We had the good fortune of connecting with Erika Gonzalez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Erika, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
So many of us follow the path that we are taught is “correct” or “safe”. I was definitely one of them. The one that checked off the list requirements for a “smart, successful businesswoman”. For 20 years, I excelled at box checking – but on the path someone else had designed. So after college and grad school (check 1 and check 2), I kept on checking the boxes. Year after year, someone else told me when I was successful and when I wasn’t. Stressing over the next promotion, fighting with crippling imposter syndrome, reinventing myself every time I had a new supervisor, feeling a bit trapped but all the while telling myself “it’s like this everywhere”.

Don’t get me wrong – along the way I learned invaluable lessons! How to mentor versus manage and how to inspire rather than push. I learned what it really took to build a business and not just what was taught to me in school. I made some invaluable friendships and got to learn from some of the best business leaders in the world but, after 20 years, I hit a ceiling. It wasn’t the proverbial glass ceiling – it was the ceiling that one hits when they’ve checked all the boxes and their next level of success lies solely in the hands of others. Maybe it was burn-out, I do think that played a huge part, but I just wasn’t excited by the idea checking off another 20 years of boxes (raise your hand if anything here sounds a bit familiar!).

That’s when circumstances led to starting Eridion Glass, LLC. It became the next logical step. I knew absolutely NOTHING about glass and glazing. That is my husband’s expertise. Dion is an expert glazier with a superhuman work ethic and strong business mind. What I brought to the partnership was my knowledge of building a business – as I had done for others several times over the years. This time though, it was with my own capital which was terrifying.

That was the first lesson – the stress does not go away, it just transitions or transforms… anyway, it’s still very much there! But, I no longer had the pressure from my supervisors to meet revenue goals, personal development goals or even perceived goals (i.e. how many hours I billed equaled how good a worker I was) and that felt AMAZING!!! So many of those goals felt completely arbitrary and senseless and now that I work for myself, I realize that many (not all) are! While just as stressful, maybe even more when that first round of capital dries up, the new goals are set by ME and only I am accountable for their success. I set those goals very high, and so is the stress level, but the freedom to succeed (or fail) on my terms is exhilarating! No more box checking! Now it feels more like rock climbing without a tether – grappling to find the next solid hold to pull ourselves up. Making it all the sweeter when we reach the top!

The thought process behind starting my own business wasn’t so much about writing a solid business plan or securing rounds of capital. For me it was about how I intended to spend the second, and last, chapter of my career. If you’re anything like me, your career is very much a part of your identity. I’d never been very good at separating the two so the decision to accept that about myself and create a space where I could be happy in my version of “work/life balance” became priority one when designing how our business would run. Secondly, I realized my passion in my corporate career translated perfectly into being a business owner and that passion was PEOPLE! I was never happier than when I could promote one of my team members or when I could champion one of their ideas. I was passionate about creating a symbiotic relationship with my team that would help them grow in their career while also making the business successful.

Today, I love spending time building that part of Eridion Glass. It is my goal to create an environment that people feel comfortable, free to grow, safe to fail and proud of their daily accomplishments. While creating a business to support our family is the day to day goal (we have to eat!) we both love creating a space where other’s will thrive and, maybe one day, feel empowered to start their own independent journeys.

What should our readers know about your business?
We thought long and hard when developing our vision for Eridion Glass:

Glazing services that add beauty, bring comfort, inspire ideas and provide safety for our clients’ living and work spaces.

But we believe what sets us apart from our competitors and what we are most proud of is the work behind the scenes.

Our commitment to ensure our clients’ satisfaction, our dedication to quality craftsmanship and our promise to our team and partners to help them grow. This recipe, and all the many ingredients that go into it, helps us create consistently high quality work and exceed expectation for our clients, our team and our partners

The ebbs and flows of business ownership can be disorienting and, arguably, one of it’s greatest challenges. We try to always focus on learning from the changes we face. The lesson that has resonated strongly with us is to FAIL FORWARD. For two people who excelled in our corporate careers, failure was an uncomfortable and cloudy idea. Lesson one was – failure is inevitable. The subsequent lesson, to fail forward. To quickly learn and capitalize on the knowledge gleaned from that failure is invaluable, and can be profitable!

As Eridion Glass grows and we meet other business owners, failure is not a topic easily or readily discussed. Just like in personal life, there is a “filter” on the business or brand that only features success stories. But it is the struggle that creates the strength behind the company. It isn’t easy. Some days it’s filet mignon and champagne and other days it’s ramen noodles and Kool-Aid. As in personal life, a company shouldn’t compare themselves to others. Especially the filtered version. After all, comparison is the thief of joy and a worthless distraction.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We are Dallasites through and through! When we have family in town from Australia, Dion’s home, we love to explore our city with them! Most of the time, people wonder about cowboy’s and Kennedy. We live near Downtown so we usually start with the Book Depository tour (so well done!) and even like to stop and hear some of the “theories” on the grassy knoll. Stopping to eat in the West End or Downtown is usually fun or heading back closer to our home and hitting Lowest Greenville is usually a highlight! We love to create our own “dinner crawl” and stop at several restaurants for each course, from appetizer to dessert. If the weather allows, a day on one of the lakes is a must! We love being on the water and each lake has something fun to offer. Then a visit to Fort Worth, the stockyards and live music can’t be missed. There has to be a day of shopping – we love Northpark and it’s location to the mall and shops. Finally, for live music and brunch, our long-time favorite is The Rustic. We’ve been enjoying it’s Texas fare and atmosphere since day one and are always treated like family!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
We have been so fortunate in having a strong support system throughout our journey to build Eridion Glass. Dion and I’s personal relationship is the strongest foundation for our success. While weaving love and business is an interesting process, as is spending 24 hours a day together, the daily growth, both personal and professional, is exponential!

We both also come from families that taught us the value of WORK. Parents, siblings, significant others all share in that mindset. We know how rare that can be – having a happy, healthy and like minded family – and that is a blessing we don’t take for granted.

Finally, we are so very lucky to have other businesses, specifically builders like Hines Homes, who have taken a chance on us while we were/are just starting out. It is an invaluable asset to work with strong, well built, continuously improving companies that you can learn and grow from.

Website: eridionglass.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eridionglass/?hl=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Eridion-Glass-104082371216509

Other: HOUZZ: https://www.houzz.com/pro/eridionglass/eridion-glass-llc

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutDFW is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.