Article Written By: Rey Ramirez, Co-Founder of Thrive HR Consulting

My name is Rey Ramirez (Reynaldo) and I am a first generation son of immigrant parents.  Both my parents were born in Mexico, and I was lucky enough to be born in Texas as were my 3 siblings.  My family is the American Dream: 4 kids, 3 with college degrees and one who served his country in the Army for 10 years. 

My parents were migrant farm workers who would travel from south Texas to the Northwest (Oregon, Washington) in the spring and summer to pick crops.  I learned my work ethic from my parents.  My dad picked up trash on the highway and my mom worked at my elementary school cafeteria.  I started working when I was 14 and held multiple jobs through high school and college. Being successful and self -sufficient were my early motivators.  

I have had a great experience working for companies like Cisco, Electronic Arts, BMC Software, Cognizant, and Deloitte. I learned several things that helped me grow my career.  

Honesty - as a professional, your reputation is really all you have. A big part of that is being honest, doing what you say you will do, and being truthful/genuine in all your interactions. I have used this approach in working with peers and clients. Deliver what you promise and give your point of view & why.

Listening - asking good questions, listening to your client’s needs, being interested and wanting to learn. Clients want to be heard, want you to understand their issues & problems. The more you listen and don’t talk, the better. If there is an action item, repeat it so everyone is on the same page. Also, recapping the conversation is a great way to ensure everyone is aware of who agreed to do what.

Hard Work - having a good work ethic is very important to your success. I had great examples with my parents who worked in manual jobs - my dad picking up trash and my mom working in my elementary school cafeteria. They both got up early, went to work, supported 4 kids and took great care of our family. I started working when I was 13 and worked my way through college. The saying “The harder you work, the luckier you are” is very true.

Giving Back - this is the 4th trait that I think is very important. Helping people looking for a new role or volunteering every other week at the local food bank - giving back and being humble is a great way to appreciate the blessings you have.

Career – you are responsible for your career development.  The company and your manager are not going to develop you. They want you to produce today.  You have to take it upon yourself to find opportunities and be in control of your career. 

I have also had bad experiences in my career.  My approach when I had a bad situation was to analyze what happened, ask myself if I could have anticipated the bad interaction and decide what my plan is going forward.  Confront, apologize, let people know what you will do differently next time.  In some cases, the situation was so bad after the analysis, that my decision was to find a new opportunity at a new company. 

My closing advice is to focus on what is important in your life - my focus is on Family, Friends, Giving Back and Growing our Firm. For me, the most valuable time is the time I spend with my wife, kids, grandkids and friends. Time with the special people in my life is so important. I also love to give back to my community. I give my money and time to the Food Bank of the Rockies. Going out in the morning to a parking lot, unloading an 18-wheeler of food, building food boxes and handing them out to 200+ needy families is the best way to spend a spring, summer, fall or winter morning. My other focus is our business and keeping our consultants happy. Doing this results in a productive team that provides a great service to our customers. Happy customers result in a business that will last into the future.

Bio:

Rey Ramirez is a versatile HR Leader with entrepreneurial passion, diverse industry experience, and a strong track record of success in HR.

In 2020, Rey and his partner Jason Walker founded Thrive HR Consulting, an Austin, TX and Denver-CO, based HR advisory firm that seeks to augment HR needs for organizations, providing fractional HR services for leading, managing, or providing guidance in all facets of HR. Thrive provides a unique model that is helpful for companies that don't need full-time support but need expertise and guidance in the areas of executive coaching, mergers and acquisitions, employee relations, diversity and inclusion and belonging, compliance, payroll, global HR expertise, talent acquisition, and digital workforce transformation.                                                 

For more information on this topic, contact Thrive HR at (408) 799-1425  or www.thrivehrconsulting.com