Small Business Today Magazine JAN 2015 AIM GLOBAL LOGISTICS | Page 10

COVERSTORY

Angelica’s “true love” is her family. She is seen
here with her daughter Isabel and son Hamilton.
Photo by Gwen Juarez Photography.

rope on a Eurail Pass on the weekends and on breaks. No
matter if it was Germany, Greece, Austria, or France, she
would try to learn the basic words like “thank you” and
“you’re welcome”. Angelica explained, “Anytime I travel,
I just want to learn as much as I can about the language
and the people. I always do a little bit of research before I
travel.” Angelica considered it a great opportunity to travel
and learn about other cultures but it made her appreciate
even more about living in the United States.
After graduating from college in 1996, Angelica wanted
to move back to Houston where most of her family lived.
She had been working for a Bank of America in Dallas
and was trying to get transferred to one in Houston. In
addition, she was looking into completing her Masters in
Finance and Business Management Program at Rice and
St. Thomas Universities. As things happen, life sometimes
gets in the way. While on a bus traveling to Houston from
Dallas, Angelica met the man whom she would later marry.
After she wed, she had two children and became a stay-athome mom. After five years of marriage, Angelica became
a divorcée.
With a four-year-old daughter and a two-year-old son
to support, Angelica found work in banking and financial
services but she was on 100 percent commission. It was
one of the most challenging and difficult times in her life. It
became so bad that at one point that she couldn’t even afford Ramen noodles, let alone groceries. Angelica recalled
leaving empty-handed at the grocery store when her
payment wouldn’t go through. Her four-year-old daugh8 SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE [ JANUARY 2015 ]

ter asked her, “Why aren’t we bringing our food home?”
Angelica replied, “It’s alright baby, I forgot my money at the
house. That was my lowest point and I said to myself never again.” One of her clients, Sandra Bravo who owned
ABA Express, a freight forwarding company, knew what
Angelica was going through and offered her a job in sales
and marketing of transportation logistics. Angelica immediately accepted the offer.
Initially working two days a week, Angelica didn’t know
a thing about the transportation industry or any of the
terms. Sandra taught her and she learned quickly. Two
days turned into three which eventually led to full time.
Sandra would always tell Angelica, “Don’t say no, always
say yes, and bring in the business.” Sandra’s niche had been
ocean and air to and from South America and she did a lot
to and from Venezuela. As Angelica would make sales calls,
she would never say no regardless of where the clients
needed transportation. As a result, she started bringing
in a lot of trucking business. Sandra really didn’t like the
trucking side and dealing with drivers but Angelica really
did have a passion for it. Inevitably, Angelica and Sandra
parted ways but on good terms. To this day, they are still
friends and still work together.
It was 2006 and Trans-System Logistics, a company
based in Spokane, Washington and one of the largest
flatbed carriers in the U.S., wanted to open up a logistics
office in Houston. Angelica had a friend that introduced
her because they needed sales people and he thought she
would be great for the position. Her friend was applying