For Patricia Quintero, the road to business success has not been easy.
Less than a decade ago, Quintero never would have guessed she would be in business to begin with, let alone as the president and majority owner of Publimax Printing, a Ridgewood-based printing company that has grown dramatically in the time since Quintero has taken over.
In fact, Quintero’s path to Publimax was the result of circumstances she’d just as soon forget.
But Quintero has turned hardship into success.
Born in Lima, Peru in 1973, Quintero said her roots were humble.
“We weren’t poor, but we weren’t wealthy, either,” said Quintero. “We were middle-of-the-road.”
Quintero enjoyed her life in Peru, but in 1982, her father was forced to leave in order to continue to provide his family with the comfortable life they deserved.
“Everything has a price, and a major price for our family was that my father had to move to the United States,” she said. “He was a manager at a business in Peru, and it was a good job, but they closed their doors, and he was forced to go to the U.S. to keep providing for us.”
For seven long years, Quintero, her mother, her two sisters and her brother were separated from their father, but ultimately, the move paid off. By 1990, Quintero’s father had opened a printing business in Long Island City and was able to move his family to Queens.
For Quintero, the reunion was a dream came true, but it also bred a new set of difficulties. Most notably, Quintero said she struggled with the language barrier.
“When I first got here, I didn’t know a word of English,” she said. “I was 17 years old and I had to spend my last year of high school in a new school, a new country. It was hard.”
Eventually, Quintero learned English and attended Borough of Manhattan Community College, then got a degree from Nassau College in Nursing. Quintero became a nurse, got married, and soon had kids. Times were growing easier.
That was when things changed.
In 1999, Quintero’s father sustained a serious injury at work and was rendered temporarily disabled. Unable to walk well - and therefore unable to work - his business was left in a shambles.
Knowing he needed assistance, Quintero made a serendipitous decision. She chose to work at the business for a time, expecting to help her father until he was back to health, but not planning to stay longer than she needed to.
But, despite those plans, Quintero ended up falling in love with the business. Eight years later, she is the president of what has become Publimax Printing, and owns 68 percent of the company.
To say Publimax has found success might be an understatement. The company has worked with a slew of large companies, including CBS and Wal-Mart, to print displays and designs to be featured in the companies’ buildings. The company also prints magazines, books and presentation folders.
In addition, Publimax has purchased its own, 70,000-square foot building, and Quintero says its volume of clients is increasing by the day. Currently, Publimax prints 35 magazines, and serves a diverse clientele.
“We have Jewish, Brazilian, Hispanic clients,” said Quintero. “Everyone.”
The secret to her success?
“I just try to understand my customer on everything, and give them the best, at the right price,” she said.
Work is not the only place Quintero has found joy. She recently celebrated her 11th wedding anniversary to husband Andres, and together the couple has two children: Andrew, 9, and Justin, 5.
Quintero says there are still certain feats she wants to accomplish. Among them is her hope to expand her business, update the company’s equipment, and find ways to better serve clientele.
But she certainly isn’t complaining about how far the company has come.
“I’m very happy,” she said. “I like running the business. I like the pressure of knowing it’s up to me to make sure everything is perfect and as it should be.”
