Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Sagredo-Hammond.
Sarah, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My parents, were immigrants working in the fields. My father went into the Air Force to get a degree and there he learned the Electrical & Hvac trade. When his term was done, they came back home to where they were originally born and he started working for the Electrical trade. He then opened up Atlas Electrical and eventually added in Air Conditioning to the trade. IN 2004 we incorporated and in 2012 I became President. We brought in Refrigeration and eventually Plumbing needs to our list of services. We work hard to serve our community and truly believe that we need to be of community service to continue to succeed in this arena. Loving every morning to wake up to work is truly the best, especially when it stems from Family values, hard work and growing the community.
Great, 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?
No, transitions are tough in anything we go through. As women, we struggle with time management, children and running and owning a business. Wanting to develop ourselves and our company and our children and maintain a healthy family loving relationship all takes time. Plus, this is a family business and sometimes it’s easier to get upset with each other as family than it is a stranger. Further the dynamics of this business have been that we grew in size and in support and technical skills faster than we did in steady profits. The HVAC industry which was always our leading business, is seasonal, so struggling to support the other entities when HVAC was slow, became an item I had not accounted for. The change in this dynamics showed me failures and solutions. Cash flow has to be steady and cuts have to be made. I also struggled with staffing. It was always a fault of mine to let go of staff, because I felt like I had failed in development of them. I had to realize sometimes, this home, the Atlas home was not always the best setting for everyone and that our office did not encompass everyone’s positive growth. So by instilling more structure and expectation it helped balance the emotional side to growth of business as well.
Please tell us about Atlas Electrical, Air Conditioning, Refrigeration & Plumbing Services.
We are a community based organization. We do not only want to grow as a company, grow each other as individuals and families, but we also want to support our community. We strive to get involved when we can, by supporting different organizations around the RGV. We support March of Dimes, FoodBank of the RGV, Chambers, Non Profits supporting women, supporting children, such as CASA, The Boys and Girls of the community. We provide not only monetarily, but sometimes, donate services, or time to attend these organizations to help the community flourish. It truly is a passion of Atlas to live among the community and be an outlet for progress and growth.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My parents took us the beach. We had no money for a hotel, and it was only myself and my older brother at the time, I must have been 7 or 8, my older brother 10 or so….. We collected a TON of seashells, we spent the whole day in the water, we were sticky with sand all over our body and dehydrated from the sun, and we had a bucket and we put all our seashells into them. I wanted more sea shells and my dad was driving out of the beach and he saw a bucket thrown on the side of the road and he turned around and picked up the bucket and took us back to the beach to collect more…… it was late and everyone was tired….. But we (I) wanted more seashells and he made that happen.
Second: I was divorced, living back at home… and driving to work, I left in the morning it was early, and my dad had just left to work, it was a very cold morning and my windshield was frozen over, I drove with it still having ice. I stopped behind a truck and realized it was my dad…. he got out at the stop sign and came over to my car and removed the ice from my windshield…. I sat there and cried…. he taught me, that men can be great, you just have to find the right one….. he didn’t say anything, cleaned it off, and walked back to his truck and drove off…. and I stayed there thinking, I know understand how to find the right man for myself, and how much value I had that if my father, 30 years older than me, was willing to combat the cold and clean a windshield…. without a word, my life had that much value….without a word. I will never forget how much that moment empowered me.
Pricing:
- HVAC maintenance – as us about our 15.00 a month contract
- Electrical Grounding review – $85.00 see us ASAP
- Plumbing review, call us and let us maintain your plumbing needs – $85.00 maintenance swipe
Contact Info:
- Address: Mailing: 310 E Main Ave PMB 168, Alton TX 78573
Physical: 705 S Alton Blvd, Alton TX 78573 - Website: www.atlasrgv.com
- Phone: 956-585-7775
- Email: office@atlasrgv.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarah_atlasrgv/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ATLASRGV/
- Twitter: https://www.twitter/Atlas-SarahHammond
Image Credit:
Barbara Delgado-Photographer, Abel Riojas-Photographer
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