We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mario Ochoa a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Mario, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

I am extremely happy as a business owner; however, over the course of 12 years, there have been moments where I found myself thinking about what life would be like if I went back to being employed by someone else.

When I talk to many of my peers, many of them say the same thing. So to me it seems normal to be curious about what life would be like if I didn’t directly have to worry about hiring, firing, sales, cash flow, profit and loss, labor costs, marketing, AR, AP, and more.

Then I consider what I would be giving up — my autonomy, my vision, my grip on my company’s culture and identity.

I sleep well with the decision I have made to remain a business owner.

Mario, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I backed into my industry. I studied radio, TV and film in college.

During my junior year, I took a journalism elective and it shaped my career-to-be.

I ended up a journalist for the next several years. I have written for a number of different beats, including music, movies, fashion, and food and beverage.

It was because of this that I learned about the PR industry.

I enjoyed what I discovered and started my career in the PR industry in 2008. I co-founded my business soon after in 2010.

After 12 years, a lot of trial and error, and tons of discussions with our businesses coaches, I am most proud that we put people first in all areas of our business.

We operate as democratically as we can. No opinion is out of bounds as long as it is offered with respect.

And we consider the greater good in all we do internally and externally.

I don’t believe a business can exist without people, so why not place them in positions to succeed and grow!

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Keeping an open line of conversation — NOT just communication — is critical to building and maintaining high morale.

For business owners who are challenged with this, let technology work for you.

I recommend a tool called TinyPulse, which is created specifically to gauge your employee’s morale on a regular basis.

Once you set it up, your employees will receive a short email according to your schedule — weekly, bi-weekly, monthly — with questions designed to help you understand their overall feeling about their work and the organization.

You can use this input to open conversations, update processes, and identify trends in your organization.

We have used this tool for nearly a decade. In fact, we won the 2020 TinyPulse award for Happiest PR Firm in America!

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

I met my business partner in 2006 while I was working as Editorial Manager for a regional business and medical magazine in South Texas.

My office was in the same building as the PR firm that my business partner was working for.

We connected in 2006 and in 2008 I took a job with the same PR firm she was working for.

Two years after that, we launched our business. 12 years after that we’re still here!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sammisochoa.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sammisochoa/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SammisOchoa/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sammis-&-ochoa-a-public-relations-agency
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/sammisochoa
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDYZbDFz0QClZPat3RQyX4A/videos?view=0&sort=p

Image Credits
SammisOchoa