Forward Janesville - TheReport -Third Quarter 2022

14 • W W W . F O R W A R D J A N E S V I L L E . C O M I learned a sense of responsibility early. I am the oldest of eight. We went through a rough period where both of my parents were in jail for 15 combined years. My grandma came from Puerto Rico to keep the family together, but a lot of the responsibility fell to me. I had to grow up quickly. I would prepare food at the restaurant before school, work there after school until 7pm or so, and then come home to cook for the kids and get them to bed. Maybe that’s why today I am still a kid at heart, who plays video games and watches cartoons! You can see some of my personality showing through on my cars, which are all wrapped with cartoons. I grew up in Milwaukee, but my heart is in Janesville. I have learned more here than anywhere else. When I joined Forward Janesville, I got to know so many incredible people and left and right they supported me and my businesses. It was all word of mouth; I didn’t have to advertise. It’s been the same with every business. There is something very special here. Going to college was an eye-opener that exposed me to so many different careers. When I first started, I thought I wanted to be a police officer. But I was also a party boy. And one of those parties got busted, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. My advisor used that opportunity to encourage me to turn that into hosting campus-sponsored underground events and parties—to legitimize it and see what that looked like as a possible career path. From there classmates and colleagues began asking me to DJ weddings and host events. It grew from there and was a natural fit. When COVID hit, everything I had been working on stopped. Events disappeared. Like so many businesses, we were on survival mode. I used all the extra time to start landscaping around my house, posting before and after shots on social media. Before I knew it, others were asking me to help them do the same, and from there the landscaping business grew. We started small and it just got bigger and bigger. My newest venture—medical transport—began in much the same way. Partnering with a friend who ran party buses also sidelined by COVID, we found a way to fill a need; I invested in more transport vehicles, and we branched out. My wife works in healthcare, and we could clearly see the growing need given an aging population. Investing in the future and diversifying what you do leads to success in the long term. HOW DID I GET HERE? s u c c e s s • c h a l l e n g e s • l i f e l e s s o n s • e d u c a t i o n • c a r e e r • f a m i l y • i n s p i r a t i o n s You must develop self-discipline, and a lot of it. Many nights I’d DJ until 2am and then have to be up by 6am for another work commitment. This may be the most difficult—and important— skill you can cultivate. 1 2 3 My drive to own my own businesses goes back to childhood. I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. My grandma owned a bakery. My mom and dad have owned Playa Café since the 90s, and my mom is getting ready to open a Puerto Rico themed sports bar and grill in Milwaukee. When we were kids, my dad got into the restaurant business because he loved to cook. I worked for him after school—you know how that is, with a family business, it isn’t really a choice not to work! But I saw how much he liked his work. My wife has been my number one supporter since day one. We met in the mall in 2013—she had just moved to Janesville on my birthday. We’ve been together every day since. Before COVID, work made it tough to spend time together, so we used some of that quiet time to take trips. We went to Punta Cana, Puerto Rico, Colorado, D.C., Miami, you name it. We would decide on a random Monday and head out on Tuesday. We reconnected and had the best conversations about how we wanted to live when life normalized again. It was perfect. • { LIFE LESSONS } I went to UW-Whitewater and needed to find work during college—I was literally down to my last few dollars. I ended up working in the Janesville Mall. I stumbled upon a kiosk selling helicopters. The owner challenged me to sell one in 30 minutes. I sold one in five. He told me to come back tomorrow and that was it. He’s still one of my best friends. When he moved to Chicago and got out of the business, I bought his inventory and kept on selling, right up until I began to DJ and things progressed from there. JOSE MASSAS-CARABALLO VERSATILE DJ ENTERTAINMENT MASSAS TRANSPORTATION Stay on top of your mental and physical health. This is always important, but it can be extra challenging when you own a business. Daily exercise and mental strength will help you balance competing needs. Be your own cheerleader. Tackling a personal milestone without knowing if it will work is a scary thing. Push ahead no matter what other people tell you. They may not believe in the vision, but you do. Stay focused. • • { EDUCATION } 2010-2016 B.A., Sociology University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Whitewater, Wisconsin { WORK EXPERIENCE } 2022-PRESENT Massas Transportation LLC Janesville and Beloit, Wisconsin 2020-2021 Versatile Landscaping LLC Janesville and Beloit, Wisconsin 2014-Present Owner / Entertainment Director / Disc Jockey Versatile DJ Entertainment, LLC Janesville and Beloit, Wisconsin 2016-2019 Job Developer Aptiv Janesville and Beloit, Wisconsin 2014-2016 ELL Aide / Paraprofessional School District of Janesville Janesville, Wisconsin