Alex Galicia paced the court of the UCLA Anderson School of Management, talking business on his cell phone.
Galicia, a chief executive at Benny Plumbing Inc., still finds time, however, to put on a suit different from the white-collared ones he wears: National Guard fatigues.
The company commander has been involved in the National Guard since 1997.
Galicia, who graduated from UCLA in 1992, has served three tours of duty, including securing the U.S.-Mexico border and serving in Iraq.
While in Iraq, Galicia overrode generals in the defense of the well-being of his soldiers, keeping his troops’ interests his priority.
“I literally had to kick down a door so my soldiers could eat. Someone wanted to make my soldiers walk several miles to the next dining hall instead of opening their door,” Galicia said.
Since coming home from Iraq, Galicia said that his own readjustment to civilian life was smooth since he is older than most of the soldiers who come home from Iraq.
Now working stateside, Galicia, who lives with his wife near San Diego, helps soldiers now readjusting to civilian life, including an Iraq veteran who came back homeless.
Galicia returned to the UCLA campus to take part in the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities at the Anderson School.
The nine-day program, designed to introduce veterans to business-management practices, concluded Sunday when veterans were handed diplomas for completion of the program.
The 16 veterans enrolled in the program were in all stages of small-business planning.
“I found (the program) gave me insight into the world of business. … It narrows the focus on my goals,” said Isaiah Martzen, pier of Galicia and Air Force staff sergeant.
Galicia owns and operates his family’s plumbing business with his partner. Some of the advice he received in the course affected some of his immediate business decisions.
“I was going to go to a convention, which would cost my business money to attend, but now I realize that that’s something for me to focus on a year from now, not immediately. … I found myself scribbling everything down while some were able to sit back and soak it in … as they were developing their ideas,” Galicia said.
Some of the lessons Galicia thinks he will be able to implement immediately into his business model are those relating to legal and marketing advice.
When speaking about his transition from a corporate employee to running his own business, Galicia uses the military as reference for his current small-business experience.
“It’s hard; the military is like a Fortune 500 company. They can afford to make some mistakes and those mistakes won’t bankrupt them. … When running a small business you can’t afford those kinds of mistakes,” Galicia said.
Galicia said he trusts the advice that he received from the faculty and speakers.
One of the instructors of the program and senior associate dean of the Anderson School, Al Osborne, was very enthusiastic about the Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies’ involvement and commitment to making programs that serve the needs of minority communities.
“It’s a very respectful opportunity to restart our community to reduce the level of skepticism veterans feel about the people who extend services towards them. … It’s the end of false promises to veterans; we have an obligation to be straightforward with veterans. … Involvement is more than a handshake for thanks of service,” Osborne said.
Osborne also emphasized in his lectures that the best business practices include human interaction.
“Now it takes an army of warriors and advisers to go forward in business ““ this is wasteful,” Osborne said.
According to Osborne, the best, most efficient business practices include developing relationships with the people one does business with.
This value of face-to-face interaction sat well with Galicia. Established in 1975 by Galicia’s uncle Benny, Benny Plumbing Inc. was founded on the basis of personal relationships and no contracts.
Starting a small business in this uncertain economy, Galicia feels confident that his plumbing business will provide more financial stability than the corporate jobs he held previously.
“I’m the CEO, but I am also the janitor. I make all the business decisions, but at the end of the day, if something needs to be dusted, I do that, too.”