I Was 8 When I Saw a Man Shot—That’s Why I Built a Company That Looks Like America

I was just 8 years old when I saw a man get shot in front of me while walking home from the supermarket with my mom. That moment is burned into my memory—the scream, the chaos, my mom’s arms wrapping around me as we ducked behind a parked car. I didn’t have the language for it then, but I knew we lived in a place where safety wasn’t guaranteed. And justice? That felt even further away.

That was just one moment in a long stretch of growing up in an America that didn’t always see or serve families like mine. A few years later, in 1992, the LA Riots exploded after the Rodney King verdict. I watched South Central go up in flames—helicopters buzzing overhead, sirens nonstop, glass everywhere. I remember thinking, Why does it always feel like our neighborhoods have to burn before anyone pays attention?

Now, in 2025, LA is back in the headlines. Students are protesting. Campuses locked down. Police in riot gear again. It’s like watching history on a loop. And it’s part of why I built CRM Experts Online the way I did. Because I didn’t just want to build a company—I wanted to build a different kind of future.

---

The Riots Taught Me What Happens When People Feel Ignored

The LA Riots taught me something early: when people are ignored long enough, eventually they stop asking nicely. The protests we’re seeing today? Different year, different faces, same core issue—a system that doesn’t reflect the people it’s supposed to serve.

So when I got the opportunity to lead, to build, I knew I wasn’t going to chase status or just build something flashy for investors. I was going to create the company I wished existed when I was a kid. One that gave people real opportunity. One where your background wasn’t a liability—it was a strength.

---

At CRM Experts, Diversity Isn’t a Buzzword—It’s Our Blueprint

Our team isn’t a staged diversity campaign—it’s lived experience. We’re Hispanic, Black, White, LGBTQ, immigrants, first-gen professionals. We’re from cities and small towns. Some of us worked our way up from retail and warehouses. Others came from top-tier universities. What connects us isn’t how we look—it’s how we think and how hard we work.

We disagree. We debate. But that friction is what makes our solutions sharper. We bring different perspectives to the table because we’ve lived different lives—and that matters. For our clients, that means we don’t guess what customers want—we understand it. Because we’ve been the customer, too.

---

This Isn’t About Being “Woke”—It’s About Being Smart

Let me say it plainly—this isn’t about charity. It’s not about being “nice.” It’s not even about being politically correct.

It’s about building better. When your team actually reflects the people you serve, you catch things others miss. You design smarter. You communicate clearer. You build trust. And in our line of work—CRM, ERP, customer engagement—that trust is everything.

We’ve helped companies avoid costly missteps because our team saw something others didn’t. That’s not a coincidence. That’s the advantage of having voices at the table who’ve seen the world through a different lens.

---

From Broken Streets to Better Systems

I didn’t grow up thinking I’d run a company. But here I am. And every single day, I remember the broken sidewalks, the boarded-up windows, the nights we fell asleep to sirens. I remember the feeling of being overlooked, unseen, underestimated.

CRM Experts Online is my response to that. It’s a place where people who usually get passed over get a seat at the table—and their voices don’t just echo, they shape the strategy.

So yeah, when I see the protests happening in LA today, I get it. I’ve lived it. And I’m still living it—just differently. Not with a sign in my hand, but with a business in my hands. One that reflects the America I still believe we can build.

---

The Face I still Remember

I still remember his face. The man who was shot. The sound. The scream from my mother.  I didn’t know his name, and I never saw him again. But that moment split my childhood in two—it opened my eyes to the kind of world I was growing up in.

That memory is why I don’t just run a company. I build one that reflects the America I wish we had that day—one where people of every background feel seen, safe, and supported.  I can’t go back and stop what happened. But I can build something now that stands in direct defiance of it.

If you’re looking to work with a team that reflects the real world—one that listens before it leads—this is us.

And we’re just getting started.