Last month, I was featured on the podcast, First Generation Success Stories. I spoke with my close friend and host, Jasmine Hernandez, about my childhood in El Salvador, my family’s treacherous journey to the US, and the challenges I faced before becoming the founder and owner of PLF Real Estate Solutions. The interview was thoughtful and oftentimes personal, and I’m grateful to Jasmine for sharing my story. My hope is that by sharing my story, and other first-generation success stories, someone may feel inspired to forge their own path to success.
You can listen to the full podcast episode here.
Throughout the interview, I couldn’t deny the strong parallels between my family’s immigration to the US and my own journey as an entrepreneur. At the core of both experiences are a persevering spirit, a deep faith in myself, and the importance of hard work and determination. While I was young, these values were developed out of a sense of survival, then as I started out in the industry, they became guiding principles that would lead me to PLF’s continued success.
Fleeing a war zone
In November 1989 El Salvador was in the middle of a civil war. The unrest started to expand to smaller areas including where my family lived in Soyapango, a village just outside of San Salvador. I was six years old and I remember celebrating my sister’s first birthday. She was sitting on my father’s lap while we watched a family show on TV when a bomb exploded just outside our home. My grandmother, mother, sister, and I ran to the bedroom and huddled in the closet while a battle raged in our town. We stayed in that room for two weeks, my parents periodically going into the kitchen to fetch food. My sister’s birthday cake became vital sustenance instead of a celebration of life.
A neighbor eventually came to our door, told us there was a ceasefire, and that we had a chance to escape. I vividly remember coming out of our house and seeing many of our neighbors lying dead on the street. We fled by foot to San Salvador which was about 3-7 miles to stay with my maternal relatives, but we knew we had to flee again because it was unclear how long the ceasefire would be instated. My relatives made arrangements for us to fly to the safety of the coast and then were instructed to immigrate to live with my aunt and uncle who lived in California. My relatives had enough money to buy us plane tickets, and we first flew into Mexico. After we landed, Mexican military personnel stopped my dad and took the money we would have used to stay in hotels as we made our way toward the US border. Instead, we had to stay with people who were helping us to immigrate (“mules”) and they lived in impoverished situations.
We finally made our way to Tijuana in January 1990. At this point, we had to split up to make the crossing less conspicuous for interrogation. My grandmother would go on her own and my mother made the excruciating decision to send my sister – her baby, across the border with a mule. My grandmother made it through first, then my sister passed through second and was received by my grandmother and relatives. Thankfully, my parents and I were able to successfully drive through without question a few weeks after.
I don’t think about this harrowing experience very much, but it’s always in the back of my mind. As Jasmine and I talk about in the podcast, immigration is an important issue that’s been an incredibly contentious topic of debate recently. As an immigrant and US citizen, I can absolutely say my experience shaped who I am today.
Searching for a “Pot of Gold”
There is this idea that there is a pot of gold when you arrive in the US. In reality, you have to work for that pot. The experience of immigrating to the US and the experience of being an immigrant is what made me persevere and meet challenges head-on.
When we first arrived in the states, we were stacked with disadvantages: we didn’t know the language, my parents had no employment, and we were completely dependent on relatives – which created a lot of in-fighting and we were seen as inferior in our own family. On the podcast, I recall a time when I was at Price Club with my aunt and cousin after school. My aunt bought her son a hot dog meal and as she placed it in front of my cousin she looked at me and told me, “I didn’t have enough money, so I couldn’t get you one.” In my head, I understood her decision, but I never forgot what I felt that day – that I was “less than” or unworthy. This feeling didn’t stop with family, either. It carried on through school where I was made fun of because of my language barrier. I don’t think anyone can forget the feeling of being bullied or feeling less than others. Those experiences built up in my childhood, and the first opportunity I had to get out of it, I did.
There is a parallel idea of the “pot of gold” in business. You get licenses, certifications, and degrees, and you’re ready for that dream job to fall into your lap. While I was a student at Cal State Northridge, my first child was born. My mother and I became very close during this time, and she made me consider going into business for myself. She was making a decent living and noted her employer was not only a successful business owner but also had complete control of the direction of his business. I wanted to provide for my new family, but my mom wanted me to look for long-term sustainability. So, while I was in college, I got my real estate license.
Again, after passing my real estate exam (on the second try) I thought the opportunities would be pouring in. I began working at a real estate office trying to learn the business. I ran errands for my office and met with another agent by chance. He told me about the small independent agency he worked for in Encino, CA and introduced me to the broker. This broker, Majid Maoyer, became my mentor.
Majid ended up taking me under his wing and this mentorship was so pivotal to my development in the industry. In an earlier post, I talked about Majid’s charisma and his deep knowledge of real estate. He was a problem solver extraordinaire – there wasn’t ever a barrier that he couldn’t overcome. The only obstacle that Majid couldn’t beat was alcoholism. I mention this character flaw in an otherwise incredible person because it really had an impact on me. I saw behavior I wanted to deviate from, how quickly one loses power in front of staff and how quickly health declines from this sickness.
Because of the bullying I
experienced as a child, I was very introverted. However, when Majid was drunk and unable to communicate, I was forced to learn how to be a good communicator and speak to his clients. When the stock market crashed in 2008, Majid’s alcoholism was exacerbated and he started to die. Before the crash I was making about $150K just as his assistant. What Majid’s death taught me was that all the money in the world can’t buy solutions and that the world is made up of nonrefundable minutes. Majid was the person from whom I learned how to do everything in real estate, but he didn’t invest in himself.
Brick by brick
After the crash, I refocused on school, graduated from college, and entered an impossible job market. I thought about my mom and began building a business of my own. I set up an office in my girlfriend’s place and brick by brick I began building a business using the tools I learned from Majid. I had support from people who cared for my success – my stepdaughters’ grandmother helped me with her generosity, and my friends and family allowed me to help sell their homes. During this time I developed a sense of networking, being independent, connecting people together, taking advantage of every opportunity, learning from each opportunity, and investing in myself.
By 2010, I had PLF Real Estate Solutions set up and in 2011, I sold two houses. Each open house introduced me to new clients. Soon after, I put money into online lead generation which was the best decision I’ve made for PLF. In 2012, I had an opportunity to invest in a commercial space so that I can set up an office. I went from Encino, CA to Pico Rivera – a wonderful community whose network has helped me along this entrepreneurial journey. I sold 6 houses that year and then doubled each year thereafter. We added new staff and agents, growing and training them. In 2016, we sold a house every week. We hired an office manager and we got our mortgage license. PLF was expanding and our space was not reflective of that. I knew we had outgrown the space and that we would need to focus on expanding.
Sustainability and success
During this growth period, however, we did start to lose high-producing agents. While real estate is infamous for a rotating staff, I realized we weren’t investing in our agents. I took a good look in the mirror to figure out what I needed to do to sustain my staff further.
After years of unstructured and ad hoc training, I decided to systematize the education we impart to our agents and develop a mentorship program (read about our mentorship program here.)
Last year, I also decided to embark on the purchase of PLF’s new headquarters in Downey (read about the journey to our new building here). There were so many challenges I had to confront and overcome when it came to buying this building, but I bet on myself and persevered. In real estate, as it is in life, there is always a way towards reaching your goals. PLF held our grand opening in the fall of 2022 and we are thriving.
Being a guest on First Generation Success Stories was a humbling reminder of how far I’ve come. Revisiting my journey not only to the US, but my journey to real estate was a perfect opportunity to re-center myself, reflect, and look forward as we start this new year. I am so grateful for PLF’s continued success and I know it was shaped by the values I developed from persevering through tumultuous times. With hard work, determination, and a deep faith in yourself, I have no doubt you too may propel yourself forward to your own success story.
