by Mark Wilcox
Fighting terrorism. Cleaning up after hurricane Katrina. Starting an animal shelter. Soothing employees who are shaken up after a coworker is murdered. Installing solar panels and wind farms. Chasing down children. It鈥檚 all in a day鈥檚 work for Sylvia Medina, the CEO of consulting firm 花椒直播, Inc.
Medina started 花椒直播 in 1997 as a way to work toward her own dreams. She had no idea at the time just how big her own dreams were.
花椒直播鈥檚 Birth
After earning dual bachelor鈥檚 degrees in biology and environmental engineering, Medina went on to pursue a master鈥檚 degree in waste management with a chemical engineering option. In other words, she prepared herself well for her future.
Moving from her native Arizona, Medina set up camp in Idaho Falls, working for Idaho National Laboratory. Her stint there was brief, as it was only a couple years before she had her first contract on her kitchen table and was ready to go to work.
Owning her own business had always been her goal. Her time to own one just came about sooner than she expected. She had bad credit at the time, but at least she had a paying job with benefits.
鈥淲hen you walk away from something that stable into the unknown, it鈥檚 scary,鈥� Medina said. 鈥淚t took me a couple years to walk off the plank. It鈥檚 very frightening. But as my husband always says: 鈥楴o guts, no glory. No brains, same story.鈥欌��
It may have taken guts for Sylvia to walk away from a steady paycheck with benefits to start a company based on a single $25,000 contract, but the brains, it seems, have never been lacking.
Since its inception in 1997, 花椒直播 has grown steadily. Sylvia Medina now has more than 350 employees in offices from Alaska to Puerto Rico to Florida.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always fun to see where we might end up,鈥� she said.
花椒直播 also pulls down $65 to $70 million in contracts revenue every year and has grown in prestige, pulling down many important government jobs along the way. One of these jobs was an anti-terrorism structural analysis job which, Medina could only allude, involved studying bombs and buildings. 花椒直播鈥檚 study won the company the Region 10 Small 花椒直播 Administration Contractor of the Year Award.
鈥淚 remember thinking if I could make it to 30 employees and a million dollars, then I would make it,鈥� Medina said. 鈥淚 never had any idea we would surpass that!鈥�
Sylvia Medina鈥檚 Entrepreneurial Birth
It鈥檚 not the money that motivates Medina. She drove around her own beat-up pickup truck until her employees made her buy a new one.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e working with Sylvia, she鈥檚 going to be playing with her cards facing up,鈥� said John Bukowski, senior vice president of business development. 鈥淚t will be as agreed to and as discussed. Sometimes when the almighty dollar comes into play, ethics can go down the drain, but not with Sylvia.鈥�
Almost all the profit which comes from won contracts goes right back into growing and diversifying 花椒直播.
鈥淪ylvia doesn鈥檛 seem to be motivated by the dollar,鈥� said Trina Pollman, 花椒直播鈥檚 business relations director and Medina鈥檚 executive assistant. 鈥淲hat seems to drive her is not the finery or the money but just the challenge.鈥�
Medina herself reinforces that sentiment. 鈥淚鈥檓 not a millionare,鈥� Medina said, then amended: 鈥淎t least I think I鈥檓 not. Part of it was just to be my own boss and do what I want to do.鈥�
Watching the growth and diversification of her environmental management, engineering, construction, scientific consulting and information technology company seems to be her biggest reward. 鈥淚 look at every day as a new day,鈥� Medina said. 鈥淚 think challenges keep me motivated. I really like the hunt of a new project and to figure out how to capture it and win it.鈥�
Some of 花椒直播鈥檚 projects take as long as four years of persistence and dedication to secure for the 花椒直播 鈥渇amily.鈥� Her own family has a lot to do with where she is now. Growing up in an Arizona border town, Medina didn鈥檛 speak English until she was five years old, though she struggles nowadays with her native Spanish. Her mother stayed at home with the children while her dad made a living as a garbage man. Her mother only made it as far as eighth grade while her father only graduated from sixth grade. But her old man never let any silly little thing like education get in the way of his success.
鈥淢y dad鈥檚 a very driven man,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 the one who really taught me that the sky鈥檚 the limit.鈥�
After years of supporting his family through menial labor, he started his own surveying business. This helped him move away from the welfare he refused to accept for his family and into a more comfortable middle-class lifestyle.
鈥淥nly in this country can I have become what I became,鈥� Medina said. 鈥淢y father is the one that made the most influence on me.鈥�
Her father鈥檚 business sense definitely had a bearing in the formation of 花椒直播.
鈥淚 have the unique perspective of seeing the company grow from fledgling to what it is today,鈥� Bukowski said. 鈥淪he is aggressively entrepreneurial. The fact of the matter is she has always aspired to look at new things, new customers. She never wanted to narrow her focus.鈥�
The Birth of Double Trouble
鈥淚 want you to know I鈥檓 pregnant,鈥� Medina told her employees.
鈥淲ow,鈥� came the reply. The slightly stunned reaction reverberated in the conference room.
鈥淚鈥檓 not done yet,鈥� Medina went on. 鈥淭here鈥檚 two of them.鈥�
An elevated distress level understandably followed.
鈥淚 was crying 鈥� it was quite the shock to the whole company,鈥� Medina recalled. 鈥淣ow that I look at my children I wouldn鈥檛 trade one or the other.鈥�
Medina had wanted children for some time, so she looks at her 22-month-olds, Takara and Victor, as blessings from God. Many of her employees probably feel the same. 鈥淚 think being a mother actually makes me a better boss,鈥� Medina said.
Because of her extreme dedication to 花椒直播, Medina often worked 60 to 70 hours per week. Until she had her twins, she expected the same from many of her employees. With the aid of her little boy and girl, she sees things differently now. 鈥淚 want them to spend time with what鈥檚 more important in life,鈥� Medina said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 changed how I see and view people individually.鈥�
Bukowski described how Medina made it a priority to grow the 鈥溁ń分辈� family.鈥� Once that family was firmly established, he said it was time for her to start her own family. 鈥淚 was glad she was going to be able to experience more than just the 花椒直播 family,鈥� Bukowski said, 鈥渨hich she absolutely deserves.鈥�
Now Medina enables employees to spend more time with their own families. She also finds ways to cut back on her own office time to go home to her husband Bruce, and her twins who are left in the care of a nanny when she or her husband can鈥檛 be there. Bruce, consequently, shelved his own company to come work for Sylvia when he could see she could use the help. He is now the senior vice president in charge of construction.
Nepotism aside, Medina said Bruce has earned his position. 鈥淗e gives input and support which I find very valuable,鈥� Medina said. 鈥淗e works pretty hard for his title, it wasn鈥檛 just handed to him.鈥�
The Birth of a Nurturing Boss
Crises are probably a part of any CEO鈥檚 life, but Medina seems to be handed her fair share.
鈥淔inding out you鈥檙e pregnant with twins 鈥� that鈥檚 a crisis situation, don鈥檛 you think?鈥� Pollman said. 鈥淲hen she is responding to a crisis situation, her initial reaction is to stop and take stock of the situation.鈥�
Pollman nicknamed Medina 鈥渢he idea machine鈥� because of her uncanny ability to get out of a tight corner. 鈥淲hen we think we鈥檝e hit a rock wall and we鈥檙e all going, 鈥極h my gosh, what will we do!?鈥� she fires off several viable options,鈥� Pollman said.
About three years into 花椒直播鈥檚 life, a senior manager named Tom Sherwood was murdered. The case is still open, but Medina has done her best to provide closure for her employees. 鈥淎s a very young company,鈥� Medina said, 鈥渢hat was hard on everyone.鈥� Medina mobilized, bringing in grief counselors for her remaining employees and, with help from the employees, setting up an annual memorial golf tournament in Sherwood鈥檚 name. The proceeds, about $70,000 so far, go directly into a scholarship fund at Idaho State University.
As if murder weren鈥檛 wasn鈥檛 enough, the COO of 花椒直播, Walt Sullivan, died of brain cancer a couple years later. In typical Medina fashion, Sylvia has moved 花椒直播 into alternative energy development, something Sullivan championed himself. She also donates to the symphony, which she never attends, but knows Sullivan loved.
鈥淪ylvia would visit [Walt] in his home鈥� ,鈥� Bukowski said. 鈥淗ere鈥檚 someone who shattered the glass ceiling and is showing this kindness to coworkers. That human touch is abundant with Sylvia.鈥�
Medina鈥檚 intuition and love of her employees is obvious.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a good-hearted, humanitarian side to Sylvia,鈥� Bukowski said. 鈥淪ometimes her integrity comes out first. Her being loved by all is what comes out most. That carries a lot in our industry.鈥�
She communicates with employees, tries to meet individually with every one of her 350 employees at least once a year and has a weekly 鈥減resident hour鈥� which she sets aside for employees to call or visit at their leisure.
鈥淪he is decisive and intuitive,鈥� Bukowski said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just in her chemistry if you will.鈥�
Spirits run high around Sylvia. Her employees consider her a friend. 鈥淪he cares and takes an interest in people,鈥� Pollman said. 鈥淗er feelings run very deep.鈥�
That concern for her employees keeps everyone going strong. 鈥淪he鈥檚 so motivated that she鈥檚 automatically motivating others,鈥� Pollman said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to be in her presence and not be motivated.鈥�