Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

Teresa Gándara and her husband, Carlos Gándara, own Pencil Cup Office Products Inc. at 1701 Texas. The company was the statewide winner of the Small Hispanic Business of the Year award from the Texas Association of Mexican-American Chambers of Commerce. (Rudy Gutierrez / El Paso Times)

EL PASO -- El Paso native Teresa Gándara has made the transition from teacher and assistant principal to successful entrepreneur.

Gándara is now chief executive officer and president of office supply and furniture retailer and distributor Pencil Cup Office Products Inc., which she started with her husband, Carlos Gándara, in June 2001.

"Our biggest customers are the school districts," she said. "But we have some federal (agencies), construction companies. The two chambers buy from us, (and) nonprofits. We have Army contracts and local businesses that buy from us."

She spent 11 years working for El Paso Independent School District, first as a physical education teacher and coach at Terrace Hills Middle School and then as assistant principal at Bassett Middle School.

"We're all teachers and we're all sellers," Gándara said. "Parents sell their morals and values to their children on a daily basis and hope they buy into it. I just went from selling education and positive behavior to selling a commodity that's easier to sell -- pens, pencils and furniture."

Gándara kept working full time as an educator for more than five years after she and her husband founded Pencil Cup. "You need to maintain an income when you start," she said.

In October 2006, she resigned from her job as assistant principal to concentrate on the family business.

Last summer, Pencil Cup was named Small Hispanic Business of the Year by the Texas Association of Mexican-American Chambers of Commerce.

"I understand a couple of thousand businesses were in competition for that award," she said. "What that means, that's proof of the commitment our company has to the community and our community back to us."

Gándara sat down for an interview to discuss her family-run business, her philosophy, her views on the economy and the importance of shopping locally.

Q You were a schoolteacher and assistant principal. What spurred your decision to start your own company?

A About 7åyears ago, we had the opportunity to decide what direction our family would take. My husband had just left corporate America. He had done this -- been in the office supply business -- since he was 19.

Rather than work for someone else, we said, "You know what? (Carlos Gándara) knows this better than anyone else." ... When it was a matter of which direction to take, we decided, why not go the entrepreneurship route and start our own company?

Q So why did you decide to become an entrepreneur?

A Just the excitement, the thrill and the challenge of creating something that's ours. My paycheck didn't come from someone else. I create my paycheck and I support 14 people from this business we call Pencil Cup.

Q What's your philosophy of doing business?

A It's all about the customer. Our competition says they take care of business, but you have to stop and ask yourself, "Whose business?" Ours is taking care of our customers. It's all about the customer.

Q What's your advice for someone who wants to start a business?

A Be prepared. Look into it first. Be up for the challenge. There's a lot of help available for first-time businesses. The Hispanic Chamber of Com merce has been instrumental in our success as has the Contract Opportunities Center through El Paso Community College.

Q A lot of El Paso businesses say we're doing better than other parts of the nation during this economic downturn. What's your opinion of the local economy?

A We're definitely not experiencing what the rest of the country is experiencing (with the recession) because of the growth at Fort Bliss, the BRAC realignment and people from Mexico purchasing from the El Paso economy.

Q Do you think that can last?

A I think we're doing better but we'd be fools not to be prepared for the worst. If you open the door and you're not prepared for the big, bad wolf that's standing on the other side, you can't blame anyone but yourself for not being prepared.

Q What kind of contingency plans do you have for your business?

A Our contingency plans include our primary one -- to refocus internally on the handling of our finances. An example: When gas went up, the other guys put increased surcharges on delivery. At Pencil Cup, we never charge our customers to deliver product to them. We looked internally at what costs we could cut so we can maintain our level of satisfaction to our customers.

Q Has the Fort Bliss expansion helped your business?

A It's helped immensely. We got 8(a) certified through the SBA. É We were able to begin selling to Fort Bliss. We have office supply and furniture supply contracts with Fort Bliss.

Q What are the downsides of being a small-business owner?

A The stress that comes with the responsibility of knowing you are supporting people and families through your business. Every time we write that paycheck, we're helping someone maintain their livelihood.

That includes the costs of covering them under (health insurance). This year for the first time, we've been able to cover our employees with an insurance program because it's so expensive.

Q Do you ever get a vacation?

A That's not a downside. When we're stressed, we take off. I couldn't do that at other businesses. We have a very strong staff that can maintain themselves, a very competent group of people. When we have to get away, we get away.

Q What is your top message you want to get out?

A El Paso has to focus on keeping the local, small-business entrepreneur in business. The revenue that leaves our city and state when we go to big-box organizations is huge. El Paso has enough strong, adequate entrepreneurs to take care of ourselves and keep our money in our city and state.

I'm on the board of directors of Homegrown El Paso (which advocates for companies and consumers to buy from locally owned businesses) because I believe (this) so strongly.

Q Has any person been instrumental in your success?

A This company was built on the back of (my husband Carlos, who is now vice president and chief financial officer).

If I have an opportunity to invest my money anywhere, I'd invest it in this man. He knows what he's doing. He knows this business better than anybody. When I was working (as an educator), I was investing my money in a sure-bet deal which was my husband and my business.

This is a true family business. We have myself, my husband, my son (Carlos Gándara Jr.) who is our operations manager. We also employ a nephew and niece.