Tag: Success Story

Construction Worker turned Business Owner, Luis De La Cruz, Shares Success Story and Strategies in Navigating the Industry

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Once a contract employee in a construction company, Luis De La Cruz decided to change his life. And now, he shares his strategies in navigating the construction industry as well as his success story in building Andale Construction.

BACKGROUND 

Living in the federal housing projects in East Los Angeles with his single mother together with his four other siblings, Luis De La Cruz started to work on small jobs in their neighborhood to earn money and help his family.

De La Cruz used to mow and trim lawns, pull weeds, paint houses, wash cars, and others. He didn’t care what kind of work it was, as long as he had money in his pocket and he was able to do the job.

“That’s where I started to learn how to communicate, how to keep my word, and how to fulfill and satisfy clients.”

Then, as he grew older, he started working in construction companies at the age of 18 in order to provide daily support to his wife and his daughter. However, he didn’t want to just be a construction worker all his life.

“As an inspector, I had to be very observant, not just on the work operation, but everything around it. And that’s when my mind started to develop the ideas of learning how to manage a business, how to plan, how to communicate, how to visualize and see where it fits in my life. And at that time I said to myself, am I going to just stay being an inspector or am I going to do something with this?”

Because of this vision, he studied hard to pass the test so that he could get an engineering license in both Arizona and California and build a business. 

NAVIGATING THE MARKETPLACE

Luis De La Cruz knew that it is of utmost importance to find someone whom you can trust and you can share your vision with. So, he made some great contacts and network with some great people who have experience on how the federal site works.

“It’s all about picking the right partner that really does care about you, not just using you for a day because there’s a lot of that out there, but those really want to make an effort to help give you that guidance and make you a viable company.”

He also learned the benefits of diversifying his licences and working with not just one scope of work when the real estate market crashed in 2007.

Most importantly, he knew that he needed to understand the risks that he might face in the marketplace so even after building his business, he continued to go to training, joined organizations, and network himself.

“Understand where you go to work, understand the conditions, and understand the costs, logistics, and resources. All these things have an impact on that bottom line on what’s left for you as a company.”

ADVICE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

Luis De La Cruz believed that small businesses need to understand their business plan because this will help them find the value and purpose of their businesses in order to get to the next level. 

“It’s up to you as a decision maker on how you are going to bring that value to the stage and make it worth something. You know, you can do that with people with equipment, with hard dollars. You know, you could do that with negotiating skills. You know, based on your past performance, who you are. You know everything has value. It’s up to you as a salesperson to believe in who you are and to know reality and do things the right reason.”

Then, small businesses should also acknowledge and support growth because this will help them build a foundation towards success. 

Lastly, De La Cruz advised to build a team that will help synchronize the vision of the business. 

“Just ask for the help and guess what? They’re going to help you because they want you to succeed and you’re going to come back to them and thank them because now you’ve built a strong business relationship and together everyone can achieve more.”

RESOURCES

If you want to watch the full video of the interview with Luis De La Cruz as he shared his success story and strategies in navigating the construction industry, then be sure to click the links below:

043: Luis De La Cruz – Strategies for High Stakes Construction Contracting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1zlEgvdbsM

043: Luis De La Cruz – Strategies for High Stakes Construction Contracting

https://govcongiants1.wpengine.com/podcast/luis-de-la-cruz-strategies-for-high-stakes-construction-contracting/

Social Worker turned Businesswoman, Merry Korn, Shares Motivation and Success Story

Posted on by Eric Coffie

With a mission to provide opportunities for the most challenged populations, Merry Korn built Pearl Interactive Network. And now, she shares her motivation and success story as a clinical social worker turned businesswoman.

BACKGROUND

Merry Korn is an experienced clinical social worker with over 30 years of experience and a bachelor’s degree of Applied Science and master’s degree in clinical social work from Ohio State University.

She had once worked in the Wellness Systems and then moved to American Health Holding, Inc which is a single-source provider of medical management services.

After working for more than 20 years, Merry Korn  founded Pearl Interactive Network, a social enterprise that has a mission to provide job opportunities for the most challenged populations while also earning profits out of their comprehensive contact center services and end-to-end telehealth solution.

ABOUT PEARL INTERACTIVE NETWORK

1. SERVICES

The company is primarily providing services to both commercial and federal marketplace when organizations don’t have the necessary resources to do an activity within their internal management.

Their core competency is contact center services and under that main umbrella are  providing help desk, inbound and outbound call center, and administrative services.

Then, they also provide innovative telehealth solutions through Pearl TLC. They provide vital signs and chronic conditions monitoring via smart phones or through their own technology, a 24/7 call center services managed by nurses and support care coordinators, transportation, and in-house support from social workers, nurses, and others.

2. GOAL

Apart from this, one of the main things that Korn also highlighted is the fact that a huge portion of their employees are from the most challenged populations including skilled and talented military spouses, disabled veterans, people living in economically challenged areas, and people with disabilities. 

“I’m a clinical social worker that loves business and very early on I learned that you can absolutely marry a business and a for-profit mission. So we are considered a social enterprise, because from day one till now, our hiring priority is always populations with challenges to work.”

LEARNINGS IN NAVIGATING THE FEDERAL ARENA

As Pearl Interactive Network grew, they decided to venture into the federal marketplace but the transition was not easy.

“There’s such a huge investment in this federal infrastructure that it actually makes sense because it’s… just once you figure it out and you become an expert, there’s a lot of reasons just to stay focused on the federal.”

1. CREATE A VISION

One thing that she learned is that there are different paths for different people. What might work for the others might not work for them. So, she made her vision intact and worked hard to make their goals and direction together. 

“I think success is a combination. Yes. Hard work is a big part of it. And then I think hard work, great team and luck. But it all starts with a vision. And I always had a vision of having a very large company, always.” 

2. UPHOLD INTEGRITY

You need to operate with a level of integrity because once you do anything wrong, it will make a mark out of your paper. 

“It’s such a small world and if you do anything wrong, that whisper turns into a yell. You have to be so impeccable with everything you do, the service you deliver, the quality of what you do and how you engage with people. And I like that. I like being a part of industry that for the most part, integrity is critical.” 

ADVICE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

She wanted women in the business industry to become politically active and to get involved regardless of where they are located. There are tons of opportunities that are being provided for women-owned businesses and she wants them to get involved and pay back to the community. 

Then, she also advised businesses to prepare for opportunities and be very strategic about their processes. Trace opportunities that have deadlines year prior. Go to networking events and meetings. Most importantly:

“Take a realistic assessment of who you are and who your team is and as much as possible try to outsource your weaknesses.”

RESOURCES

If you want to watch the full video of the interview with Merry Korn as she shares her motivation and success story as a clinical social worker turned businesswoman, then be sure to click the links below:

From Social Worker to 1,000 employee firm w/ Merry Korn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1BiJc9zPD8&t=1853s

036: Merry Korn – From Social Worker to Experienced Businesswoman

https://govcongiants1.wpengine.com/podcast/merry-korn-from-social-worker-to-experienced-businesswoman/