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

Vince, appreciate you joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

This is a great topic because I talk about this a lot with friends and coworkers. This can be very simple for some, but very difficult for others – let me explain. When someone has an idea and they would like to actually turn it into something, like a business, there has to be some sort of calculated approach. Think of your idea as stepping stones in a pond, crossing to the other side is determined by how you strategically execute to reach your end goal, which would be your business. If you are hesitant and not committed, you will fall short. If you are overconfident and not calculated, you will over jump and fall as well. You need to find that sweet spot so you can land right in the middle. I can’t tell anyone what steps they need to take because everyone’s ideas are different and entail a variety of factors. What is important is fully committing to take that initial jump towards your end goal. Before actually launching my business, I thought about marketing and how to be seen. So I created business cards, brochures and made shirts with my logo. I am thinking of what other people are thinking of when they attend my training or when they see me out in public. What I was aiming for, was the “Wow, that’s impressive.” And that is exactly what I got. Random people would come up to me when I was training CPR out in public and ask for a business card or my social media page. Since I started, each year, my networks have grown more and more and that has opened the door for a lot of opportunities. I’ve done a lot of leg work behind the scenes because results won’t come from minimal effort. You have to figure out how to expand and be a known presence. Towards the end of each year, I am trying to figure out how to be better than the previous year and what steps I need to take to achieve this. I write down my goals and I truly believe that I will achieve them.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

If we talk about how BLS Responders started, we’re going to go back to when I was a Medical Assistant Instructor. It is 2014, young Vince the instructor who goes by “Mr. P.” It was just easier so say “Mr. P” instead of people trying to pronounce my last name (Pascua). So part of the curriculum before our students finish their program is to get CPR certified. When it was time for my class to go for their CPR certification, I volunteered to sit and watch to see how the class was taught. During that class, I myself was very interested and engaged, probably more than my students. It sparked a new interest in me and I wanted to become a CPR Instructor as well. Don’t get me wrong, the instructor that taught the class did a great job, but as a young ambitious instructor, I believed that I can do it better. So I immediately spoke to my Director of Education and asked what I needed to do to become a CPR Instructor. I was sent for the instructor course, attended it and got certified. I remember that day I felt like I had a brand new superpower and I wanted to show the world. Let’s fast forward to present day – 10 years total as a CPR Training Instructor with 4 years as my side business. Anytime you want to start a business of some sort, the question that you should always ask yourself is, “How will I be different from the competition?” You really have to take time and think about what it is that people want and like. I thought of how it was to attend a CPR class as a student and how it was to teach a class as an instructor. My personal experiences with this is attending a class, the instructor is a lot more “seasoned” and about to probably retire soon, spoke very monotone, spent 4-6 hours in the class and by the time I left, I hardly remembered anything that was taught because I was trying so hard to stay awake. I didn’t want that for my students and I didn’t want to be that instructor. So I decided that I would be a mobile CPR Trainer because one thing that people want and like, is convenience. Being convenient takes away a lot of stress for us “9-5ers.” I get it, I can related, I know how it feels to work 9-5, get off work and take your kid to soccer practice, get home and figure out what to feed these kids, help with homework that we can barely understand, shower them, put them to bed, spend time with your spouse and then realize its late and you’re only going to get about 4 hours of sleep just to repeat the cycle tomorrow. So a little convenience goes a long way. So now I am going to give you a piece of the pie, I’ll share why this works for me. Being mobile helps especially if you have to bring your child/children somewhere for childcare. That alone alleviates extra expenses. One of my options is that I do house visits/trainings so it is more convenient and we’ll be in a more comfortable environment to maximize engagement and retention of the CPR training. Another option, which is most common, meeting at a park or a nice tourist location, which San Diego has many to offer. Why not enjoy what our city has to offer by being outdoors and walk away with being certified in CPR at the same time. Training at public parks helps when you have kids because we can have training next to the playground in case you don’t have anyone to watch them. So by now, you should have figured out that I do not do anything special. I am understanding of people’s busy lives, I am considerate of my clients’ child/children, not just my client, and I try to be very convenient and adaptable to sudden changes with scheduling. This is what sets me apart from my competition; being a problem solver, having a solution, but most importantly, genuinely caring for others. I am proud to be recognized as a positive role model for our local community members. I love when my name gets disbursed throughout the community and I receive a request for CPR training from a new business/organization/etc. When that happens, I typically hear, “I heard this is a fun CPR class to take” or “I hear that you’re a good CPR instructor.” This is the result of genuine care and passion training others. You wouldn’t fully understand until you actually sat through one of my trainings. When people think of CPR training, I want them to think of my business and myself because I am your local superhero.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Passion for sure. Anyone can have knowledge and share with others but when you come across someone with passion and they share that same knowledge, you’re more drawn to that because it stands out. Going back to when I was the Medical Assistant Instructor, my first year at that college, I received Instructor of the Year in 2015. That was a huge accomplishment for me, especially being a brand new instructor. When I was presented the award, I was asked, “What did I do different?” I didn’t do anything different from the other instructors there but I do know that I had a lot more passion for teaching. To this day, I have that same passion for teaching and sharing knowledge with others. That is what people see when I am teaching CPR, the genuine passion of teaching these lifesaving skills in a way that people can retain the information, a way that is a lot more engaging and especially building confidence that one day if need be, they can administer CPR and save a life.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Being visible to our local community members. More of an emphasis on parents that have children already or parents that are expecting. Our job as parents are to protect our kids and keep them safe. As a parent, it is crucial to at least have some sort of basic lifesaving skills training so you are prepared in case of an emergency situation. A lot of times, parents request training because they are expecting or their child is getting ready to start eating solids. So what tends to happen is, you have a great CPR training and usually, it is mom that is happy and very pleased with what she learned. Mom talks to her circle of mom friends and/or coworkers and spreads the word. A lot of referrals are word of mouth, but at the same time, I do collaborate with a variety of organizations in our community, school districts and medical/dental offices which I am very grateful for.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bls-responders.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bls-responders
• Yelp: BLS Responders