Entrepreneur Success Videos From The "Making It! TV" Show

While in the military, David Perry (310-846-5100 x110) became interested in photography. David wanted to make a career out of his passion, but knew that he had to make a living. After working in sales and marketing for various corporations, David decided to put himself on commission and branch out on his own. Instead of photographing models and actresses, David focused on corporate work. His present company, PHOTOVISIONS INC, was financed out of pocket. However, prior to starting his new company, David's life had taken a wrong direction. Nearly destroyed by a drug and alcohol addiction, David was homeless for three years. But after going through recovery, David picked himself up and continued pursuing his entrepreneurial dream. Since then, his company has gone national by building relationships and alliances with corporations such as Verizon. The company's primary focus is on corporate assignments, but it also does weddings, parties, and sporting events. A major future assignment will be to cover the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. For more resources: http://www.MakingitTV.com (Nelson Davis Productions)

Raised in a bilingual home, Arlene Thomas (562-436-1701), the daughter of Costa Rican immigrants found an immediate and clear need to break down the language and cultural barriers she faced at home and in society. After graduating with a degree in political science, Arlene worked for a few years with various firms in the language services industry. Soon, Arlene found the need to start a company that offered more than just temporary contracts to employees. In 1995, TCS (THOMAS COMPUTER TRANSLATIONS) was born. Her company specializes in translating documents, websites, and advertisements into more than 150 different languages and dialects. Although TCS is one of the leading language service firms in the country, the company has suffered some setbacks. When an important client dropped their services, Arlene focused on reinventing her company to get through difficult times. Today, the business has increased its profits over last year from $1.7 million to $2 million. As her inspiration, this "melting pot" has given her the necessary market to run a successful company that has now gone national.

Linda Stone came to the United States from the Philippines with only $350. She went to school and became a full-time computer programmer, only to realize that temporary employees working at the same company were making twice as much money. The company she worked for asked her to bring in other programmers into the company. Linda realized that her services could become a business and consequently founded APR CONSULTING, a temporary employment firm. Linda provides services for Southern California Edison. Upon the recommendation of Edison's supplier diversity manager, she joined Edison's supplier management program. Although she attended an entrepreneurial management program at the University of California, Los Angeles to help manage the firm, Lisa credits Edison's supplier management program for building her business sense.

Robert Zamarippa was working for a large electrical distribution company until he became unhappy with the new management and left the company. In 1983, he decided to start his own electrical distribution company, ONE SOURCE DISTRIBUTORS. He funded the company by himself with the help of his business partner, his father, and local bank. He initially began by supplying electrical parts, but at a customer's request, Robert began an assembly and manufacturing division. One Source Distributors became involved with Sempra Energy through the San Diego Gas and Electric division. He credits San Diego Gas and Electric for pushing the company out of its comfort zone so that it could develop further. The Southern California Gas Group (SCGG) is another part of Sempra Energy that has been strategically important for One Source Distributors because SCGG consumes a lot of the company's electrical products.

THE LATINO MUSEUM opened its doors 13 years ago. Its objective is to educate people about the Hispanic culture through art exhibition. Helping the non-profit organization to fulfill its mission was Bank of America; they leased and later donated a building to house the displays. In 2004, the city of Los Angeles invoked imminent domain and seized the structure. This was a mixed blessing because the museum was given $5,000,000. Stan Sosa (323-780-7231), a managing board, is strategizing to revive The Latino Museum. He is teaming up with Bank of America to acquire a new building. Stan is also planning to open satellite museums in regions with a dense Hispanic population over the next five years.