringing the real talk. So was there what did I forget to ask? What other amazing accomplishment did I fail to cover, Miss Elizabeth?
Speaker 1:I don't know. I have so many stories, I know.
Speaker 2:I love that.
Speaker 1:I would say the biggest thing is that if anybody fails, just know that you can get up and you can start all over again and there's nothing ever holding you back over again. And there's nothing ever holding you back. And trust me when I say you can get depressed and you can be at the bottom. Sometimes I say I was in. I was at ground level, rock bottom and sometimes probably even bedrock beyond that. But just take it one day at a time and build yourself back up, Whether it's hey, you know what, I'm going to get out of bed today and take a shower. Hey, that's a big accomplishment.
Speaker 1:Right there, I'm going to get to work and I'm going to get to the office on time, just doing one thing at a time. I say always do right by people, and the more right that you do, the more that you're going to receive. The more you give, the more you're going to receive, and don't ever expect it from that same person. I've taught some people how to read plans and then they move on, but then to know, oh my God, you're a 50 million dollar project all on your own. You know what? I was a part of those first few years of your life, and it's just one, one thing after the other that will happen and you won't even know how you got there.
Speaker 2:Man, I love it. I love it. Did you have fun?
Speaker 1:I did. Thank you so much I really appreciate it and anybody can follow me on LinkedIn and I'm always open for meetings, lunch or coffee or, if you want to, I've had people. Just give me a call and we spend an hour on the phone and hey, just talking, something's over. You know, I'm always open, available and definitely, if you want to volunteer, be a part of the program, we're always welcoming.
Speaker 2:People definitely attend the luna, whether it's in these cities in dallas with el paso, houston, austin, san antonio and dallas well, I'm going to make sure and put those links in the show notes so that folks can click specifically so they can make sure they can connect with you. You already heard Ms Elizabeth on the LinkedIn. Hit her up, she will give you the time. I had the fortune of having a conversation with you one day. I'm like, oh my God, you're amazing, can I please interview you? I'm like, oh my God, you're amazing, can I please interview you? And we'll make sure we put a link to Picasso and the link to the Luna Awards, because I need to get that on my calendar. Make sure I'm here in October so I can go check that out because I've been slacking.