Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with Teresa Ramírez and Julissa Chávez - TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Julissa Chávez from SRS Distribution and Teresa Ramírez from Saudis Contracting Services. You can read the interview below or watch the Lunch & Learn.

Julissa Chavez: Good afternoon. My name is Julissa Chavez, Latino program manager with SRS Distribution. Today we are here with Rivers Coffee Shop in the series of lunch and learns that we are doing in Spanish for all our Latino community in the roofing industry. I want to welcome my super friend Teresa. Teresa, how are you? Teresa Ramirez, tell us a little bit about yourself and give us the introduction about what you do in this industry.

Teresa Ramirez: Hi, first of all, Julissa, nice to see you here. Thank you for having me on your program. My name is Teresa Ramirez. A lot of people know me, a lot of people don't know me. We work at Saudis Contracting Services. We are a company that is very focused on finding employment for roofing people with or without experience, with or without English. The only thing we ask is a willingness to work. That's what we are dedicated to.

Julissa Chavez: I think as Latinos, it's something that Teresa is in need of and so, when I meet you and I said wow, Teresa's story is super impressive. And what you do for our Latino community is also something that is unheard of. So I want to congratulate you for all your sacrifice that you have in helping our Latino community, especially in this industry. So, let's get started. We have three goals today, let's start with the first goal. We're going to talk a little bit about what the Latino industry looks like in our roofing community. We're going to start talking about three different or four different lines in which you can be a part of this industry. And Teresa is one of the people that we're going to talk between me and her a little bit about the roles that exist among the Latino Roofing community. So let's start with the first one. This one is yours, Teresa, all yours. Let's talk a little bit about the subcontractors and the labor groups that exist there.

Teresa Ramirez: First of all, I live in the Rio Grande Valley, which is the Rio Grande and Valley, about 99 percent, if not 100 percent, of the community that live here speak Spanish. So, there are a lot of American people also, as there are Mexican people who arranged their papers by different most legal ways to have arranged their papers. Like for example, when a wife asked for it, when a son asked for it, when their parents were American citizens and by law, they also became American citizens, even though their parents are dead. So, that is the community that is conformed in the Grandi Valle River area. Also what I was telling several friends that I have, not only in the roofing industry, but also in human resources, because we are always trying to innovate and to know all the new laws that are in place and how we are as a Hispanic community participating in different areas, not only in construction. Right now what we have is that we have five generations of Hispanics living in the United States

Imagine, we have the resident who has just arrived, yes? Regardless of how he came, we have those of us who married his daughter, the Americans.

We have the first generation parents, that is, their parents emigrated to the United States and they were born here and are living here and already speak perfect English. We have the second generation who are also Mexican grandparents and their parents are already Americans. And we have another one. Do you want to know which one?

Julissa Chavez: Sure, tell us about it, tell us about it.

Teresa Ramirez: The people who were born here many years ago and when Texas was bought by the United States, then we have all that community that Amatexan says.

Julissa Chavez: Cause.

Teresa Ramirez: They were born here, their parents, their grandparents, all their descendants, their ancestry, come from here, from Texas. So, of course, this is a problem that I think Mexicans, Hispanics, Latinos are having. I am going to talk a little bit more about the difference and how we can understand them as Hispanics, Mexicans, Latinos. But at the end of the day, we are all one voice. We all want to proudly represent the United States, mainly because we live here, we were born here, we grew up here, and we have children because we came from another country to prove that we can do it. Yes, so, that is the first thing I would like to mention. Now, how, as Julissa was saying, how can we improve as a community. Number one, we have to communicate well, ladies and gentlemen. I've seen a lot of comments on Facebook, elsewhere, where they say I just don't feel respected or I feel like I can't everything, my voice is not worth.

Of course it does. The important thing here is how we are going to communicate. First of all, with a lot of confidence, kindly and above all, educate ourselves, prepare ourselves. Yes, nowadays you are just a click away from the phone to see whatever you want. Now, what do you want to see? jokes? a little education? what do you want to see?

New construction techniques? New roofing techniques? Want to get certified by the NRCA? That there are many new justifications that many people in our community don't know about.

Julissa Chavez: Totally agree, woman. Totally agree. And that's why I wanted to bring like this series of lunch and lunch with people like you to keep passing the word of what's out there that our community doesn't know about. And the whole thing about certifications you're absolutely right there and that's what we want, to work together to be able to pass on the word of the opportunities that exist for us to keep improving, keep growing and keep improvising the quality of our lives. When we're on this path, right? The road to success.

Teresa Ramirez: As she called him. That's what I was thinking, we're connected. Because I think the way to success is the same. Whatever you want, whatever you see, whatever you think, declare it and make it happen.

Julissa Chavez: I love it, I love it. But well, we're also celebrating today that we're going to release this video in Hispanic Heritage Month. I think I love, Teresa, that you've had like this little conversation about the generations that exist here in the United States and what a joy to be able to bring this in such a special month for us and our Latino people. So, thank you for being part of this with me.

Teresa Ramirez: Of course, it's a pleasure and an honor, Julissa.

Julissa Chavez: Thanks, woman. But well, let's go back to the topic. We talked about the generations that exist here in the United States. Now let's talk a little bit about the careers that exist in the roofing industry. There are four that I have in my mind, Teresa, we're going to talk a little bit, a minute, two minutes about each different role that exists. The roles that exist, obviously, are the subcontractor, the owner of the roofing company, we're going to talk about the professionals in the roofing industry and we're going to talk about the workers, the people that want to get in and don't know how they can get into an industry, maybe they don't come from our industry. Let's talk a little bit about these four personalities and your opinion on what the community looks like there with those roles.

Teresa Ramirez: Four important roles within the community, which are the owners, as you mentioned, the professionals, the rufero. In this case, I would like to focus on the rufero and the apprentices. Yes? Why? Because I think that right now, as we are talking about the Hispanic community and what we have in this, in the community and the subcontractors, first of all, as a subcontractor we have to prepare ourselves, we have to educate ourselves, attend conventions where there is exposure of topics of interest, like making the beats, which are the estimates when you do a job. One of the mistakes I have seen the most in subcontractors is, consider absolutely everything, a whole range of possibilities that can be within a contract from beginning to end. Number one, do the budget. How much are we going to spend? And from that there may be other selective expenses that you're not counting. Then you have to be ready for that as well. Yes, it's very important that you have your accident insurance.

Why? Because if you know well, in the Ruffle industry, the possibility of having accident is higher. I don't want to say it is high, because it is not. We, thank God, we have very good insurance rates because we are continuously taking care of our people in Saudis.

But in general, guys, I recommend that you always be aware of the safety measures so that you can have good insurance for your employees. Now, on the assistant part, if you are ready to learn, I insist again, educate yourself, prepare yourself. If you are a Rufen helper and you want to prepare yourself, stick it to your contractor, to your boss, to your supervisor. Whether you work directly for big companies or with your contractors, hit your boss or your supervisor, ask questions, see how you can be better, how you can do your job better. Check out videos on the Internet. There are so many options, gentlemen, so many options to learn many new techniques in the industrial, Ruffy. Now, also tell yourselves what you want. Do you like low-low? Or do you want to work in commercial? Or do you want to work in industrial? What do you want? You have to click over to Ruffy, yes. But what do I want? I want to learn how to tile well.

Watch tile videos. I want to get good at T P O. Check out T P O. It's not being done much right now, it's very sophisticated copy, isn't it? As they say, the bronze stuff you can tell, it's a little more complicated.

So, whatever you want, prepare. Sacrifice a little and I assure you, you will see the results.

Julissa Chavez: I love, love, love, love it, because it's so important for subcontractors all the advice that you just gave us. And I know that you work with a lot of subcontractors and you help them with insurance, with certifications. So great advice, woman, on what you have seen based on your experience with our subs out there who are tuning in today, jumping on the owners' topic. Now I am going to talk a little bit about my experience with the Latino owners in this industry. I started in this industry in 2014 and when I started, most of the Latinos were subcontractors. So, years went by and I in 2017 I started looking at my first client, which was basically Latino labor. The vendors were Latino and the owner of the company was Latino. So, I started to look at wow, this is the future of the industry where we are going with the children of subcontractors who now feel a little bit more comfortable with the English language, with starting their own companies. There are a lot of opportunities, a lot of people growing from subcontractor to company owner.

And we are watching this kind of evolution. And I think it's spectacular, because for me it's a pride, I mean, to see our people progress and we can't progress without people like you, Teresa, really helping subcontractors with job opportunities, to grow, to find new opportunities and they are bigger. I mean, I love what you do with our community and that is giving them those tips and advice for those who want to continue to grow and become company owners. Well, for that they have your support with your advice and obviously the support of SOS for Latinos. That's why we created the program to help subcontractors and company owners. So, it is a pride to see that evolution and I just want to have a moment of reflection on what that means. Because before it was a few or a few others that were looked at that were company owners. So, now we are looking at the evolution of many more companies that are making that transition from being up to being company owners. So for me it is very nice to see our people continue to grow and it is not just this, people.

I mean, I was telling them, I mean, the roofing industry is not the sexiest thing to say. I mean, when someone says what they work in, if you say roofing, then they say "Oh, wow. Everyone thinks you're just nailing chingos and that's all there is to roofing, but it's really such a good industry and there are so many opportunities to grow here. So, that's why I think it's important to talk about the professional as well and the opportunities that are out there. Aside from having a good job with Teresa and being a contractor and giving your family a lot, right? From your legacy, your legacy, it's super important, but it's also important to pass on that legacy if you want to be a company owner, but for those of you who are company owners now you're wondering what else is in it for me, right? So let's talk a little bit about the professional in the industry and the careers that are out there. There are many careers, whether it's doing the contractor or in distribution, working for companies like ours, which distributes roofing materials.

You can also be a manufacturer's rep, a manufacturing sales rep. There is a lot of demand right now with bilingual people in our industry. I also wanted to touch on this a little bit, that if you're that person, I don't want to be out in the sun as a subcontractor.

I don't want to own my company, okay, because it's too much risk, that's fine. But there are companies outside of work that also need professionals who are bilingual to help our market?

Teresa Ramirez: Of course. I mean, I work indirectly with the Ruffy company. I mean, you don't have to be a rupero and be up on a pitched roof to give the industry to Ruffy. You can be a salesman, you can be a coordinator, you can be a trainer.

Julissa Chavez: There are so many.

Teresa Ramirez: Things in the industry that you can dedicate yourselves to whatever you want. And that is what I was talking about a little while ago with a person who, by the way, is going to have a convention on September 29th and 30th, and we are going to meet, I was telling him, you know what? Not everybody wants to be an owner. We have to respect that not everyone wants to be an owner. There are many people who want to be the salesman. There are many people who want to be the rude one, who want to get their sleep a week. To me, unfortunately, with the mass, we're being bombarded by a lot of communication. So, we go crazy thinking what do I want to do? Is it that I want to own it, because having a lot of money means it's the best thing in the world and it's not often the case. So, just you, you roughneck, you contractor, you subcontractor, check out what it is that you want.

Think it through. Just don't go away thinking, you have to work. Always. I will always give it, but when you have a free afternoon, think about what I want. A question I have always asked myself since I was 20 years old, what do I want to do five years from now?

So that's what you're going to make your plan. What do I want to do in five years? Write it down and give yourself deadlines. And if you miss the deadline, that's okay. Just cut it out and cut it out. That's all. Don't go back that far. But it is.

Julissa Chavez: Is it important for me to travel three times, nothing more?

Teresa Ramirez: Do you think? No, but for the record, it is not La voy a recorrrata tres años. No, it's six, six, eight months, because sometimes a lot of things come out that you didn't think were going to come out. Of course. So, a son's graduation, a party in I don't know where, I have to go to Mexico to see my relatives, I have to help my brother who is in Mexico. In other words, many things can happen and we may not be able to fulfill what we promised ourselves in the time we had promised. But that does not mean that we are not going to keep trying. Nothing is going to happen. It's okay. Relax and get your act together to get your work done. I have been in the construction industry since 2004. First I was helping a company to process work visas. After that, I started my own company and was laterally helping companies that needed Mexican workers. Okay. Really. Let's get that straight. We work with purely legal people because we are always being checked by everybody.

So, we have to be very careful about that.

Julissa Chavez: Completely.

Teresa Ramirez: Yes. So, the important thing here, I started working in the construction industry many years ago. I know from owners, as employees, as Mexicans, as the race that comes, I love to say race. Why? Because race means so many things. If it means empathy, we identify ourselves, we are the same, just different color. But at the end of the day, we are all the same. We all want to grow, we all want to advance. So, if we focus on growing ourselves, not on hitting or screwing up the other person, no. We are going to be better ourselves, because we are going to be better ourselves. We are going to be better ourselves, because many times by looking at the other, you fall. No, you pay me in front, give you Dale, dale, dale. I have worked a lot with subcontractors who ask me Hey, Teresa, I want to bring people from Mexico, how can I do it? Number one, you have to have your company established, you have to pay your taxes, you have to have projects coming up, you have to make sure that the people you are going to bring from Mexico you are going to have to pay, what the law says.

So, it is very important to comply with the regulations and the requirements of the Department of Labor, USCIS, the consulates. You have to be very prepared to get your work visas.

A lot of people want, I want work visas now. No, there is a process and it is very long. Right now I don't do that anymore because it's a lot of responsibility and a lot of pressure. Right now what we are doing in Saudis is all the Mexican people who just crossed legally, as I said at the beginning, who want to come and work here. We help them with transportation, housing and we get them good jobs with big companies in the United States.

Julissa Chavez: We are talking a little bit about that. Tell us a little bit about visas and your experience with this with the Latino community.

Teresa Ramirez: I was helping for a while to process work visas as an external future consumer, not directly working with the TOE, maybe the USCIS, but we were helping in some way to help people understand the concept a little bit. I have studied a lot, I have seen, I have researched, so that is my experience. My advice to all the people in the work visas is, number one, you have to do everything legal, you have to do everything right, you have to follow the requirements that the Department of Labor and USCIS are the big ones, the big three are the Department of Labor, USCIS and the consulate. So, if you follow them, there are many pages where you can go and you can get the information, just like I have gotten it, just like many people get it. Most of the people that report what I have studied and what I have seen in the Hispanic community are Mexicans, Hondurans, Salvadorans, Colombians, Nicaraguans, among others. What I have studied. It does not mean that I have processed, but what I have studied and what I have seen.

Julissa Chavez: Great resources, Teresa. And I know there is a shortage of people out there who do labor work in our industry. I know that you have participated a lot in Roofing Day in Washington D. C. I have never participated in that, but I would love for you to tell us a little bit about that day that takes place every year and what our industry does and advocates for us, especially as Latinos. Could you give us a little bit of your experience with Roofing Day? Because I think it is very important and many Latinos don't know that we have a day that is about our industry, where we go. And you can tell us a little bit about it, because I can't, I have never been, so I would love for you to give us a little bit of information about it. Tell me about it.

Teresa Ramirez: Look, first of all, human beings in general need to have a sense of belonging. In this case, I belong to the e-commerce industry. I belong to SRS, which by the way, I want to openly congratulate you for the great work you have done, Julissa. You are a star for the Hispanic community, for the Latino community. I've seen the educational food that you've put out, which is magnificent. The people We all feel welcome. No matter what level you are, there is always a helping hand, there is always someone who takes care of you from the heart, because we Hispanics, Latinos, we feel everything from the heart.

Julissa Chavez: They are very emotional.

Teresa Ramirez: Yes, yes, yes, yes. But it is very nice to know that you are welcome, to know that you are part of. And for that I want to thank biblically advertising that ERF and you as a person, Julissa. Congratulations and I hope you continue to shine just as bright and brighter.

Julissa Chavez: Same to you, sister. You know that you and I work from the heart to make you one of our Latino people. So it's a pleasure to collaborate with you and to be a part of continuing to build relationships with you and others in the industry who have the same vision and the same passion for helping our people, right?

Teresa Ramirez: Right. And you know what, Julissa, your position or mine, that we are exposed to so many people, is to know that we are there to support. It is impossible to answer to maybe a thousand people in a little while, but we have people who help us. We have many people. In my case I have Lauri Hernandez, Ana Rodriguez, I have Alejandro Ramirez, who is also my brother. So, they help us and sometimes they help me so that the information also reaches me. But the commitment is here, Melissa, the commitment to help is here. And what we can and in the capacities that we have, we are going to do it. And we are doing it.

Julissa Chavez: And you do it for us. Tell us what you do at Roofing Day.

Teresa Ramirez: Okay. At Roofing Day what we do is we go and we talk and we fight for various points that we want for the industry. There are several issues that are taken up, that are touched upon. I would like to tell you about them and I am going to invite you to come to my bus. Sorry, not my bus. I am going to give a lecture at Roofing Day in Las Vegas. We're going to talk about diversity and inclusion. But I'm going to focus a lot on the Hispanic community. Diversity or inclusion, a lot of people take it, it's very ambiguous. What do I mean by ambiguous? It's very broad, because we're touching on a lot of issues that sometimes I don't feel part of. But what I am going to focus on is the Hispanic community, the Latino community, the Salvadoran, the Honduran, the Mexican, the Colombian, the Venezuelan, and now, as you know, there are many Venezuelans who have come. Real people, the ones I have met, feel so valuable without minimizing the Mexicans.

I am Mexican, right? I also know great people from Honduras, from Nicaragua, from Colombia, from El Salvador. I know great people, no matter the race. At the end of the day, we are all one because we are Hispanic. So, what I can tell you is that I'm going to let you do a little research on National Roofing Day on the NRCA website.

Net to see what roofing day is. One of the things we are always fighting for, or.

Julissa Chavez: Fighting of.

Teresa Ramirez: Some way, so to say, not fighting, fighting, fighting, but fighting, fighting, fighting, is for more training to the community, more resources for the community. So, in the way that we can, more work visas as well. So, we are fighting for many things that are related to the Ruffy community, to the international in Washington. If you can, I recommend you go. Number one it's a beautiful experience. It really is. I mean, you feel welcome. There's no distinction of anything. There we all go towards the same goal, which is to improve, to look for improvements and laws that are going to support the roofing industry. In general. More work, more laws that can help us to be better in our work. So, it's really a very nice day. Now, if you say I live in Ohio and I can't go all the way to Washington. I live in Texas, I can't go all the way to Washington. I'm not from other states, but I do know from Texas there's one in Austin.

So, in Austin we are in the middle of everybody. I have five hours left. Daniel's has two or three hours left. Houston's has two or three hours left.

When they begin to see that there is more Hispanic community that is supporting these initiatives or rather these proposals, because it is a proposal that is being made. I would also like to explain to you what is a proposal, what is an initiative so that you know. What I want to do is to educate my community a little more with the little I know, because I am not an expert either. I am preparing myself every day and I am trying to educate myself more, but not for myself, but to share it with my community.

Julissa Chavez: I love it. And I think right now with the roofing day and all that you are doing for the Latino community, I think that is something that I would invite everybody. I think I would imagine that that is an open invitation to all people, or correctly, if I'm wrong, correct me.

Teresa Ramirez: It is for all people.

Julissa Chavez: All people can come.

Teresa Ramirez: Sure. And is it.

Julissa Chavez: The same date every year?

Teresa Ramirez: It changes. They are in April, generally they are in April, it goes in April and now we have the date of April 20, 24, but I do not have it specifically, because the only thing I do know is that the IRE Convention, which is the national one, goes from the fourth to the seventh of February. Okay, something around there. Look it up, do some research. Now there is going to be a Rufin Day also in Houston, but it is going to be from the state of Texas. Go, ask, investigate, go and see how beautiful the rufin industry is. There are a lot of things. You can see, there is a contest to see who can lay the tile the fastest. In other words, there are many contests, there are many little things. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

Julissa Chavez: It's great. There's something for everyone.

Teresa Ramirez: For everyone there is something, for everyone. So, there is a lot of education. So, in my case, I am going to provide education. Right now I only have a schedule due to time, work and so many activities that we have now in Saudis. Right now I have scheduled only myself in Las Vegas. As soon as I have more information, I will gladly share it on all the social networks. Of course. And please follow Rufus Coffee Shop, right Julissa?

Julissa Chavez: Invitation to open. Follow us at RoofersCoffeeShop. And well, back to the invitation we are giving you today, for all of you who are listening and watching, please. This brings us to objective number three, to get you involved as a Latino in this industry. Let's talk a little bit about how we can be more involved and participate more. Well, so far we've talked about the generations, we've talked about the different roles in the Latino roofing industry that exist. We've talked a little bit about visas, we've talked a little bit about Teresa and how she goes and advocates for our needs as a Latino community at Roofing Day, which we invited you to. Now we're going to talk about how you can get involved. Here we are making the open invitation to all of you to go to the IRE, which is the International Roofing Expo, and basically we are giving you that invitation. Go to the IRE, leave work for three days and take the time to go to the IRE. It's going to be like Teresa said, the first week of February usually is, and at IRE this year it's going to be in Las Vegas.

So we invite you to come and meet Teresa, come by our booth.

We always have a booth completely in Spanish, education in Spanish, at no cost to you. Take advantage of what exists, boys and girls, and we are inviting you to participate in next year's IRE and to participate in April in Roofing Day, which Teresa just spoke to us about. You already have two dates. If you can't make one, come with us. If not to one, to the other, so that we can continue to advocate among the group what we are missing as resources and trainings for the entire Latino community.

Teresa Ramirez: Sure, Julissa. And another thing I'd really like to mention is if you don't have the money to go all the way to Las Vegas, but please, those from California, those from Nevada, those from Utah, those from around here, this way, I'm making the map in my head. It's not that far. It's not that far. From California, Los Angeles Red is two or three fries, right? No more than four hours.

Julissa Chavez: Nothing.

Teresa Ramirez: Yes.

Julissa Chavez: We drive to Mexico, take care of our family. We can do a little bit of trying to manage these important things in our industry.

Teresa Ramirez: Also, I want to please, friends, friends in the industry, colleagues.

Julissa Chavez: No.

Teresa Ramirez: See it as an expense, see it as an investment. In other words, this is an investment for you. You are not going to learn to waste time, you are going to learn. What you know is great, it is good that you know it. But when you go there, your eyes will open even wider because you will see a lot of innovation, you will see many things that exist in the housing industry. Besides, you are going to have a lot of fun with the SRS people, because they are really cool. They have a great boot, they have great events, and by the way I have an idea that just occurred to me, but let's talk later. Oh!

Julissa Chavez: Surprise! Good.

Teresa Ramirez: That's right. So, then, really, cheer up. It's not a waste of time, it's worth it. Hotels come in all price ranges. Ways to get there, there are many ways to get there. For example, from California, I know that a round trip ticket from Los Angeles costs 90 dollars. You just have to look for the specials. Really, from Dallas there are several airlines that are also super cheap. And you can take a small suitcase. You don't have to take everything, just a suitcase for two or three days. Sometimes those airlines are the ones where you lose a little bit because they charge you for the suitcase and all that. Take a few things with you, but really, go. Go because it is an investment. It is an investment.

Julissa Chavez: I love it. I love, Teresa, what you just said, because me as a Latino program manager, one of the things I look at the most in the Latino community is that we don't go to tradeshops, we don't go to expo. Why? Because I would rather finish my job and get my paycheck than go for two days to learn how to make connections and network. And I think that today is the time to look at it as an investment, as Teresa just said. I mean, stop working hard, sharpen your axe and come back. In other words, the work will always be there, it will never go away. It's just that you're never going to finish it. If you think that I am going to wait until the work goes down a little bit, then you are going to keep waiting, because that is something that is always there, right? So, for me the hardest thing that Teresa has been is as a leader, to show this industry that the Latino also matters and the Latino needs to be represented in trade shows like the IRE, in events that we do, in expos, in training.

And for me the most difficult thing is that, as Latino people, they stop working one day, two days and come to do.

And help us, support us, because if we are moving all the barriers for you to come. We are not going to charge you to come to the IRE. We are going to have bilingual people at registration so that you don't tie up, so that you don't have to be embarrassed if your English is not good. Now there's going to be someone who's going to speak Spanish. So we are removing the barriers in this industry to look at the Latino as an essential part of the customer in this industry and you have to help us by continuing to show, like Teresa, support her when she goes to present at Rufy's Groom Day, support us at the booth. What I would like to ask all of you who listen to us is to get more involved, evolve more, make connections, in other words, be present, because there are many people out there like Teresa and myself, and many more in the industry who are fighting and advocating, and we need you to get involved and support us as well.

Teresa Ramirez: And always remember, it's not. Look at it as an investment, because when you are going to get to the, you are going to know some things. I to you do this is cold, I'm not going to say what, because each one of us is dedicated to different things. Of course. But when you come back, you are going to know two more things. So, it's not really wasted time, because when you arrive, you will tell your boss, you know what boss? Look, I learned this and this and this. And I will prove it to you. And after that, you never know, a raise, a promotion. Because remember, something I love and I want to put it everywhere and I am always putting it in my head too, knowledge is power. The more you know, the more you can make time. So, really, really, I mean, a little while. In fact, sometimes I get on TikTok and I start looking at things I can learn or tips to be a better person or tips to earn more money or tips to save money.

And the advantage of the Internet is one click. It's a click. Just to tell you if there is going to be Peso Pluma or Pluma, all my respect for Peso Pluma, because I really like the way he sings.

As well as I also like to see so many influencers that make me laugh a lot, the only thing I do is. I swing. I mean, I do a little bit of swinging, right? Balancing or if you what they say. Things in between, you know what? Well, a little bit of a joke, but I'm also going to see something that might leave me with something good. Right.

Julissa Chavez: And with that, I think it is a very good point, Teresa, to end our event here today, our lunch and learning, because I think there is no better way to end today than to say knowledge is power. And I want to thank you 100 percent for everything you have just given us today with your experience. Thank you for telling us a little bit more about things that I didn't even know about myself with Roofing Day. And that's what it's all about, Aleda, allying ourselves, supporting each other. And I hope that for all of you who saw us today, with these three conversations and three objectives that we had, are a little bit about Latinos in the roofing industry, a little bit about visas and how we can be part of roofing day and the events, the expos that are here. And lastly, really, I mean, get a little bit more involved, be more present. Your voice counts for all the people who think, why am I going if nobody is going to listen to me?

If my voice doesn't count. We want to leave them with your voice counts. Get involved. You are present in this industry and start looking for people like Teresa or us.

Teresa, I know you have a page, how can people look for you before they let you go today or how do they find you?

Teresa Ramirez: The website we use is SouthProser.com. south as SouthProser. Com. S-u-r-o-w, as professional. And then, SER, S-E-R, SouthProser. There you can have more information. There's all the information on our site. Follow us on TikTok, follow us on Facebook. We also publish. We just reached over a million views. I'm very happy. Yeah, you're the million. Thank you. It wasn't mine, we grabbed it, but I mean, through our page, through our page, over 1.5 million people watched the video. So we're going to do some more content. Hopefully they'll like it. We're also going to share other people, I mean, other people, but that we see that it's something fun, because it's also not all about leading. And also educational. What I say to the people who manage our networks is, make some sense so that people are a little. Then, imagine, after a day's work, to be still educating yourself all the time. No, we also have to relax a little bit, right?

And also make some serious content, how we work in Saudis, how we support our community, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Julissa Chavez: I love it, woman. I love it, I love it. So we're going to put in this video the link to Teresa's page so that you have it. And for us, well obviously, please be part of SRS Distribution for Latinos. We have our Facebook page, we have our Instagram page. We hope to see you out there at an event coming up for you. So thank you for your time, Teresa. And thank you all for having this lunch and learn with us and talking a little bit about Hispanic Heritage Month and how we can continue to grow and continue to get on the road to success with our careers in the roofing industry. Thank you, Teresa. A pleasure, sister, to have you with me and I can't wait to see you at the event we have in Houston coming up.

Teresa Ramirez: Very well, it is a pleasure for me to have talked with you and above all I believe that we are going to make a positive impact in our community and that makes me very happy because, at the end of the day, we all have to support each other. I send you a big hug. Thank you.

Julissa Chavez: I send you a hug for the camera.

Teresa Ramirez: Of course we do. And we are here to make times. Thank you, Teresa.

Julissa Chavez: Take care and see you later. Don's Don't Lose.

Teresa Ramirez: Thank you.