Aug 20, 2019
Podcast 29 Carlos Martinez
Carlos is the owner of Dura-Shine Clean. The funniest thing that Carlos did this year was sit by his pool in the middle of winter! They just bought a house and were anxiously waiting for summer!
His family moved here from Mexico in the late 60’s not knowing any English. He found himself being the interpreter for his parents. His parents encouraged him to stay in school so he wouldn’t have to work as hard as they had to. He loves math so much that he took some accounting courses. He always knew he would be an executive in business.
After being laid off from working for the State of Washington, he worked for another cleaning company. He and his mother both enjoyed the work, and that is how Dura-Shine was birthed.
Along the way he enlisted his friends as mentors who also had their own cleaning companies. He spent time with them learning hands-on. His mentor when he was with the state taught him how to be a professional and he has applied what he learned when growing his business. He is committed to staying on top of their industry. He networks with companies that are bigger than him and further down the road then he is.
The best team Carlos has ever been on was with the last job that he had at Columbia Basin Health in Othello. His leader there assembled a dream team. He was honored to be on that team. That team was able to implement some greatly needed changes in the healthcare industry, they set records, they were cutting edge and really were a seamless team. Two pieces of wisdom that his boss imparted to him when he left was don’t be afraid to hire people that are smarter than you and don’t hire people you go to church with.
With entrepreneurship comes many highs and many lows. One thing that you must have as an entrepreneur is heart. You must also be passionate. Passion is what will continue to drive you. Enthusiasm is contagious and radiates throughout the business.
Carlos sees around the corners to what is coming his way by keeping up with other companies in the industry on social media. He also stays very connected with his community. In order to be successful you have to be able to predict what is coming down the pike.
Carlos enjoys following Richard Branson and learns a lot from Nordstrom even though they have nothing to do with the cleaning industry. Being in the hospitality industry, he is customer focused. He gets up early in the morning and is a spiritual person--so he prays and asks God for guidance. He finds that he feels better and thinks better when he makes working out a priority.
Carlos would challenge anyone who is running a business to get outside the four walls of the office and serve in the community. He is confident that you will enjoy it. A little bit goes a long way.
When running a business, you must be able to adapt and change in order to grow. He is always looking for ways to change because he is committed to getting better and the process getting smoother. Change used to be difficult, but now he believes that in order to be more effective is to adapt and change.
As a leader he takes the opportunity to learn and grow from his disappointments or setbacks. The legacy that Carlos wants to leave when he leaves Dura-Shine is that his company was successful and a great community partner.
His advice to new leaders is swing for the fences! You are going to make mistakes, learn from them and ask lots of questions, find good mentors and serve in your community.
You can connect with Carlos by following him on Facebook and Instagram.