FROM CONSTRUCTION WORKER TO CONTRACTOR
Barrios arrived without papers 22 years ago; he crossed the Mexican border and walked for three days. “I was only 17 and super afraid of the border patrol,” he remembered. “When I finally got here, I felt blessed because being in this country is a privilege, everyone wants to be here, and that means something.”
The road was tricky. Barrios did not speak English and worked in the construction industry for a Friday paycheck, but his dreams were endless.
“Since I started in this industry, I saw myself as a contractor, I saw those people with their houses and their trucks and new I wanted exactly that same thing,” he said. But success wasn’t straight forward. One day the highway patrol found him driving under the influence and arrested him, later on he was deported.
“It was the saddest moment of my life,” he acknowledged. “I stayed in jail for a month and had to go back to Mexico. I felt I had lost everything, but decided to use that time to change, to rebuild myself and thrive.”
Twelve years later prosperity came along, and now he is in charge of 25 people, workers who, just like he did, wait for the weekly pay.
“I love what I do because now I am my own boss, and decide what to do and how much to work,” he said. His company offers construction services and remodeling, with specialized teams for each need, plumbing, electrical, roofing, and flooring. “I do everything, from obtaining the permits to providing the door key.”
In addition, he has a real estate business and buys and remodels old homes.
“It is a profitable business if you have the exact people to remodel the place,” he explained.
To all those that want to become owners of their own time, Barrios advises: “First learn English, it is the only way. And second, fight for your dreams. If there is something you like, a house, a car, whatever, visualize it because here, you can have everything if you work hard enough. The American dream is a possibility only if you work with sacrifice, and you abide by the law.” (La Semana)