Latest / AccessCo Leaders Career Conversations / Charismatic Engineering
Transcript
- speaker-0: Hello, welcome back to access co leaders, Ilyne, ⁓ get to host this career conversation with our students from the Manassas Park City High School in Virginia, and our guest is Javier Flores. He is the president of DAS everywhere welcome to the show Javier. speaker-1: Thank you, thank you. speaker-0: All right, well, Javier, can you tell us in two to three sentences, what is DAS everywhere and what is it that you do as the president? speaker-1: So DAS Everywhere, we are integrators for the federal government and also for commercial industry, ⁓ developers and cellular companies on anything that has to do with distributed antenna systems. That's where the name comes from. DAS is distributed antenna systems and that includes cellular networks, Wi-Fi, microwaves, satellite, everything that is on the air, pretty much all the signals on the air, RFID. All of those systems. Yep. speaker-0: So you sound kind of important, Javier, like we wouldn't be able to stay connected if we didn't have your systems. speaker-1: Correct, correct. Everything that you connect to in a daily basis, we design those systems. We design those systems as long as they're not wired to the wall. All the devices, your tablet, your laptop, when you're in the car, when you go to the toll, all of those systems we design. That's what we do. speaker-0: Excellent. That's fabulous. So you have ⁓ clients in the government, clients in the private sector. Now tell us where did you grow up, Javier? Where did you grow up and where are you located now? speaker-1: So I grew up in Puerto Rico and a very little town in Puerto Rico and I move around around a lot because my parents move a lot and then I studied the other side of the island and finally I moved up to the States in 2006. So now we are located in Arlington, Virginia. That's where we are located now. speaker-0: All right, not too far from our students in Manassas Park City High School. That's excellent. Now tell us, go back a little bit. ⁓ Where were you then in middle school and in the high school years? Where were you located? What were you doing? What kept you busy? speaker-1: So I was in a little town that nobody's going to know where it is, Juncos, and middle school, high school was with the same group of students. We moved until I got to high school, middle school. In middle school, my family didn't move from Juncos until I went to college, until I went to university. And yeah, I was just a regular student. I was ⁓ fairly okay in math and in science. Those were my main speaker-2: Very cool. speaker-1: topics that I focus on, that's why I end up in engineering. And yeah, actually even did a, I don't want to show off on that, but I was number one. speaker-2: You speaker-3: It's your time to shine, Javier. speaker-0: science and something important. What was it? What made you separate? What made you different from the rest of the other students? speaker-1: So was number one in the county in math. And I had the highest score in my entire high school to go to college. So here we take the SAT in Puerto Rico, we take the college board and the combination of those two make an index. And I was the highest score in my school. speaker-0: Let's go, Javier, all these years I've known you did not know that you were you had a superpower. That's excellent. So ⁓ math science. Now, were you involved in any sports? I already know you personally, so I know that you were involved in music. Tell us a little bit about what what you played, what positions you were. speaker-1: Yeah, yeah. So I used to, I used to love and play a lot of volleyball. Not anymore. Age caught up with me. But I used to do a lot of volleyball, basketball, baseball. ⁓ Never played soccer. And of course I was into music and until recently, lately I haven't had a chance to play much, but I played the guitar, played the bass guitar. speaker-2: Yes. speaker-1: Back in the days I used to play a little bit Dreams too. So that was my background. I love music. I love music. speaker-0: All right, so Javier is smart, he's athletic, and he's got rhythm. All right, how does being able to have that discipline of being number one in your field, studying engineering, being an athlete and a musician, how did ⁓ any of that, values or that discipline, ⁓ what did you take from those experiences and apply to what you're doing today as the president of DAS Everywhere? speaker-1: So one of the things that helped me the most, something else that I left outside also, I was a volunteer for many years in like a Boy Scouts programs, it's called the Royal Rangers. And so it teach me leadership, it teach me discipline in the music, the discipline is key, attention to detail, and all those things and the math, all those things come together, like almost good is not good enough. And that was ⁓ persistent in all the areas that I was ⁓ developing myself. In the music, you know, when you get off, the other musicians look at you, ⁓ you off note, you off tempo, or whatever. And the same thing happens in math. Math, there's not almost, okay, it's correct or it's not. It's one of the two. So there's all those things, the discipline, dedication. One thing that my dad ⁓ taught me early on, was like, if you are less than 30 minutes early to a meeting, you're planning to be late. speaker-0: Wow, dad got dropped some wisdom back then and our Manassas Park City high school students were on it. They were early. That's what I'm talking about. Now that is setting the standard. Props to your dad, Papa Flores, let's go. If you're less than 30 minutes, you were planning on being late. I feel a little bit convicted. All right, well, I'm not gonna spend too much more time with you. I wanna hand it over to our students. Lynchee, what is your first question for Javier? Lynn, Lynn, you got to bring up your mic to your, bring it up. Let's see. No, we don't have you hold that thought. Let's try another student, Jason, unmute and go to you. speaker-4: So I was wondering how you position your company during contracts with organizations like the Department of Defense and Department of Justice. speaker-1: So there's a lot of requirements, right? There's a lot of requirements there. So one of the main things, the first steps is like you have to get in a contract in which the company that is hiring you process your clearance, right? ⁓ They have a contract that requires people with personal clearance or the government is willing to wait for that person to get the clearance. That's how it started. ⁓ Back in the days, I started with a much bigger company than my small organization now. And that's what they did. They came from zero clearance all the way to top secret. And thanks to them, I was able to get that point. From that point on, it's up to you. You have to do the best that you can, shine and overshine, and your name gets spread out. At that point, there's not much for you to do. The people talk about you. And now they want to work with you. When you start your business, that's how it positions the business. Not because they know the business, it's because they know you. Then you get with your name, get the business to get known in the industry and word of mouth, to be honest, we don't spend much in marketing. We don't spend much in business development. The customer calls and that's how we get contracts. speaker-0: That's amazing Javier. So what I'm hearing is ⁓ have quality products, right? Your service has to be great. ⁓ And your business is built on relationships. It's built on rapport and ⁓ word of mouth. Well, the fact that you are, how many years have you guys been in business now? speaker-1: 12 years now, 12 years. speaker-0: 12 years and you're successful and you continue to have clients again in both private and public sector. That's amazing. And they require clearances. So that says a lot also about you and your company and the people that you're hiring. They don't just hand out clearances to anybody. So great to you guys. right. Let's try. Let's go back to Lynchee. Let's go back to you, see if your mic is working. ⁓ it's still not. OK, let Miss Hammad know. If we need to double up on a screen, we can do that. ⁓ Madeline, let's try you. Unmute. Is it working? You're good. Yep. Go ahead. OK, so you were my question is that you were talking about how you grow up in Puerto Rico and everything, right? So I wanted to know what was the transition to moving here to the United States? And if you had different interests and if you had a different idea in your career path, or was engineering always something you were interested in? speaker-1: So I was first interested in music. Then I went into engineering. I studied engineering. That was my original interest because math came easy to me. It was like natural math and science. was like I could live it. And I have ⁓ inspiration on my granddad. My granddad never became an engineer. He studied until eighth grade. Then he went to study at ninth. finishes GED, then he went to study again and did his certificate of engineer assistant or something like that. But his dream was always to become an engineer. And I was like, well, I got the path kind of easier than what it was for him. I mean, he was born in 1930, keep that in mind, right? It was different times. So I said like, sure, why not? I love it. I love technology. I love ⁓ the technical aspects of it, power distribution and everything else. So let me go into it. I got the highest score in high school, so it was easy for me. I could go to any university I wanted. So I said, OK, so let me shoot for the engineering school, which was one of the highest ⁓ requesting, the university requesting the highest scores in the island in Puerto Rico. So I went to that one and yeah, I stayed there in Puerto Rico. Yeah, I started studying, I started working for back then, Spring PCS, which was a cellular company. And before that, a two-way paging company doing microwave pads and all that. But I was just learning an assistant engineer, even though was having my engineering degree, but I was an assistant engineer. was the rookie learning in the group. never miss an opportunity to try to learn, to be better, to work harder, to go up the ladder. And that means for me sometimes working nights, weekends, sometimes a Sunday at two o'clock in the morning, I was in the office. When nobody wanted to be there, but that's how you learn. That's how you become good at what you're doing. speaker-0: So Javier, going back to the transition from being on the island in Puerto Rico and then coming up to the States, you had part of your career there in Puerto Rico and also in the States. What were the things that you gravitated to in that transition? Were there other Puerto Ricans? Were there other engineers? How did you immediately build community? What motivated you to continue to transition well? speaker-1: Yeah, there was a lot of common things. So I was working in Spain, then I went to a network engineering ⁓ company that was integrated for universities, manufacturing companies and all that. provide wireless networks and security. A company from Atlanta, Georgia reached out to me because of my experience, they were ⁓ integrators or contractors for cellular companies. Guess what? One of their customers, was my old boss in spring, my boss from Atlanta, Georgia. And so that's my move. That's my move because the company moved me. They put me in a hotel, they paid for everything. They gave me a raise in salary. We went back and forth, negotiation, three times increase the salary. speaker-0: There you go. Know your words. Look at that network. You're like, hey, you've reached out to me. Who's got the upper hand here? That's excellent. Great story. And maybe there'll be some questions from our students about that. Those kinds of negotiations and exchange. Let's go back to Lynchie. Let's see if it's working. speaker-4: Is this the world? Yeah, you're Okay. my question ⁓ basically just bases around the fact that I'm currently a senior in high school. So I'm, you know, I have to start thinking about like what I want to do after I graduate or, you know, it's like inevitable to get those questions, I guess. But I guess my question to you is like you were my age once. So did you ever feel like, ⁓ like, how did you know speaker-1: you speaker-4: like truly what you wanted to do, was it more of a passion thing or was it just, ⁓ I was good at math and then this just makes sense for, you know, what I'm good at and how did you really find your direction in life? speaker-1: So at the beginning, I think my first, first job was not in engineering. It was customer service in a service company and managing the schedules of I think like 13 technicians. was sent the, the, the dispatching them to different places. So that's my entry, you know, so I got into it. There was a lot of data entry into it, a lot of calls and Back in the day, he was paging us cell phones. We were sending messages to pagers and all that. But it was a lot of coordination. So I just got, so I thought this is my way to get in the industry somehow, get my first experience. And from there, I went to a two-way paging company that they do microwaves and all that. And I was the entry level, the lowest position in engineering there. But I got my foot in the door. And I said like. I do anything because I need to start in the industry somehow. So I took whatever I can take and from there I get to the next and to the next. So I was never, I never stopped looking. Even when I get a job, I start looking for the next one. I start looking for the next one. So that's exactly what a company doesn't want, but that's exactly what you need to do. speaker-0: All right. You say that. So you kept looking, but now you have been in DAS everywhere for 12 years. Now who owns the company? How did it get started? I should have asked these questions earlier, but how did that happen? How did you decide, okay, now it's time to start my own company. speaker-1: So it was nerve-racking because to start a new company is a lot of stress, is a lot of pressure, is a lot of uncertainty. But I keep getting big companies reaching out to me by recommendation of old friends of mine that I used to work with or they used to work for me before. And I started doing things on the side, like a little contractor thing, a little thing for three days, for two days. at nights and the weekend besides my job. At some point it was so much that talking to my bank associate, she was telling me, you should open a company. Open an LLC because people keep reaching out for you. What is this check? It's another company giving you a check. What are you doing? They said, okay, I was nervous, but the bank itself motivated me to open the business. Okay, so I opened the business officially. Now it's DAS everywhere exists. ⁓ then AT &T reached out to me. A friend of mine, actually I was texting with him this morning. He reached out to me and said like, hey, are you happy where you are? We have a position. I know you're the personal, how much you need, da da da, but you need to have a business. because it's a court to court opportunity. We're not looking for an employee. We're not looking for 1099. It's a court to court. And I start scrambling. I start going online. It's like, what do have to do? I need to go to IRS, EIN, create LLC, all the legal part, the bank account, website, boom, boom, in a week, I have it all. But of course, this is working nonstop. speaker-2: Ciao! speaker-1: You cannot feel pity for yourself because you're sleeping little or because you're too tired or because whatever, you you have to do what you gotta do. The drive has to be on you and you're gonna be successful. You're gonna be successful because not everybody's willing to do what you're do. speaker-0: Javier, I'm listening to you and we knew each other in that time and selfishly I can say, know exactly what you're describing as far as starting a business, but for our students, just so you know, 12 years ago, AI wasn't around. Google was. So you could Google, what is my next step and who do I need to ask? But you had to research a little bit harder than we do these days with AI. So props to you, Javier. And then also behind the scenes. You're also married. had your kids at that point. there was a lot. ⁓ When you when he talks about starting a business and having that pressure, there's also other external motivating factors to get this thing off the ground. And it's like you already had a business of a bank. Those that have the money are saying, hey, start this up. And you've got a client knocking on your door. What an amazing way to start. So we've got a lot to learn from you, Javier. Let's go to Anthony. What's your first question? speaker-3: life. speaker-4: Hey, my name is Anthony. Can you guys hear me good? Yeah. All right. Well, I just wanted to ask because, mean, we've heard a lot about your upsides and how great it's been going, but I also want to know how you face your challenges, whether it be you or your company and how you got through them. speaker-1: So that's very interesting. ⁓ One thing that I always ⁓ bring back is like when I face challenges is like trying to stay focused, right? Why are we here? Why are we here? What we have done in the past? How we got to this situation? What I did bad, right? What I did wrong? What mistakes I made? So I take all those lessons learned and also pivot in a more positive or productive direction, right? Every time you face a challenge, you have an opportunity to grow. Every time I face, for example, we have in the past, submit proposals that we don't win the proposal. There many others competing for the same project and maybe they have the better profile for the customer or better pricing. So you need to have... your own drive, your own motivation and keep your eyes focused on the ball, right? Keep your eyes focused in like, we're gonna make this happen. This is what we're gonna get. And it's not gonna be easy because being successful, it means that you fail a million times before getting there. But if you don't fail, you don't success. You don't have success. Because everybody that has accomplished big things in life is because they have tried and tried and tried. Very rarely somebody comes, success comes in a parachute and lands in your lap. That almost never happened, never. So it's just, you know, hard work, work ethics, ⁓ professional ethics, and intensity. Keep going, intense, intense, intense. ⁓ Sometimes my wife says, tells me, you have to rest. speaker-0: Give us a friend. We have a mutual friend who was one of our guests a few weeks ago, Nick. And he said he drops. exactly. His mom would tell him, ⁓ you it's never well, he shared that it's never too late to start again and it's not okay to quit. You know, you can do hard things, but it's not okay to quit. So you got to keep going. And that sounds like what you're saying. You just got to be resilient. speaker-3: So, Javi, are we? speaker-0: pick it up and keep it moving. So awesome. Thank you for that, Javier. Great question, Anthony. Jason, we're coming back to you. What's your next question? speaker-4: Going back to the AI topic, how has it impacted the telecommunications industry and how do you predict that it will change the way that networks are designed or managed in the future? speaker-1: So I have a mixed relationship with AI, okay? Because we have been in the industry for a long time. You can tell when somebody sends you something from AI. It's like a copy paste of the 20 orders that you receive. So there's nothing particular about it. You make it fast, you don't make it special. It's so generic. But yes, you can accomplish a lot of things very fast, much more efficient and mechanical process. I definitely will throw it in the AI. know, I have to automate the spreadsheet, this document, generate the draft, but then jump into it and get the template, the AI template out of it because then you don't distinguish yourself from nobody. It's easy to read through it. You know, I see the start. When I receive, even resumes, I receive resumes or sometimes to my employees, I ask for a white paper about some topic, a lot of the topics that we post it in LinkedIn. And I feel like this looks too generic. This is not. That doesn't make us stand out in any way. And the same that happens to us as company, but it happens to an employee too, as an employee. It happens to anybody. As a student, submitting a paper in school also happens to same thing. speaker-2: This speaker-0: That's awesome, Javier. You're saying don't not use AI, but make it special, right? Have it give a good start, but don't go out there just slopping it on in your email or your paper or, you know, I know you guys have some academic rules about that, but even in business, it's really important. Now that everyone's using AI, we already know if that was AI generated. So, and no shade to it, but just make it, I love that. You can make it fast, but it's not special. That's really great. ⁓ Let's go back to Madeline, your next question. Yes, so my next question is what strategies have helped your company grow the most and how do you these strategies to market yourself into catching people's attention? speaker-1: So that's a very good question, very good question. we, like I said before, we have been blessed with a lot of word of mouth recommendation, right? But we also leverage every single time that we have a success story, we leverage that to network with other potential customers, to reach out to other customers. Every building block of success that you build, that you achieve, it as a stepping stone for the next one and put on top of that and build for the next one and build for the next one. So you have to leverage everything that you have been able to accomplish in the past, small, medium, large, doesn't matter. It doesn't have to be the biggest success, but every one of those are stepping stone to go to the next. speaker-3: Abhi, where did you learn that? speaker-0: Where did you learn that you were really good at math and you are an engineer. You also shared that you don't spend much time, much budget on business development and in marketing. That was a great question, Madeline. So where did you pick that up? How did you learn to hustle like that as a business owner? speaker-1: So I am very relational, right? I love, you know me, right? I love to interact with people. I love to socialize with people. And that's some, an old boss that I had many, years ago, he told me, you're a weird person because typically tech guys are not social. And you are social, but you're tech. You have a combination that is weird to find, but he helped me. because I observe a lot. So when I interact with people, I say whatever we're talking about, I say a comment and I observe the reaction and I detect there's a lot of ⁓ body language in what's those you, what makes you jump. And I use that to go to the next point, to the next point, to the next conversation. So I notice this. Some customers, they love to hear about these success stories and you go from that one and you build for the next. So now we can do something for you too. That was great for this customer. It could be great for you. And we can also do these other things for you. So right there, I used the past experience as a stepping stone. My own past experience. speaker-0: So always be aware of it. So you have to be present and you have to be aware and use that opportunity. All right, hustler. Good job Javier. ⁓ Linchi you're up again. What's your next question? speaker-4: ⁓ Okay, so we know that you're the president of DAS Everywhere, so you've reached a certain level of success in your career. How do you think that you have considered ethical considerations as you've gained more momentum with the success? How do you value your consumer? Or do you think that you've seen people around you change as you've kind of become more successful within your career? speaker-1: Some people, as you are successful in your career, you start, like I said, just read the room, right? Just read the room, the people that approach you, not everybody comes with the same intentions. Not everybody's as transparent as you may be, right? So I think it's important to stay honest, to stay transparent, to be honest to yourself, right? the same person you are. Don't change who you are because of the success you get. But as you go in that path of success, you're gonna have people approaching you not with the best intentions. Just trying to take advantage of you. Just trying to step into your success and drain you business. And you have to be wise, you know? And I'm the guy that will let somebody go with a smile. Yeah, I'm not gonna get emotional. I'm not gonna get agitated. I'm not gonna get aggressive. I'm not gonna get confrontational. I'm just gonna let you go with a smile for the best of your success. One person one time, I have to let him go. I was the operations manager of this company. I said like, this is the best thing for you. Just make sure you don't do this again because everywhere you go, and this is for free, this is an advice for free. Everywhere you go, that's gonna cost you problems. But the person, know what he was doing? He was not showing up at work. A customer that was paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for his presence there. He was not showing, he was lying, he was doing a lot of things, right? So yeah, and the path of success, a lot of people are gonna try to hang up from that and actually stain your name saying, no, no, I work with Lyn. ⁓ Yeah, but you know the issue. speaker-2: you speaker-0: So what you're saying is that your reputation could be really great or it can really hurt you. So go ahead and start your career off with a great reputation because that's when you get the calls from Atlanta to where you're you've got the upper hand to negotiate. That's awesome. Let's go back to Anthony. What's your next question? speaker-4: ⁓ So I was wondering, what barriers, like, what times did you have to get out of your shell and really, like, be different from other people and stand out so you can have the opportunities that you have? speaker-1: Okay, so this one is gonna hit hard. speaker-2: Okay, at the age that you guys are. speaker-1: Right? So I was pretty shy when I was in middle school. Right? I was almost very shy. I was shy, but not super shy. was, you know, trying to navigate the world or not. When I got to high school, I started noticing that the guys that were not shy were getting the pretty girls. speaker-2: And... speaker-1: And then when I got to high school, I said, I forget about this shyness. This is going out the window because it's not giving me anything. I'm not going to go anywhere in life with this shyness. So I have to force myself in uncomfortable situations to break out of it. And I did it. And I was so happy that I did it because there were fruits of it. speaker-0: Now he's married and has kids. This is amazing. speaker-2: Exactly, I trippies now. speaker-0: our young men out there and our ladies. You gotta put yourself out there, whatever motivates you, whether it's a job or a relationship. Good advice there, Javier. All right, great question, Anthony. So come out of your shell. Jason, we're coming back to you. This is the opportunity in our conversation where we get to know you. So Jason, tell us what grade are you in and what is your favorite subject in school? What's keeping you busy? What do you do outside of school? speaker-4: ⁓ so I'm an 11th grader and I had to play guitar outside of school and I like to run as well. My favorite subject is physics. I find that really interesting. I really love to learn about all the theories and stuff. speaker-0: All right. Well, Jason, what are your plans ⁓ after high school so far? Did you or do you have a desire to go to college, university, get a job? What are you thinking? speaker-4: I wanna go into either mechanical or chemical engineering. I'm hoping to go to college for that and getting a master's degree. I'm looking forward to either going to VTech or UVA in the future. So I'm really having high hopes for that. speaker-0: All right, Javier, hop in if you have any wisdom and encouragement for an aspiring engineer. speaker-1: Yeah, we think I mean, you can go so far. mean, you can go, you can go very, far with that. Right. So it applies to, to space engineering applies to so many things, you know, ⁓ I do have worked my life with a lot of mechanical engineers. I do have a lot of friends who are mechanical engineers too. and I don't know if you have. Entrepreneur interest on all that, but the service industry is, is a gold mine. for mechanical engineers. From electrical motors repairs in drug field, ⁓ in commercial, I used to work for one of my first summer jobs ⁓ in a company that used repair of electrical motors for cruise ships, for manufacturing plants, all that is mechanical engineering. Mechanical engineers do that, even though electrical engineers do, but mechanical engineers see the whole cycle from A to Z. the HVAC industry, who doesn't use AC here, right? So everybody, and not just in your house, in the shopping mall that you go, in the airport that you go. So those big manufacturing plants, all those big facilities, all of those need mechanical engineers. So, I mean, even NASA needs mechanical engineers, lot of it. Manufacturing plants of all types, not just for HVAC, but for conveyor belts, production lines and all that. So mechanical engineers, mean, you have more options than me as an electrical engineer. speaker-2: This speaker-0: That's amazing. Jason, do you have another question for Javier? speaker-4: Like for anyone trying to go into the telecommunications industry, what are like some emerging developments you think that they should be paying attention to? speaker-1: So smart cities, which is part of what we support in the federal government, ⁓ is a great area of focus. And the reason I say that is because smart cities ⁓ put together a lot of different technologies and branches of it, ⁓ not just in wireless, in wired, in data processing and input of massive amounts of data, metadata, ⁓ human behavior, occupancy ⁓ sensors, ⁓ LIDAR. I there's so much that I can talk the whole day about Smart Cities because it integrates a lot of it. Networks, regular network surveillance, ⁓ heat detection, all of it, robotics. I went through a Smart City with an actually step into a unmanned vehicle, which ⁓ like a van ⁓ for transportation, and it was not in rails, but it was driving across traffic, and there was nobody driving it. And it was stopping in the right places. It was evading people. It was evading cars, passing over cars, stopping in the restaurant, going back. It was something else. speaker-0: frightening. I've seen them. I've you know, in different cities, there are the different companies now where you watch them. And these, you know, unmanned vehicles just driving around. And yeah, you put your trust speaker-1: This one was not just me. There were a lot of people in the car, in the vehicle. It was not a car, was a vehicle. was like everybody standing and it's moving all of us through traffic. speaker-0: Okay. So you're in the 11th grade and you're hearing this now as an emerging, as an emerging area of engineering. How much more in six years from now when you're done with high school and you get your degrees. So start thinking ahead of that. And I heard Javier ask, ask you a little bit if you had that entrepreneur spirit. So these are the opportunities to also ask those business questions. So we'll come back around. Hopefully we'll have some time. Let's move over to Madeline. Madeline, tell us what grade are you in? What are your interests and Tell us a little bit about yourself. Yes, so I am a junior and well, I'm in 11th grade and something that really interests me is going into the medical field. ⁓ I feel like it's always been something that I've been passionate about helping others. ⁓ And then I'm really interested in becoming a pediatrician later on in the future. And those are basically my interests and my future plans. speaker-1: So I have all the new news. speaker-2: Good news. speaker-1: old news, but they're really good news. It's amazing. You never gonna run out of a job that field theres always, always, always work anywhere you can move anywhere in the world. You're to have a job. And of course, with that kind of work, especially when I go to pediatrics, it's very meaningful for me. It's very meaningful. What are you doing? speaker-2: Because in the speaker-1: You're going to be able to keep a very close eye and take care of your loved ones when you have your own kids. It's an amazing field. I have a niece that actually, she went a little bit different, but it was Pediatrics and Psychology. She went to be a psychiatrist too. That was a little bit, you know, because some of the situations are very, those you will be sensitive, but it's a very meaningful work. It's a very meaningful work. And if you love it with passion, somebody said like, if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life. And it's true because you enjoy what you do. So it doesn't feel like work. speaker-0: That's right. That's right. And so what I'm hearing again, Javier, bringing back to that's great that you're passionate. That's what you want to do. But what's going to set you apart? What's going to make you just a little bit more unique? Thanks for that reminder. Madeline, what's your next question for Javier? My next question is, so basically, like what values have you have set for yourself inside the company? And that also helps you improve as a person and continue to grow outside of your company. speaker-4: you speaker-1: So one of the things that I said as values is like, you never leave things halfway done. Almost good is not good enough. So we always strive to go the extra mile, I mean, from the professional standpoint, right? From the ⁓ personal standpoint, we don't stop at the time that you clock out, right? So. We try to establish relationship with all our employees and also our customers too. And we keep that commitment with each one of them beyond what necessarily our contract is for or necessarily what our business relationships is for. So there's authenticity in our relationship with others and that pays off. You always receive that back. You always receive that back, even if you're not looking for it. It's gonna come back to you as a blessing. It's just gonna come with more to you. So we try to be transparent to everybody, be honest in everything we do, and it just comes back to you. It's hard to explain, but it just shows you blessings. It's amazing. speaker-0: Yeah. So what I'm hearing, Javier, whether it is in the technical fields and engineering and in business, you just have to be good to people, being authentic and being honest. And even so for Madeline, if you're, because you're interested in in the medical industry, in the medical field, you want your patients to ask for you back, right? You don't you don't want to walk out of a room and they're like, I don't want that doctor or I don't want that nurse. They want Madeline back in this room. So pick up these kinds of these kinds of experiences that are, as you will hear me say, industry agnostic, right? Being able to care for people and being good to people works across any jobs. Thank you for that reminder. speaker-3: Yeah. speaker-1: One more thing is that people can sense when you are transactional in your relationship with them. speaker-0: relational or transactional. speaker-6: you speaker-1: personal in that relationship and you're not just transactional for what I can get for this person, what this person can get for me or what not. That's a transactional relation, right? When it's a personal relationship, you go beyond that and the people can see that, the people can feel that. If you look at them like a number, they can feel that and that doesn't help. That doesn't help you. speaker-0: That's so good, Javier. Such a good reminder. we're whatever company you work for, whatever industry, people know that in some industries you are going to, you know, it is a number, right? You got to count. You've got to pay whatever. But the businesses that succeed, the ones that have sustainability, the ones that continue to grow and thrive are the ones that are relational because it's about the people. Let's go to Lynchee. You mentioned that you're a senior. Tell us, what are your plans? You're going to be graduating in a few short weeks. Are you going to college? you going to grab a job? What's happening there? speaker-4: Yeah, so ⁓ I'm graduating in early June. So I'm attending Virginia Commonwealth University in the fall. So that's pretty exciting. ⁓ I play piano outside of school. I have two siblings, you know. Yeah, I'm planning on majoring in accounting when I get down to VCU. And I mainly wanted to just, I participated in FBLA a little bit. high school, so I knew that I wanted to do something in the business field. ⁓ And I think accounting was just what was the most concrete form of business ⁓ at the moment for me. Of course, like I'm still trying to navigate like where I want to go for the future, but that's just where I am right now. And then maybe in the future, I want to go into like corporate law. So some sort of like business law would be great. Yeah, so those are my plans for the future. speaker-1: That sounds fantastic. So you sounded to me there like, mean, you have a great career ahead of you, right? So my wife is an accountant. My wife is an accountant and my brother-in-law has a PhD in accounting. He's a vice president of finance of a multinational resort company. He has gone from one to the next. So obviously he's in a very nice place. speaker-2: Right. speaker-1: It's in a very nice place in his career. in accounting and law, that combination can give you an amazing path ahead of you. And if you're, again, like if you're passionate about it, you're gonna enjoy the ride. You're gonna enjoy the path. I mean, it's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be a lot of work ahead of you. There's gonna be a lot of pressures at some point, but the rewards are amazing. The rewards are amazing. ⁓ I do have a lot of ⁓ attorneys, friends of mine too, and it's very rewarding too, right? ⁓ As long as you, it's, is like mechanics, right? There's so many specializations. You got so many branches of it. So it's not just like one thing, you know, it depends on, in accounting too, right? So you can go forensic accounting, you can go auditing, you can go many different directions, but they all are. extremely interesting. mean, one of the things in accounting that I've seen specifically from my wife is auditing. When you do audits to companies, ⁓ especially government contractors, it can get very hairy, very interesting too. ⁓ But it's a great career. you're going to have, mean, again, just like in medicine, in accounting, in law, you're always going to have a job. It's everywhere. It's everywhere. speaker-0: That's so good, Javier. Now you drop some name, you drop some, you know, relationships in your life who have these great professional careers. Can you give some advice to Lynchee about how do you network? Like how at, you know, your professional level at this point, you hear somebody that says, ⁓ I know this person and I know that person. know that person. That's great. Then what's the next step? speaker-1: Yeah, so one of the things ⁓ is like you need to reach out, right? So you cannot just, because you know them, if you don't maintain that relationship, so it's not gonna go anywhere, right? So it's like everything, it's like a little plant, like everybody use that example, little plant in a pot at home, you have to give it water, give it sunlight, give it, know. But so the same things with these relationships and these people that you know and you meet along the way. ⁓ You need to connect with these people. You need to connect. You need to try to develop that relationship to a next level. And when you are personal and authentic and not just transactional, those things are to come naturally, right? Sometimes you have to push yourself out there. Sometimes I'm tired. I don't want to go networking. Sometimes it's been a long week, but guess what? I said, like, you know what? Let me shake this off and take a quick shower and let's go. I should be doing this. So I forced myself to do it. put myself in a little bit of uncomfortable. Yes, it will be more comfortable to stay in my couch and watch TV, but I put myself out there to network because I know that's the right thing. And at the end of the day, I feel even better after I pushed myself out there and out of my comfort zone. Then I said, that was great that I did that. Now I feel so good. And I connect with that person. it's- speaker-0: what Javier is describing for somebody like you, Lien-Chi it doesn't start when your career starts. It starts now, right? So you're moving out. You're gonna go start your undergrad at VCU. What do you do next? What clubs are you gonna get involved ⁓ with? groups of communities that you'll start to ask those questions, whether it's within your culture or your interests, your business ⁓ in accounting, and start those networking ⁓ conversations because five, 10 years from now, you're gonna look back and be like, ⁓ that's right, we went to VCU together, we were in this club together, we lived in the same dorm or whatever that looks like. And you're gonna hear this ⁓ advice or have these conversations time and time again, because it matters, it matters. And so one of the other things I like to tell our young students here is now's the time to do it, right? I use this word saying like, when you're in your, late 20s and 30s and you reach out to a company saying, oh, you know, I have a couple of questions. They're going to think you're a little creepy, but while you're still in high school and you're starting your undergrad, ask the questions now because professionals want to help you that you are the next generation and they want to give you that those opportunities. Um, well, we're excited for you, Lien-Chi and, um, excited to hear what happens next in your, in your journey. Let's say we have some time here. Let's go to Anthony. Anthony, tell us what grade are you in? What are your interests and what keeps you busy? speaker-4: So I'm a junior, I'm in 11th grade. I really like staying active. I'm on the soccer team, I play sports, I play a lot of, I'm also very, like in music too, I like playing instruments and singing as well. But I really just, ever since I was a kid, I've really been curious about the unknown and exploring things that other people may not have seen. I think that ties into the career that I wanna pursue, which is aerospace, aeronautical engineering. I really have big aspirations for things that I can change and explore and just like have a description for myself and like, because other people tell you things like how things look like, but I want to see them for myself and things like that. And I just, that's what I, I think that's what I want to do. speaker-1: So that's very interesting. You know, it's going to sound too coincidental, like three weeks ago, I was in a place that they are about to develop the space command for the nation. And there's a lot of ⁓ budget being allocated for that program. And that's a lot of ramifications, you know, in the same thing. happens, not just in military or, or government, it's, ⁓ but in exploratory, the research kind of research kind of, ⁓ ventures for me space. That was one of the first things that I liked when I was very, very young, but then I realized that I wasn't that good. So I give up to the things that I was stronger at, but, ⁓ never going to finish. think. things on space exploration is that we just at the beginning we know so little and as it keeps developing, know, I will never even fathom when I was ⁓ at your age that we'll be able to reuse rockets to go to space and look what SpaceX is doing now. They can send a capsule, but then they can reuse that the rocket again. They use, you know, fix it again, put it together. And you send it again and send it again and send it again. ⁓ So the things that can be developed, mean, pretty much the sky's the limit in the things that you can develop for those ends, right? For exploration and develop the technology, not just, I'm always gravitating to technology, but it's for the ends of the exploration and the develop of science and knowledge of the human race. speaker-0: And what a time too with Artemis II coming back and all of that. Anthony, our Renaissance man there, Manassas Park. Were you tracking Artemis II? Did that help you get even more excited about a future in aerospace? speaker-4: Yeah, I mean, I had watched the launch live and I was just really excited to see how that would go and how they planned it because, you know, they're very careful about things and they track things like the weather and like the air and things like that. And I just think that it's super interesting that everything is so like calculated to the molecular level to the point where it's like, it's like, I don't know, I find it so interesting and something that I could be impactful for and I could help at least maybe create just Just one heat shield on the shuttle would be like a crazy achievement for me or something like that, just so can make a difference. speaker-0: That's amazing, Anthony. speaker-1: Yeah, so many things apply to that. You like you said, atmospheric pressure, ⁓ even winds, even the temperature, even the weather, everything, you know, and ⁓ applies it. ⁓ if into physics, if you like math, if you like ⁓ even chemistry, ⁓ chemistry a lot to play with. ⁓ engineering of materials, materials engineering at the molecular level, at the crystals of those materials that can get a very low temperature, very high temperature. So the strength and the fatigue of materials, there's a lot into it. So so much knowledge goes into it from different aspects. speaker-0: It's an exciting time and the fact that you are actually saying the words, Anthony, that you want to be an engineer, not just like study the stars. So that's incredible. Anthony, ⁓ this is your first time having this type of interview. ⁓ What did you pick up from our conversation with Javier today? speaker-4: ⁓ I learned a lot of things like... ⁓ speaker-0: Okay, Anthony Holden, let's, okay, now start from the beginning. speaker-4: Yeah, sorry. I learned a lot of things like how to stay motivated and how to set myself apart from the crowd and things like that. Things such as like, like just being different, but also trying to fit in at the same time. It's like, it's like being not on a pedestal, but just being different and standing out in the crowd just so I could have more networks and connections and things like that. I think that could really help me just, I don't know, go to the place where I want to go and have my family, my friends be happy in the life that. that everyone has. speaker-0: That's excellent, Anthony. You really absorbed that just in this one hour conversation. Let's hop over to you, Jason. What resonated with you the most in our conversation with Javier? speaker-4: Definitely about breaking out of that shell. I feel like you will find a lot of opportunity and success by being confident, searching those opportunities and definitely talking to a lot more people. You you can meet someone who could completely change your life just by speaking to them and not being shy. So I feel like from now on, I will definitely implement some strategies into like getting away from that shyness and more into the world. speaker-0: Let's go Jason and your one first conversation with AccessCo Leaders. That's amazing. And for the listeners that don't see this, Jason has this giant smile and I love it. You're totally bright there. ⁓ Madeline, what about you? What did you pick up in our conversation with Javier? Yeah, so what I picked up in the conversation that we had today was that it's very important to continue to work hard and also ⁓ like be appreciative of those around you who are there to motivate you to continue. And then also like Jason said, to come out of that shell, to try new things and then definitely, ⁓ even if you come from a completely like different background, to continue going on and then trying new things and taking the risk. speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: See, it all matters, right, Javier? That whole transition culturally even, it's inspiring the next generation. And now we save the last opportunity for our senior, Lien-Chi Before I ask you what resonated with you in this conversation, I just want to encourage you, we do have an externship program this summer and it's open to seniors, right? So if you're 18 to 25 years old, I definitely encourage you to apply. You'll be able to get to meet and continue to network, have these kinds of conversations. with people who have the same interests as you, right? So whether it's accounting or legal. So ⁓ Ms. Hamad has that information. And then now let's see, Lynchee, what did you pick up in this conversation with Javier? speaker-4: ⁓ I think I just picked up how failure is going to be inevitable and then I'm just going to have to keep on trying every time. Like obviously as a senior, I think I've struggled so much with senioritis. Like it's been difficult trying to find motivation to like keep on going since I've already been accepted into, you know, college and like there's not really much for me to ⁓ like look forward to, I guess in the next couple of weeks. But I think that I just need to set goals for myself and try to push toward like a greater like overview of what I want with my life instead of just the next couple of years like I really want to build like a life that I'll be happy with maybe in like 30 years time so I guess I'll just start you know working harder and yeah speaker-0: Lien-Chi it sounds like you are already working hard. maintain that pace. And I will tell you, senioritis doesn't end. Right. So right now it's in high school. It's in high school. You'll feel that. You'll feel that. Somebody I'm hearing my total reverb. OK, so senioritis doesn't end. You're feeling that right now in high school. You're going to feel it in your undergrad. And then even as you start to grow your family, I'm looking at my eight year old daughter and think, man, like she was just a baby. speaker-5: Then. speaker-0: And so I would just encourage you to just soak up all of those moments, all like right at the very, very end, you're gonna turn around and say, I'm gonna actually miss high school when we were told where to be and what to do and what to bring. And now you gotta do it for yourself. So enjoy every moment and soak it all up. Javier, we have a few minutes here. I'm gonna give you about 60 seconds. What final comments, wisdom encouragement ⁓ that you could share with our with our students here at Manassas Park. speaker-1: City High School. Yeah, well, you're probably tired of hearing that you guys are in the best moment of your life, but it's true. It's true. I wish I was able to go back in time, being the time you are, making the best decisions, the greatest decisions of your life, and you have all the potential because you haven't done all the mistakes I've done. You haven't done the mistakes that many of us adults have done already, and you have the opportunity to learn from our mistakes. And I know that you guys gonna strive and be very successful. ⁓ Just focus on making something that makes you happy. Something that you like, not something that makes somebody else happy. Because if you try to make something that makes somebody else happy, at the end of the day, you're not happy. You have to make yourself happy. So I think you have a great future ahead of you. You got so many tools and opportunities ahead of you. Leverage them. Use them, enjoy every moment and make the most out of it. Make the most out of it. And I know you're have a great bright future. speaker-0: That's awesome. And Ms. Hamad, know that you're, let's see if you're working on, ⁓ you always deliver the best students. These students are the most prepared. It's their first and only interview so far this school year. Tell us, is your trick? How did you get these students to say, sure, I'll log on today and ask a few questions. Tell us, what are you doing there at Manassas Park City High School? It isn't me. They're all in a dual enrollment business class and they are an extremely talented and motivated group of people. And I went in and a ton of them were volunteering to do this. And these are the four that we chose and they're an exceptional group of students. Well, you guys are doing it right there. Manassas Park City High School. Y'all tell your friends that, you know, the experience you had and whatever you're doing, keep doing it because you guys were incredible today. ⁓ You've been listening to AccessCo Leaders, our career conversation. Our co-hosts are from Manassas Park City High School, including Jason, Anthony, Lin Chi, Madeline, and their instructor, Ms. Hamad, with our awesome guest, an old personal friend of mine, Javier Flores, who's the president of DAS Everywhere. Thank you so much for joining us. We'll see you next time. speaker-1: Right, thank you everybody.