Edgar Gonzalez of Stamford, CT, is an experienced entrepreneur and business leader with a diverse professional background. His experience includes financial operations, property management, and business ownership in the city and its surrounding areas. Stamford, CT, resident Edgar Gonzalez has worked for a variety of firms and organizations during his career.
Mr. Gonzalez began his career in December 2013 as an operations associate at PartnerRe Asset Management in Greenwich, Connecticut. In this role, he compiled analytical reports, processed trade activity, reconciled financial positions, and supported portfolio managers.
In 2018, he became the owner of 27 North St., LLC, an eight-unit apartment building. Since then, Mr. Gonzalez has been managing and overseeing all operational aspects of these rental properties, including marketing management, screening tenants, addressing maintenance and repairs, and collecting rent. He also ensures compliance with local statutes and administers property finances.
In February 2023, Mr. Gonzalez expanded his entrepreneurial pursuits by acquiring Stratmat Laundromat in Bridgeport, Connecticut, under EAG Holdings. He manages all aspects of this business, including staff hiring and training, finances, customer service, and equipment maintenance. Mr. Gonzalez also launched Oh Riley’s, LLC, operating as Woof to Purrfection, a high-end dog grooming salon.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
Given that I own two businesses and multiple rental properties, I do not really have a typical day. But I like to start my day early by going on a walk with my golden retriever, Murphy. I then go to the gym for a fasted workout and have breakfast after that. Depending on the day, I will be going into work at one of the businesses. To make my day productive, I found that writing down what I need to get done really helps. It gives me an agenda, and I begin to check off all items as the day progresses. I like to pack my morning with all things that need to get done and leave the afternoon for meetings, Zoom calls, etc. If I couldn’t get something done, I like to tackle it after dinner and try my best not to put it off for the next day and add it to tomorrow’s list.
How do you bring ideas to life?
I must admit, I don’t consider myself the most creative person around. So, when I do have an idea, my wife has been wonderful at guiding us through the stages of idea to creation. We document the idea and then explore it through research, prototyping, and refinement. I seek feedback, build a plan, and take action to launch the idea. A great example of this is when we created our new logo for our grooming salon. We wanted to rebrand, so we followed the steps above and contacted the proper designers that saw our vision. We are now ready to give the final approval and start launching the new look of the business.
What’s one trend that excites you?
The increasing role of AI and machine learning is one that can’t be overlooked. It’s exciting and scary at the same time. We’ve already seen some amazing things come out of AI, and I think it’s a powerful tool that will truly reshape the future. My wife and I have a 7-month-old son, and we always wonder what the world is going to look like when he graduates high school.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
I need to write things down and set reminders. I use my calendar app on my phone and set a checklist for myself. I have so much going on each day that if I don’t have it written down to reference it, I’ll forget. This habit has helped me tremendously, and it’s a good feeling when I see tasks getting checked off as the day progresses.
What advice would you give your younger self?
First, don’t rely on just one source of income. If you only have a W-2, work on getting another stream of income. If you get hurt, laid off, etc., you just lost your only source of living. Second, learn the power of leverage. Learn to use equity in your home or asset and borrow against it. If you can use someone else’s money, do it and save your own.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you on?
Heartache and pain are blessing. It shows us who we truly are, what we’re made of, and it humbles us. Now you may feel like your life is over, but you’ll eventually learn more from that heartache than any success story.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
I try to get sunlight as much as I can. The benefits of sunlight are overwhelmingly good for you. It makes you feel better, it helps with sleep at night, and your mood is just happier. More people should try to get outside more often.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
I take my dog for a walk. It’s 45 minutes to an hour where I decompress, relax, and try to refocus. Depending how I’m feeling, I’ll put my headphones in and listen to my favorite podcast or other times I’ll just go on the river walk and listen to the water.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
Learning to delegate. I had to learn that I can’t, nor should I, be doing everything on my own. Time is more valuable and learning to delegate tasks and having a great team in place has given me my time back to focus on other projects.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
About five years ago, I had an opportunity to purchase a triplex in our town. I turned it down because I was afraid of getting into debt and still believed that all debt is bad. That property became extremely cashflow positive and skyrocketed in value. I walk by the building quite often and still regret it to this day.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
MoeGo is a software that I use to run my dog grooming business. When I took over the business two years ago, the previous owner still did everything with pen and paper. With MoeGo, clients can book online; I can keep notes on each grooming session; I can take payments; I can run weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly sales numbers; I run payroll through it. It’s truly an all-in-one software for the industry.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast you’ve gotten a ton of value from and why?
My favorite podcast is the Huberman Lab podcast by Dr. Andrew Huberman. He covers so many topics that interest me, from fitness, science, the brain, and so forth. I’ve learned a lot from listening to him and his guest.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden. I just finished it and truly enjoyed it. I love history and because this is about a time that I personally lived through, it was fascinating to see everything that went on behind closed doors during this period.
Key learnings
- Write down the things you need to get done by order of importance.
- Try to get sunlight on your skin every day.
- You don’t have to do everything yourself—build a team and delegate.
- Build multiple sources of income and learn the power of leverage.