Guiding with Passion and Purpose – Meet Rick
Employee Spotlight is a new series intended to share a glimpse into our team. Our hope is that you can get to know us a little better.
RICK’S ROLE AT BLAST IT CLEAN
Rick Salgado has been the President of Blast It Clean for over 11 years, starting his journey leading the company with dedication and vision. His typical workday includes walking job sites, communicating with clients, and traveling to potential projects, all while fostering a strong company culture. Outside of work, Rick enjoys quality time with his wife and four daughters. His hard work and dedication are what keep the company growing and evolving.
“It has been really cool watching Rick go from a 26 year old that commands to a servant leader not only to the customers but to each individual employee in the organization. His temperament is calm, collected, and ready for whatever issues or problems arise to dissect them and work through the best solution for everyone."
— Rick D., Chairman of the Board
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PROJECT THAT WE’VE DONE IN THE COMPANY THUS FAR?
The people. We've got several guys who work for me in the company that I met who probably didn't have a home when they were first hired and were going through life struggles. A lot of them were homeless living out of a Healing House. One of our managers had no house whatsoever when he started working. They were starting at ground zero. There's no project that's going to be better than the people in essence.
Fast forward to today, Les Rains has a house and a Harley-Davidson that he bought, financed, and paid for. Kenny Kline, with the same concept, now has a house and was able to get finances in order. I'm not saying that I specifically went out there and was the one to help them back on their feet, but when you look at a foundation that you're building on, everybody's going to gravitate and learn from every project. They're going to learn different things. But the foundation that these guys learned is how to live life and rebuild from ground zero.
WHAT’S ONE PIECE OF ADVICE YOU WOULD OFFER AN ASPIRING ENTREPRENEUR?
Just because somebody tells you to do something in order to be successful, doesn't mean that that's what you should do. We’re all our own individual people, people say to go to college, read a thousand books, and show up 15 minutes early to things. I’m not saying all of that is bad, what I’m saying is really find out who you are. Just focus on yourself, be true to who you are, and understand you. Make yourself your biggest project. Chase your own desires assuming entrepreneurship is one of those.
It’s not for everybody, it’s really hard. I’m not undermining anybody who is trying to be an entrepreneur, I'm just saying everybody wants to work for themselves and make a lot of money. It's hard, it’s not as easy as it looks. It takes a lot of showing up every day and a lot of checks and balances. Be true to yourself.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO COME INTO THIS BUSINESS?
The thought of being a CEO sounded better than what it really stands for. I genuinely didn't care about what I was doing, I just wanted to be a CEO for the wrong reasons. I wanted to tell people what to do. I wanted to make a lot of money. I wanted to be the boss. What really inspired me was the American dream. I found out pretty quickly that it’s not what it’s all cracked up to be, but I’ve always had to stay true to myself and learn new things.
WHAT DO YOU THINK MAKES OUR COMPANY CULTURE UNIQUE?
I want to say the people, but it’s not, I want to go a little bit further. What makes our company unique is that we’re an extremely desired trade. Our trade requires a hardworking individual to go out and do what most people aren’t willing to do anymore. And that’s work with their hands. And I love our crew for that.
HOW HAVE YOU GROWN PROFESSIONALLY SINCE STARTING AT BLAST IT CLEAN?
Mental health has been the most key attribute to my professional growth. Just really focusing on learning more about who I am and how I operate. The hardest thing you’ll ever do in life is work on yourself.
HOW DO YOU PRIORITIZE AND MANAGE YOUR TIME TO ENSURE PRODUCTIVITY?
It changes every day. And it’s the hardest thing to ever manage. The best thing you can do to manage your time is to surround yourself with quality people who are capable of doing their job well so that all you have to do is prepare for what you need to get done. Develop people to manage their jobs and do them well, and it will free your time to do the things that you wouldn’t usually have time to do.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE BOOK OR MOVIE THAT HAS INFLUENCED YOUR BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY?
I would say the book “Disciplines of a Godly Man,” because it challenges you as a man to be extremely disciplined in things that you don’t pay attention to.
HOW DO YOU DRIVE POSITIVITY AND KEEP YOUR TEAM MOTIVATED AND ENGAGED?
Rely on the good people that we have working for us to maintain quality relationships and try to be more of an active role inside the company. For example, allowing Tyler to be Tyler and do what he needs, but also supporting him in whatever he sees and does. Like if he wants to have the guys go to dinner, okay not a big deal. If he wants better resources for the team, yes let’s talk about it. Andres, same concept, if he wants to buy them cookies because he feels like it’s a game-changer, absolutely do it. Things like that.
WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR THE BUSINESS IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS?
Naturally, the goal would be to have a 3x multiplier of growth. To find better processes and figure out better ways to be internally sound. Making the internal operations and administration components easier and better to drive up growth. We can do the same thing we’re doing now, but there’s going to be a cap where it’s just not going to be that easy if we double in size. You won’t have the manpower or the training to keep up with the additional manpower.
Internal processes are holding us back, but if the manpower was there, the revenue would be easy to take on. It’s about building the foundation where we can train people better and faster. We need to focus on internal operational components.
LET RICK HELP YOU
Now that you know a little bit more about Rick, let him and the rest of our team help you on your next project. Call Blast It Clean for stripping, cleaning, and painting.