Russ: This is the BusinessMakers Show heard here and seen online at TheBusinessMakers.com. It's guest time on the show and I'm very pleased to have with me Dr. Laura Murillo, the CEO, the president and CEO of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Laura, welcome to the Businessmakers Show.

Laura: Well Russ, thanks for having us on the show today. Thank you.

Russ: You bet. Well let's start by you telling us about the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Laura: Well let me start by saying that we have an incredible team. We've got a phenomenal board of directors. We have a very young, dynamic, energized staff and we have over 4,000 members making us the largest Hispanic chamber of commerce in the country. More importantly, we really believe that our mission is to really serve the business community and we believe that there are so many opportunities in particular here in the city of Houston, as you know, that is growing by leaps and bounds, specifically in the area of the Hispanic entrepreneurial community and we are really committed to serving as that arm and that voice for that very influential segment of the community. We've been around for over 30 years and we are really happy to say that we've made tremendous strides over the last few years. We've gone from just 400 or 500 members to over 4,000, a staff of 3 to a staff of 12 full-time bilingual, educated individuals working with us. Our revenues have increased again significantly. We just moved into these new beautiful offices that you're visiting today.

Russ: I totally agree with that.

Laura: And our programs and services have also increased dramatically.

Russ: That is so cool. Now for our listeners and viewers outside of Houston, you might not know, but Houston has a huge thriving Hispanic business community that's growing by leaps and bounds. Otherwise we wouldn't be home to the largest Hispanic chamber of commerce. That's pretty impressive.

Laura: Well and to put some perspective into the demographical information, in 1970, Russ, there were 70,000 Hispanics in Houston. Today 1.4 million.

Russ: That's significant growth.

Laura: That is a very significant difference and once again, numbers are numbers. We're talking about people, hard-working people who have incredible, incredible stories in all sectors.

Russ: Right.

Laura: Energy, health care professional services, that is our chamber. Also important to note is that we're a very diverse chamber of commerce. Yes, we are a Hispanic chamber of commerce, but no, you do not have to be Hispanic and as I like to say to people when they ask the question, "Laura, do I need to be Hispanic to be involved in the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce?" My response is no. We accept everyone's money. So, feel free to join us.

Russ: Great; fantastic. Now how long have you been in this leadership role?

Laura: I've been fortunate to have served as president and CEO for four years now. I was on the board before that and a long standing relationship with the Chamber of Commerce, but more importantly in the community. My passion, just as yours is is making sure folks' stories are heard has always been the community and helping and serving people, even as young as ten years old. I always enjoy doing that and I'm fortunate that I have a career that allows me the opportunity to serve to make a difference and I get paid for it. So how fortunate am I?

Russ: Doesn't get any better than that does it?

Laura: That's right. That's right.

Russ: Okay. Well I also know, man, you have some extremely successful leaders of businesses here in Houston who just happen to be Hispanic and are doing very well.

Laura: We most certainly do in all sectors. In energy I can tell you that one of our board of directors heads up one of the largest trading companies in the world, serves on our board. We have another woman who heads up a staffing HR group here in Houston is very successful and she's our chairman of the board, _________ Gonzalez and she's got over 100 employees. You name it. You name the industry and I guarantee you we have a Hispanic out there that's leading it.

Russ: That is so cool. I think a lot of people outside, even just outside of Houston sort of think of the border towns and perhaps San Antonio and maybe even Dallas and then San Diego and perhaps even Miami is having more active Hispanic business populations. I'm sure they do. I'm sure they're thriving there. I think this is sort of an unexpected thing once you get outside of Houston, but those of us that live here truly appreciate the diversity and are seeing the population, the Hispanic population grow by leaps and bounds and I think it's just gonna work perfectly here in Houston, Texas.

Laura: Well I think the word is spreading and shows like yours certainly help that cause and we see it from the perspective of our corporate sponsors. The last two or three years have been our best in terms of revenue and growth and all of those interesting opportunities. For us one of the things that we've noticed is that we have national sponsors that traditionally had gone to Miami, to Los Angeles, calling Houston, Texas.

Russ: Wow.

Laura: For a variety of reasons. Number one, the demographic is definitely here, but the economy is Houston is still doing so much better than most parts of the country.

Russ: Right.

Laura: That they are now saying oh, yes, I think we should pay attention to 40 percent of the market in the 4th largest city in the country.

Russ: Right.

Laura: So we're getting there and I know that over the next few years we will continue to see that growth and the Chamber of Commerce is the beneficiary of that.

Russ: Okay. Well boy, you're a great explainer of the market conditions and the Chamber itself. Tell us about your background.

Laura: I am the youngest, I like to say the favorite of nine children born to immigrant parents from Mexico. They came here across the Rio Grande and my father worked for a very long time and was able to secure his residency and build a life here as an entrepreneur. He started out as a laborer earning 15 cents an hour laying tile and eventually opened up his own tile shop and was successful. Then he eventually opened up a Mexican restaurant and it's been here for many, many decades. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work there from the time I was 10 until I graduated from college at 21.

Russ: Waiting on tables?

Laura: Waiting on tables, cleaning the tables, moving the tables, any and everything. One of the things that really I gained from that experience was the opportunity to work with people. For me that has been something that I've carried throughout my life and it also taught me something and that was I was not cut out for the restaurant world. I knew it was something that I was not necessarily interested in. However, having said that I learned great skills, I met some incredible people and I then went onto the University of Houston and received my degree in journalism and was recruited by UH and worked there 15 fantastic years. Served under four different presidents in external relations; fund raising, et cetera. Received my master's in higher ed and then pursued my Ph.D. while I worked full time.

Russ: Wow.

Laura: And went to school full time, had a two-year old daughter and was pregnant with our second daughter and completed it in less than three years.

Russ: Goodness.

Laura: With an A average and was at work the day before we delivered our child and the next day was in the hospital delivering a 10-pound 24-inch long baby girl. So we have two daughters and I was recruited to work in the medical center at Memorial Herman, was one of the highest ranking executives there, fund raising, external relations and sat on this board at the Chamber of Commerce and people looked around the table and said, "You should lead this Chamber." After two or three people kinda' put that in your head you -

Russ: Started believing that -

Laura: -- think well maybe I should. What a privilege it has been to see this board and the staff and our community grow and prosper and how privileged I am to be part of that.

Russ: Wow. That is impressive and your background. My goodness. It seems like you were totally prepared. I did a little research on you and I came across that part when you started working on your Ph.D. under your conditions and I think it was your mom that says, [Speaks Spanish]. I just died laugh - could put myself in her shoes all of a sudden. Like my goodness, you've been going to school for a long time.

Laura: Yes.

Russ: And you just kept goin' and kept goin'. Wow.

Laura: Yes. My parents and second and third grade educations. While they were not formally educated they were very hard-working. Well they did not understand the role necessarily that education plays in life. They supported it in the way that they best knew how, but for me it has been imperative to share that story with other Hispanics that are young and who have children and think oh, well I can't do it because I'm working.

Russ: Sure.

Laura: My message is you can. It's a sacrifice, but it is an important one that we all need to make and role models in our community and business owners who have really just become so incredibly successful with very few resources and have just come in with a great, strong work ethic have been part of what makes our Chamber just incredible.

Russ: Okay. So let me ask you this question. I mean it seems pretty dynamic here and you seem very passionate about what you do, but at the end of the day is this like a business as usual chamber of commerce or are you doing some things outside the box?

Laura: Oh, we are definitely not a business as usual. We are not for profit, but I will say this. We run and operate just like a business and I think that has been the key to our success. We don't have mixers. We don't have golf tournaments. We don't do many of the traditional things that chambers of commerce do. We are an out of the box chamber of commerce. We like to consider ourselves very progressive and doing things that will be impactful to our members.

Russ: Great.

Laura: And to our sponsors as well. We realize that just a logo on some event is just not going to cut it in this competitive day and age. We have a television show on CBS Channel 11 where we feature our entrepreneurs. We have a newsletter that goes to over 100,000 people. We again provide one-on-one consultation with these members and we provide seminars and workshops in English and Spanish day and evening. We have over five summits including international summits, health summits, procurement summits, et cetera and we are really focused on listening to our members and their needs and working with our corporate sponsors to address those needs. One of the main areas for us that we are embarking on is through our foundation and providing more areas of opportunity and procurement because three to four percent of the corporate spend is on 40 percent of the population which is Hispanic. We have a lot of areas of opportunity for growth. On corporate boards we represent 1.8 percent representation. So we've got a lot of work to do, Russ.

Russ: Okay. Well let me tell you what I wanna do. Before I let you go I want you to commit to me that you're gonna give me some great stories from your membership -

Laura: You got it. We absolutely will.

Russ: Alright.

Laura: You'll say, okay Laura, that's quite enough. We have enough stories, but we absolutely will do that and thanks for what you do. This is very important.

Russ: You bet. I really appreciate you being on the show.

Laura: Thank you so much.

Russ: Alright. That's Dr. Laura Murillo, the president and CEO of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. You're listening to the Businessmakers Show heard here and seen online at thebusinessmakers.com.