Interviews
Alejandra Chavez
"I think because of our ethic of hard work, and as long as we’re willing to do things in the proper way, I think we can always get ahead. " – Alejandra Chavez.
Alfredo Borrego
"It wasn't that I decided to start a business, it was that an opportunity came by in 1990, when I was laid off."– Alfredo Borrego
Antonio Rico
"I learned a lot, but while I was working there, at those places, I would always tell myself that there was something else outside in the world. " – Antonio Rico
Armando Alvarez
"Some of the more basic lessons are how to work with people, how to communicate with people, business is tough." – Armando Alvarez
Arnold Peinado
"We didn’t face any financial or ethnicity problems, because all of the architects realized that we were probably the best ones – in time." – Arnold Peinado
Basilio Silvia
"You have to know how to spend your money, and how to save your money, and that wasn’t hard, because that had been our life ever since we were little." –Basilio Silva
Carlos Gandara
"Glenn [Powers] taught me that your frame of mind, your attitude, your demeanor, your daily frame of mind to be positive, were the things that were needed to go sell. So he was my first real mentor." – Carlos Gandara
Cesar Viramontes
"Keep your word – sometimes I get disappointed that there’s people out there that do not have integrity, they’re just looking to take advantage. " – Cesar Viramontes
Fermin Dorado
"My grandfather taught me work ethics – be honest and be proud of who you are, never look down on a person, and never look up to a person, always look at everybody." – Fermin Dorado
Fred Loya
"What I learned from my father was perseverance, discipline. He would tell me, ‘This is what you have to do, if you want to succeed, you’ve got to keep at it, keep working hard, this is the way it’s done." – Fred Loya
Cecilia Miles Mulvihill
"I think the learning process never does stop; in the business world, everything’s always changing." – Cecilia Miles Mulvihill
Garry Porras
"Tener valores es tratar a la gente bien, ser honesto y ser educado con las personas, respetarlas a cualquier nivel. " – Gary Porras
George Saenz
"I think entrepreneurship starts, I guess, with a strong mother, she’s the one that kept the family together."– George Saenz
Hector Barragan
"I think about something that I want, and I go after it, and I do not let anybody change my mind on anything, if I think I can do it, and I want to do it, I go for it." – Hector Barragan
Hector Holguin
"If you’re pushing the envelope of risk, for some reason, things open up that you weren’t thinking about, because you need to get something to happen now, and you need to do it with innovation. " – Hector Holguin
Joe Rosales
"There was prejudices, that’s why I changed my name from Joe A. Rosales to JAR Concrete, because there was, and there still is some. " – Joe Rosales
Juan Barcena
"I had the expectation that this area would bloom with the twin-plant business ... just staying here and doing the same old thing like everybody else was not going to get us in." – Juan Barcena.
Leroy Candelaria
"Hispanics traditionally have not been great about supporting each other. I think that needs to change, there’s a lot of things I think I can contribute, or give back, not just to the community, but to the youth."– Leroy Candelaria
Lorainne Wardy
"The business I opened, I never gave it any thought. When I started, I just needed a job, I needed to make money and support my children. " – Lorainne Wardy
Mamie Salazar Harper
" I’ve been very diligent about strategic planning, and trying to be a visionary, by looking ahead at what the trends are, and what direction the country’s going." – Mamie Salazar-Harper
Maria Antonieta Orrantia
"Se necesita carácter, pero si hay carácter y hay pasión por lo que uno quiere hacer, no deben de existir los obstáculos." – Maria Antonieta Orrantia
Mario Montes
"I think if you want to go into business, you need to prepare yourself, you don’t necessarily have to go to college, no, but you need to know some of the principles of business, and moral principles too, because some of those moral principles can get you in big trouble." – Mario Montes
Miguel Guerra
"El Paso’s a very diverse culture, and this past year, we were honored with an award that we would have never even dreamed of winning - Small Business Persons of the Year. "– Susan & Miguel Guerra
Moe Beltran
"The colleges can show a lot; they cannot show you what God gives you, good common sense, that’s all it takes, good common sense." – Moe Beltran
Oscar Venegas
"What I’ve been trying to stress, is that El Paso has good business, and they’ve got to give us a chance."– Oscar Venegas
Ray Hernando
"We’re able to achieve anything here, and we bring value to our community, we do." – Ray Hernando
Raymond Palacios
"Success isn’t just about one person; it’s about everybody. If you can’t bring anybody up, then to me, you haven’t been a success." – Raymond Palacios
Richard Castro
"I told myself, ‘You don’t walk in there like you’re going in there to ask for a loan, you walk in there like you own the bank.’ And I did, and it worked, and I’ve always followed that." – Richard Castro
Richard Najera
"I learned a lot of business things from a lady named Lucy Hernandez, she was my manager at the PX No. 24, Lucy taught us how to treat the people right and always be respectful." – Richard Najera
Rick Hernandez Interview
"I’ve always said this – there’s two things the day that you die that you go with, your integrity and your reputation."– Rick Hernandez
Rick Villarreal
"I realized that if I was gonna feed my family, I was gonna have to be in business for myself."– Rick Villarreal
Robert Torres
" It was probably just a culture you grow up in, where you think about things as being an owner and not an employee." – Robert Torres
Rudolph Miles
"The maquila really made my business, because I was in on the very first one, and nobody else knew anything about it. I learned by doing."– Rudolph Miles
Susan Guerra
"El Paso’s a very diverse culture, and this past year, we were honored with an award that we would have never even dreamed of winning - Small Business Persons of the Year. "– Susan & Miguel Guerra
Tanny Berg
"I think a synonym for entrepreneurship is learning to take advantage of opportunity, the opportunities are out there."– Tanny Berg
Teresa Gandara
"If we continue educating our youth, and putting them in positions of power, that’s when we’ll see a shift of things being a little bit more equal." – Teresa Gandara
