We recently connected with Renato Ballestas and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Renato, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
I get my resilience from my desire to survive, provide, and enjoy what I do. As a Colombian immigrant and father, it is embedded in me to find solutions and continue to work towards my goals regardless of the setbacks. When I came to this country after serving in the Colombian Navy, I saw the opportunity to both create a better future for my daughters and devote my time into creating a business that would allow me to share my passions with world.
Considering that resilience is something that is developed and curated through experience, who I am and where I started only express half of what I have learned as becoming an entrepreneur has been the true test of resilience.
Becoming an entrepreneur has been the best decision I have ever made, but it is a choice that has come with many challenges to overcome. To this day, I am a proud founder of two businesses in two different industries which has allowed me to become a more versatile and knowledgable individual in different areas of expertise. Advanced Mechanical, a commercial air conditioning business, and Two Tracks Cellars Brewery, a community-oriented craft wine and beer brewery, are both extensions of my detailed work-ethic and devoted passions. It has been a long and difficult journey getting to where I am, from a dream to reality, but it is through that journey that I have built resiliency.
All in all, I am proud to say learning to speak another language, breaking into different industries as a first-timer, overcoming the financial demands of running a business, and continuing to persevere and adapt has, over the years, collectively shaped my resilience as an entrepreneur.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
From providing Downtown Los Angeles and other Southern California areas with commercial HVAC services for the past 16 years, I delved into the world of winemaking in 2019 and made the transition from hobby to business in 2021 making Two Tracks Cellars Brewery a reality.
Although both of these businesses have been instrumental in shaping who I am as an entrepreneur, Two Tracks Cellars Brewery has been my pride and joy for the past 3 years allowing me to both share my passion with others and cultivate a unique, community-oriented business where everyone can enjoy a carefully-crafted wine and beer.
We are a small family-run business who takes pride in the quality service and products we provide to our valued customers and are excited to share the uniqueness of our approach of our Reserved Wine and House-Brewed Beer as we bring together local artists and quality tastes to the palettes of the local community, while also supporting our Military Service members and First Responders with our Pay One Forward Program.
From hosting weekly live-performances where the whole family can have fun to exclusive wine tastings to our Wine Club members, Two Tracks Cellars Brewery proudly invests in the experience of tasting and enjoying delicately crafted delights to the local Antelope Valley community.
With new brews often in the works, I am excited to announce that I just recently released a new line on tap called ____ and I am eager for many to give it a try!
I am also thrilled to share that as we continue to grow and improve as a business it because of the continued support of our valued customers that our products are now available for purchase in local markets and restaurants for more people to enjoy! I couldn’t be more grateful for this milestone in our journey to share this crafted passion with the world so I would like to personally extend my gratitude to everyone who has supported us along the way as your business and feedback is always so deeply appreciated.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Looking back, having integrity, tenacity, and perseverance were and still are some of the most impactful qualities in my journey as an entrepreneur because of how they collectively shape the basis of who I am and how I do business.
Integrity holds the utmost importance for me because it embodies my commitment to doing what is morally upright and ethically sound. By having integrity as a core value in my business, I know that my plans align with my heart and I can be happy knowing I morally and ethically putting my best foot forward. In addition to having that peace of mind, upholding integrity not only enhances the quality of my work but it also cultivates enduring relationships, fosters trust with clients, and opens doors to opportunities that resonate deeply with my core values and aspirations, ensuring long-term success for my business.
Tenacity stands as the next pillar of significance for me as it encapsulates the unwavering grip one must have on their vision and the clarity of their objectives to make progress in their goals. It is through this determination and a meticulously crafted plans that I am able to lay the groundwork for future endeavors, advancing towards my goals instead of succumbing to adversity. Having tenacity fuels my journey, propelling me ever forward with purpose and resolve.
Perseverance is also of great value to me because I think it is very important as an entrepreneur to have faith in yourself and your dreams. Constantly betting on yourself and learning be a problem solver is what is means to be entrepreneur and aside from being resilient, having perseverance is what allows you to maintain that strength for the long-run of challenges, obstacles, and learning experiences.
The advice I would give to folks who are early on in their career is that these three qualities not only help business, but they also help in overall life. Anyone who is able to develop these skills will also find that personal growth can also be found in the experiences of entrepreneurship.
Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?
Personally, I think it is better to be a more well-rounded individual by improving areas we aren’t strong in rather than only sticking to our strengths because it doesn’t matter what type of business we get into, learning and seeking to improve is a fundamental aspect of life.
As someone who is always seeking to enhance my business approach and reach a larger audience, I am currently learning to master social media applications in this digital age where everyone and everything is found online which is not my strongest suit. In addition to that, I am also continuously learning more about the operations side of the brewing business and the inner workings of this industry as all of these moving pieces are vital to the survival of my business. This is why seeking to be more well-rounded, adaptive and innovative is so instrumental when it comes to being an entrepreneur.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.twotrackscellars.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/twotrackscellars/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553547310370&paipv=0&eav=AfbvCUkDOhWyRnld0Hfxlqj4HVZsbcVkNW6BsnJqZduN4wzZmpiGhqMQJEqt5Vr_Lp8
