Margarita Howard

Margarita Howard is the sole owner and president/CEO of HX5. Since establishing HX5 in 2004 and building it from the ground up, Howard has led the enterprise, which specializes in providing professional space and defense mission support services for federal government entities.

Over the years, under Howard’s leadership, HX5 has been entrusted by its government clients to provide professional services in the areas of software and hardware engineering; information technology; research, development, and test; mission operations support; program management and logistics; and military weather. HX5 provides a roster of professionals dedicated to HX5’s customers’ missions who are educated, experienced, trained, and cleared to work at the highest levels necessary to support HX5’s customers’ operations.

Howard’s corporate philosophy for HX5 has always been to support its government customers in a mission-focused manner that maintains the highest ethical standards while delivering professional services of the utmost quality. HX5 is, and always has been, 100% owned by Margarita Howard. In 2012, Howard was recognized by the U.S. Small Business Administration for accomplishments in growing HX5, garnering her the 2012 SBA Minority Small Business Person of the Year for SBA National Region 4. Howard was again lauded in 2015 by the SBA with the SBA North Florida Woman-Owned Small Business Person of the Year award.

What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?

When I’m not away from the office traveling and visiting customer locations, generally speaking, a typical day always begins with an Executive-level briefing and a review of all immediate priorities and/or pressing issues. That’s followed by ensuring I’m current with all my communications (emails, phone calls, etc.) and then participating in any number of departmental meetings throughout the day. I find I am most productive by following my schedule and routine that I have planned out for the day, week, and month. While having a plan to follow is important, it’s equally important that one should always understand the importance of being flexible and being able to adapt to any unforeseen changes that may occur.

How do you bring ideas to life?

By creating a safe and open environment for brainstorming where team ideas can be freely presented, debated, explored, rejected, or adopted.

What’s one trend that excites you?

The recent growth of Artificial Intelligence is certainly something that is exciting to see and think about, but while recognizing and appreciating the immense power and potential of AI, it’s equally important that we always remain cognizant of the potential dangers it may present and how it could be used to impact our business, for the better or worse.

What is one habit that helps you be productive?

I am very big on scheduling my time. This is one habit that has helped me be the most productive; it allows me to follow a set routine that I have planned out in advance, while always accounting for the flexibility to adjust as needed.

What advice would you give your younger self?

The advice I would give my younger self is to pace yourself; while working hard and staying focused is always important for one to achieve success, always remember to make time for the little meaningful things that often get overlooked, and you can’t go back and redo.

What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?

I always do my best to stay grounded mentally, spiritually, and physically, and I believe it’s of the utmost importance for anyone in a leadership position to surround themselves with individuals who tell the leader what they need to hear, not what they think the leader wants to hear. As a leader, one should never fall into the trap of believing in one’s own press, so to speak.

When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?

Stop, take a breath, and regroup are the most important things that can be done in the moment, followed by engaging in physical exercise and/or meditation when circumstances permit.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?

Being fiscally responsible is one of the most important strategies to grow a business. While that may sound simplistic, in reality, it ultimately includes virtually every decision that has to be made from when and what type of purchases and investments should be made, to what types of competitive risks to take, when to staff up or staff down, to what opportunities should be pursued and which ones abandoned, etc. Building a team of professionals who are highly skilled in understanding the importance of fiscally responsible decision-making is absolutely critical for any business owner.

What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?

Understanding this is perhaps more of a suggestion rather than an idea, I would suggest to a business owner to be sure that early on, you develop a core group of external advisors in the different areas of expertise that you will need to rely on, such as external experts in the areas of taxes, legal, banking, insurance, and other areas that may be specifically related to the type of work being done. These outside experts will become critical as the business starts to grow, as they will be needed to provide sound subject matter advice when big issues and decisions come up where their expertise level will be needed. Waiting to try to find that expertise later on instead of establishing it up front, can create major problems for the business who did not take the time upfront to build these external advisor relationships.

What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?

For me, Microsoft Office provides me the most benefit in being productive. It allows me to manage my schedules, my contacts, my emails, team meetings, and tasks and it has a number of other support components I utilize on a daily basis.

Key learnings

• Having a plan, schedule, or daily routine is always helpful as it allows you to be more focused, efficient, and productive.
• In addition to the importance of a healthy diet and regular exercise, a healthy lifestyle should also include finding activities or practices that promote a positive and healthy state of mind.
• Build a core group of outside trusted advisors for business matters and build an internal team that will tell you, as the leader, what you need to hear, not what they think you want to hear.
• Always ensure that you always remain aware of the latest technology trends that can affect your business and be ready to change and adapt to them as needed.