Today we’d like to introduce you to Thomas Tamez.
Hi Thomas, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in a single-parent household, due to my estranged father, who battled addiction his entire life. Tragically, he never overcame his addictions as he was shot & killed while still in his 40’s. Although he & I never had a relationship, I studied his life, his experiences and the events leading up to his death, which became foundational lessons in many areas of life and business. These lessons continue to teach me today.
It wasn’t until later in life, after I became a father, that I fully realized many of the sacrifices that my mother made for us. She basically gave up her dreams for our sake and I’ll always be grateful for her. But despite the struggles of a single-parent household, I had very supportive grandparents nearby that helped raise my sister, brother & I.
My grandparents were first generation children of immigrants from the World War II era. Their influence was tremendously helpful as they had living memory of many timeless or “old school” ways of doing things. These old-school ways taught me foundational principles of character like doing what you say you will, among others.
My mother and grandparents instilled the importance of education to us, and I graduated from Texas A&M University w/ a degree in Electrical Engineering. It took a few years trying to decide what kind of career to pursue and I finally settled in the Semiconductor Industry, where I spent 16 years as an Equipment Engineer at Novellus (now Lam), Samsung and NXP. While at Samsung, I was awarded their individual D.R.I.V.E. award for reducing my machine set’s stop-loss by half and directly saving the company $1.5M in 2015.
Two main factors drove me into business. The first was that growth & development in my career began to stagnate, and I didn’t want to pursue the management track. Going the management route would’ve taken me away from the technical side of my career, which I thoroughly enjoyed up until that point.
The second factor was my children. From their own regard, they described to me how much time was wasted in school. They’d finish their classroom assignments and often their homework, then spent the much of the remaining classroom time on youtube. They realized this time could be much better spent elsewhere and they didn’t need the entire day to crank through their lessons. Having their own friends who homeschool and trained in their sport of choice, their deepest desire is to spend more time training, and it was up to me to make that happen.
I needed a business that would allow me the bandwidth to continue working while I built it up. I started a few vending routes (TexTom Vending), and through that vending network, I met a group of entrepreneurs who are experts in the home service industry. From there, I started my own service business, named Clean Kong Cleaning Services, which is my main business focus at the moment, but I continue maintaining my vending routes.
I’m naturally deeply introverted, which I used to see as a disadvantage, but starting up Clean Kong forced me to come out of my introverted shell in many ways. It also allowed me to leverage some advantages of being an introvert. For example, my introversion gives me a natural inclination to speak from the heart with genuine sincerity and frequently view the accomplishments of others before myself. When I compliment someone I know well, they know it’s truly sincere & heart-felt, but it also gave me the tendency to credit others’ success first before even considering my own.
After I became a father, this was amplified, as there was an uncanny switch flipped inside of me that truly desired others (namely my children) to do better than myself, in every way possible. This switch in mindset now often spills into my friendships & networking as I now know what it’s like to truly be happy and desire for someone else’s success.
Overall, I’ve found that when you’re generous with your knowledge, wisdom and appreciation of others, that same generosity is often returned to you in ways you’d never imagine at the time…and the net result is iron sharpening networking and friendship iron.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not at all. By far, the biggest struggle is juggling business while still working my corporate job, keeping up with my children’s activities, spending time with my wife and still making time for my health. As of this writing, I’m still working as an engineer, but already have a planned end-date in mind when I’ll transition over to business full-time.
My normal weekday routine often entails waking up before the entire family, exercising, then filling up one of the vending machines on my way to work. I always work through lunch so I can leave early enough to pick up the children from school, then either bring them to ninja class (the sport type ninja, like the show) or back home to get ready for martial arts class. Many of our weekends so far this year were spent at basketball tournaments for my oldest son or at ninja competitions, which all of my children compete in. Saturday nights are often my wife & I’s “date night” and we usually spend Sundays recovering from the week then getting ready for the next one.
For pretty much every single day, from the moment I wake up until the moment I sleep, is spent occupied with exercise, work, business or family time. My driving force is knowing that every moment is fleeting, time is limited and when we look back in the future to right now, I want my family to be able to say I was there for them – the importance of which was a foundational lesson my dad’s life taught me.
But in business itself, it’s important to realize that you’re not going to know it all when you start, but don’t let prevent you from starting. Additionally, there will inevitably be struggles. If there’s something I’ve learned from martial arts & exercise (credit to Coach Frank Benn of www.ifaacademy.com), it’s to enjoy the struggle as it’s happening because gains are also inevitably at the end of that struggle.
Additionally, there will be mistakes, but don’t let any misstep allow you to completely quit. It’s ok to take a breather, re-evaluate, pivot/adjust and start again. You’re playing the long game in business with the bigger picture in mind. It’s the small consistent (emphasis on consistent) steps taken over time that builds. A burst of motivation might get you through a few weeks or months, but it’s the consistency that really matters.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
What is the name of your business or organization?
Clean Kong Cleaning Services & TexTom Vending
Clean Kong Cleaning Services:
Would you rather spend your free time at happy hour or at brunch with close friends, instead of cleaning your home?
Then please call me, my team is quality-oriented, very detailed and will treat your space as if it’s their own.
Do you work in an office building that’s always messy, cluttered with rarely cleaned bathrooms?
Give me a call, we’ll keep your work-space clean & clutter free, allowing you to focus on doing your best, and most creative work.
In the cleaning space, I’ve been blessed to network with the right people and am most proud of the team I’ve assembled. I’ve become as close to them as family at this point and I know they’ll treat your home or office with respectful care.
TexTom Vending:
Do you work in an office where everyone’s always ordering food delivery because there aren’t any nearby options? Do you live somewhere that needs convenient food & drink options because the nearest store is too far?
Please call me. We provide micro-markets and convenience solutions right where you need it most.
In the vending & convenience solution space, I’m most proud of the creativity of products I offer. I established personal relationships with many vendors and distributors and offer products you can’t find at big-box distributors like Sams, Costco, Walmart.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I’ve been lucky or blessed to network with key people at key times. With Clean Kong, Realtor Wesley Steck (instagram.com/wesleysteck) helped me start up the cleaning business.
In the vending space, Chance Gibson (https://simplycleanfoods.net/) worked with me on a few iterations to offer organic freeze-dried options in my vending machines.
Likewise, Andy Presuss (manager at Jack Hilliard distributing), Will (CEO of IQ Bar), and Tori Baliterra (Siete) all showed me tremendous favor and gave me a chance.
I’m overflowing with gratification for the favor these and other individuals showed me, and I’ll always be grateful. I’ll do my best to return the favor, even if it comes in the form of helping someone else down the road if I’m in the position to do so.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://clean-kong.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cleanclean_kong/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61579341362836
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-tamez-956917227/
Image Credits
Ron Visco
