3A - My Entrepreneurship Story

My parents and I emigrated from Honduras in 2003 and I got my first look at entrepreneurship in 2007 when my father started his own landscaping business. At the time we lived in Lehigh Acres but he knew his business would flourish in Naples. We moved back to Naples in 2008 and his business took off rather quickly. In the first 5 years, he acquired a team of three employees and over 80 residential properties. Fast forward to 2018 and he has a whole team of employees. He's started to move away from residential properties and has taken hold of a whole apartment complex in Naples. I believe that residential service is still necessary but the real money is in maintaining communities. My dad isn't new to entrepreneurship, however. Before I was born, he ran a bar in Honduras that was very respected. He told me that the mayor of San Pedro Sula used to come in sometimes to drink beer and eat with others in the bar. My mother isn't a stranger to making money either. The bar was an extension to a supermarket she inherited from my grandfather. Think of the supermarket like a Winn-Dixie. She sold fresh produce and other items people needed. My mother continued her entrepreneurial ventures in the U.S a couple years after we got here. In 2010 she began a logistics service aimed at immigrants in our area. She ships out packages to Central and South America via cargo ship since other means of delivery like FedEx and UPS are too expensive for the average immigrant. I've seen people send a plethora of things over the years. Those things range from food and clothes to granite and household appliances. Seeing my parents create independent businesses while being undocumented in this country definitely piqued my interest in entrepreneurship.

I enrolled in this class because I want to become equipped with the tools and knowledge necessary to become a successful entrepreneur. My parents always told me that they could do so much more if they had a proper education. I feel that a formal education, alongside my experience in their respective businesses, gives me an advantage in today's world of business.


This is a picture of my mom's office when she first opened it. She had run the business out of our house from 2010-2014 and got an office space in 2015.