Employee Spotlight: Meet Miguel Lopez
Our people are our superpower and they are what fuels everything we do. We could not be prouder to work with this incredible team. To celebrate them and share their stories by launching our Employee Spotlight Series!
We’re kicking it off with Miguel Lopez, who is the 1-800-GOT-JUNK? General Manager of Greater Santa Cruz’s and Boise’s Franchise Partner. Miguel has been with us since 2011. Scroll down to learn more about this valuable team member…
Miguel Lopez: General Manager, Greater Santa Cruz, Franchise Partner, Boise
EPC: Tell us about your journey with Endless Pursuit Corp!
ML: I started in the trucks in May 2011 at 1-800-GOT-JUNK? and after a couple of years in the field, the opportunity to take on additional responsibilities in the Operations side of the business arose. Once I began taking on additional responsibility, the position evolved into an Operations Manager role. My personal and professional growth was developing alongside the growth of the Greater Los Angeles franchise. As the franchise continued to grow, I was developed and transitioned into the Assistant General Manager position. Within a couple months in my new role, the opportunity to invest in a new franchise in Boise, Idaho arose with Drew and other members of the Management Team. I invested in the new franchise and accepted the opportunity to relocate to Boise and launch the franchise. After 2 years launching the franchise, the opportunity to relocate back to California arose, and I accepted the General Manager position of the Greater Santa Cruz franchise. I have been in this role for since early 2021, and am looking forward to my next opportunity within the EPC organization.
EPC: What is something that you’ve learned during your time with us that maybe you didn’t expect?
ML: Everything that needs to go into a business to make profitable. When I started I always thought the revenue we brought in was the end all be all of a business. But there is so much more that goes into it behind the scenes. Seeing a P&L for the first time really opened my eyes on how hard it is to maintain a profitable business.
EPC: What do you think makes you a great contributor to the EPC family?
ML: My best assets are loyalty and integrity. I have been loyal to this company since 2011, and since day one, I have carried myself with honesty and high integrity. I hold all the employees that I manage to the same standard in our company core values and the expectation of carrying it out on the field.
EPC: What is the biggest challenge you have faced working here?
ML: Being away from home these last several years has been a challenge for me. Even so, I knew that would be difficult when I made the decision to move. I know it's the right decision because in the long run, working in Boise and Santa Cruz is what's best for myself and my wife to be.
EPC: Who do you look to here as a mentor and why?
ML: I definitely look to William Herbe as my mentor. We have worked side by side since the beginning, and I know I can always go to him for any advice I may need in both my personal life as well as in my professional one.
EPC: Tell us about the first job you ever held.
ML: My first job was a loader and unloader at the UPS warehouse in Cerritos. I would scan and touch anywhere from 1500 to 2000 packages a night. I was responsible for packages going from the Cerritos warehouse to Minnesota and Pennsylvania.
EPC: What is one thing that people don’t know about you that they’d be surprised to find out?
ML: People that know me know that I love football. But it goes far beyond just a love of the sport. I have a podcast with two of my friends where we talk NFL and Fantasy football. Also I played 5 different sports growing up: Football, soccer, basketball, volleyball and baseball.
EPC: What is one of your life goals?
ML: Being able to take care of my mother. She was a single mother while raising me and my sister. I just want to make sure she is taken care of since she has done so much for us.
EPC: Describe one of your favorite work memories.
ML: Will and I were finishing up a shift and heading back to the shop. We were on the 105 close to LAX Airport. A plane was getting ready to land and hit a cluster of clouds and the plane disappeared. Will and I just looked at each other in disbelief of what we just witnessed.
EPC: Tell us two truths and a lie.
ML: 1.) I can bench press 365 pounds.
2.) I have lost and gained 100 pounds twice.
3.) I have gone to the Anime expo 10 times.
EPC: Share the best piece of advice that anyone has ever given you.
ML: People don't change, so accept people for who they are or move on.
EPC: How did you meet your significant other?
ML: We met in a photography class in Cerritos college.
EPC: When have you felt the proudest and why?
ML: When I lost 100 pounds and when I beat my anxiety. Two of the hardest things I have ever accomplished.
EPC: Where do you see yourself in five years?
ML: I see myself raising a family and traveling the world, when possible.
EPC: What is your favorite food?
ML: Beef Wellington!
EPC: If you could choose a superpower, what would it be?
ML: To change fact to fiction and fiction to fact.
EPC: What was your best vacation and why?
ML: Japan. Great friends, great food, great culture, great time.
EPC: If you could travel anywhere, where would you go and why?
ML: I would love to travel to Italy for the culture and the food.
Thanks, Miguel! Stay tuned here for more employee spotlights from our incredible team…