Today we’d like to introduce you to Tony Reyes.
Tony, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I grew up in Oak Park, IL with my younger brother. Our parents really wanted to raise us in a good neighborhood to provide us a better future. It was really tough growing up there, not a moment went by that we weren’t fully aware we were the minority in the neighborhood.
Both of my parents had to work really hard to afford to live in Oak Park. My mother worked full-time at the local Sam’s Club and my father owned a small construction company; which focused on residential exterior work. What that meant was, that we spent most of our summers working small jobs at construction sites. Whether that meant, carrying materials or cleaning up the job sites.
I graduated high school early and joined the Marine Corps. Being in the Marine Corps, working 7 days a week without a day off taught me a lot. One of the first memorable lessons I learned was that, “You can overcome any odd or obstacle, and to give up WAS NOT AN OPTION.” This meant during adversities, no matter how much pressure I was under, I learned to keep cool and share a laugh.
After serving 8 years I decided to no longer continue my military career. I wanted to go to school for architecture, which always fascinated me. After I applied, I learned my parents didn’t make enough to help pay for school, but made enough to where I could not qualify for financial assistance.
I was stumped, but I was determined to triumph. I got married and took a job doing door to door construction sales, for 3 years. Soon after, I started a cleaning business and were actually one of the very first businesses to launch on Groupon. It sounded like a great idea at first, but we relieved a large sum of money, fast!
After being in business for a year, I realized that we were going broke. So then, I decided a to do a hail mary and run another campaign with Groupon. Even though it gave us a large influx of cash we were yet again backsliding, because of the Groupon cost of service.
We just did not think it all the way through. Just as fast as we grew, we died even faster. I did not give up and I started up Prasino Cleaning, which was profitable and well executed. We grew for three years to sell.
In 2012, Walton Contractors was born out of necessity. We started off by sending out letters to local churches offering manual labor and construction services. I began to take initiative in marketing and we were off!
During my time of deployment, I would read tons of books on real estate from the basics to investing. We started raising capital for our first flip, while scaling and duplicating at the same time. That first two flips were nightmares and we unfortunately lost our investor’s money. We learned a very expensive lesson, but we still kept going.
In 2016 and 2017 Walton generated 7.5M in gross revenue, completed 429 projects and 42 flips. In 2018 Walton Contractors, is projecting to double its gross revenue from 2017.
2017 was a very successful year for Walton Contractors team. I was awarded the “Global Entrepreneur of the Year Award” from the Joseph Business school. This award recognizes the outstanding contributions made by entrepreneurs and their organizations as they work together to eradicate extreme poverty and transform communities.
Also, in 2017 Walton contractors made the list of the Inc. 5000, where we ranked 197th. The Inc. 5000 is a list of the fastest growing companies in the United States. Veteran business owners bring unconventional leadership and grit to succeed.
In 2018, Walton Contractors was humbled to have been ranked 12th in the “Inc. Magazine’s New Vet 50 List” to shine a light on 50 Fastest-Growing Veteran-Owned Businesses. We were also awarded the “Small business Rising Star Award” with US Small Business Association.
In addition to all these accomplishments from Walton Contractors, I am also Vice President of the board of directors of the Cicero Boys Club, where they help make great futures a reality for local youth and I also sit on the board of the Spanish Coalition For Housing.
Has it been a smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road. I was met with a lot of resistance when trying to raise capital, because I was so young and inexperienced. But luckily I had an amazing support system and team that supported the vision and stood by challenges.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We are a value-add construction and roofing company. We focus on new construction, gut rehabs, additions, kitchens and bathroom remodels and roofing.
What sets us apart from any other General contractor is that we know real estate. We bring value to our customers because our finger is on the pulse of the market. We’re not just some company that will build and walk away like your last IKEA purchase. We know the best places to invest and which are the best things to update to bring the most return. Being a medium sized general contractor means we work with a lot of people that pull 203k loans. Smaller contractors can wait to get paid at the end, or at the draws when the bank decides to pay. The bigger contractor has their eyes set on commercial and bigger grossing jobs.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Chicago is a great place to invest in real estate with values skyrocketing. A few of our investors were actually from the east and west coast and work with us remotely because the understand the value that Chicago has.
Contact Info:
- Address: 3200 N Oak Park Suite E.
- Facebook: Walton Contractors
- Website: www.Walton-Contractors.com
- Phone: 708-303-8055
- Email: Info@Walton-Contractors.com
Image Credit:
Alberto Guerrero, DevoEstrada, Richard Camacho
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