Today we’d like to introduce you to Rosa Gonzalez.
Hi Rosa, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My name is Rosa González. I was born and raised in Mexico, and in 2018 I moved to Altus, a small town in the state of Oklahoma, where my husband Israel Gonzalez was living at the time. He worked in the oil industry. We lived there for eight months; however, due to the lack of employment opportunities, we decided to move to Missouri. We arrived with only 100 dollars in our pockets, but with hearts full of dreams and hope.
For me, everything was difficult because of the language barrier. Although I understood a little English, I was afraid to communicate and navigate life in this country. Like many people, I wanted to move forward, grow, and succeed.
My dream was to practice my professional career(Accounting) just as I had in Mexico, but the process was complicated and made my goals feel farther and farther away.
I began working in the food industry, something completely different from what I wanted, but I knew it was work and I needed to take the opportunity.
My husband worked in construction, My husband had very difficult jobs, both in terms of the long hours and the low pay. often starting at 7 a.m. and finishing at 8 p.m. Later, he began working in carpet installation, a job so demanding that he lost a significant amount of weight because they barely had time to rest or eat.
In 2021, I started working in Orthodontic Products Warehouse., where, thanks to my coworkers, I was able to improve my English.
During that time, my husband strengthened the skills he had gained from his previous jobs and began receiving requests from clients who needed his services.,which made him consider the possibility of working on his own, instead of doing jobs for someone else.
In January 2023, a national corporation contacted him to complete mobile home remodels. That opportunity gave us the push we needed to realize that we could achieve something greater.
One day, my sisters told my husband that he should start his own company because they had seen the quality of his work. They encouraged me to begin this project, And that’s how, in May 2023, we decided to register our own company, Gonzalez Contracting Services LLC, and lay the foundation for this dream.
I helped however I could: painting, flooring installation, drywall (tasks completely different from anything I had done before). I became his right hand. I worked at the warehouse in the mornings, and in the afternoons and weekends I helped my husband with his jobs.
That same year, I found out I was pregnant. After experiencing two previous miscarriage, I needed to rest, which led me to leave my job at the warehouse and support my husband from home
Those were very difficult times, because my husband was working on his own, looking for new clients, and his income was the only one we had at home. I felt desperate because I couldn’t help due to my health condition. Our bank accounts started going into the red, and there were days when I wondered if it was worth continuing to fight for this company.
However, I knew that we had already taken the first step, and that no new venture is ever easy. We had to keep going without giving up.
I dedicated myself to learning, finding clients, preparing estimates, calculating costs, and working on marketing.
Like any new business, it has not been easy, especially in this industry, where many clients look for companies with large crews.
However, most of our clients come through referrals or because they have seen our work and know we can meet their expectations.
We are moving slowly but steadily, and we are fulfilling our dreams.
Today, I am the administrator of our small company, and my husband is the project manager. Together, we have built this dream with hard work, dedication, and a great deal of faith.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has been very difficult. There is a lot of competition in this industry, and it is challenging to find clients who are willing to give us the opportunity to show the quality of our work
One of the hardest parts is when you keep looking for clients and new projects, but they don’t choose us for the jobs. Meanwhile, our bills, insurance, and expenses keep running, and our account balances continue to go down.
Now we have a two‑year‑old and a three‑month‑old baby, which makes everything even more complicated. As my husband and I always say, “we have three children: our two‑year‑old, our three‑month‑old baby, and our three‑year‑old company. They all require our attention because they are all still growing; we are just now laying the foundations for each of them. That’s why we have to put in three times the effort
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
As the administrator of our family‑owned company, I handle communication with clients, estimates, scheduling, budgeting, and everything related to the organization and operation of our projects.
What I am most proud of is how far we’ve come. My husband and I started with almost nothing, just hard work, determination, and the desire to build something meaningful for our family. Every step has required sacrifice, learning, and faith, and seeing our business grow through referrals and satisfied clients means everything to me.
I believe what truly sets me apart is that, even when I am afraid to do something, I still do it without showing my fear. If I don’t know how to do something, I learn it. I don’t allow “I don’t know” to be an answer. I push myself to grow, to improve, and to find solutions, no matter how challenging the situation may be
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
My sisters who motivated my husband, letting him know that his work was valuable and that he was capable of achieving something bigger.
And there was also the manager of a housing complex (Cristen), who gave us the first push to begin working on large projects. She helped me learn how to work in the administrative area, and she helped my husband in the labor side of things.
And of course, our regular clients, who constantly tell me how grateful they are for the work my husband does.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://gonzalez-contractingllc.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1AV8Wq2Dti/
