We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Samantha Ponce. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Samantha below.
Samantha, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think it takes to be successful?
That is a great topic. Being successful has taught me to also be humble, it shouldn’t change who you are your standards or your morals. It’s really easy to change your perspective as you level up in your career, and even financially. You have to remember where you started, and where you came from. I never limit myself, or my employees. I always encourage them to be better, and to find better. It takes a lot of discipline to wake up every day and want more, you can have motivation but that is not all it takes. You have to be disciplined enough to get where you want to be, to do what you want to do and continue being a boss even on the days where it seems like it’s a bigger job than what it is. As a latina women, I had to stand my ground and really mean it, I think it was tough to be as successful as I am, especially in this industry, but I love it and there is not a single thing I could see myself doing. I’m truly blessed.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Hi, my name is Samantha. I am currently 23 years old, and I own a very successful auto shop here in Albuquerque. I started this business in March of 2022. Started as a hobby, I would clean all my friends and families vehicles for fun, and I had an idea just to make extra money I started offering quick details, and within 3 months I had contracts with construction companies, mechanic shops, etc. I rented out my first shop within the first 6 months of building my business. I fell in love with doing the work, the results, and my favorite part was building relationships with people who became family. Growing up, I hated school, I hated math, reading, I just knew school was not for me. I graduated from high school, and college at the same time. I became an EMT-Intermediate before I started my business. I loved it, but unfortunately at the time the pay was not the best. My dream had been to become a Paramedic Firefighter, by the time I was 19, I was going for the fire department, but again, didn’t pay as much as I wished. I then went to school for business, but was not for me. I figured, I’m already starting a business, I can just learn as I go, so I did and I have been. It’s been the best experience. I think it was the drive to be financially stable that got me where I’m at. We sponsor a lot of local schools, we help out homeless, we help raise money for different occasions, we give back to our community, who has given so much to us. What sets us apart is the drive and the passion we have. All my employees have passion for what they do, they love coming to work, they love being here and creating new ideas for every customer that comes into this shop. Any problem we have here, we have so many ways to get it fixed, to ensure every single customer is happy. Every day its a new experience, new customers, new ways to be and get better. We will always try our hardest to go out of our way for everyone, from picking up your vehicle for the service, to payment plans, you name it.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I built my audience by giving back to the community, by connecting with the right people, and always going to business meetings my friends with businesses were going. I also would post so much, and I would try to always find ways to engage customers with us, whether we would go live, make funny videos or just find ways to speak to them personally. We try to give customers a personal experience.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
It’s okay to ask for help.. Growing up latina, my mother had always taught me to never depend on anybody, to always have a back up plan and if I fall to pick myself back up.
Owning a business is hard, especially if it’s only one person doing all the ownership work. There were times that I knew I needed help, but never asked. I have so many friends who have businesses, and they never made me feel weird for asking for help, they actually were proud that I had asked for help, only because they knew my mentality growing up. It’s okay to ask and get help. It’s actually better for your own personal health.
