Latina business owner creates success with work ethic

Yolanda Cuevas is living proof that the American dream is obtainable.

Founder, president and CEO of Cuevas Distribution Inc., a laboratory, medical and safety supply distribution company in Fort Worth, Cuevas is recognized as a pioneer in her industry and has captured nearly every top honor for her business acumen. Region III of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Texas Association of Mexican American Chambers of Commerce and the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce have each named her Hispanic Business Woman of the Year.

Most recently, the 2008 Latina Style Business Series for Latina Style magazine honored her as Latina Entrepreneur of the Year.

Cuevas, 61, said she never imagined those kinds of achievements while picking cotton, tomatoes, cabbage and cucumbers as a child.

“You had a lot of time to think when you were out in the fields,” she said. “I remember thinking, ‘My dream is to work in an air conditioned office.’”

A first-generation Mexican-American, Cuevas was born the third youngest of 13 children to migrant farm workers in San Marcos, Texas. Working alongside her parents in the fields, Cuevas learned invaluable lessons on which she has built a

successful career, first in the banking industry and now for the past 15 years in her family-owned company.

“It was an honest living and I learned a hard work ethic from my parents,” Cuevas said. “They saw to it that, hopefully, we would have a better life than they had and what their parents had. That’s the American dream.”

Cuevas, whose mother was her role model, said she and her siblings never knew they were poor because they had “a lot of love and companionship and we didn’t miss out on many things.”

“We didn’t know those were hard times,” she said. To earn extra money for the family, Cuevas said she went door to door selling her mother’s crocheted doilies. That experience, she said, taught her about sales and how to communicate with the public.

“My mother told us that working hard was nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about,” Cuevas said. “She said the shame was in not working. It was just a job, she told us, and eventually we would work our way out of the fields.”

Cuevas did work her way into college but dropped out after two years and married. In 1976, she and her former husband, Arvey Chavera, moved to Fort Worth where he worked at Lockheed Martin Corp. as one of the first Latino aerospace engineers. 

Cuevas and Chavera remain friends today – he’s worked for her distribution company as an IT consultant since 1993, along with twin daughters, Shannon Kruse and Kirston Stafford, who handle sales and marketing. A third daughter, Kimberly Chapple, lives in Austin and worked part time for the company.

“My daughters thought I was crazy that at the age of 46 I would get out of banking and start my own business,” Cuevas said. 

In 1991, after a 14-year stint as a banking officer, Cuevas wanted a career change. One of her banking customers in the medical supply business told her that field offered better opportunities for women, especially Latinas.

“She said as a Hispanic, more doors would open for me,” Cuevas said. “Once the door is there, you’ve got to open it and do your best sales job. You have to sell yourself and your products.”

Cuevas spent two years researching the industry, and after realizing that few medical and laboratory distribution companies were owned by Hispanic women, she launched Cuevas Distribution with $25,000 borrowed from her husbandÂ’s retirement fund. The money was paid back within three years.

Last year, the company generated sales of $4.2 million, and Cuevas expects that figure to be down slightly in 2008 due to the weakened economy.

Getting certified through the state General Services CommissionÂ’s Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) program is what initially opened doors for her, Cuevas said. The HUB program, initiated in 1992 by then-Gov. Ann Richards, encourages commerce between state agencies and minority-owned businesses. To qualify, a business must be 51 percent owned and operated by a minority or a woman.

“Latinas often ask me how to get their dream started,” Cuevas said. “I tell them that HUB is available to them. Take advantage of that but don’t depend solely on that. You’ve got to build your own foundation and not rely on the government for handouts.”

Cuevas credits the HUB program with helping her win state contracts as well as private sector contracts. One of her first contracts – and still one of her largest clients – was with The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. The client list boasts numerous universities, institutions and cities, including Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, Texas Department of Health, Texas Department of Transportation and Texas Department of Public Safety.

Cuevas said her focus is on providing quality products – she represents major lab, medical and safety suppliers with more than 300,000 products – at competitive prices in a timely manner.

“There’s nothing like that one-on-one connection, too,” she said. “If you have great customer service by providing the product they want when they need it, they’ll stay with you.”

A highlight in Cuevas’ career occurred in 1996 when she introduced President Bill Clinton on his visit to Fort Worth. Clinton called Cuevas a wonderful representative of American free enterprise and “the idea that if we give everybody an opportunity, all of us will be better off. We’re better off that people like her can start a business and create jobs and make our communities and our country stronger.”

Today, Cuevas said she doesnÂ’t hesitate to tell her life story. 

“IÂ’ll tell anybody my story any day,” she said. “I need to share my story to Latinas because they need to know that anything is possible if you set your mind to it. ItÂ’s not easy – you have to take risks. ThatÂ’s part of making it. To be successful you have to take risks.”