COVER STORY
Paula MendozaPossible Missions, Inc.
Making the Impossible Possible through Integrity and Customer Service
By Barbara R. Davis and Heather Warner Green
A
ttaining success as a result of having integrity and a positive attitude
may be a concept many people
have heard before. However, Paula
Mendoza, President and CEO of Possible
Missions, Inc., exemplifies these traits
in every area of her life. When Possible
Missions began in 2001, Paula started
out with only $100 in the bank. This
year, her company is on track to exceed
$10 million in both services and product
sales. Through Paula’s personal and professional journey, she has shown that it’s
possible to accomplish the impossible by
focusing on customer service and being
passionate about making possibilities a
reality for others. Always appreciative of
the tutelage and mentoring she received
on her pathway to success, in turn, Paula
has become an inspiration and mentor
to others, especially Hispanic women.
Aldine area of Houston with her older
brother and two younger sisters. Her
parents were originally from Mexico and
brought her up in a traditional Hispanic
culture. She wasn’t allowed to date until
her senior year in high school and even
then it was very limited. She went to
homecoming and then, later, the prom.
Both of her parents were entrepreneurs
and taught her the values of having a
strong work ethic. Her father, Jesse Ruiz,
Sr. was skilled in the upholstery craft and
worked over 30 years on cars and trucks
with his two brothers. They would travel
to dealerships in a mobile unit and specialized in upholstering new and used
cars. Paula’s mother, Janie Ruiz, was a
licensed beautician. She owned and operated her own salon for 20 plus years.
Possible Missions, Inc. is an experienced project management company
specializing in Project Management
Solutions throughout all industries.
With a proven track record of providing
its clients managerial, technical, and administrative services, the Possible Missions team uses their strength in organization and structure methodology to
strategically plan, execute, and complete
projects within budget and on schedule.
As a result, much of their work has come
through their credibility, the reputation
of their company, and word of mouth.
Early on, Paula would help her father
with his record keeping. She learned to
use spreadsheets to keep track of the
bills and revenues. “I always wanted to
work,” reflected Paula. Not surprising,
Paula’s favorite subject in high school was
accounting! Always self-motivated and
hard working, Paula fondly remembers
her very first job. At barely 15 years old,
she worked at Scooby’s Fun Factory in the
Greenspoint area. It was there she learned
the foundation for crucial business skills
including management, scheduling, and
finances. She worked many, long hours
morning, noon, and night and also double
shifts on Saturdays and Sundays.
A native Houstonian, Paula came from
humble beginnings growing up in the
After graduating high school, Paula
didn’t think she needed to attend college.
6 SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE [ APRIL 2015 ]
She just decided that she was going to get
out there and find a job. She explained,
“I didn’t think about owning a business;
that wasn’t my intent. I just knew I didn’t
need to go to college, it wasn’t for me.”
Her parents were very supportive of college but at that time, they didn’t know a
lot about how to apply for college and
look for scholarships. Paula was the first
to even think about going. It wasn’t until
she went to work in a law firm and saw a
lot of the ladies working there who had
been there for many, many years doing
the same job over and over. That was
when Paula had an epiphany and realized that she needed a higher education
so she decided to attend North Harris
Community College which is now called
Lone Star College. Knowing nothing
about financial aid (which she probably
would have qualified for), Paula was fortunate that her parents assisted by paying her tuition and books the first couple
of years
During this time, a few years after
graduating high school, Paula had a best
friend who was a guy. He would always
come over to the house and her mom
allowed her to go out dancing with him
as long as she was home by twelve. She
never drank but she loved to dance. She
would dance with anybody who would
ask her from the moment she got there
until she had to leave. Meanwhile, her
friend would do his own thing. One
night when she went out to a club, she
was waiting to meet a friend there and
walked by a guy who she had never met