RUTH GUERRA: Starting with nothing, hard works pays off

Ruth Guerra knows what it is to live on hard times, to come from nothing and the value of an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay.

As the 10th child of Paul and Louise Villareal in a family of 14 children born and raised in Gonzales, Ruth has always had her priorities straight: Family, God, work. “Family’s everything. There’s no reason to live if you don’t have your support and your reason to get up every morning.” And her husband Arnold shares those same priorities.

“We came from nothing, so we know what it is to be on hard times. God has been good to us, and we’ve succeeded,” Ruth says in retrospect. “But we know what it is to go without a meal, we know what it is to not have the necessities sometime. I was born dirt poor, so was Arnold. Nothing was given to us. We worked for everything we have, seven days a week. We don’t know what it is to lay around and take the day off. That’s rare – those days are few and far between. You work, you do something, you make something of the day. We weren’t raised that way.”

And while Ruth admits that growing up in a big family is why she has a small family – daughters Alison and Alexis and nephew David Villareal – she is quick to pay homage to her mother.

“I’m very proud of my mother. She’s my inspiration. To raise that many kids with very little resources, she did an amazing job,” Ruth praises.

A graduate of St. Edward’s University with a degree in accounting, Ruth points to her education and training in finance as the main factors in her business success. And in a male-dominated business environment that fosters a mentality of a woman’s place is in the home, she attributes her success to women who went before her.

“Jen Ripley gave me my first accounting job; she was a big inspiration. She was a woman in the business field when there were very few women in the business field. I followed a lot of what she preached,” Ruth says.

“And people like Mrs. (Dorothy) Ploeger – what an inspiration. She was one of the few people you would see as a businesswoman. [It was a hurdle for women] having to deal with the way society looked at you and the fact that you weren’t home a lot because you were trying to build up your career or your business.”

Ruth is one of the first Hispanic business owners in Gonzales, a fact made even rarer as a woman. “There were family-owned business, but there weren’t a lot of [women business owners or Hispanic business owners] to look up to to say, ‘Oh, that’s a possibility’.”

But as the principal in several business ventures – The Tax Place, Sleep Inn, Holiday Inn Express, AG Homes and developing residential subdivisions “when the market was up … and when it comes back” – Ruth knows there’s no substitute for hard work.

“You need to have hard work, and be willing to sacrifice, and that means you’re not going to sit around and watch television, you’re not going to take the day off and just do nothing,” Ruth counsels. “We are big workaholics. And we enjoy it. Anyone knows, you come around my home, you’re going to be put to work in some form or fashion.

“You do something productive with your time. You’re not going to get anywhere just sitting back and doing nothing. It doesn’t come to you. We don’t wait for it to come to us,” she contends.

“Who you are makes a big difference, especially in a small town. How you conduct yourself is a big factor, which is why we want to contribute back to the community.”

Ruth is also quick to point out the importance of a supportive spouse. “Having a good partner who thinks the way you do (is a secret to success). [Arnold’s] the one who starts with ‘Let’s do; let’s start.’ He figures how to do it and I come along behind him trying to figure out ‘how we gonna get the money to do it?’ Our teamwork is our success. We back one another up.”

And she knows the importance of education, which not limited to a college degree, but can also be a skill, a license, something that broadens ones horizons.

“Education is a must. Get yourself educated. Don’t count on someone else to give you a hand up. You need to count on yourself. No one’s going to hand you anything, and if they do, it’s not worth having. You have to count on yourself. It has to start with you. Education is a big thing. It’s what’s gotten me ahead.”

To be sure, Ruth believes in the power of one.

“Stand on your own. I’m a big believer that men come and go, your parents come and go, you’ve got to stand up for yourself. Don’t count on someone else to take care of you. You have to take care of you. If you have a spouse you can depend on, that’s just extra. But what if that spouse is gone or passes away, what happens to you. Don’t get lost in someone else or depending on someone else,” Ruth says.

“Every woman is capable, and we need to encourage each other. Count on yourself.”