In this episode of the Strong Conversations Podcast – Building the Brands Series, host Sam Marcoux speaks with Roberto Ortiz & Winnie Sullivan, the leadership team at DCSE Associates. Their career paths were anything but typical—Roberto started his career as an intern, Winnie as a part-time receptionist—yet today, they lead the company as CEO and CFO. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: - Roberto’s journey from immigrating to the U.S. at 15, learning English, and building a career in structural engineering - Winnie’s rise from the front desk to financial leadership, driven by ambition and a desire for impact - How Roberto balanced studying for his SE exam while caring for his premature newborn in the NICU - The importance of company culture and why transparency builds trust Winnie’s decision to donate a kidney to a colleague and what it says about leadership and community Ortiz and Sullivan didn’t just take over a company—they transformed it, preserving its culture while building something new. Their insights into leadership, perseverance, and teamwork offer valuable lessons for anyone navigating career growth or business ownership.
NAME: WINNIE SULLIVAN & ROBERT ORTIZ
(SM) Hi everybody welcome back to Strong Conversations. I am Sam Marcoux and again part of the Building the Brand series. Joined right now by a couple of people that I did not know a couple of weeks ago and now I think I know very well. Winnie Sullivan and Roberto Ortiz. Thank you very much for being here.How are you guys doing?
(WS) We’re doing well.Thank you for having us.
(RO) Yes, thank you for having us.
(SM) No, I uh, are you guys nervous? Do you guys feel good?
(RO) A little bit.
(SM) A little bit? Why are we nervous?
(WS) Yeah.
(RO) I don't know. It's a new experience.
(SM) A new experience. Well, I think we're going to have some fun here during this conversation. So, we know your names but for the uninitiated, what is it that you guys do and where do you do it?
(WS) Go head.
(RO) Go ahead. My name is Roberto Ortiz. I am the CEO for DCSC Associates, which is a structural engineering firm in Orange County.
(SM) Awesome. Wendy?
(WS) Winnie Sullivan. I am a CFO for the company and I yeah.
(SM) So you guys have the big fancy letters and titles, the CEO and CEO.
[01:50] background conversation re camera.
(SM) So, we have the CEO and the CFO and the big fancy titles, the big bosses, which is why you're here because we want to hear your story and how you guys got there. Because you didn't start, you guys didn't create the firm, right? At some point, we'll get there. You guys bought into the firm and then bought the firm and then had some fun knocking down walls. We're gonna talk all about it here, but I'm gonna start with Roberto because when we sat down and we talked for the first time, you mentioned something to me that I was like, that's kind of interesting. I don't know that I’ve ever heard that before, but how many how many siblings do you have? [02:00]
(RO) I have two.
(SM) You have two siblings.
(RO) So we're total three.
(SM) There's three of the total where were you born?
(RO) I was born in Mexico and my my sister and my brother are American so I’m the only Mexican in the family.
(SM) You're the only Mexican in the family.
(RO) Yeah.
(SM) So they were born stateside. Where were they born?
(RO) They were born in Chicago,
(SM) Okay.
(RO) And at that point my my dad immigrated to Chicago and they had them and then my dad decided just let's go back and we decided, he decided to go back and I was the only one from…
(SM) You're the youngest?
(RO) I'm the youngest of the three.
(SM) Yeah. So they're native Chicagoans.
(RO) Yeah.
(SM) Chicagoites. I don't know what the right verbiage would be there and you were born in Mexico?
(RO) Correct.
(SM) And you were there until what age?
(RO Uh, 15, 16 years old.
(SM) Okay, so, and then you come stateside, Southern California, you guys moved back as a family? [02:50]
(RO) Correct. Actually, they immigrated first. I was left behind with my brother because at that point, my brother stayed in Mexico as well. Okay and then I, they, my parents moved back to California and then is, you know, at that point I was, when I was a teenager and starting to get into a little more trouble.
(SM) Yeah.
(RO) So they were like, you know what, you got to come back this way.
(SM) As teenagers tend to do, yeah. So I love your origin story here because it's, it's very unique to me. Hey, I think that's, that's probably a lot of fun table conversation with you and your siblings between, you know, being born in the States and being born outside of the States, in this case in Mexico. I'm sure you guys have a lot of fun talking about that, but English is your second language, correct?
(RO) Correct.
(SM) How did you learn English? When did you learn?
(RO) I learned it basically kind of like when I came to the States. I knew the basics like table ball and stuff like that. Yeah. But literally when I got to the U.S., it was very limited. I could only say hello or maybe order something that any fast food place. That's about it, but I did not know any English. So when I came here is literally when I started learning, kind of like my first year in high school, how I came as sophomore and just a little by little started picking up more words and words.
(SM) So you just naturally sort of learned it?
(RO) Correct, so I’d been, because of my family's background, I'd been exposed to English, but little by little, I just started learning and more.
(SM So, was that something that, you know, did your parents say, "Hey, you're here now. You have to learn English." Or you're just like, "I need to learn the native language if I'm going to be living here." Or what was the mentality? Why did you learn it?
(RO) I needed to learn it because obviously we were going to stay here and you'd need to adapt to everything that is here and know the culture and know the laws and everything. So little by little, I started learning more and more about it and it's just, I needed to do something with my life. That was the thought behind it. Like I want to be successful in life.
(SM) So that being said you said you need to do something with your life, when did you decide that the structural engineering route is where you wanted it to go. [04:47]
(RO) Well the first time I actually wanted to be a doctor.
(SM) Okay.
(RO) But maybe because of my limited years in English, I was like, maybe that's not a good career path, but I was always good at math so math for me was kind of like easy to understand because, again, it's a universal language. You know math, you pretty much can speak any language. So at that point, I was like, well, engineering is kind of that way, so I know I'm good with numbers, science is not too bad. So I decided, like, let's give it a tr and I had friends before that were civil engineers. So to me, that was like, okay, I like building stuff as well.
(SM) So, you know, a lot of people, and I'm glad you clarified, a lot of people think love is the universal language, but it is in fact math. That is the language that everybody can speak on some level. So, you know, you were good at math, which is which is a theme that I've, I've, I’ve heard a lot with engineering folks says, hey, I was good at math. So I also hear a lot of engineers say they want to be doctors. It's fascinating to me that that's those two almost go hand in hand in terms of career opportunities and saying, I'm gonna go this way or the other way. You go to college, where'd you go to college?
(RO) Cal State Fullerton?
(SM) Okay, good baseball team typically out of Cal State Fullerton.
(RO) Titans
(SM) There you go. So out of college, your first job is where?
(RO) Out of college, I actually started at DCSE at Dale Christian Structural Engineering. Before that, I work at CalTrans as well. So full-time during my senior year in college. So but I started right after college at Dale's.
(SM) What'd you do for CalTrans?
(RO) I was a bridge engineer, I was in the division of construction. So the 55, Taft Avenue, that’s where I was … That was my division.
(SM) So you did … you were an intern in college as well, right?
(RO) Correct.
(SM) What were some of the jobs you had to do as an intern what were the tasks?
[06:38}
(RO) Oh the one that I remember the most is just working for the City of West Covina and going there and counting the distances between potholes and potholes and you know, trying to figure out measurements and putting back and cad drawings and stuff like that. So those were some hot summers walking those distances.
(SM) So yeah, you're doing this in the summertime, by the way, in Southern California. It's not exactly great weather every now and then. It could be triple digits in some cases. So you're out there measuring manholes, potholes and we talked about this, and I'm kind of fascinated by this work, because that's one of those tasks that I just don't, I didn't know existed. Like somebody has to do that, you know, that's right, somebody has to do this. So what was that like? What did you do? You had a tape, right?
(RO) Yup. We had one of those wheelbarrows that basically you measure from manhole to manhole and then we had a set of plans that we'd come into the office and start tracing the distances and make sure everything looked correct and at that point, we also compared it to utility plans for gas utility trenches and stuff like that. It was going to be part of the improvement in the future for that street.
(SM) And then how do you measure? Are you measuring from the center of the hole or are you measuring from the edge of the hole? Like I'm fascinated because I don't know that I would know how to do this.
(RO) It was center of the hole and again there's a difference because you also have to check the water lines where they're being placed. So the whole purpose of this was to redo the asphalt pavements on the streets. So you got to locate all the utilities before trenching and tearing apart the street. So, but center to center that's what we used to do.
(SM) Now, there was another task and people are probably listening to this right now going why are you asking …
(WS) Right
(SM) … the CEO of this company about what his tasks were as an intern in college? And it has to go it goes back to something that you told me towards the end of our prep call for this which we'll get to later. So it'll make sense for everyone listening to this later. One of the other things that you told me that you did is that you had to count, help me out here, I'm gonna say this wrong, there would be, people would be driving wood piles into the ground, right?
(RO) Yeah, actually steel piles. That was for Caltrans. So when you see all those bridges, they do vertical piles with steel and basically you get a big hammer, and this description of that is the best way to put it and it will blow the pile down into the ground and you have to count how many times
that thing goes into the ground and then you measure vertically for that [08:47]
(SM) I asked you this and it I'm kind of half joking, but what if you lose count? What happens?
(RO) Well, there's math of the science as well, because the pile is marked, but literally, as you started getting to the depth that that pile needs to go eventually, you need to get so many blows at that point to say, “Yeah, we hit the bedrock and we're good to go”.
(SM) So this goes to, I think, your mindset, which is probably why you're the CEO of the company now. Winnie, actually, told me on the phone, I don't know that there's another person more determined in life than you, right? You're determined to be a success and how you define success. You're determined to learn English after, you know, coming here at 15, 16 years old. You're determined to just keep with it. I mean, the task that you just talked about, I'm not kidding, I would ha walked off the job. I don't think I would have done[34:06] that. I don't know that I have the skillset or the mental fortitude to say, I gotta get to the end of this, right? Whatever the end looks like, I'm too narrow focused, I can't do this. I'm gonna move on and do something else. So the fact that, again, determination is something that we're gonna talk a lot about throughout the rest of the show. Speaking of Winnie, so Winnie, you are the CFO, but what was your first experience with DSCE? You weren't working there at the time though. Were you?
(WS) No, no I was offered the reception job actually through … I worked with another employee that had worked there prior and so she had asked, you know, are you interested and so I ended up taking the job and part-time and that's kind of how I was introduced to it.
(SM) So One of the things that was fascinating in talking to you is that you started as the receptionist part-time. Today, you're the CFO of the company and part-owner. That's a pretty far delta there. How does that come to be? One of the things that you had mentioned was you were always hungry for more. You always wanted to do more. You're always looking for more responsibility and just to make more of an impact. So was that from the jump from day one? Were you always wired that way prior to even working here?
(WS) Oh, I've always been wired that way. Yeah, I think because anywhere I've ever worked I've always, you know, done more even at a young age because I've ever worked since I was 15 and a half and anytime I've ever worked anywhere, I’ve always been given, you know, more responsibility and tasks. So this just came naturally. Saw things that needed to be, you know, maybe changed and then went from there
(SM) So as a kid, you said you were always wired this way. Can you give me an example of a time where you're like, okay, this is good, but this can be better, or I want to do more of this. Was there, were you like in a play or in playing sport or….?
(WS) I didn't think of a play, but yes in the third grade, I was in the play. I was Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz
(SM) You were Dorothy. So you're not only in the play, you're the main character. [11:36]
(WS) Right, right, right. Definitely not in the career path for myself of acting, definitely not, but it was fun. I liked it. I had a great time, but the one that I could think of was, you know, moved around a lot as a child. Finally, in eighth grade, you know, made the cheer team for the high school I was going into and yet we were going to move again 10 miles away. So instead of just saying, okay, this time I said, no, I'll take the public bus. So 10 miles to school and back every day just to make sure because I knew that I wanted more. I didn't want to start over. I had already started to like you know lay roots.
(SM) Wow.
(WS) Well, so I did that that.That was my that was my decision.
(SM) For all four years?
(WS) No. it only lasted probably I think it did it for seven months.
(SM) Okay,
(WS) …and then yeah, then I …
(SM) I can’t even get my daughter to get out of her room for dinner.
(WS) Right, right.
(SM) And you're taking public transportation …
(WS) …to get to school.
(SM) … to get to school.
(WS) Right.
(SM) That qualifies as determined as well.
(WS) Right.
(SM) Wow. That's awesome. So one of the things that's interesting in talking to you guys is like, not every step, not every day is a good one in life, right? We all run into issues here. Roberto, we talked about this a little bit, but you had some personal challenges around the time that your daughter was born right? Can you talk a little bit about that, what that process was and what you were able to do during that time away from work day to day?
[13:02]
(RO) Yeah, it was my baby girl was born premature. So she was two pounds. So she was in NICU for at least five months and at that point my ex-wife was also in the hospital. She went through a lot of surgeries. She had complications with the baby’s delivery. So, during that time, I'd sign up for the SE exam and I think it was just prior of her being delivered that I passed the first examination. You take two of them and I passed the first one and then when I got the news that I passed, but I had to go back to take one more, that's when everything was going on at the hospital. So, literally, I was busy in the NICU in the hospital and I was staying at the hospital also and that's where I was studying. I would open a book and just study and that's how I passed the SE, my second try.
(SM) Wow, so you're at the hospital, taking care of your daughter, being there where you're supposed to be. You're still studying to pass the SE, the structural engineering exam, which is not easy.
(WS) Right.
(SM) We have folks at my organization that when they pass that it's like a celebration for them because it's so hard to do. I mean, how were you able to manage all that? It seems like it's one or the other, but you're able to do both.
(RO) Well, and then on top of that also I was working to a degree. So, I would say Dale, the founder of the company, was really good. He'd say, "Hey, don't worry about anything. Worry about family first and take care of the rest. If you could do work, that's fine." But it's all about trying to control what you're able to control, and everything that you cannot control don't stress about it. You're just, you're depending on the professionals to do their job and I was able to manage that stress level because it's a very stressful ort of environment at that point and I even remember Dale telling me that at that point is like, there's a reason why you're in this position because you're able to manage with it with all the curve balls that are coming your way. So, you know, life is like that. you had different curve balls being thrown at you
(SM) That experience that you went through and passing the SE, how did that change you or impact you or mold your leadership style today? I mean, are you able to, it's easy to say control what you can control and forget about the rest. It's much harder to actually put that into action. So how were you able to do that, first of all and is that advice that you guys give your employees now that you do?
(RO) It's very difficult to try to control something, but at the end of the day, we all gotta remember that we're here for a reason and you have faith on something and everything will come together as you keep working and try to do the best you can in those situations. I just remember that at that point, it was take one day at a time and that's how I see every problem take one day at a time. Everything has a solution. You know, the only solution that we cannot is when were underground. Right, but everything has a solution. [16:00]
(SM) We're talking to Winnie Sullivan and Roberto Ortiz from DSCE Associates. This is the Building the Brand series here on Strong Conversations. Winnie, this was one of the best parts of our pre-call. You two are like a brother and sister combo and what I mean by that is, uh, if you ever, like, got trouble as a kid, and you're like, I got to take the heat off of me a little bit, I did this with my sister. I was like, well, she did that and then my sister would counter with, well, he did this and you just kind of escalate it, but the difference is you guys were doing this on the call, but you guys were talking about how nice, and determined, and amazing the other one was. It was like siblings throwing compliments at each other.
(WS) Which is not normal.
RO If you ask anyone, it's probably not the way it goes.
(SM) Well, and it got to the point where I think Roberto pulled out the Trump card here and what I mean by that is he let it slip that Winnie, you actually donated a kidney to one of your employees.
(WS) Yes
(SM) I can't even get my boss to give me his credit card and you gave … I mean, that is amazing. Like, talk me through…how does that happen?
(WS) Um, well, he was born with polycystic kidney disease. It was hereditary. He had progressively gotten worse, then was put on dialysis, then was put on a donor list. Um, he was getting progressively worse. Nothing was happening. So, the markers for what they say is for children because I had two girls was a two-year mark and so my youngest was two years, and I said, "Well, let's get tested. Let's see." and it started off with, "What blood type are you? O positive. Well, so am I. Okay, great. Then we're a match." Well, no, there's so much more that goes into it. So then I went through all the process of getting tested and turn off. I was a match.
(SM) Wow. So. Was it scary to see that you're a match?
(WS) No.
(SM) No. It was not at all.It was it was no question in your mind that you were doing this once...
(WS) Yeah, I mean I had done enough research to see and I knew I took care of myself so I didn't … you know there's unforeseen things that can happen for sure, but I wasn't gonna hang my hat on that because he was facing something fatal.
(SM) Yeah.
[18:08]
(WS) So yeah.
(SM) That's incredible. That's something incredibly generous. Yeah, like I said, I, I don't know We were kind of half-joking and I was talking to the team that's helping us produce this to, but hypothetically, would any of you give me your kidney? No, I absolutely not.
(WS) I think that's because you haven't been faced with it, right? Like if someone said, if, you know, for a million dollars, would you do this? And, you know, it's something that you wouldn't normally do. You'd probably say, no, because there's not a million dollars coming to you. It's kind of the same thing. If you're watching someone, um, physically deteriorate, um, knowing that you could help and it didn't change anything in my life
(SM) So what position were you in at the company when this happened, when you made this decision? Were you CFO at the time?
(WS) I mean, yeah, I was, I don't know about the title. Yes, I've been doing the finances forever. I mean for a long time and so, but I wasn't necessarily, I wasn't, I think it, I might've been a partner actually already at that point, but I mean, the titles at our company…. I don't, I don't hold tight to any of that stuff, but yeah, kind of one of those things.
(SM) So, you know, it's interesting, you know, you mentioned Dale. It feels like the culture at work is pretty strong. It feels like there's a group there that's been there a long time. I think I understand you guys have a lot of long-tenured employees, which is a sign of a good culture in my opinion as well. You guys took over the business. You guys didn’t create it. It's yours now.
(WS) Correct.
(SM) What's that responsibility like? It's a different responsibility than starting something from scratch, you know you're literally building the brand that was already existing. What does that mean to you guys to keep the culture alive enhance the culture and make sure it actually doesn't dissipate?
(RO One of our first goals when we first acquired the company was to keep it going, what we had from the beginning, which is kind of the people, the culture like you're saying. Some of our employees have been there more than 35 years. I mean, Richard is going 35 years and some of our olders are 25. I've been almost 25. So one thing that it was ideal for us to try to continue having is a family bond sort of environment where we take care of each other. We were a small company, but at the same time, we're so fortunate to have the individuals to step up through the challenges because we have some medical instances in our offices where it's like, hey, don't worry. We're about the family first and then we'll take care of the rest and that's kind of like the culture that we created along the years and I think it's because we still are kind of family-oriented as well.
[20:45]
(WS) I think carrying the legacy that, you know, Dale and Sue had started was very important to us. Making sure that continues, but also growing on top of that as well. But, you know, as a smaller, mid-sized firm, life happens and we've all, um, gone through it together. So like, but like you said, I've been there 20 years and it's hard to believe and we've experienced some stuff.
(SM) So taking over the, the business, like you said, you guys have both there a long time. So you're not new to the people around you, right? You're still one of the guys, like you talked about, but was that transition, was it scary for you guys when it's like, okay, this is officially we're in charge now or was it like, let's rock and roll, let's do this and we got the team behind us 'cause we've been working side by side for a couple of decades now? What was that like for you two and also, what was it like for the always when you guys were officially in charge?
(WS) Well, for me, I feel there was no nervousness. We were doing all the same things. It was just a technicality. I mean, it was a big step, a lot of responsibility legally, financially, but and with the guys, I can't speak on their behalf, but, you know, the transparency was really big for me. I let them know every step of the way what was going on and nothing really changes. I mean, although we wear the titles and, you know, now have big offices, which is funny because I had like a little broom closet before, but it didn't matter to m, but we made sure we're on a level playing field. We're all in this together. It doesn't matter, you know, what our titles are, where we are. We're all in it together.
(SM) Now, speaking of the broom closet, speaking of the original office versus what you guys have Now you guys did something pretty symbolic when you took over the company. What was that?
(WS) Yes, we knocked down a wall. Dale had a large corner office and mine was, there was no door. It was just a doorway to my office, which was, like I said, pretty small and then his was right next to it and so I asked him the other day, I said, who was actually the one that came up with that and it's funny because he said, I did and I was like, I did, but now thinking back, it's because 'cause it was fair, right? Like, you know, if I just took over Dale's, which he said, oh, go ahead and do it with that. Then I have the larger office and it's not a matter of tit for cat necessarily. It's just, I don't need all that and I said, well, let's just take down the wall and, you know, move it over and make some adjustments and we did.
(SM) I think that's so cool symbolically, when you guys take it over as partners and say, okay, now we're gonna knock down this wall this barrier in between us and make sure that we have enough space for both of us and I like that idea too like the CFO financially speaking this makes a lot of sense if we were to make the offices a little bit bigger and add in everything else there. People listening to this are watching this right now. They could be in a very similar situation to where you guys were where you know they're working for a firm they might need to take o er at some if somebody were tiring or aging out of their company, what advice would you give somebody who potentially could be taking over somebody else's business and looking to continue that legacy? What's the number one piece of ad ice you'd give somebody who might be in a similar situation where you guys were? [23:56]
(RO) I'll say kind of like what we kind of just mentioned, don't be afraid of it. I mean, there's challenges every step, but knowing that you work hard and that you've been doing the job, everything will kind of fall in place, but that's probably one of the biggest things. There's nothing to be afraid as long as you're hard working people.
(WS) Well, we also had the advantage of knowing what was behind the scenes as well. That's important too. I feel like, you know, any company you're at, truly, I believe if you work from the bottom all the way up, you're respected more. You know the business.I knew it financially, what the health was of the financials. He knew how to, you know, what it took to make it run and what to motivate the other engineers. So we had that advantage. We knew what we were getting into and so if you have that advantage and you see it and you wanna keep that going, there's nothing that should be stopping you unless there's, you know, legal or financial issues.
(SM) What's the biggest thing to avoid in the business? What's the lesson there like if I could tell anybody to not do this, what would that be? Is there anything there?
(WS) Don't hide anything from your employees. Make sure they're a part of it because if they feel a part of it there's no and that their their jobs are not in any … you know because they're people too and they have families. They need to know every step of the way so they're comfortable I thought that that was really important for me to make sure they understood what our goal was. That we're not going to just, you know, make some changes, you know, cut people out or do any of that. That was the biggest thing.
(RO) The one that has worked for me is kind of like, like I told you, it's like, I'm still one of the guys. I till in the trenches with them, you know, working late and doing all the stuff that needs to be done for running the business as well. So that's one of the things that I think is key in a business when you're taking over, like making sure that, hey, not only you, but we're all doing this together.
(SM) Yeah, you'd mentioned that, Roberto, I'd ask you what's your proudest thing about work, about your career and you matter of fact said that I'm still one of the guys and I'm still revered as part of that team. I'm not above anybody. I'm still willing to get out there and do the work. How, I mean, you kind of touched on it, but how big is that for your employees to see you as the CEO still willing and able to get into the day to day of it all.
(RO) I think the response from them is incredible because they see you working there and you're not just telling what to do and all that. You're there going side by side and saying, hey, we need to stay late. We need to send this out. We need to work on this. We work on all the problems together. The problem and just being behind them all the time is what keeps us going as well. So just having that good conversation with them and also being on the same playing field that this is for all of us. Yeah, just for the companies, for all of us, you know. [26:59]
(SM) Now, Wendy, you had a different response when I asked you that question. Your proudest moment in your career. Do you remember?
(WS) No.
(SM) You had mentioned the fact that work allowed you essentially to be a mother and to be able to focus on your family, outside of work as well. Can you explain that for everyone?
(WS) Right. Work-life balance is big for me, especially when it comes to my girls. So being able to, you know, pick up, drop off, be at softball practice, you know, not have to stress about that. I mean, I think, I don't remember how long it was after I had either of the girls. They were in the office with me. I mean, as infants. You know they just eat and sleep anyway, so they might as well just come along with you.
(SM) Doing the ten key, right?
(WS) Right.
(SM) Making sure that the books are good.
(WS) Right, and so that's, yeah, that's a big, big part of, you know, because I didn't set out to be, you know, working in an engineering firm. This was a stepping stone for me is what I thought it was.
(SM) Right.
(WS) Yeah, so because I was still in college when I started.
(SM) Well, and it kind of goes back to what you talked about at the beginning of the show here, which was you were always looking for something more, right and you were going to get that, whatever more was, and it just so happened that it happened to be here, right and it's worked out very well for both of you here. I am curious, as we start to wind down the show, we talked a lot about what you should do and advice you would give people, what's something you could change? If you could change something about the journey not the destination. So you're still here. You still got the titles. You still knocked down the wall. You got the bigger office and all that fun stuff. Nothing changes as results, but if you could change one thing about the journey to the destination, what would it be?
(RO) I think the wisdom, having the wisdom that I have now. If I would have that wisdom at the beginning maybe, we would still be in the same place, but different “arco”. I would say that. Having that wisdom kind of helps to pad the future for generations as well, for the legacy to continue. So I think if we would have started with that wisdom, I think we would be, that legacy of tales would be bigger. [29:04]
(SM) Wouldn’t that be nice if we just have all the things that we know now, way back when.
(WS) Hindsight
(SM) Hindsight being what it is. What about you Winnie?
(WS) I would say I think the worry. If I look back on it of what the future looked like for the company, not necessarily personally, not for anybody else, but just what it looked like because we really didn't have anything mapped out. At least the founder hadn't and so he had brought us on as partners, but we just didn't know and so it was so it was a worry like we really stressed about it and so if I could take that away, knowing what I know now, obviously, would have been to kind of just take pause and it's okay. It's going to be good. But that's just my nature anyway.
(SM) Yeah. So a couple other things, because it just popped in my head, it's not on my notes here if you're watching this, I was talking to our mutual friend, Nate Johnston, and he brought up again these blood drives and that's all he really said.
(WS) This was a little traumatizing for him.
(SM) So help me understand why it's so traumatizing for Nate Johnston and blood drives. What happens? What are the blood drives first and foremost and tell me Nate's… I love a new Nate's story.
(RO) Go for it.
(WS) Well, I'll do the blood drive part. We just started doing that. Red Cross had reached out to me to be a guest speaker about the donation and from that we were able to do blood drives every year and of course, Simpson being a big part of us and we know a lot of people there and they were so kind to have your employees. A lot of you guys showed up for us and so Nate being one of them. Go ahead.
(RO) Well, Nate had trouble first filling out the questionnaire about the questions to donate blood. I don't know why, but he, you know, and one of the things was that they were telling like stories and like, oh, we’ve seen people pass out or kind of crapping their pants, excuse the language, but, you know, kind of like that, but he was, he was just turning pale during this period of donating blood. He was just worried. So it was one of those things where that was probably the first time that I'd seen Nate very nervous.I’d never seen him like that
(SM) So it got into his head. They were telling him what could possibly happen and of course the worry, like you talked about, worry. He didn't need to.
(RO) Yeah.
[31:28]
(SM) But he did. All right, most important question, last question for both of you and I'm kinking myself, because we were talking about this right before we started recording, but we're here in Southern California. We're in the entertainment, capital of the world. Um, they turn your guys' life stories into movies. Who is the actor or actress that is playing you in that movie?
(WS) Go ahead.
(RO) Yeah. Well, mine, it kind of relates to my story a little bit and it's an old school. 1988, Stand and Deliver.
(SM) Stand and Deliver.
(RO) Yeah. Now, I cannot relate to the actor, but I could relate to math.
(SM) Okay
(RO) Math is kind of like the focus of the story.
(SM) Yeah
(RO) Math is the universal language
(SM)Perfect
(RO) It goes well with me.
(SM) Now, Winnie, what was your thought process in putting this together before you answer? Because I gave you a head's up that I'm gonna be asking you.
(WS) You did, and I was glad you did. So I had to phone a friend. There's a couple of them. If you ever want to know or what they think of you or how they view your life, ask this question
(SM) That would worry me.
(WS) Right.
(SM) The worry.
(WS) The feedback was actually pretty interesting. I got, you know, movies I hadn't even watched before. I think the one that resonated once I explained as to why was the wedding planner with Jennifer Lopez.
(SM) The wedding planner, withJennifer Lopez, okay. [32:42]
(WS) Yes, she's OCD, really good at her job, loves to help people, love life is in a shambles. That was one of the digs, but it was funny, yeah, so that would be probably… I think that's the most one I resonated with. I was like, okay.
(SM) That's a good exercise in terms of like, what do my friends really think of me? My trusted ones, what would they say? So what if they give you a movie or an actor, you know, a character that you're like, I don't, that person's a jerk, what do you think of me?
(WS) Fiona was one of them that they thought…
(SM) Fiona…from?
(WS) Yeah. Kill Bill was one of them.
(SM) Oh, wow, yeah! You got a nice list of movies to go back to.
(WS) Right, Fiona I think was just a funny jab. I don't think…it would have been from Shrek I guess I've never seen it. I didn't know they had seen it.
(SM) That's the princess. Right.
(WS) Yeah, the main love interest of Shrek.
(SM) Right.
(WS) Yes, Cameron Diaz.
(RO) I would have picked Mean Girls.
(WS) Mean Girls?
(RO) Not so much that she was a Mean Girl, but the mom, because that's the relationship you have with your daughters like kind of cool, like still more like a friend.
(SM) All right I think you know again in the in the interest of fairness right who would you pick for Mr. Roberto over here? What would be the actor or the movie…
(RO) Oh don't, come on, you got to say.
(WS) Who Pedro from uh…
(SM) From napoleon dynamite?
(WS) Napoleon Dynamite.That’s it! [34:06]
(RO) That’s a good one.
(SM) Yeah, vote for Pedro. Thank you guys very much ….
(WS) Oh thank you.
(RO) Thank you for having us.
(SM) …for being here for our Strong Conversations podcast and thank all of you for joining us. Stay tuned for more conversations of the Strong variety coming up soon. [34:20]
NAME: WINNIE SULLIVAN & ROBERT ORTIZ