Welcome! First, if you live in Florida, I hope you and your family are doing okay after Hurricane Ian. Today, I want you to meet a woman who will inspire you and show you that there is always a way, no matter how difficult the circumstances. In this newsletter, you’ll learn the following:
🌴 Why it’s so important for you to read (or listen to audiobooks). Constantly.
🌴 Why you can learn the biggest lessons in life from people you may not expect to have much to teach you.
🌴 The results of a large survey on what “financial wellness” means to employers and employees.
🌴 Here’s the CEO and founder of medical vacuum pump installation and service provider, Pantera Technical Services Corp., Tatiana Fernandez.
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE PEOPLE WHO CROSS YOUR PATH
Tatiana Fernandez says that someone once thought they were insulting her by calling her “the vacuum lady” when she was on a service call at a hospital.
She just responded by saying, “No honey… I’m in your machine department. And I’m fixing your machines.”
Fernandez says that’s when “the panther” comes out in her – when people underestimate her.
Appropriately enough, Fernandez is the founder and CEO of Pantera Technical Services (Note: Pantera means panther in Spanish).
It’s a company that installs, services and provides training for medical vacuum pump systems and air compressors.
OPPORTUNITIES ARE EVERYWHERE: TRAIN YOUR RADAR TO FIND THEM
It’s not the career Tatiana thought she’d have, but she smelled an opportunity. Literally.
Her husband had been selling vacuum pumps but was fired from his job.
But the wheels had already been turning in Fernandez’s head. She started the business six months before he was let go.
“I was studying the vacuum pump system. I was thinking about how I can fix them, how I can open them, how I can make money and [have] fun at the same time.”
So, she opened a pump. She says it smelled terrible.
When her son, Angel Diaz Jr. asked her what she was doing, she said to him, “Smell it… That smell is money. And with the money, you can have a better life.”
Tatiana working with her son, Angel Diaz Jr. (center), and her husband, Angel Diaz Sr. (right)
THE TIP JAR (Tips provided courtesy of Tatiana Fernandez)
STARTING OUT: Fernandez says you have to be committed to doing research.
She says you have to study what would work “around your family [and] around your community…” to grow your business.
She then says marketing and communication are key. “If you don’t have a connection with people, [there’s] no way that you can do a job.”
“You have to know how to express yourself [and know] how to listen.”
STEEPED IN SKILLS (mid-career): Fernandez says it’s critical to “write [down] what you want.” Then she suggests organizing your ideas.
“I just always tell people, read… Sometimes, we do everything in our hearts. And it’s in the paper. Everything is in the papers.”
In other words, she believes you will find a lot of the answers you’re looking for just by reading.
STARTING OVER: At this stage, Fernandez recommends you find a good way of measuring your results. That’s why she believes numbers are very important.
“You need to know how much money you need, how much money you’re going to invest [and] how much you’re going to [make].”
BEST ADVICE FROM “LA CASA”/BEST “HOUSE” ADVICE: The best advice Fernandez got came from her daughter’s doctor, Dr. Vives, in Boston.
“He just told me, ‘Always use miel. Con miel, todo se atraye.’” (Translation: Always use honey. With honey, you attract everything.)
USE A STRUGGLE AS A CATALYST FOR SEEKING SUCCESS
Tatiana wanted to create a better life for her son after her own life of struggle. And heartache.
After all, she had a job lined up as a bank supervisor in Puerto Rico the day her daughter, Yaisly, was born.
But once she found out Yaisly had cerebral palsy, she knew she had to take care of her first.
Tatiana with her beloved daughter, Yaisly
PLANS CHANGE; DON’T LET THAT STOP YOU
From that day on, Fernandez made every decision with her daughter in mind.
Even at the age of 11, when Fernandez was working in a beauty salon, she saw “people coming in with the big cars and credit cards. And I was thinking, hmm, one day, I’m going to be that lady.”
Tatiana at 15 with big plans for her life
Fernandez had big dreams, despite being raised in a dysfunctional family.
Then, when Yaisly was just four months old, Fernandez says Yaisly’s father left them.
Finding a way to make it for her daughter is what led her down the entrepreneurial path.
SECRET WEAPON: READ, READ AND READ SOME MORE
Fernandez was left “with no money, with no shelter, with nothing.”
She had no choice but to turn to the government for help to take care of her daughter.
“They told me, she’s going to die.”
Fernandez responded, “Me, too. And everybody’s going to die one day. But until that happen[s], what are we going to do?”
Fernandez decided to turn to something that she always loved – reading.
She read everything she could about government, Section 8 public housing and anything she could get her hands on to help her get assistance for her daughter.
All that reading helped her find a way to Boston.
FREE INFORMATION AND COURSES ARE OUT THERE
She wanted to study law, but when she saw the price of law school, she had a different thought. Fernandez found a free class that taught her the basics of starting a business and how to write a business plan.
She decided to shift gears.
Fernandez combined her love of music with making connections with people by starting a business that involved DJs.
Tatiana with DJ Henry Knowles
“And then I started bringing DJs from New York to Boston to clubs. Then, they started calling me ‘pantera’ – because I was a panther all the time. I don’t let people play with my feelings. I was very strong.”
She decided to name her first business, Pantera Productions.
And she took Yaisly everywhere with her, regardless of what people said. “Because my daughter is the center of my life.”
Fernandez got married again and got pregnant with a son, Angel Jr.
She was thrilled.
But just five months after Angel Jr. was born, her daughter, Yaisly, died at the age of 11.
Fernandez was devastated. She decided to go back to Puerto Rico.
Tatiana married Angel Diaz Sr. who helped her take care of Tatiana’s daughter, Yaisly
DON’T BE AFRAID TO START A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT BUSINESS
Tatiana started a second business serving court orders
That’s where she started a second business finding people for lawyers and serving court orders.
She decided to close Pantera Productions.
Another devastating blow came when she noticed there was something wrong with her son.
He would start screaming every time she fed him.
Angel Jr. was diagnosed as autistic.
Fernandez’s business was doing fine, but she needed to get Angel proper care.
Again, through painstaking research and by speaking with people, she learned about a government program that her son could get access to in Fort Lauderdale.
Fernandez decided, if her son would not be able to go to the university or finish school, she needed to learn a new business in Florida.
“Something that I can teach my son and then we can work together.”
Tatiana is thrilled she can work with her son, Angel Jr., in her business
GOOD BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES EXIST; BE OPEN-MINDED
Once her husband joined her in Florida and started selling vacuum pump systems, the lightbulb went off in Fernandez’s head.
She realized selling, servicing and inspecting medical vacuum pumps would be a good business.
CONSIDER EXPANDING YOUR MARKETS AND SERVICES AFTER CAREFUL RESEARCH
Fernandez came to the conclusion through her tried and true method: reading.
“When you don’t have money, you have to read. You have to read a lot.”
She figured out that she could use the government’s SAM (System for Award Management) program to become a federal contractor.
Now, she services not only hospitals but also sells the pumps and air compressors to packaging, manufacturing and pharmaceutical companies, as well as labs.
She also trains students to use the pumps. She loves it because she says she’s empowering them.
“If I can do it, you can do it.”
YOU NEVER KNOW WHO WILL PROVIDE THE BIGGEST LESSONS IN LIFE
While her entrepreneurial goals started at a young age, it was her desire to fight for her daughter, Yaisly, when no one else would, that gave her the strength to start businesses.
Fernandez says Yaisly never was able to speak nor walk, but she learned to read her face.
In the end, Yaisly taught Tatiana more than anyone else about life.
So, when people tell Tatiana she’s strong, she says she became strong for her kids. And even though her daughter is not with her anymore, she thinks about her every day.
“And that’s giving me power.”
The little girl who taught Tatiana what it means to live and love
INDUSTRY: Medical Equipment
STARTED BUSINESS:
Pantera Productions – 1996
Pantera Quick Services – 2002
Pantera Technical Services – 2015
LATINO CONNECTION:
Born in Puerto Rico
Parents were born in Puerto Rico
DREAM JOB AS A KID: “A lawyer.”
BIGGEST GOAL YET: “Retirement in Italy and learn how to cook Italian food.”
NO NEED TO GO IT ALONE
HELP ON THE OUTSIDE…because we can all use a helping hand:
Get Started!
Do you know the seven essential aspects to starting a business? Find out in this webinar that will help you come up with the action plan.
SCORE UNF (Service Corps of Retired Executives – University of North Florida)
Tuesday, October 18, 2022
1:00 p.m. EDT – 2:00 p.m. EDT
Virtual Webinar
FREE
How to STARTUP Your Own Business – Webinar | SBDC UNF
WORKING ON THE INSIDE…because we know our culture has a hard time asking for help:
Getting the Pulse on Financial Wellness
Finances affect overall wellness. So what are the trends in how employers and employees are tackling modern challenges? To find out what you may want to take into consideration as you start your business, check out Bank of America’s 12th annual Workplace Benefits Report:
INSPIRATION FOR THIS ISSUE:
When I first heard Tatiana Fernandez’s story, I knew I had to interview her.
But, then, in my pre-interview, she told me she was running for office (Florida’s 7th Congressional District).
I couldn’t do it. I keep politics out of my newsletter.
So I told her, I would check back.
If she won her race, I definitely could not interview her. If she didn’t win, I wanted to tell her story.
She lost her political race, but her triumph in overcoming huge struggles in her life are worth far more.
I also love that she taught herself a trade which many women haven’t traditionally pursued.
And that’s just it.
Many people overlook great business opportunities just because they’re not in the more popular sectors.
While everyone is chasing the usual industries, you can make money in some of those forgotten trades.
You have to keep your eyes open – wide open to opportunities.
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🌴 Many thanks for your support! #theskyisNOTthelimit 😺
