Part 2 From Banker to Multi-Million-Dollar Construction Business Owner with Gloria Marie Fuentes

welcome back to part two of my conversation with Ms.Gloria.picking it up.At her earliest career aspirations,which leads to her way of leveraging procrastination.We talked a little bit about estimating and how much she so loves doing estimates,wink,wink.And then like this part gives us the significant learning she's had as a result of a painful misstep.Which is super close to my heart because it's about taking action.And I hope you have some snacks available because we talk a little bit about snacks and they might give you the munchies,but make sure they're healthy snacks.Here we go to miss Gloria.

A friend of mine has iron Elk.Specialize in safety gear,and they have a line of options for female work attire,female p p e,which duh.Like it's safety and yeah.I'm a little embarrassed to say,but it's what it is.Like it never occurred to me that a safety vest is not designed to fit a woman's body the total blindness.I was having a conversation with someone and she's It's like a T-shirt.Jess,you ever both put on a woman's shirt before?I was like,yeah,I have.I'll tell that story on the fans only page.And it fits difference.That's the thing.Like for us it's confining and it's tingling or it has to be super big or the size sizes just aren't available.And so I say all that to one props to construction and the folks out there for making those transitions.But at the same time,don't go pat yourself on the back cuz we got so much room to cover in order to provide like a welcoming experience for women into construction.And this is the space you're in now.What were your earliest career aspirations?

So if I have to be honest,I don't think I really had any early career aspirations.I went to private school.I did everything I was told,I did every after school activity and tried my best and sucked at all of them.I was not very good at sports.I was a mediocre dancer,but I loved dance and I loved music.So that's the one that I really stuck with the most.Theater,the arts,I got into a good school.I went to Baylor.And I just did all the things that a good girl is supposed to do and I say that with a huge smile on my face because,I'm very grateful.But at the same time,I didn't really have any specific aspirations.I was that kid that went to college and just picked a,degree program because it made sense and or it was easy to transition to something else.I studied communications and international relations.Okay.Maybe wanted to be some type of lawyer or something.I argue with the building department now,it's the same thing.

construction's a special place I'm glad you hear your energy You need that energy here Some worn out and not as smiley I'll say that I'll

I was gonna say I'm smiling You caught me on a day where you know we're not on site today because it's a holiday so you know I pretty much got to relax I caught up on emails and plans for future jobs today Uhhuh uh which I love reading new plans I always get excited so yeah You know very easy to like smile um when I you don't have like the regular day-to-day stress of because it is stressful Sure Uh of running any type of business you know what I mean So um so yeah So it's just it's just a beautiful day

Amazing Amazing Well I'm glad you got work cuz there's plenty there's more than enough work out there right now and so you I I love that the entrepreneurial spirit.Something tells me you're in construction now,you're gonna do if you haven't already something.Extremely innovative,that's gonna transform the experience for a lot of people that come into your circle.And I also get the feeling that maybe you're going to end up growing and doing something else.You have an entrepreneurial mindset.Mm-hmm I think you figure it out,you see a problem,conditions change,you recognize a gap.You put in the time and sacrifice to do that.One thing I've noticed,I think I saw it in myself late,but I saw it in a lot of other people in the trades,is that spirit,if you will,there's a lot of it,there's a high volume of that spirit in construction folks,in trade folks.You have to figure things out all the time.Like they give you some plans.That are good,but they're not finite in terms of how to make it happen.Like all the things you need to make happen you're given a pile of material and some tools and the assembly of all the things and the problem solving.You just have to figure that out.And like starting your own business is the same.Would you agree?

Yeah,I think it's with building anything.I play with my four year old niece and she's got these little magnet,things,they're like Legos,we build all kinds of things and she actually gives me all kinds of ideas when we play with these things.Because it helps feed my creative and I think it's with building anything really.Whether it's a business,whether it's building a family building,I don't know a garden a lot of people are into growing their own food now.And if you know anything about botany or growing plants or anything of that nature just growing anything.It's a process and with each process,there's learning.Sometimes things don't go like you planned and you gotta go oopsie you start all over again and I use the example of my four year old niece because.In playing with kids or even talking with kids in speaking at schools,particularly schools with much younger kids and just explaining what we do.We start with a foundation and what does that look like?And we need this person and this person.And,most of'em,we can relate it to a team sport.And so I always tell people construction is a team sport.Absolutely.And so we need somebody who's good at drawing.And let's bring that person up.Who's good at math?Let's bring that person up,who's good at cutting?Let's bring that person up.Who's good at painting?Let's bring that person up.Yeah.And then let's bring some strong people,because even though people like dog on the laborers,like we need those strong people to come in and Put everything together and then,there's the people who love to play with their hands or do things like video games and are very detailed oriented from far away.And those are like your crane operators and like specialty engineers and things of that nature.And so there's a place for everybody.In the construction industry and,whether you're working in the back office or the front office.And our business has evolved since my owner representation business in Texas,working with investors.We work with building owners now.I also have my own license in upstate,Westchester County,New York,as well as in Greenwich,Connecticut.And I'm a licensed contractor as well now and doing my own stuff.And I aspire to be a developer at some point.And I work with developers now and work for developers,but I'd love to do my own developments.And I,Was an average student that just studied really hard and procrastinated and stayed up really late to get all my homework done.And by the grace of God always got like an A or something.Yeah.Like the longer I weighed,the more I procrastinated,the better my grades always were.And I do that with estimates now,by the way.Oh,that's too good.Yes.The longer I wait,the better the estimate comes out.

There's nothing like a deadline to make something happen.I'm very much the same.I will usually work on whatever the deliverable is as late as I possibly can.But That's for me having a whole bunch of stuff that I've got,balls in the air,doing everything and there's a new thing proposal.Okay.One of the Friday.Okay,I'm doing it Thursday night or Friday morning

Yeah friday morning for me.And for me it's because I don't enjoy those things now.Give me a construction project and a set of plans and a client that wants to start right away.And I'm like,whoa,let's,whoa,hold up.No.I'm like,hold up.We gotta pre-plan this.We gotta sit down.What are you talking about?This isn't how we operate.Like We're not even starting without a finished schedule.Slow it down buddy.Slow it down.Yeah.So it really it depends on what it is,right?Yes.that goes to knowing like what you're good at.As a business owner,as a leader,and as an entrepreneur,and just delegating.I know the stuff that like I love to do and I know the stuff I don't love to do.And having people on maternity leave sometimes means,as the business owner,I have to take on some stuff myself again.These estimates and proposals is one of those things I'm doing right now,again because it's too much to have to train somebody to do it,I'd rather just wait three months,do it myself.But as I've been taking this task on myself again I've realized that I'm like,man,this is why I like delegated to solve.Yeah.Because I hate doing these estimates.I don't enjoy it.If it was up to me,I'd literally go to the site like an old contractor,put my hands on my hips and be like,Yeah,I think it's gonna be about$200a square foot,give or take,

that'd be great.

I just,I don't have time to I like do some math.I'm like,it's gonna be this many boards,it's gonna be this many guys,then we gotta do this with the floors.Like I think of all the different trades and I start to add up dollars in my head and I'm like,yeah,give or take this.

So along the way,and you've had a whole ton of life experience.Are there any particular oopsies that you had a significant learning from a painful misstep that you'd like to share with our audience?

Yeah the biggest oopsie I think I had was not getting into this industry and switching to construction from the real estate and banking side earlier.I think in a quest to be the perfect good girl and to please everybody including society,society always said we had to go to college and get these like perfect white collar jobs and whatever else.In an effort to please everybody else but myself,and in an effort to tick every single box that I was told I had to check.I lost a lot of pieces of myself and I learned getting back into the construction industry and I say getting back because I feel like I grew up there and,I just kinda have always belonged in some sort of field type work,I wish I just would've done it sooner or explored a career in the trades sooner,or it would have been.Presented to me to go to a trade school while I was in high school,like kids doing Europe and in Canada and everywhere else,but the United States of America.Yeah.So that I could learn that I enjoyed working with my hands and that really was the cure all to all of my anxiety.And all of my,couldn't sit stillness,the bank had to get me a standup desk.First of all,it started with the hip,I needed my hip surgery and I was in hip rehab and everything else.But then my boss realized I worked better standing up and I'd made a makeshift standup desk with like boxes.Ah,okay.But that was not OSHA safe.Sure.Even for an office.I somehow ended up convincing them to buy me one of those ergonomic standup desks and never went back.And then other people in the office started to ask for these ergonomic standup desks,but I was way more productive because I wasn't sitting still or trying to sit still.And,for people who've been paying attention on this podcast,if they can see the video they'll notice that I have a very hard time sitting still.It just,it worked out that way.But,this is not an ergonomic desk,but I only sit at this desk when I do podcasts or I'm reading plans.I do have an office in the city and I go there and I have designated office days,which is like every Tuesday.Yeah.And I do that to stay organized.I still don't like the office stuff.I rather be in the field.

Thank you for that.And it seems like a small thing,but it's huge.What I love now with the ergonomic desks,most of the offices I go into now,like the job site offices,they'll have the adjustable desks for people who stand up or sit down or whatever.But when you talked about the bank saying,getting you a standup desk,it reminded me right after Covid,when they let us go back to the office my former boss,Mike Cyman,he's Hey man,everybody's working from home.Why don't you come over here and sit next to my cubicle?Because my job,I was traveling,like my role was traveling all over the place,so I didn't have an office,just,post up over here instead of the little break room or wherever I was.And I was like,man,I don't know if you want me near you.He's man,just come on.Okay,cool.So I'm sitting like right next to him,cubicles apart,and he's throwing things at me and I'm thinking,we're just goofing off,right?So I throw stuff,paper clips back at him,and then he starts like,dude,can you like settle down over there?What are you talking about?What am I doing?And then finally,it was like the next day,10o'clock in the morning,two days,this was the second day.He's dude,you know what?Go ahead and go back to wherever you were sitting.You don't to sit next to me.And I said,okay.I was like,but can I ask why?Like I didn't understand like you wanted me to come now you want me to leave I don't understand He's like dude,you make so much noise.You're spinning and you're tubing,and you're hum.And you're kicking.And you're tapping.He's do you know that?I'm like,no.He's do you know that about12times a day?You're like,bam,yeah,I got it.I'm like,no.He's that's all I hear the whole time,and you're kicking the wall.And I'm like,oh man.And now to your point earlier about that energy,like it was difficult.Like school was very difficult for me.Not because of the work.The work was super easy.Mm-hmm What was difficult was like being quiet and being still the space was not designed for my energy.And to your point,when I got into construction,I was like,that first summer,I was like,oh my God,this is where I need to be.Outta high school and I decided that summer I'm gonna do this.I'm gonna get into an apprenticeship.This is it for me.Now,at the same time,there was a lot of head garbage and external pressures I'll say that I had to work through because,the people that cared about me were worried about what are you doing?You have so much potential,you should go to con da.

Oh,there's so much potential conversation.Have you ever heard that one?I vividly remember when I changed my LinkedIn.From,working at.One of the top five banks in the entire world to owner of said construction business.And one of the top traders on the trading floor that I used to work at sent me a message saying,did I read this right?You're a construction worker now.And I was like,I didn't really know how to react or respond to that.Because I wasn't a construction worker.I own the business.Technically I am a construction worker,like I'm not the one out there in the field hammering all day.But even if I was like,and yeah I took such offense to that.Yes.Even though.I wasn't the one who was out there hammering in the field.And when we started to grow and expand,I realized that I had to be out there hammering in the field.And that I had to be up there putting up drywall and doing certain things so that I could teach people the way that I wanted things done.I don't care what country people came from or what fancy company they came from.Everybody has a different way of doing things.And so we have the glow joy way which is something that I say now,yes.And I want people to do things the glow joy way.And so the only way that I know how to do that and to control that is to just go out there and be a part of the team that does these demos to these people.It's like training new staff,right?Even if they're subcontractors,we still wanna go out there and demo to them.This is how we prep sites before we even open our toolboxes,yep.This is like where the signage goes.These QR codes,they're not just here for fun.This is where you get your plans,right?Notice there's no plans on site.That's because we wanna make sure you're always working from the right set and so on and so forth.There's certain things that I do in a specific way,and you touched on it earlier.And we use technology.We use ai,we use software.We're very limited in staff,but where I lack in staff,I,have streamlined operations that are connected through these things called APIs and everything's just connected to each other,right?Yes.Just like everything here is connected to each other and I didn't connect it,but it is,and Knowing that there is technology like that to help facilitate us in the construction industry is,where we excel where we lack the years of experience we hire.And,I am truly blessed to have some pretty awesome,very experienced trades people on our team.I've got my own experience obviously,and together,we've created a very nice way of doing things and get a lot of great repeat clients.The owner representation business functions on its own.We've got some great project managers that work for me now.Nice.And we've turned them into mini Glorias they each have their own territories and,work those territories.It's a small little business and,I have a lot of aspiration of course,and a lot of energy which this industry needs,but the biggest thing for me is I feel like.I'm a Jesus girl,so I just feel God has turned the construction industry into a little bit of my ministry and Okay.The construction industry has become a place for,not just for me to offer people work and also to help bring people to the industry and to bring awareness to the industry,but also to just help.The younger trades where maybe they don't feel like they fit in or they feel uncomfortable talking to HR personnel because they've never worked in a corporate environment,or,mentoring young women to make sure that they finish those four years of apprenticeship and,whatever happened on x,Y,Z job site,because is an ignorant man who was raised by the wrong people is not your fault.It's his,and so many other things.And I see the construction industry almost like a calling,yeah.And so I'm not here to save the whole industry and I know it's not my job,but I will definitely do my part in leaving the industry better than I found it.A hundred percent.And that's our mission here at Glow,joy,to just leave this industry in a better place than we found it.And to just do our part in making construction industries,businesses operate in a better way and to communicate with more transparency and to treat clients.And to treat tradespeople right.Doesn't matter size,it doesn't matter.Age,race,gender.We live in a world where you could do a lot with tools maybe20,30years ago when we didn't have a saw needed a big,burly man to come in and do certain,cut certain things.But bro,we got tools now.There's nothing you can do that I can't do,we got science.Yeah.And even then I say that laughing,but I also wanna say to the young women,I.That sometimes we are gonna need a man's help.And genetically speaking,as men and women,our bodies are just built very differently.So as I laugh about there's nothing they can't do that I can't do.There is a lot of jobs they can do that I can't do,and I respect that.And I respect the fact that we have people that are stronger than us and that are capable of doing things that.I will never be able to do.And so I say this to the young women who are listening to your podcast,because I know as women sometimes,even at the gym or with our vehicles or whatever else,we're so scared of asking for help.Because it'll be seen as a weakness and it's not,it's just the way the world works and there's certain things that guys can't do.That's why women make for much better project managers.I'm sorry guys.Y'all suck at organizing jobs.There's something about women and that motherly infant and being able to run a household and a bunch of kids and after school and all this other stuff and p t a and whatever that y'all just can't do.I'm sorry.And I know there's exceptions and I know that might sound sexist,but it's not.There are just certain things that women are genetically wired to do better and vice versa.And we just have to respect that,and so even on the job site,so somebody says,Hey,let me carry that for you.You know what?I'm an old lady.Go ahead.Carry that girl alone.Knock yourself out.Go for it.

Oh,that.You just touched on a whole bunch of things that I think are like uber important.Asking for help.It's not a weakness that makes you human,right?And we all can benefit from help getting past whatever hangups we have about one gender or the other gender.Is important while also embracing the fact that we're designed to be really great at some things and not so much at other things.That is a truth and just come into terms with that,I think alleviates a ton of stress.One thing that's really standing out to me,Gloria,is your business is the vehicle for doing it?The g glow Joy.But it starts with you and there are very few leaders that I've heard speak in appreciation of the client and the installer with the same joy.And that comes across to me in a big way because what I've been able to witness or experience is a heavy emphasis on serving and pleasing the client.At the expense of their people.And I don't get the sense that you've done that.And I also wanna say Training,onboarding demos of the Glow joy way on social media is like brilliant.I was like duh it's super accessible for anybody.That's just brilliant.So I think,now I feel like I want to be on one of your projects.

Come on over.People keep asking me when I'm coming back to Texas because I do this thing where I'm like in between New York and Texas all the time.Yeah.And we work with a lot of small family offices and of course there's a lot of family offices in Texas.Oh yeah.And there's a lot of really old money in Texas.And we've gotten to a point in our business where I do travel to meet with clients and set up meetings to help them hire local,obviously contractors and trades and things of that nature.But Texas is very near and dear to my heart because we started this in Texas.Yeah.And while we were known as something else at the time I would love to do a project in Texas sometime soon in the near future.Make it happen.And I'll fly down to Texas.I love it.We can work on a project together.You don't even have to put your tool belt on,I promise.But construction for me,I think one of the fun parts about construction is the collaboration aspect.If we wanna make a project happen,we can make a project happen.There's just so much work out there right now,and there's a lack of.People that wanna work.There's a lack of people that there's not a lack of businesses for sure.There's a definitely plenty of construction businesses out there,but there's definitely a lack of integrity.I feel that,myself and other business owners in the industry,a lot of which are on social media,are trying to change,right?Yeah.By just educating clients and educating new trades people on how things just need and should be.I met the young lady who introduced us on a social media platform and,she's18,19years my junior.Obviously.Met with her through a virtual space,but clicked on something as basic as being a female in construction out in the field we're that voice,we're that message.This is a second career for me.I have55year olds and65year olds that are my best friends now.Yeah.My70something year old roofer.God bless his heart he's.Huge mentor and just local plug,but also huge cheerleader,and so we just need to see so much more of that in the construction industry.And,I'm here for that as long as I'm supposed to be here,basically.I love it.I don't know if this is like a lifelong career or if something else is gonna happen.I really have no idea.But,I love that there's just so much collaboration and opportunity in this industry.

I'm gonna add that the depth of collaboration that you're experiencing is a result of your energy.Thank you.I know there's people out there I just wish people would look like work together.It's yeah,but you are not fun to be around.That's why people don't collaborate

with you.I can be not fun on site.That's people have tried to like one up me.And people have tried to insult my intelligence.And I know a lot of it has to do because I look young.I always tell women this A lot of times it has nothing to do with your gender.It really has to do with the fact that you look young.And for me,I know I look young and inexperienced and it would happen to me in any job or any place that I went to,happened to me when I got into banking,happened to me when I was in real estate,still happens to me to this day.And I have the license on my business card,as the license contractor and all the info,but nobody cares.They're like,she looks like she's25I think that has a lot.To do with it as well.I do have a lot of energy and that's scary to people sometimes.They're like,whoa,she's just too much.I used to try to suppress it,but I've just learned that it's my superpower.Yes.People come to my job sites,they know it's gonna be a lot of energy.Gloria's always gonna have healthy snacks.She's gonna make fun of you for drinking soda and bring you water,tell you to put sunblock on and knee pads,all the things.I had one apprentice whose mom actually called me two months in and thanked me.Because her son had lost like15pounds working with me.And she was like appalled.And she asked me how,and I said I tell them that especially if we're working in high rises,we're way too busy for them to go out for lunch.So I bring lunch,and lunch is usually something healthy.It'll be yummy and I'll have like yummy sauces and stuff from Trader Joe's or whatever,but it'll typically be something yummy.Otherwise I know they're gonna go to McDonald's.Or Taco Hell or the food truck like you said earlier,and they're gonna not be as productive for the rest of the afternoon.And same thing in the morning offering yogurts and parfaits,bananas,apples,nuts,snacks.My construction workers are spoiled,hey,now I

know I need to

be a one of your this is a lifestyle.They're family.You I have an office and I have my healthy office snacks.So it's a culture.It's just part of being with us.But at the end of the day,you spend more time at work than you do at home.and we don't have a ton of stuff in house or a huge ginormous team I do try to make it fun,make it joyful,make the experience for the clients also be fun and joyful.It's a lot of money people are spending,a lot.And so even the process of a change order,we try to make as seamless as possible and just an experience where you wanna do this because your new roof's gonna last another extra10years.Or,you wanna take this extra time to put subflooring and spend extra money on,replacing this ahead of putting new floors.I know that the construction industry can be frustrating and unpleasant and a rollercoaster,and a lot of people,particularly on the residential side,have nothing but freaking horror stories.But,we strive to be the exception for that.And nothing will ever be perfect.I think setting expectations ahead of time is really the best way to go.

Yes,agreed.I hear this a lot like,yeah,Jess in a perfect world,and I'm like how about in the world that we're creating?Yeah,you're right.The idea sounds a little nutty,but I bet we could make it happen.We just gotta put in the time to make that damn thing happen.

We do.And don't be afraid to just lean on your network.I have a lot of mentors,that are part of my team and I lean on my mentors.I spoke to one of my mentors earlier today he called to check up on me because he hadn't heard from me in some time I told him about this one project that I was estimating and what I was thinking in my head and ran through everything with him.In10minutes he was like,sounds like you solved your own problem.And I was like,I didn't even know I had this problem until you called me.Needed somebody to talk through with it.I call on some people or send dms to people just to say,Hey,how's it going?Haven't heard from you in a while,blah,blah,blah just cuz people seem like everything's fine or successful or this,that,or whatever,yeah.Check on your friends,check on your strong friends and check on your mentees.Even the ones that seem to be doing pretty well yeah.Because we always need help and a lot of times we don't wanna reach out for help,going back to that whole asking for help thing,right?I have a great support network.It's also knowing that slow and steady wins the race.I'm not trying to build this multi-billion dollar construction business overnight.I'm not trying to compete with some of these larger prime contractors like Gilbane or Turner or what have you but I'm also gonna do things my way.I'm not gonna do things the way that the construction industry has said that I have to do it.Does that make sense?A hundred percent,

yes ma'am.So are there any folks out there you want to give a shout out to?I know you mentioned your roofer and your mentor.Any other folks?

If people have listened to any of my other podcasts that I've been a guest on they know that I always praise my father and I am constantly praising my grandparents who were really the example of who I am and what I strive to be.Cause I don't even think I'm there yet.Shout out to my dad.And both of my grandparents and just all the other entrepreneurs in my family who set such a good example for us.And also just set a foundation for us to grow from because I do believe that the next generation of entrepreneurs in my family is just that much better than the last generation.And it's just because we've learned and grown from them.Thanks to all of their hard work and the efforts that they made to sacrifices we just have more.Also just a shout out to all of the people who have taken the time to listen to today's podcast if you've listened this far I really appreciate you for being here and for listening and for tuning in.Just wanna give you a shout out for even being remotely interested in the construction industry.And of course,folks know that my dms are relatively open pretty accessible particularly to young ladies in the construction industry who are just looking for a mentor or somebody that they want to bounce ideas off of.

Amazing.it has been a pleasure hanging out with you and feeding off of your energy.Do you have a good time?

Absolutely.I definitely enjoyed my time with you.Kudos to you for taking the time to to put this together for the industry because it definitely needs it and more people just need to know about construction careers and people in the construction industry as well.

I hope you caught the part where Ms.Gloria was talking about mentoring and checking in on people,staying connected,even the strong people,right?Sometimes it's the strongest people in our life The carry the weight for a lot of people and just that simple.Hey,how you doing?Want to make sure you're okay.Uh,contributes to their mental health and mental wellness.Cause we all want to know that we're supported.And again,the mentoring thing,right.She just said it out there.Right?Any young ladies that are looking to bounce,some ideas off of her,get in contact,look for some direction.She's totally open to it.And I hope the LnM Family,rather.I know the LnM Family feels the same way about mentoring.And a little exciting pre post announcement.Jennifer Lacey and I are going to be in Austin,Texas at the soul built conference,and we're going to be delivering the emotional bungee jumpers experience live and in person with the whole group of folks at this conference,I like cannot wait because I want to see people get uncomfortable.I want to see the score mean and people actually come to the realization and the self-awareness that.I've seen happen.Like every single time and this time we're doing it with like a big group of people.Uh,not sure exactly how it's going to work out,but Jennifer's going to be there.So I'm pretty sure it's going to be awesome.I remember y'all sharing is caring.Pass this conversation around the people that you think is going to resonate with.Be cool.And we'll talk at you next time.Jeez Oh my goodness.You're either driving down the road or just so enthralled with,uh,with this whole podcast that you went all the way down to the very,very,very,very end of it.And we appreciate you and just,we're going to take this as an indication of your dedication so we got a little special request of you,a call to action,because everybody tells us that like,you need to have a call to action.So here's the call to action.Be kind to yourself,go out there and share a smile with someone