Teresa Arredondo is President and CEO of Art-Craft Paint, Inc. a company founded in 1983, in a portion of a hangar located at the Santa Maria airport. Teresa was born in Michoacan , Mexico and this year is the recipient of the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) -- San Francisco National Enterprise Center (SFNEC) -- Minority Service Firm of the Year.

In 1994, Art-Craft Paint sales net were $250,000 and by 2008 sales are expected at the $2 million level. Teresa was able to expand her business based on training she received at TUCK School at Dartmouth University seminars, through two sponsorships from MBDA, in 2007 and 2008. Teresa has worked with MBDA since 1998, became a Gold Key member, and recently traveled to Toluca and Mexico City , to win a contract to paint the Lear Jet of the President of Mexico. Art Craft was rated 3^rd in the top 5 aircraft paint facilities in the USA in 2006, by the Aviation Consumer Report.

To speak to Teresa Arredondo you’d think the joy she radiates has never dimmed and imagine that her rise as entrepreneur, community leader and role model was smooth and fated. But twenty five years ago Teresa Arredondo was not heading up a multimillion dollar business, or her own foundation, or being invited to a dinner event with the president of the United States . Back then Teresa was one of thousands of immigrants that labored in the fields, farming fruits and vegetables season after season. She was following in the footsteps of her mother who had struggled for ten years to save enough money to obtain visas for Teresa and her ten brothers to join her in California .

But even then, Teresa's entrepreneurial instincts flourished when at 19 she rented an acre of land and became a farmer planting strawberries. The work was harsh and “back breaking” as Teresa puts it. She didn’t want a lifetime of that, she wanted something better, she wanted another life and it was then and there that one journey ended and another one began. Teresa Arredondo shares her story:

Every journey begins with a first step

I signed up at a vocational center and took an electronic assembly course. The training took six months but I was so desperate to advance that I finished it in four months, by then I also learned to speak English moderately well. I also began taking night classes at the community college to accelerate my learning and four months later I began working for an electronics company but by then I had three children and had difficulty making ends meet with the minimum wage I was earning.

My best investment totaled .25 cents

I took another local job in Santa Maria but still was not making ends meet. One day I bought a paper for .25 cents and saw in the calssifieds a listing for a furniture upholsterer. I went and filled out an application but they were looking for a man not a woman. So I asked my husband to fill out an application. He did and they gave him the job he then got me a job at the same company. I knew how to upholster because we did upholstery in our home and I had also taken a sewing class in Sta. Maria. The thing was that I did more than was expected; I did whatever was needed from answering phones to assisting around the office. I made sure I was valuable to the company to the point of being indispensable.

Going from employee to owner

One year later the owner offered to sell me the interior upholstery portion of the business. He could see how dedicated my husband and I were and knew we’d make it thrive so I bought it from him for $700. A year later he was having financial hardships so he offered me the paint portion of the business as well for $150,000. At first we were partners but then he got a divorce and I bought the remaining part of the business from his wife. After some financial challenges I started Art Craft Inc. in January of ‘94.

My greatest weakness in business had been that I never went to college to study business; I learned lessons from life and my day to day experiences. I listen to my subconscious and my gut instincts to guide me.

Finding inner strength in the face of tragedy

After 17 years of being in an abusive relationship I left my husband and the business to take a year to find myself and recover physically and mentally. When I returned the company was thousands of dollars in debt and it was then that I decided to take control of my life. No one was going to walk all over me again. I bought my husband out of the business and took charge knowing I had to go on living and supporting my three children. I knew if my mother could do it with a 3rd grade education I could too. I only have a 8th grade education but I didn’t give up. I continued working to grow the company. I got my children to graduate from high school and it was such a proud moment. I was able to send my daughter to Paris to study international relations and my son to México.

Giving back to those in need

I’ve made it a personal mission to support all the organizations that helped us when we were hungry and needy. I organize fundraisers and donate money and time.

I also began working to develop a non-profit organization Adelante Mujer Hispana which has a mission of promoting leadership and help women lead a better life. We have an annual conference and invite women like Rosario Marin, former treasurer of the United States as speakers. The event includes a fashion show where dressing, runway walking and posture lessons are given to women laborers who want to improve their personal development. To be a model in the show the shape and color of your body don't matter, all women are beautiful.

Along my life I have learned that nobody can take away your freedom. I want to help other women reach their full potential.