Karen Galindo

I attribute my success to perseverance and following through on my goals. Even when things look hard, or you don't really see what you're going through, but you know what your goal is, and you follow through. That's what has gotten me from where I am right now.

One of the most important work values that I really like is accountability, but there's also this concept of being willing to do whatever is needed at the office instead of just doing your specific job. Most people at work will say, oh, that's not me, I don't do that. But I believe in being flexible and stepping in wherever needed. If someone misses a day for some reason, we can just step in and do it for her. This applies not just at work but also in my volunteer work at church with the women's ministry. It's about being a team player so the company or organization doesn't have to say, well, she's not here today, so we cannot do that. Someone else can do it without getting upset or anything.

First of all, I think you have to be willing to take risks. That's one of the words that I use the most. When people at church come to me asking for advice, I tell them first is risk. You're going to take a risk. If you don't take a risk, you won't get anything. First of all, just think, really think about what you will enjoy, because many times we don't know what we want to do. So take the risk, and sometimes when you do that, you start and you just find all the information you can, start learning, try to put it in practice. If it doesn't work out, you know you can still change it. That's exactly what happened to me when I tried accounting. I'm 48, so that happened at 47. I said, well, let me try accounting. Maybe I am good in accounting. And I tried, and it was okay, but I really enjoy what I do, so I went back. At 47, you might think you're not trying, you're not risking it, but I did, and it really worked out. So I use that example sometimes. Just take a risk, but think about it. Have your Plan A, which is what you want, but then have a Plan B and a C, just in case. And take responsibility for your decisions. Sometimes we ask someone else, and then something goes in the wrong way, and we tend to think, well, it wasn't my fault, because it wasn't my decision, somebody told me. But you have to take responsibility. All decisions have consequences, either good or bad, so think about it so you are prepared when something happens.

I think women are a really important part of the moving and storage industry. The men in the office are just men, and sometimes they don't exactly know what they're doing with logistics and instructions. Women are the ones that will help with attention to detail. And if you have female clients, for them it feels safer to talk to a woman instead of a man. The company's really big, so they trust the company, but still, they feel better if it's a woman. Maybe it's a challenge, but I think our company is very open to having women in different roles. We have a shop, a car shop for all the trucks in the company, and there are women there. One woman is a mechanic. They also have this program where you can work from home if your kids are young. Not in everything, but they have different positions, like the call center for sales, just taking orders, so women can stay at home and take care of the kids while working. So there are more women now, and also in leadership as well.

Accountability is one of the most important values to me. Being trustworthy is also very important. I know there are mistakes, but you just have to come up with a solution and say it, right, instead of hiding it. That applies in my everyday life, too, with my daughters and friends. I try to teach my two daughters, who are 20 and 17, the same values of accountability and being trustworthy.