As the successful owner of Control Garage Doors, Abiel has faced his fair share of challenges throughout his career. He remembers deciding at a very young age to move to the U.S. one day after English speakers visited the small town where he grew up: Oaxaca, Mexico. At the age of 14, Abiel dropped out of school. He remembers, “I didn’t want to be a burden to my parents and at the time, it felt like a waste of their hard-earned resources.”
By the time he turned 16, Abiel had taken the plunge and relocated to the United States. After obtaining a job picking crops in South Jersey, he remembers watching as the school bus would arrive every day to pick up his co-workers’ children. Despite the fact that he had dropped out of school back in Oaxaca, something was telling him that he needed to give it another try.
However, soon after finishing high school, Abiel decided that continuing his education would not be a wise investment. Rather than putting money into a college degree, he decided to get right back to the workforce. Fortunately, the lessons he learned along the way proved to be enough motivation to create a successful career. Although he only had one contact in the area, Abiel was certain that a move to Houston would open a window of opportunity for his future career. Hopping on a greyhound bus, he jumped in feet first and never looked back. “Upon arriving in Houston, I immediately called the one person I knew in town. It was an important connection. He picked me up from the airport and I rode with him to the site of a job he had scheduled that day. He agreed to teach me and I started right away,” Abiel recalls.
Learning the ins and outs of garage door installation was not always easy. Over the next few years, Abiel would face many challenges. His employer moved, leaving him to work for another company for four years. He was offered to buy a remodeling company from a client, but the offer was revoked at the last minute. However, no matter what life threw his way, Abiel stayed on track in hopes of finding financial freedom and stability. “I wanted to create something for myself from the ground up,” he says. “It has been a strenuous journey and I had to learn many lessons the hard way. However, it was all worth it to make it to where I am today. Now I have a structure and people put in place to make sure that everything runs smoothly. I’ve learned that persistence pays off and that before you make it, you have to fail. The journey continues.”