

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marlon Portillo.
Marlon, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I came to the United States when I was 18 years old. My family was a big military family and I was growing up in the time El Salvador was in the middle of a Civil War. My mother found the money to send me Los Angeles, because my own uncle had threaten to kill me if I did not fight for the guerilla. I came to Los Angeles and lived in the MacArthur Park for almost 6 months with only $50 dollars to my name. It was tough, I really didn’t want to be in the United States. I had left everything and I didn’t know when I would ever see my mom again. I began doing odd jobs just to make some money. I washed dishes, I prepped meals, and I cleaned anything to have enough to eat. My dream was to someday have something of my own and it became a personal goal to one day become my own boss.
I moved to Houston for more opportunities and because I heard that I had family in Texas that would over me a place to stay, so I did. I was nice to feel like I had a family again. I sold fish for a long time. I became very good at it. I met my wife and we started a family and the seafood industry was taking a toll of my family and me, so I decided I need to go to school to learn a trade and start on my dream to owning my own business. One of my friends enrolled in school as well for the Air Conditioning Technician course, and I figured I would try it and I enrolled with him. It was 2 long years of working sometimes 12 hour days and then going to school at night, but I pushed through. I finally acquired my license and the very next day I bought a small old used van and some tools and I started making calls to every restaurant manager I knew from my time in the seafood selling business. Most of them gave me an opportunity and AC Plus was officially running.
Starting my own business has been one of the hardest things I ever decided to do. There were days where I did not know if I would have any calls and if I didn’t I would have to find a way to make some money to bring back home that day. Sometimes I sold scrap metal for extra money. But I built relationships and my oldest daughter, Marcela started helping me. She would keep track of my jobs and made sure I was invoicing everyone. She went on to work after collage but after a year quit to come help me full time. We stand today with a small office and customers that I have known for more than a decade. Sometimes I still can’t believe that I once lived in a park with nothing to my name. Today I am a small business owner and I have a beautiful family and most importantly I never have to feel alone again.
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?
Like any other business, the road isn’t always smooth. I have had to take on odd jobs or recycle scrap to pay my employees and make sure they always have a check. In the ac business, the winters can be tough and that is when small businesses like mine let go of technicians but I do anything in my power to make sure I do not have to let them go.
My daughter likes to say I am old school, so it has been difficult to adapt to all the new technology and ways of running a business now in days. It has been difficult to get to the place that we are at.
Please tell us about AC Plus.
We are a small air condition company. We do both residential and commercial air conditioning, heating and refrigeration. I think the thing I am the most proud of is that we have been able to keep our doors open for this long and keep our values. We know how hard it is to earn a living. I have gone through it and we strive to provide the best customer service possible but also to be fair and honest. Small business struggle so they can get greedy and when I train our employees I tell them that this is a family owned business, we cater to families and that we cannot do to others what we wouldn’t do to our own family. That is really important to me. I consider myself to be a very honest man and I make sure my company reflects that.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I grew up in a farm. I used to love to go with my dad to milk the cows before I went to school. Life felt simple and I loved being around animals and spending time with my dad really.
Pricing:
- $75 Spring Cleaning *refers to the outside unit
- $25 Off your First Service Call
- Free UV UV Light with your new complete installation
Contact Info:
- Website: www.acplustx.com
- Phone: 713-660-7587
- Email: info@acplustx.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/acplustx/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/ac-plus-houston
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