Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Salazar.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’m 22 years old, and I’ve always been interested in business. My dad had started a roofing business with my older brother a couple years back, and when my brother decided to go down a different career path, my dad decided to take a break from owning the business and started working for someone else. I had always worked with them on the weekends or throughout the week when I had time and managed groups, materials, and also put in a lot of labor work while the company was up and running. While the company was shut down I went to work for another company, which taught me a lot. At this company I was working for, I was one of the younger employees surrounded by older men that had many years under their belt, not just career wise but life wise too. As I grew closer to these co workers i realized although I looked up to them a lot, I didn’t want to be “stuck” in a way. Always working for someone else and having to travel the country for work and miss out on family time. At the time I didn’t care much since I had just bought my first home at 21, and it was just me and my girlfriend at the time(my now fiancée). But then life changed when we found out she was pregnant, knowing I was about to welcome another life into this world, really got me thinking. That’s when I decided it was now or never to start my entrepreneur journey. So I talked to my dad and we agreed to start the roofing business again. Although I was called crazy by some people for wanting to leave a stable job with good benefits and pay for this risky and unpredictable journey, I had lots of people also support me and cheer me on. I never regret this decision because it has been such a blessing. Our first year went great and although the winter was rough and slow, this past year has taught me so much, not just in business but in life. After having my daughter, It made me look at life so much more serious and made me want to prosper even more no matter how hard it would be. In January while I was on paternity leave, I decided to enroll into collage to extend my knowledge and career path. Currently I’m working on not only making the roofing business more profitable, but I’m working on hopefully starting my real estate journey soon as well, flipping homes and eventually starting a sister company that builds developments like new custom homes and apartments.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, not at all. Although I had done a lot of research on business. I’ve never had real life experience and so it was a harsh awakening coming into this world of business. Specially being Hispanic and younger than all my competition. One thing I learned was I don’t have to do everything my self. I had to let other people take control in certain areas to be able to grow. One thing I did struggle with for a while, was when we weren’t paid for a job, had to pay the crew out of pocket which set me back for a couple months while I fought the guy in court. We ended up wining and got paid, but it taught me a lot.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Although we are called 4 boys roofing and specialize in every area of roofing, residential and commercial, we are also a contracting company. So no matter the job whether it’s an exterior or interior remodel, or new construction, our company will make sure the job gets done correctly and efficiently. Our company has employees that specialize in roofing, siding, gutters, and fencing. But we have a list of trusted sub trades like framing, plumbing, electrical, etc. that we hire on to help. That way the customer only has to go through one contractor for all the work and be worry free about anything, because we pride ourselves on not only getting the work done correctly and efficiently, but we treat every project as if it where our personal project, with respect and care for everything. We try to make every project easy and butter smooth for the customer. We also care for Spokane a lot, my family moved here from California more than 18 years ago now, and we have been so grateful to start fresh here and love the city. So we love to help out the community and even give discounts to active first responders/ military and veterans.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Yes, throughout my journey I’ve had a couple of contractors help me out throughout the year.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://4boysroofing.com
