369 | THIS saved my business… It’s not what you think : Armando Olvera

Oct 25

[00:00:00]
Armando Olvera: every day we wake up, it's a privilege. We have two points of view.
You can either look at it in a good light, or you can be negative about everything, and that's not gonna get you anywhere.
I been grown up in Mexico. I could have,~ um,~ not known what direction I wanted to go in life. Here. I have all the opportunities in the world.
Chaz Wolfe: What's up, everybody? I'm Chaz Wolf. Gathering the Kings podcast. I am smiling ear to ear today because I have not just a guest, but a great friend at this point. My, my man, Armando Orvera. What's up, brother? How you doing? Oh
man,
Armando Olvera: I'm doing good.
Chaz Wolfe: How did that do with rolling the R's?
Armando Olvera: That was, that was good. I like that.
Chaz Wolfe: Really good. You know, the, the uniqueness of having you here on the show is that,~ uh,~ we've gotten to know each other pretty well over the last half, three quarter year. So, ~um, ~you've been part of the gathering, the Kings peer to peer mastermind group for a little bit. You have,~ uh,~ incredible energy. You do [00:01:00] life with just a big old smile.
That's why I'm smiling today. ~Um, ~because we're gonna have a great conversation. And on top of that. I know, I know some things here about you and how you operate in your business. And so I'm going to be able to create some amazing value for the listeners as well. But Armando, tell us what kind of business that you have.
Armando Olvera: So I have a pretty niche company here in San Antonio. We do a government contracting. So it's DOD contracting for all the military hospitals in the United States. And then we also do DOD contracting for commissaries on the military bases. ~Uh, ~so it's, it's a niche, it's all government work. We don't do any commercial work.
So, on the hospitals, we provide doctors, nurses,~ uh,~ CNAs, I mean, we go from the top to the bottom, anything that has to do with medical. So, it's, it's pretty intense,~ um,~ and like I said, it's all throughout the United States. There's civilian people going on to the military bases, and they, we staff them through next gen contracting services, and they work on the military bases.
So, they're civilians, they're not, they're not government employees.[00:02:00] ~Um, ~and then, they're on the commissaries. It's an interesting little world. I never knew much about it until about three years ago and it's been ~um, ~it's been a ride so far.
Chaz Wolfe: Yeah, I was just going to, as you were saying that I was reminded that you're in this, you know, deep medical space,~ um,~ on top of that government, you know, related and it's like, well, the last three years have been really interesting, you know, with the pandemic and government regulation and, and shutdowns and all kinds of fun stuff, but yet medical, like two worlds collide and they, that calls, it calls it your business, you know, yeah, it's, it's, it's crazy.
There's a lot that you've had to navigate. Thank Oh,
Armando Olvera: so much navigation. It's, it's all guidance regulations that we got to meet and never ending security regulations. We got to meet. ~Um, ~yeah, we're always always having to stay up to date on everything.
Chaz Wolfe: You know, it's, it's interesting. I want to point something out for the listener because this is what I know about you.
I've already mentioned that you're just a really joyful person and I think that you just kind of walk through life, you know, with, with a, like an optimistic perspective. And so I want to get [00:03:00] into some of that because I think it's actually one of your superpowers. ~Um, ~but when I think about what you just said, you're like, yeah, there's all this stuff that we got to figure out and all these regulations and.
What you could have said is,~ uh,~ yeah, there's all this stuff and regulations and rules and ah, but that that's not at all the tone that you gave to us. And so where do you think that that comes from? Like, I want to press into the optimistic perspective that you carry in life, but just that tone, that joy that like, ah, yeah, it's part of it.
And yeah, it's a lot, it's, it's heavy, but we do it anyway. Where does that come from? I think I've
Armando Olvera: always been that way, even in high school going through sports, I always played sports all my life, but there was always, Challenges that we had to overcome as a team, as a, as an individual, you know, you're always going to the weight room, you're lifting, you, you don't want to go in at 6 o'clock in the morning, and I always woke up happy to do it, you know, it's a privilege for us to be able to do these kinds of things.
You don't wake up in the morning, we come to work every day, I'm not working for somebody, I'm doing it for myself, it's ~um, ~I wake up every morning and it's, every day we wake up, it's a privilege. [00:04:00] And so, I, I kind of always been that way. I, I think life is just that way, you know. We, we have two points of view.
You can either look at it in a good light, or you can be negative about everything, and that's not gonna get you anywhere.
Chaz Wolfe: Yeah, you're right. It is pretty simple. It's yeah, it's binary. It's one or the other. What the, the word privilege is so interesting to me because it's been used in a negative sense, I would say in the last five years of like, Oh, you're privileged, but the way you used it is very similar to how I use it.
I have a daily visualization and some of the things that I talk about to myself every single day or that I have a privilege to, and then Fill in the blank. One of them, which is to control my health,~ uh,~ health is very, it's, it's a privilege to have great health. And so what I do inside of that is I get to work out and I get to choose food that serves me.
And, but the angle similar to you is I get to do this. Wow. What, what an opportunity. I'm thankful for this. I get I'm privileged. Wh [00:05:00] why do you have that perspective on privilege as opposed to like, it's, oh, you're privileged, you were given a silver spoon, or fill in the blank of a negative thought.
Armando Olvera: I think like, I, I got that a lot from my parents.
You know, they came from Mexico in the late seventies. ~Um, ~being an immigrant, you know, and I, first generation American here, I, I feel like I'm privileged. I been grown up in Mexico. I could have,~ um,~ not known what direction I wanted to go in life. Here. I have all the opportunities in the world. ~Uh, ~you know, I mean, I'm working for the government, I have a company that's truly striving right now and I've had a lot, my parents gave up everything for me to have these opportunities.
So for, to see them struggle and go through life struggling and you know, they're always coming out ahead and it's given me a leg up I feel like for them doing that. So I take advantage of it. It's, it's an opportunity that I get to have. I don't struggle. Yeah, so I'm grateful for that kind of thing.
Chaz Wolfe: Yeah, I'm, this mindset is just so strong and you've come by it maybe more naturally based on your situations, what you're saying, like. I grew up in a scenario where we didn't have anything anyway. So [00:06:00] now that I have something, I'm grateful for it. What would you say to the person right now who maybe wasn't in your shoes, right?
They grew up in might be not even, maybe not even just in America, like, ~uh, ~as a, with American parents per se, but not immigrants, they grew up in a house where they, they got plenty and there was no struggle whatsoever. That person listening right now is like, well, I don't know if I feel privileged or maybe they, maybe they were.
How should they look at that?
Armando Olvera: think we should always look at it as having a great opportunity here. Cause what if we lived in another country where you didn't get to go out and start your own business, you didn't get to go to just any school you wanted to, and living here, we, we have freedom, we have opportunities that other people don't have in other countries, so we got to embrace it and enjoy it.
Yeah. We're
Chaz Wolfe: lucky to have this. Yeah. Absolutely. You're, you're a hundred percent. Right. And I think that the person that I was kind of describing,~ uh,~ has either not seen the other side of the track, right. Or, or they've dismissed it so far down, [00:07:00] down the line of what, what's possible is that they now have an expectation,~ uh,~ of life as opposed to a gratefulness.
And I think that's what makes, you know, first generation Americans or first generation wealth builders, first generation business owners. Like that's probably who's mostly listening right now. 85 percent of the world's wealth is. First generation, right? Because we're freaking grateful for what we've got, you know, Yeah,
Armando Olvera: we are and we want to keep how we want to keep it.
We know what it's like to struggle. We know what it's like to be poor,
Chaz Wolfe: you know, and we want to keep it. That's right. That's right. We ain't going back to that.
Armando Olvera: No, hopefully not. It could
Chaz Wolfe: happen, but hopefully not. ~Uh, ~what do you think? You know, again, for this perspective of, okay, first generation, whether it's first generation, American, first generation business owner, first generation, wealth creator, how should this person be thinking?
~Uh, ~so that way their children who aren't going to be like you and me can maybe have some of these same beliefs of like privilege and, [00:08:00] and, and being grateful.
Armando Olvera: that's, that's kind of tough, but you know what I ran into a guy this weekend,~ um,~ when I was in Aledo, he sends his kids to Mexico for the summers.
For them to grow up with the culture, to grow up with,~ um,~ that, that perspective of what it's like to live in another country and for them to come back here and not be so entitled and not have the, like, this, this entitlement that we have here. And I, I thought that was a really great perspective that he's given his kids, you know, and obviously not everybody's going to send their kids to Mexico or to another country to live with their grandparents, but to be able to do that, just to tell them and show them that.
You know, even if you go take them around and see the homeless around here around the cities and stuff show them that not everything's You know Fiji all the time people are struggling here and even so more so now people are really struggling right now And so if the kids could see that now, I think it might give them a different perspective Just see what's really going on in the world Could we put people in a bubble sometimes?
Chaz Wolfe: Yeah. When I was younger in high school,~ uh,~ we built some [00:09:00] homes,~ uh,~ in Juarez, Mexico. I don't think people are allowed to go to Juarez today and build homes. I did that with my church group. I know. And I was, we were, we were in there making it happen.
But, and then I was also able to go to,~ uh,~ to Haiti a couple of times. ~Um, ~and it's like, when you see how life is done different to your exact point that you just made, I have a Perspective on how things could be, but they're not. And so that turns me to gratefulness and it's like, okay, wow, I had running water today.
I chose to take a cold shower, but I could have taken a warm shower if I wanted to. And there was water. It came out when I told it to, it was crazy.
Armando Olvera: Think about the people that have to carry their water, water from the rivers to their house. They don't have running water. They don't have running plumbing,
Chaz Wolfe: you know?
Yeah. Yeah. When we were building,~ uh,~ the houses in the summertime in Juarez, we got, we got a bucket and it was a fairly small bucket and you went behind a little curtain thing and you use [00:10:00] that bucket of water and you weren't going to get to, so use it wisely. ~Um, ~so it's just, it's perspective, right? Like, I think that's what we're picking up here to give to the listeners that if your perspective is different, then, then your attitude towards things changes.
Would you agree with that?
Armando Olvera: I would agree with that a hundred percent. And I think you can change your perspective. It's hard. You got to work on it. You got to build that mindset of, you know, if you were a negative person, just work on it every day, change a little bit here and there. It's just like when we work out, we don't automatically get, get strong overnight.
You know, it takes time, but you can work on a mindset as
Chaz Wolfe: well. Right? Yeah, that's right. Yeah. You individually working on the mindset, there's a self mastery piece to that. And then, you know, obviously we're both part of gathering the King's peer to peer might. Even as the facilitator, the guy that started it, my perspective has changed by being around guys like you.
And I'm sure that you felt the same way being around other folks in the group. But it's like if someone else with different experiences, different history, they grew up differently, like you're talking about, [00:11:00] they have a different business. They come, they live in a different area of the world. They do life differently.
They're going to be able to look in on my situation and give a totally different perspective. Which helps me shift my thought. What would you agree?
Armando Olvera: And that shifted my perspective, you know, I was tired, but man, after I left that call, I was energized. I'm like, yeah, let's do this. Today's a great day. Let's do this. Let's roll. You know, being around people like that
Chaz Wolfe: energizing. That's right. Well, let's talk about, let's talk about your business for a half second here.
~Um, ~and actually maybe before we go practical, I want to go just like inside of Armando. Like what's, what's deep inside of you? Why, why are you doing government work? Why this line of work? Why are you even in business? Like what's the deep seated burning desire for you? What are you trying to get out of life?
Armando Olvera: I want to be able to get back, you know, grow my company, but get back to the community. ~Um, ~I've, I've always been that way ever since I was a little kid I remember being in Mexico and there was,~ um,~ homeless people and my parents were like, Oh, we got to go. And I had like a two liter Dr. Coke and I was like, Oh, here, you know what?
I'm gonna go give this [00:12:00] to them because they don't have anything, but I've always been that way. I'm always trying to help people. And I don't know, I don't know where that comes from. Honestly. It's just like, just do it just to help people. ~Uh, ~volunteered in an organization here in San Antonio, it's called CASA. It was for,~ um,~ orphaned kids. You know, trying to help them, and they were going bouncing around from house to house. I, I like the fact that I could guide them and help them out, even if it was just a little bit.
And to be able to do that, I want to be able to grow an organization, this company, to be able to give back to people like that. You know, give backpacks back,~ um,~ just help, wherever I can. And that's honestly why I kind of want to grow this organization. I don't have kids right now. So for me, that would be my way of giving back, maybe contributing somewhat to this,~ uh,~ to this world.
Chaz Wolfe: Yeah. You've seen the impact even on a small scale of giving a soda to somebody who didn't have anything,~ uh,~ not only for them, but for you. And it sounds like that's actually,~ um,~ the addiction now it's like, how can I, how can I help? How can I serve? Cause it, it actually is a win win. It feels great to serve.
It does,
Armando Olvera: you know, like, I mean, I'm pretty much, I feel like I have what I need, you know, I'm, [00:13:00] I'm pretty happy, but I feel better when I help somebody like that makes me
Chaz Wolfe: feel better. All right, Armando, obviously you got a big heart. I know that,~ uh,~ about you just getting to know you over the last little bit of time as well. You got a big heart. You love people. You love being around people too. But for, for your business, I want to know about just a really good decision that you've made practical, something that maybe the listeners can take away and go implement into their business as well.
Yeah.
Armando Olvera: I think for me,~ um,~ really getting down and breaking down my KPIs. So like for every site that I have, I have KPIs,~ um,~ because without KPIs, I'm, I'm I, I, I'll go way over budget. My budgets get blown outta the water when having KPIs and looking at those every morning, once a week, once every two weeks.
You know, I mean, I, I, I look at 'em every day though, and with KPIs, I, I know exactly where I'm at every day and it truly helps me keep my budget in line. But then at the end of the day, I know where my profits and losses are just off of those KPIs.
Chaz Wolfe: Right. So it's really helpful. Yeah. [00:14:00] Now, I know your personality.
Well, we do a personality assessment inside of gathering the kings. And so we joke about it, but I know that you're not a numbers guy at all. In fact, numbers couldn't be furthest from what you love. But, but inside. Yeah. But inside of your best decision, you're talking about tracking numbers. How has someone like you who's maybe not person.
You're much more of a people person and you love, you know, the conversation and the relationship. How have you been able to dial into the importance of like, not only like having numbers, tracking the numbers and doing it repeatedly all the time and focusing on it. Yeah. It's,
Armando Olvera: it's really been a mindset.
Like when I come into work, that's the first thing I do. . It's like sitting there looking at them, analyzing them, but I have to do it because I've let my budget get out, get blown out of the water because I haven't been tracking those.
And so now that I've tracked those, it's, it's truly brings everything back into perspective where I need it to be. And now I know like, okay, every day, this is where it's at and this [00:15:00] is, this is where I'm profitable and where I'm losing money or, you know, it helped me control my profits and loss completely every single day and it has to be managed every day.
Chaz Wolfe: You've got,~ um,~ obviously a large team, you know, you've got, you've got people, you know, working in bases all over the country. ~Um, ~you know, you have people that are then managing those people and, and there's just a lot of moving pieces. It does, do the numbers help manage the moving pieces as well? Or is it just about, you know, kind of tracking, tracking the margin?
Armando Olvera: No, it helps manage the people as well, because every site has their own budget. I mean, it could be variation from 1000 hours to 2000 hours, depending on the site. So, tracking those KPIs helps each manager at the site manage it. And then, like I said, I break it down to days, so they know exactly, okay, this day we ran over two hours, we need to dial back the next day, you know, two hours to make sure they stay within their budget.
But, KPIs and numbers all across the board are going to help. Track like whenever I want to give them a raise, when I want to give them a bonus, [00:16:00] whenever,~ um,~ they're, they're not performing correctly, but it gives me numbers to show them. It's not a, it's not my opinion. It's a, it's an actual fact when they're performing good and they're not performing good.
I know my culture test, I can go off and it's not going to be good.
Chaz Wolfe: Exactly. I was going to say, give us, give us more there because I mean, what you said is, is the truth. Like we, we just, we put the thing that's real in front of them. So that way we can just manage the deliverable, but there's obviously still a human on the other side of the table or the other side of the zoom.
If you're talking to them across the country, because you're so good with people also. How have you been able to like bring these two things together where you're like, I know you see the other person, you care deeply for the other person. That's who you are. Like that's your design. But then now you've got this angle of like, well, here's the deliverable.
Here's the number. We got to hit it no matter what, no feelings, but yet you're this amazing person that has great feelings. Yeah. And
Armando Olvera: that's really what helps me is that I can take out the emotion of it and just be logical about it. You know, the numbers are going to tell me exactly what it is. And [00:17:00] I, I, I can't let my emotions be in there like, man, I really like you, I do, but these are the numbers and they're not lying that we're not performing or we are performing and that's the beauty of numbers is that they don't lie.
Chaz Wolfe: Yeah. My experience. Tell me if this has been for you as well. My experience with folks that love people,~ uh,~ that maybe even have a hard time with confrontation. That,~ uh,~ would maybe get their, you know, feelings kind of in the way their emotions in the way,~ uh,~ this approach is, it actually makes it super practical and it actually makes the, the person on their team they're talking with appreciate the clarity because a lot of times my wife is like this as well, like where it's like, Oh, I don't want to disappoint them.
And I don't want to bring bad news. I don't want to tell them that they're doing wrong. And it's like, there's this people pleasing effect with people that are naturally good with people like you, the other person actually appreciate sometimes like just the clarity of like, Hey, that's This isn't right.
Let's fix it. In fact, I'll help you.
Right?
Armando Olvera: Absolutely. Yeah. And with the numbers, that's the best way to do it. And like I said, I'm, I'm so emotional sometimes that I can let that get in the way, but the numbers help me kind [00:18:00] of have a
Chaz Wolfe: boundary there for it. Yeah. Yeah. And I guess in that, in that,~ um,~ you know, position for you, then you can still be the joyful,~ uh,~ people loving person that you are outside of that.
Like you can, you can tell them how real it is and what the numbers are. And we got to hold, we got to hold the line, but yet we can still then have a great working relationship outside of that meeting,~ um,~ to help them reach their goals is what I'm understanding that you're saying. Am I right? Yeah,
Armando Olvera: absolutely.
Yeah. Because then I can call them. I can be like, Hey, look, Your KPIs are perfect. You're, you're hitting all your KPIs. Guess what? I'm going to give you a bonus for that. And then, you know, they're happy. They're excited. Right. But at the, on the flip side, if they're not doing that well, then I'm writing them up or giving them a coaching.
So it does help. Yeah. Right.
Chaz Wolfe: Well, let's flip the coin here, Armando. Talk about what,~ uh,~ a decision that you've made that,~ uh,~ maybe it wasn't the best that you've made, but,~ uh,~ kind of made a mess of things and we can learn from it.
Armando Olvera: There was one big one I can really say. I had a previous company before this.
I went into it with a friend of mine, a really good friend of mine. ~Um, ~and we started doing medical [00:19:00] logistics and the mistake I made was not really knowing his business attributes. You know, I just knew him as a friend, as a person, but I didn't know his business mindset. And so that kind of led us to like, eventually have conflict.
We had to dissolve the company. ~Um, ~and ultimately it ruined the friendship. I learned a lot from that. It sucks that the friendship got ruined, but I learned a lot from it because going into it, well one, I don't, I don't want business partners, but if I did ever have a business partner, I would make sure that we're on the same business wavelength.
You know, we, we have the same personalities as far as business is concerned, same core values, same,~ um,~ same business mindset, honestly, because that really, he didn't have the same business,~ um,~ mentality, the same business,~ uh,~ goals that I had, where it was kind of just wing it and then, oh, look, we're already making money, but we're good.
He got, he got content there where I always want to grow. I'm always looking for a way to grow.
[00:20:00]
Chaz Wolfe: for the person that's listening right now, who's like considering a partner or they have a partner and maybe they're wondering if they're not on the same page, what were some of those red flags?
You kind of, you started itching on them a little bit there, as far as like, he was content. You wanted growth. What did [00:21:00] that look like? And maybe a little bit more detail or what were some of the other red flags that you could see now that maybe you didn't see then?
Armando Olvera: the first thing is that we jumped in there without like really having bylaws and,~ um,~ our, our structure of the company really set up correctly.
So for one, make sure your bottles are correct. That, that, and set your expectations, setting your expectation of what you expect from the other person. ~Uh, ~and knowing their, their workload and your workload, who's going to do what. It's gonna be huge. ~Um, ~but some of the red flags was, I didn't, I didn't really realize that his worth ethic wasn't there to what I thought it should have been there or could have been there, you know, once he got to where he was content, that was it.
He really didn't want to want to pursue anymore. His management skills were a little different from mine. He, he was kind of harder on people. ~Um, ~it was just, there was a lot there, but I should have seen it, you know, going in, but I only looked at it from a, But from a friendship point of view, not a business point of view.
Chaz Wolfe: It sounds like you guys would have made great friends being opposite. Yeah,
Armando Olvera: absolutely. That's kind of what messed it up. Yeah. [00:22:00] Yeah. It was tough
Chaz Wolfe: I learned from it. Yeah, that's obviously the healthy approach to, you know, looking for what you know, what you can get out of it and I appreciate you sharing. I think that,~ uh,~ there's a lot of partnerships that have worked some that haven't. ~Um, ~obviously that's a great example. The, the red flags were great.
I appreciate you sharing those. What were some of the things that you could have done during that time to, I don't know, like find out what those red flags were sooner or be able to recognize them. So you told us what they were, but How does the person now recognize them that they don't have a great work ethic or that we think differently when it comes to being content or, or keep going or,~ uh,~ management styles being more rough or more soft, like sometimes those can be complimentary, but what you're saying is that they weren't, how does someone figure those things out maybe a little sooner or maybe even before they get started
Armando Olvera: right now?
Honestly, doing a culture test that has helped me just figure out myself a little bit better and knowing like, you know, which I, Things I already knew, but knowing it kind of puts it into [00:23:00] perspective for me. Like not knowing that I wasn't organized right. I already knew that, but when I saw it on a piece of paper, I was like, holy shit, I'm not organized.
And I know that. I'm like, okay, if I bring somebody in, I need somebody who's gonna be organized that that can do that. You know? And for me it is like just put it into perspective. Just kind of showed me something I already knew, but just
Chaz Wolfe: blew it up. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And to your point, culture index has been not only great for just, you know, guys like me and you to be able to go back and forth and communicate, but inside of a business.
Oh, my goodness. If I know that,~ um,~ you know, like what Armando is saying is that I have a tendency to do X, Y, and Z. Well, I don't need Armando doesn't need another, what his profile is called as a rainmaker. It doesn't need another rainmaker,~ uh,~ because then they're going to, yeah, they're another visionary, another person.
That's going to just go talk to everybody, implement no systems in process and, and cross no eyes.
Obviously you're doing those things [00:24:00] because you have to, in order to be successful, you wouldn't, you wouldn't have a multi seven figure organization like you do and be successful if you weren't doing those things. But naturally you would rather just kind of, you know, be a little bit more free flowing.
And so to find that person that can compliment that is, is not only fantastic, but what, what I'm hearing you say is that you can find that that's good, but like be aware of how that matches up in business, not just in friendship.
Armando Olvera: Cause in friendship it can work out. Yeah.
Chaz Wolfe: Yeah, not if you're,~ uh,~ not, if you're not in alignment, I think alignment's the right word because you can,~ uh,~ be complimentary and characteristic traits,~ uh,~ but,~ uh,~ completely not aligned in targets, goals, where we want this thing to go, you know, one guy might want to sell in three years. The other guy wants to hold onto it, give it to his grandkids.
That's not going to work.
Unless the guy in three years, what that wants to sell, wants to sell it to the other guy.
That would work. Yeah, it could work. Maybe not. Yeah. Anyway. All right. [00:25:00] Well, so let's talk about a couple of things here. You,~ um,~ you're, you're, you're hungry. That's what I'm picking up. You, you, you love growth. You love always looking for the next challenge. ~Um, ~let's talk about you going through the pandemic,~ um,~ in the medical space.
Just give us. Just, I don't know, what was the, what was the hardest thing and all that? What was the challenge? What was the growth for you personally and or organization wise? I mean, she's such a unique piece. We all went through it, but you went through it in the medical space. And so I just think that there's clearly something that we'll be able to pull out here for the listener.
Armando Olvera: Going through the medical space was a little, it was a roller coaster because nurses were jumping ship. You know, I mean, they were getting traveling put down. They were getting paid good money for that. And then to keep them on a military base was like, even harder because they had to go get vaccines, they had to go through all these regulations.
Honestly it was a matter of us having a good culture understanding that once we got through this pandemic we were going to take care of them. We didn't lose as many nurses as we could have but we did lose some obviously because the pay was [00:26:00] just, there's no way you can match that during the pandemic.
~Um, ~but we were able to keep a lot of them. And now we take care of them, you know, now that the prices are going back down for traveling nurses, those nurses stayed the same, they got their vacation packages that they earned,~ um,~ we're, we take care of them. And man, that, but that was a hard time. I mean, every morning we're like, Oh, how many resignations did we get?
Or, you know, who's putting in the notice? And it's like, and then we're trying to recruit and recruiting for that was a nightmare during that time. Cause you were competing
Chaz Wolfe: with the commercial, the public.
So I'm hearing grit. I'm hearing perseverance, but really underneath all that I heard,~ uh,~ uh, you see people take good care of them, go with them on the long haul, do what you say you're going to do when you say you're going to take care of them, how you're going to take care of them, actually, actually do it.
Is that, is that the message
Armando Olvera: here? You got to follow through. I think a lot of times, you know, I've worked with other companies before and they didn't follow through. They tell you what they're going to do and then they don't follow through. I like to follow through. That's one thing. You know, one of my core values is [00:27:00] always staying honest with my team, staying honest with my employees and just always trying to be there to support them.
Honestly, we know they're going to go through tough times and there's times that they're going to call in sick and that's, that's part of it. But them supporting me through it too. And I understand that it's, you know. I got to support them at the same time.
Chaz Wolfe: Yeah, it's really a partnership or a dance, actually.
Maybe it's a better way to say it. ~Um, ~there's a, there's a give and a take. There's a, there has to be two working with each other in order for feet not to get stepped on and one person not to do all the work, right? Absolutely. What do you think? I mean, kind of stay on this growth trajectory. Let's talk masterminds for a second.
You know, for, for a long time, I asked every single guest what they thought about masterminds. Obviously you've been part of my mastermind, the peer to peer group for gathering the Kings. What was your thought before joining and what's been the effect of such of a group,~ uh,~ sense?
Armando Olvera: this is a really good question because when I joined, I wasn't really sure what to expect out of it.
You know, I, I kind [00:28:00] of had an idea of what I wanted out of it, but I wasn't sure what I, what I was going to get out of it. You know, you know what I'm saying there? So when I joined, I was like, Oh, I'm just going to get to talk to people. They're going to be like minded, you know, but hopefully it's just kind of going to be more like me just getting out whatever I'm feeling that day.
But I get so much out of it, like talking with other Kings and Queens. It's just, it's a, it's been an amazing journey, but to see that other people have the same ambition, the same growth. But also the same struggles. That was the side that I wasn't expecting to see. That people were struggling the same way that I was.
And then to have that community where we could all talk and share, you know, how we, how we pull ourselves out of,~ um,~ you know, ruts and struggling with employees or struggling with,~ um,~ anything that's going on. I mean, you could, with family, with your own emotional thoughts and your own emotional, you know.
feelings and it's been really good to have the kings and queens that feel the same way they go through the same battles. [00:29:00] And then at the end of the day, it's, it's been great to have people that truly support your success while you're going through this with them.
Chaz Wolfe: Life changing, life giving. ~Um, ~you know, I, I always prep every guest here. For you, the audience around, I want to transfer courage. And so every single guest, I say, I want to transfer courage. We're going to tell your story. And as Armando, you were just talking there for a second. I felt like that's exactly what was happening when you got around other players.
Obviously it's people that I've. You know, organized into a room. So there's been some strategic thought about who's there, but,~ um,~ you're right, whether it's a win or a loss. And we're, we're discussing and you get to see someone who maybe online looks like they have it all together. And look, there's a lot of things that a lot of those folks have going well for them.
~Um, ~they, they're, they're not,~ uh,~ they're not small business owners, you know, they're not. They're not fumbling around on a lot of things, but some things they are. And when you see that you're like, Oh, they're just a regular person and they have struggles or they have difficulties or they're dealing with an employee situation.
And what it actually does is [00:30:00] it transfers courage. Well, if he can do it, I can do it. If she can overcome that, then I can overcome that. Would you agree with
Armando Olvera: that? I think like sometimes whenever I'm talking to, you know, within our group and somebody struggling, I was like, man, I've been struggling there too.
And then you, you, everybody else chimes in and says what they did to overcome it. It's like, Oh man, why did not think of that? That was such an easy solution. And it's just amazing to come through with that. I look at a lot of times, it's like when I play golf and I play golf with somebody that's not such a good golfer, I don't, I don't play as good, but when I play golf with somebody that's excels in golf, it ups my game tremendously.
Like I can shoot a lot better. And I look at it that same way with business.
Chaz Wolfe: Yeah, exactly. It happens in every single facet is happens for your employees, your, your team members, when, when you put two, a players next to each other, they're going to win better, that's not like really English, I guess, but they're going to, they're going to push each other.
Right.
Armando Olvera: Yeah. And I've seen it, you know, [00:31:00] I think being around the Kings and Queens has made me want to strive more. It made me want to grow faster. It made me want to go harder. You know, instead of waking up at 8 a. m., I wake up at 5 a. m., just make sure I hit the gym every day, you know, it's things like that.
It just, it's just, it just works being around everybody. Yeah.
Chaz Wolfe: Yeah. I want, I want to be in a room of people that are winning. But eventually what you realize is that, well, dang, if I'm going to be here, I might as well be,~ uh,~ I might as well be winning myself,~ um,~ rather than just watching other people win.
And it doesn't mean that people that come into a group setting have to always be broken and not winning. We've got people that join, whether it be gathering the Kings or there's, I'm sure there's plenty of other groups to choose from, but you join a group and you can already be winning. ~Um, ~But there's, you step into a room of high players.
I'm just telling you right now, the, the, the energy is different and you walk away, even if you're winning, you walk away winning at a greater intensity. ~Um, ~because that's how I feel. I'm, I, I, I'm the one that was like, dude, I gotta, I gotta [00:32:00] create this thing because I couldn't find something that was what I had envisioned.
And so I'm starting to put in players like Armando in a room where it's like, you know, for like, you guys don't even realize what he was talking about, like three years of pandemic. Medical stuff like nurses were in demand more than than food in some instances, like, oh, my gosh, everybody's dying of covid and everybody needs to be in the hospital, right?
I'm not trying to overplay such a terrible time. But what I'm trying to say is that what Armando dealt with during that time. Is probably heavier than what you've had to deal with in your business or as heavy as some of maybe you bigger guys have had some experience like this guy's a freaking king.
And so I was like, dude, I need to get around a guy like you who's made it through a situation like that because I need to know how you think I need your thoughts to agitate my thoughts. You know what I mean?
Armando Olvera: And you know, I've been around other organizations as well, like, ~uh, ~the E. O. And I just feel like being in the Kings, it's just, it's more intimate.
It's more,~ um,~ people actually open up. And we're just all kind of there to support each other. [00:33:00] It's really a community and a community that gives back. Yeah. Everybody in our organization gives back.
Chaz Wolfe: All right, Armando. I appreciate all those kind words. You know, ~uh, ~the listener has heard me talk about gathering the Kings many, many times, especially if they've, you know, been listening to the show,~ uh,~ repeatedly, but I appreciate the,~ uh,~ the insides from,~ uh,~ from somebody truly on the inside experiencing what we're putting together.
I got one last question here for you, brother. I want to know, I know that you're a young guy, so don't, don't take this the wrong way, but,~ um,~ I want to know if you had a chance to whisper in your younger. ear. Young Armando, you tap him on the shoulder. You whisper in his ear. What do you tell that guy?
Armando Olvera: I would tell him don't don't be scared.
You know, take those risks because there was a time where everybody was like, Oh no, you can't do that. You can't do that. And I would listen. Man, you just gotta take the risk. You know, I waited until I was 35 to finally take a big risk and just put all my eggs in one basket and go for it and grow a company.
You know, I always kind of played it safe. [00:34:00] Don't do that. Just just take the risk. You're going to fail. That's fine. At least you're taking the risk.
Chaz Wolfe: Yeah. Nothing to nothing to hold on to. Just put it all out there.
Armando Olvera: Mean, if we all don't take a risk, then we have nothing to gain. So you might as well
Chaz Wolfe: just go for it.
Yeah, it's good stuff, man. You've got,~ um,~ got a heart of gold really is what it is. ~Um, ~and I hope that,~ uh,~ some, some of these listeners want to reach out to you and just get to know you. How can they find you? A, if they're an entrepreneur, they just want to connect with you or B, maybe they are in some sort of government contracting space.
~Uh, ~and they might be able to use your services or maybe collaborate with you somehow. ~Um, ~how can they find you?
Armando Olvera: Yeah, they can find me on,~ um,~ my website, www dot next gen contracting. com. ~Um, ~Or on Facebook,~ um,~ Armando Olvera or on,~ um,~ Instagram Mondo underscore next gen. And yeah, or they can email me and they can get the email off my,~ um,~ my webpage.
Chaz Wolfe: Perfect. Well, we'll put all that in the show notes as well. ~Um, ~I'm, I'm not only. Excited to have shared you with the audience. ~Um, ~but I get to look forward to seeing you in person here. Just in a [00:35:00] couple of weeks, we've got our trip coming up to Utah. We're going to be,~ uh,~ running UTVs in the sand dunes and doing the community thing that you mentioned earlier and,~ uh,~ supporting each other in the business.
So I appreciate you, man. Thanks for being here. Blessings on all of the contracts that you're serving all the people that you're influencing through your kingship. Thanks for being here, man. right.
Armando Olvera: Thank you. I appreciate it.
Chaz Wolfe: Thank you for having me on.
[00:36:00]

Host Chaz Wolfe sits down with Armando Olvera, the driving force behind NXGen Contracting Services, Inc. Back in 2020, NXGen started its journey in San Antonio. But with Armando at the helm, it quickly expanded its reach, collaborating with heavyweights like the US Government Medical Treatment Facilities and major hospitals. All thanks to Armando's vision, NXGen consistently delivers top-notch medical, administrative, and a myriad of other personnel solutions, boasting a clientele list with big players like the Department of Defense and the US Air Force. Dive into this episode where Armando shares his insights. He opens up about approaching life with a joyful perspective and reflects on his enriching journey as a first-gen Mexican American. Armando also provides valuable insights on the importance of KPIs and the balance of managing relationships within the business world. And yes, he's got a tale to tell about navigating his business through the unpredictable tides of the pandemic. Curious? Give it a listen; you're in for an enlightening session!

Armando Olvera:

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