Pacific Garage Door– A Homecoming
As a new garage door repair and installation company, Pacific Garage Door specializes in the reparation, replacement, and maintenance of commercial and residential garage doors. Discover the story behind Pacific Garage Door, particularly the founder and immigrant, Daniel Espinoza. Working on local garage door repair and installation fits in with his engineer-skilled mindset. Given the support of his older sister and parents from Costa Rica to start his own business, Daniel traveled to the U.S. and ultimately found his home away from home.
Central Pacific Origins
Daniel had been in the garage door industry for about three years prior to starting Pacific Garage Door. He was born in a small town called Puntarenas, located on the Central Pacific coast of Costa Rica (hence the name). His parents had their own company importing and exporting fresh products, like seafood and sheep, for Costa Rica, and Daniel always had entrepreneurial ambitions while growing up.
As early as seven years old, his parents had to stop him from selling off all of his Christmas presents they had bought for him. But Daniel had a plan. From surf and skate clothes to video games to pizza and ceviche, Daniel always had something to trade.
For years, he worked at several places, always unsatisfied with the work he was doing and not seeing much reward for all the effort and passion he was putting into it. In between his various young salesman ventures, he helped with his father’s company selling seafood with his cousin.
Engineer-Coated Glasses
Although full of nature, his home country in Central America was not rich in supporting his entrepreneurial endeavors. Daniel found it hard to grow, yet he stayed persistent and passionate through everything he put his mind to. Daniel started university when he was seventeen, studying to be an engineer.
He eventually found himself in California, pursuing a garage door job for a friend, and the process came naturally to him. Through the lens of an engineer, he developed a repertoire for efficient and considerate garage door work until the watering hole dried up.
He relocated across America to North Carolina, where Pacific Garage Door officially began. His daily routine for a year and a half consisted of local garage door work, listening to podcasts, and reading books and cases about people of success that started from zero. These all gave him the motivation to keep improving himself in hopes that someday he’d start a successful business.
Fast forward to the present, and the greatest constant in his life has been the support of his family and his ambition toward Pacific Garage Door and its incandescent beginning.
Pacific Garage Door Mission Statement:
Mission:
Be a point of contact for customers in the garage door market (residential and commercial) by providing honest and valuable service.
Excellence:
Provide the best solutions with quality products and customer care.
Vision:
Be a company recognized for its high sense of service and customer care, which offers innovative solutions, competitive rates, and a long-term guarantee.
Values:
Provide the best experience and diversified service without setting aside elegance, style, or innovation.
Commitment:
Satisfy the needs and expectations of our customers, fostered by a highly qualified work team.
Integrity:
Operate with transparency, honesty, respect, and reliability by offering a genuine service.
Innovation:
Provide the most modern, technological, and cutting-edge solutions in the market.
Diligence:
Provide timely, agile, efficient services in order to achieve customer satisfaction and their garage door needs.
Daniel’s Story
I come from a hard-working family. My parents worked for their own company, and for many years I saw they were tired most of the time but, at the end of the day, satisfied because they brought positive results at home.
I grew up with that model, or idea, that someday I would have my own company, but growing up as an entrepreneur in my country is very difficult—I tried, and I was failing big time. I tried many things until one day, my best friend David told me about this idea.
“We were dreaming eyes open on… living the ‘American dream’”
We were dreaming, eyes open, on what we could do to improve our situation. He wanted to travel to try some luck in the States, living the “American dream.” He had received an offer, and he was considering taking it. I was happy for him to see how his life was about to change!
After some months, my friend was sure the garage door job was not for him, but the owner of the company still needed an employee to give him a hand when he thought of me. I graduated as an engineer, and I was doing a completely opposite job, trying to earn a living in Costa Rica.
Garage doors were something I hadn’t done before that time, but since the first day at work, it felt so right. I was instantly attracted to this new world. It was so easy for me to understand the function of motors and all the mechanisms that involve the garage door job.
I have to say that like every beginning…It’s hard! Especially if you are in a foreign country, learning a new language, navigating a new culture, and overcoming prejudices that often come from being an outsider, plus facing the obstacles to secure a position in the field.
“Since day one, I started saving for the future.”
After some months of learning and studying, I was very excited to see how people were satisfied with the work I was doing, and I was also being paid enough to afford a small room, food on my plate, and send some money to my parents, because after some time their company had closed.
Once I moved to North Carolina, from day one, I started saving for the future in the hopes of affording my own company and being able to provide the good service skills that I was able to develop in the U.S.
“[My dream] is a reality that I want to share with everyone and help people own a home that is beautiful, functional, and safe.”
I’m still learning, but the most important thing is that America has given me the opportunity to become not only a better person, but the experience has given me trust in order to improve my abilities, plus the opportunity to make my dream come true. Their positive reactions to my work have encouraged me so much.
