Today we’d like to introduce you to John Bustos.
John, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Where to begin…..I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit in me. My mother owns a small business and is still active in it at 74, and she owned a few as I was growing up. I have always loved science and physics and so I went to work for a chemical plant in 1997. I enjoyed what I was doing there at first, but then started to notice that even though I was one of the most qualified guys in our unit, I was just another number. You see, after busting my butt for this place, I was passed up for every supervisor and management position. Then in 2004, after I repeatedly made it known that we were not in compliance with some things, I was called in to my manager’s office and asked to lie about a chemical spill, Benzene, a known carcinogen. I was told it would be in my best interest if I wrote procedures and back dated them before OSHA arrived.
I was floored, shocked, and actually pretty damn hurt at first. How and the hell could this guy ask me to put my name on the line to save his ass??? I quit! And went totally self-employed. The day I resigned I told myself I would never ever treat any employee or customer the way we were treated. And man, what a journey it’s been!
Let me take you back in time though, because what I am about to disclose is important. It’s what has made me who I am today, and that my friends, is a bad ass. Not being haughty. I am one of the most imperfect beings ever, but that is okay because I keep getting up and trying. Back to the beginning……
I grew up in Houston. My family was dysfunctional to say the least. Being the youngest of five, I pretty much had to fend for myself. My dad was never around, even when he was around, he was very distant and I found out later, very selfish. He was also abusive to me and another brother. My mom was busy running a business because my dad really did not spend any money on us so mom bought the groceries and especially our school clothes. My siblings were older so they did their own thing. As I was growing up, I managed to find the wrong crowd. In my later teens I realized that the lifestyle I was leading was not what I wanted and so I moved away and married.
I married because my now ex-wife and I were expecting and being young, I thought the right thing to do was to get married. My ex put up with me for 19 years and is the wonderful mother to our three kiddos. I really wanted to do the right things in my marriage and in life period, but man I would do or say things and then regret the crap out of it. I would then get disgusted with myself. I would always say that I didn’t know why I said or did this or that, and I really didn’t know why! I was divorced in 2010.
After resigning from the plant, I was already a licensed TREC Real Estate Inspector and so I worked my Gulf Coast Property Inspections business. I also did some consulting in the Oil and Gas industry and started a company called South Texas Green Energy. We mainly installed radiant barrier. In 2011 I was contacted by Dr. Energy Saver.
But before we go there, remember when I said I would do and say things I would later come to regret? I never knew what was holding me back from getting to where I am today and let me tell you, I, we, Dr. Energy Saver Houston, are nowhere even close to where we are headed!
I didn’t know what was holding me back because the way that I was living, my attitude, my thoughts, my actions were wrong! You see when the going got tough, I had no idea how to handle the everyday issues we are hit with in life. I barely knew who I was and had really no direction, so I learned from bad associations and remember too that my family life was pretty dysfunctional. You see, in my home I did not learn how to communicate, I learned how to call names and raise my voice. I learned that we shouldn’t show our emotions or even talk about them. I learned that discipline was my dad making kneel down on rice! The environment I grew up, I became myself. I thought this was normal! The things that I grew up around had been affecting me my whole life. I just became really good at suppressing it. Or at least I thought I did. My life had been full of ups and downs. As soon as it seemed that I was breaking the plane so to speak, in my relationships and business, I would do something to sabotage myself because being successful was not how I was raised. I made a lot of wrong decisions.
It was not until I realized I had really been breaking someone’s heart, that I started to research things because I wanted to change, I wanted to Know why I was the way that I was. The day that I searched on the internet, I was hit with a nasty reality and that was that I was a verbal abuser and that verbal abuse is a form of domestic abuse. I was sick to my stomach. They were not just words that I would throw carelessly, they were daggers. My defenses. Man, I was disgusted in myself and that started me to where I am today. I have been going through therapy for a while now. I think the main thing that helped me to release the past was going to the home I grew up in. Just walking up to it brought back so much childhood pain, I cried like a baby but I finally knew why I was the way that I was. The feeling I had was that I felt like I was being lifted up into sky and I felt like I could finally be the person I know that I am meant to be. And that is a person who loves people and loves helping people. That bad ass we spoke of earlier.
Look I am nor looking for sympathy at all. I want other guys and girls to know the importance as parents is that we pay attention to our kids and teach them the right things by example. Also, I know that there are more like me who really are good people but that have the same challenges I have had, and I want to be an example to them and to let them know that they too can move forward. I want to help men, especially, to know that it’s not OK to call anyone names. In fact, it’s not OK for anyone to call anyone else any names.
This is who I am today. I am still a work in progress.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Not doing diligence had cost me greatly. From hiring the wrong people and being taken advantage of. I hired a veteran. A couple of months after being employed with me he received a call that he had to find another place to live immediately. I moved him in with us, I mentored him and watched this guy grow. And he ends up getting on drugs, lying to a few of the last customers and getting them to pay him, steals almost everything we had. And got away with it all, for now. I’ve had to restart a few times.
If I didn’t absolutely believe in Dr. Energy Saver I would not still be here!
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Dr. Energy Saver Houston – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
I own Dr. Energy Saver Houston. We are a whole home energy efficiency, home improvement company. We are the only ones who take a building science approach to making homes and buildings more efficient, comfortable, healthy and less expensive to operate. We take a holistic approach to fixing issues.
We are known for being able to find and fix problems that no one else either has the expertise to or just want to. Take for instance the customer who had 10 people in her home trying to figure out why she had 77% humidity in her home. That’s right, 10 people who could not figure it out. There was an owner and several technicians from one company and a manager and several technicians from another. When I arrived she was livid and was upset with me. After talking to her I asked what did all the other guys do. She said they all went outside and check the gauges on the outside unit. And everyone said there is nothing wrong. I asked about mold in a vent. I entered attic and an hour and a half later I solved the problem. This is just one of many instances like this.
What sets up apart for one is our knowledge and training through Dr. Energy Saver. We are all taught the same at Dr. Energy Saver City, the largest Home Performance training building in the US. Also, we are mentored by Larry Janesky. He is AMAZING! He actually cares about us and wants us to be the best we can as individuals, so we can pass that down to our employees and subsequently, to our customers.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Growth, growth and more growth. We plan on helping as many home owners as possible and as many people as we can employ and mentor. We see building a true place of employment where people look forward to coming to work. Where they feel appreciated.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.drenergysaverstx.com
- Phone: 832-524-9600
- Email: john@drenergysaverstx.com
- Facebook: @DRenergyhouston
Image Credit:
John Bustos / Dr. Energy Saver Houston
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