Q. What did you want to be when you were a little kid?
A. I wanted to be a doctor so I could help people, or a vet because I really loved animals. I broke my thumb when I was in the eigth grade and then thought maybe orthopedic surgeon. When I realized how long you’re in school before you get to perform surgery, I reconsidered. Being raised by a single mom, the thought of not truly starting on my career until after more than a decade of schooling and training after high school made it not appealing.
Q. What does your company do?
A. OutBranding Promos is a promotional products company. We can put your logo on anything. We provide highly personalized, curated and creative swag ideas. Best of all, our signature concierge-level service saves you tons of valuable time but doesn’t cost you anything extra.
Q. How long has your company been in business?
A. Since 2007
Q. Can you tell us about why and how you started the company?
A. I’m a half-Mexican, out-and-proud, queer, transgender man. I started the company out of a desire to help other businesses grow and to be able to give back to nonprofits in a bigger way. By helping to create awesome swag, we in turn help businesses grow their sales, and nonprofits are able to fundraise more effectively. We further discount and/or donate to charitable organizations to make every dollar go further.
Q. What has been your biggest business challenge in the past year?
A. Scaling effectively, without the ability to clone myself! We’ve grown significantly over the past two years, and I know it would all be easier if there were at least three of me. Having to stop, brainstorm and re-engineer processes so we can create standard operating procedures in order to make things repeatable for our team has definitely been challenging.
Another has been cash flow management, with rapidly rising costs and labor costs due to inflation putting a crimp in our pipeline. It was an issue I hadn’t considered, so it was a bit scary for a minute. We had to immediately adjust our invoicing procedures and negotiate payment terms with large corporations to alleviate some of the burden placed on our smaller, minority-owned company.
Q. What is one thing that makes you stand out from your competition?
A. Our concierge-level customer service and the fact that we donate over 20% of our profits to charity every year. We’re committed to giving you the best possible swag experience while maximizing your value, because we want your team to focus on what you do best instead of wasting hours scrolling through thousands of options.
This year, our charity focus has been nonprofits dedicated to protecting trans kids, LGBTQIA+ people and our human rights. We even created our #WorthIt t-shirts (pictured here on me and my family in front of the Texas State Capitol at a Protect Trans Kids rally this April) as a fundraiser for Out Youth.
Q. What do you wish you had more time to do?
A. Scuba diving! I’ve completed close to 400 dives over the past 20 years, and my wife and I went to Bora Bora on our honeymoon back in May and had a truly epic experience — diving up close with over a dozen sharks, huge manta rays swimming right over the top of us, and hanging out with a school of over 30 spotted eagle rays while a gorgeous sea turtle swam by. Being underwater is truly my happy place.
Q. What’s your favorite place in the world you’ve ever visited?
A. I’m lucky to have traveled to a lot of really awesome places, so it’s hard to pick just one, but I’d have to say Lake Tahoe, California. I’ve been to more exotic places for sure (like Thailand), but Lake Tahoe speaks to my NorCal roots and I love the feeling of pure calm and happiness I feel every time I visit. It’s also where my wife and I got married this past May.
Q. What is one piece of business advice you would offer your LGBTQ+ peers?
A. Get certified! Get all of the diversity certifications your business qualifies for, because that opens the door for you to do business with big corporations that are committed to spending money with diverse suppliers. We’re LGBTE, MBE and DOBE certified, and there are even more certifications that your business might qualify for.
A close second is to make sure you have your elevator pitch perfected, and remember that a true elevator pitch should be over before the elevator doors open again.
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