We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Natalie Hernandez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Natalie below.

Hi Natalie, thanks for joining us today. It’s easy to look at a business or industry as an outsider and assume it’s super profitable – but we’ve seen over and over again in our conversation with folks that most industries have factors that make profitability a challenge. What’s biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?

While the construction industry seems to only continue to grow, it seems as though profits should be through the roof for any permit company that you come across. The biggest challenge we see with our business would be that it is such a male-dominated field which in some cases, many contractors reach out and underestimate the power of our work. They might think that women in the field may not have as great of an understanding as a man would in the world of construction. This makes many potential clients a bit hesitant just because of the stigma, but we allow our work to speak for us!

Natalie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

HDZ Permit Solutions started out as a dream about five years ago. It started out as a temporary position at a local window and door company where I learned and discovered the industry of permitting. Once I fell in love with the complexity of things, it was a wrap!

I never would have imagined to be where we are today. The services we supply include permit expediting throughout Florida, inspection scheduling, notary services, contractor registration for any city/county departments needed. HDZs specialty also allows us to prepare permit packets for Window/Door/Garage Door/ Shutter permits as well as Fence and Roof permits. We have provided services to a plethora of contractors stretching from Key West up into Central Florida. Although the permit industry is what I love most, it has been extremely far from easy. Being women in the industry, it can be challenging as others look down on you and underestimate what you can bring, in terms of excellent service and the attention to detail. I’ve learned to never let that affect me and how much I believe in myself and my team.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

HDZ started out as something I’d do after my regular 9-5 job. It was exhausting but it gave me something to look forward to. While I worked for other companies for their permit department, I began curating and building my own company. Having to work in other companies gave me insight of things to use as examples for myself. There were things I witnessed that I now use for my own company and things that I would not even think twice about doing because of how negatively it affected someone else. After about a year and a half, it was no longer sustainable to work full-time while running HDZ and here we are today!

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

It all starts with listening and understanding your teams needs and concerns. As long as you take care of your team, your team will take care of you! We believe that thriving employees equals a thriving company.

Contact Info:

• Website: hdzpermits.com
• Instagram: @hdzpermits
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/hdzpermits