Heroes in Business - Harry Garewal, CEO, Trin and Associates, Fiesta Bowl Board of Directors, Executive Committee, National School Boards Association

Episode Date: January 21, 2021

It's a matter of using all the tools you have. CEO Trin and Associates, Fiesta Bowl Board of Directors, and more Harry Garewal is interviewed by David Cogan founder of Eliances and host of the Eliances Heroes show broadcast on am and fm network channels, internet radio, and online syndication.    

Welcome back to Alliances Heroes, where heroes in business align. To be part of our community and find out more about Alliances, visit www.alliances.com. Well, welcome back. I am so excited about the next person we're going to be interviewing. And again, I want you to make sure that you check out alliances.com. Check out the last interview that we did with the CEO of Honor Health Foundation. Go to, you should all know it now, alliances.com, that's E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com. Why? Because it is the only, the only place

where entrepreneurs align. And I'm honored today because we have with us, are you ready? The CEO of Trin and Associates, Fiesta Bowl Board of Directors, Executive Committee and Board Member of the National School Boards Association and so much more. Welcome to the show, Harry Gearwalt. Thank you, David. I'm excited to be here with you today. All right. I don't even know where to start, Harry. Your bio is probably one of the longest bios of people that I've interviewed. You have like how many lives, 10, 12 different lives and

stuff. It's just amazing. And so many different industries. Harry, first of all, I got to ask you the magic question is how in the world did you do so much in just one lifetime here? Well, you know, David, I've been blessed. So, you know, when I started off at age 13 as a field laborer in California, that really helped me to understand that that's not the kind of work I wanted to do all my life. But I have to tell you, the one thing that really did help me a lot, though, was I had an experience when I was about 13. I bought a ticket to the Ringley Barnum and Bailey Circus, and I sat in the center row, looking right at, you know, the center ring. And you know how they used to bring out the pracoderms at the end of the show, right? And

they put them up on a three-legged stool and make them stand up. I know that people would look and they would say, how did they train the elephants to do that? I was looking at the stool going, how does it hold up under that weight? And that three-legged stool is really what helped me to start to understand about a good foundation. So that's how I was able to start to do as much as I had done in life. You know what? I'm going to share that actually, because we had on the CEO of Ringley Brothers now, Feld Entertainment, on our show and stuff. That's absolutely amazing. So with the various industries that you've been in, which one, you know, maybe stands out the most? And then we want to talk about to what you're doing now.

OK, well, you know, I have had a very robust career in a lot of different ones. But the one in particular was in aerospace when we started up a aerospace company in South Phoenix, because people just didn't think that you could have a manufacturing facility like that caliber in the southern part of the city, right? But we had BF Goodridge Aerospace. I was blessed to be able to come in and help start that up. And we started building commercial evacuation systems for Boeing, McDonnell Douglas. And then later on, we became a tertiary supplier for Dutch Airbus. That really gave me a lot of experience and understanding of how corporations work. And so that led me into a number of other opportunities, as well as running the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Minority Business Enterprise Center, because

I could actually talk between community and corporate America. Those are two areas that I could bridge together very well, which led me to Trenton Associates. And under Trenton, we actually got into health care. So we opened up one of the first family practices and medically underserved area in West Phoenix, where we were able to provide health care to people that typically didn't have good quality health care under the Affordable Care Act. That was in 2009. And so we did a lot of, you know, innovative things there. So I've been blessed to have a lot of innovative experiences. But today in Trinidad Associates, we've been able to take that experience and really kind of formulate it into a way that we're able to provide different types of services and products, not just by myself, but the term associates really

means that I have partnerships with HR companies. We have financial advisors and investors who are looking for great projects. We also have others that do digital marketing and branding. So we have a lot of different folks that are in our sphere. But Trenton Associates really provides a very large platform of opportunities for small businesses in particular, but also for larger sectors like counties, cities, municipalities, or nonprofits who are looking to build affordable housing, they're looking for workforce housing, infrastructure, you know, development, industrial parks, all those things. So our investors are looking between $20 million to $600 million worth of opportunities.

That's phenomenal. And again, we've got Harry Gearwall, CEO of Trin and Associates. You could reach him at trin, T-R-I-N, and associates.com. And of course, we'll have it on our website because you're listening and watching me, David Kogan, host of the Alliances Hero Show. So make sure you go to Alliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com. The only place where entrepreneurs align.

Now, you're also, too, on the Fiesta Bowl Board of Directors? Yes, I'm actually on my first term. And I'm very proud of that. I was recruited, gosh, two years ago and went through the process and was interviewed, and I'm happy to say that the board saw some value, so they asked me to join them, and I am now also on the finance and audit committee for the Fiesta Bowl. With all the, you know, various fields that you've been in, again,

you know, well over 10 plus, you know, different industries of all different kinds, what would you say has been one of the common thread that has made you successful really to be able to thrive through each of those industries? You know, David, when I started off, like I said, I've been on my own since I was 13. And I really learned a lot in the streets. But more importantly, I was able to start to really understand that irregardless of the industry, there was always a thread. And that thread was the business acumen never changed. Industry changed, product and services changed, but the basic backbone of the organization never changed in the business enterprises.

So I was able to take that and really expand it into whatever industry, whatever product or services that I got involved with. And it helped, you know, for me to be able to go in there with that foundation in order to be able to contribute to whatever organization I was involved with. Tell me, Harry, what education means to you. Well, as I mentioned, you know, I started off in a position, right, where I didn't even think I was going to be able to go on to school. But I was able to get a scholarship and was able to go on to college. And for me, education is really the platform. It's the stepping stone to getting into, you know, a really good opportunity. But it's not just formal education. It could be in career technical education. If you use your hands, your back, your whatever skills and knowledge you have, right, and you apply that education to it

to advance whatever your goals are. Then to me, education really does provide us that opportunity. What do you say to all the parents now that are having to, you know, go through different things that nobody's in the world ever had to go through before of raising children with everything that's going on right now in the world. With things and the incredible knowledge that you've gained over the years, what things would you be able to perhaps share with parents now that are watching and listening to help guide their children, you know, to make the impact like you have? Well, so I will tell you this, my next door here in my home office, my grandson, who's seven years old, is on virtual school. Across the way, I have a two bedroom that my daughter lives in with her husband and family.

And she's a school teacher. She's a math teacher in middle school. And so what I would say to parents is really stay focused on your child's academic development, but also on their physical and spiritual development. academic development, but also on their physical and spiritual development. Those to me have been really essential because I think that those are the foundations for young people to really be able to grow and aspire and accomplish what they want to do. Well, Harry, what you've accomplished so far has been absolutely incredible and what you continue to do by providing private consulting services to the executives, what in the health, education, housing industries, and so much more. You know what? You've made an impact. You continue to make an impact.

That's a hero. Make sure that you go to TrinAndAssociates.com. And when you do, ask for Harry Fearwall. This has been David Kodman with the Alliances Hero Show. Thank you, David. Absolutely.