Javier Palomarez of Flower Mound was just appointed president and CEO of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the advocate for almost 3 million Hispanic-owned businesses and more than 200 local Hispanic chambers throughout the United States. But his journey to the top required hard work.

Where are you originally from?
I grew up in South Texas – the Rio Grande Valley.

What was your life like growing up?
I grew up in a migrant farm worker environment. My mom raised 10 kids on her own. We were classic hardworking Americans.

I learned English as a second language. I went to public school. But my mom passed away when I was a teenager, so I had to drop out of school to go to work. Later, I went back and got my GED and went University of Texas-Pan American where I majored in finance.

I received the Wall Street Journal Student Achievement Award in ’86.

What was your first job?
Oh my gosh, my first job was a migrant farm worker picking vegetables – corn, strawberries. I was probably 5 or 6 years old. We were sharecroppers. We worked the crop. The whole family participated in the labor. Everybody worked.

When you were a kid, how did you see your future?
I was fortunate to be raised by a very wise and intellectual Latina. My mother immigrated to this country with what would be equivalent to a CPA. But they weren’t hiring CPAs. They definitely weren’t hiring women CPAs. She was a maid during the day and janitor at night cleaning junior high school. My mother was very clear about relevance of family, our country and religion. Her primary concern was that we were prepared and have a better life than she did. This is just part of my commitment back to my mom for what she did for me.

How has your history made you who you are?
I firmly believe we live in greatest country. My family and my wife of 25 years, we’re strong believers in being involved. I was taught to believe the sky is the limit. That how I was taught to look at it and that’s how we teach our two sons to look at it.

Lindsey Bever is a reporter with neighborsgo and can be reached at 972-436-5551 ext. 3004 or via e-mail at lbever@neighborsgo.com. If you have a story, photo or video you'd like to share, please post it directly on neighborsgo.com.