In 2006, I received a call from Canutillo Independent School District. The person on the phone asked if I was still interested in the head custodian role for which I applied. Thank God! I said yes.

By coincidence the same day that I started my first day of work, the crew was also waiting for a temp to help with the summer projects. I’m not sure if they were expecting someone older, but when I arrived the crew handed me a putty knife and some cardboard and instructed me to begin scrapping the wax from the edges and corners of the gym floor along the wall. I know that I could have introduced myself. I know that I could have easily stated that I was their new boss, but I figured lets see where this will lead. The crew was respectful, and best of all they enjoyed their job. They laughed and joked and told stories while they worked. They checked on me frequently to make sure I had the hang of it and to make sure I had plenty of break time.

Sometime later that morning, the principal for the campus showed up. She was speaking to the the two gentleman who had taken initiative and took charge of the day. I was able to hear the principle ask the two gentleman if Mr. Reyes had shown up. They replied that the only person to show up that day was a temp. They pointed in my direction and the principle yelled, “Mr. Reyes!”

I was introduced to the team, I said a couple of words, then went on our way. They didn’t take it bad that I did not introduce myself instead they laughed it off–actually we laughed it off.

I didn’t last long in that role, because the same year I was called to the superintendent’s office because of a budget I submitted. Apparently, the administration liked the format and thought that went into the budget that they inquired about my background. When I went into the superintendent’s office, I was told about an objective that they have been unsuccessful in realizing. they wanted to create a centralized soft services department with an emphasize on custodial operation.

The district had a decentralized operation whereby the principal of each campus oversaw custodial staff, training, equipment, supply, training, and SOP. The result is that every campus operated differently, different equipment, different supplies, and different methods of acceptable cleaning and disinfection. The district proposed creating a centralized department whereby the new department head will oversee all custodial operations removing the principals from each site from the decision making process.

I thought for a second, then replied that I am willing to take on the challenge, but that I recommend we create a matrix organization instead of the traditional top down organizational structure. I recommended that the principals remain an active stakeholder in the leadership and decision making process. The principals can retain day-to-day oversight allowing for faster response they need to react to day-to-day needs, while the new department will take on training, SOP, equipment lists/supplies, discipline, and budgets.

Upon starting my new role, there was now a position to fill–the role I just left. The district began the recruiting process–external and internal candidates applied.

Upon starting my new role, I made the time to visit the many campuses in the district. I took notes of the following observations. My first observation is that the leadership roles in the department were held by Hispanics/Latinos. My second observation is that the city is more than 90% percent Hispanic/Latino so it made sense that the leadership team be representative of the city.

My third observation is that I did not see any women in leadership roles in the facilities department–in neither janitorial nor maintenance. The former having a high percentage of women in the department.

I continued to tour the campuses. While doing so I encouraged qualified individuals to apply for the open head custodian role. The men were eager to apply while I found myself convincing the qualified women to apply. I often heard from them that those roles were for men even if it wasn’t written. I didn’t convinced many women to apply, I even had a principal tell me that if it were her campus she’d want a man to oversee her campus’ custodial operation (not this campus’ principal).

I’ll cut to the chase reveal that a woman was selected for the role of head custodian–that was a promotion for her. I honestly believe she was the most qualified individual who applied.

After she was promoted, I visited the campuses and I had many women who held roles as custodians come up to me and express how shocked a woman was promoted. They expressed that they thought it was a rule that men had to hold that position. I now had women ask me what they had to do to get promoted to assistant head custodian or head custodian.

I’d like to say that things were great from that point on vis a vis diversity and inclusion, but things take time and so did it here. The first step was promoting, or hiring, a qualified individual. The next step was following up with her to make sure her direct reports listened to her and her directives.

This was not the only place I encountered resistance. After leaving the school district and moving back into the private sector, I had women in leadership roles express frustration with their direct reports who would not listen to them. I had women in leadership roles call me on the phone and pass the phone over to their male team member so that I would tell them to do as she asked.

To me, this story is a perfect example of why representation matters. The ladies I encountered had not seen a woman in a position of leadership so they assumed they couldn’t and didn’t try. The men hadn’t seen a woman in charge and couldn’t believe they had to listen to a woman. This was the 2000s.

My observation of the cleaning and janitorial industry is that women make up a large percentage of the workforce, but account for a very small percentage in leadership roles. I would often hear that knowing how to perform floor work (strip & wax) is a prerequisite in order to be a supervisor. Yet, women were not encouraged to learn floor work.

What other prerequisites exist that limit representation? I think about who I am inviting to lunch. I think about who I call to say hello or check up on.

Since then, I have been involved with helping promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. I joined The National Society for Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA) while living in DFW. I appreciated how inclusive the organization was–inviting and working with many other groups. I served on the board of Prospanica (fka NSHMBAs) as the VP of Corporate Relations, then as the Executive Vice President for the San Antonio Chapter. While in Argentina, I moved my organization to participate in events with The Red Shoe Movement to promote women in leadership. To this day, I am involved in my organization’s ERG.