May 15, 2017

Meet Marisela Arechiga of New Generation Home Improvements in Encino

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marisela Arechiga.

Marisela, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Building dream spaces and owning our own business have always been shared passions of ours. Mario grew up in East Los Angeles and as a boy loved using his hands to create. He would spend hours building low-rider model cars and as he grew older his passion for using his hands to create transferred into painting art. After a few years of experience in the electrical trade he found a way to harnessed his respect for technicality and love of creativity by obtaining a bachelor’s degree at CSULB in Construction Engineering Management, revealing a natural talent for building and renovating. Before striking it out on his own he spent many years utilizing this talent at several prominent commercial construction companies in Los Angeles working on major multi-million dollar projects.

I’m an entrepreneur at heart and always dreamed of leading a business of my own. I grew up in a small migrant community named Lamont just outside of Bakersfield, California. As a little girl, I remember my dad constantly speaking of having his own business and being his own boss. I remember how proud he was and how hard he and my mother worked when they bought a farm of their own that they would run and cultivate. My exposure to their hardwork and dreams of entrepreneurship planted a seed that today I’m privileged to feed and grow. I graduated from UCSB and knew I was meant to lead a business of my own but never really knew in what or how but I knew that if given the opportunity I would base it on honest and open communication that delivered the best quality. I drove my career to gain experience in business, communications, sales, service, leadership and project management in and outside the corporate construction sector where I managed large scale construction projects from beginning to end.

Mario and my relationship started on a salsa dance floor in Century City. As we began to date we realized that we not only had the important things in common to make for a successful relationship but we also shared this idea of being self-made. When it came to the idea of one day having our own business it just seemed to make sense. We blended our strengths, ideals and passions to create New Generation Home Improvements. In 2009, we struck out on our own and started New Generation at the height of the economic crisis. We knew we could offer something unique to the industry with Mario’s talent and respect for space, and my desire to grow a business on principles too often ignored in renovation projects: professionalism, communication and customer service.

Getting to where we are at today has been a fun and busy road filled with tremendous lessons along the way. Some lessons are easier to learn than others but Mario and I are doing what we are best at. We spend each day doing what we love and it makes the ride so much sweeter.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Starting the business in 2009 during the height of the economic crisis took a major leap of faith (and a high endurance for pain). At this point, Mario and I were newlyweds, working for prominent General Contracting firms and also found ourselves 4 months pregnant with our first son. Mario came home from work one night, (it had to have been 10pm or so) while I was in the middle of the worst ALL DAY sickness (it wasn’t just morning sickness for me). He sat next to me and I’ll never forget his tone when he said “We need to start the business now.” I thought he had lost his mind.

You see, for years before 2009 he and I had played into this idea of having our own renovation business. We would sit around our patio in Culver City and envision how things would be and the endless amount of possibilities and opportunities we would have available to us. But when he came home that night in 2008 and said “we do it now” well, I didn’t find it inspiring and didn’t need any help feeling any more nauseous than I already was.

I thought “Your crazy! Right now, is not the time. People are losing their jobs, their life savings, their homes!! Who is going to want to renovate their home in this climate!!??” Let me reiterate that I was pregnant. I immediately started to worry about all the important stuff like health insurance and stability and being able to afford diapers…you know important things that babies need.

After my rant of how he was crazy Mario, in a very calm and confident voice said “if we can find out how to do this now we’ll be better for it when the market turns and the market will eventually turn.”

Thus, we started New Generation Home Improvements from the living room of our rented Culver City duplex. The first four years were all about winning any project that we could get our hands on. We needed as much experience running our own crews and learning what it really meant to run a successful project. Most projects barely kept us afloat while others had us losing money but in our mind the experience was what counted the most.

Mario was right. We fought really hard and at times worked non-stop but it has paid off. We are better for the tremendous challenge we faced as we started the business; it made us exercise our grit and challenged our ability to be savvy. Today grit and savvy have become a part of the fabric of who Mario is and who I am. The struggle transformed us for the better.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about New Generation Home Improvements – what should we know?
New Generation Home Improvements is a home renovation company that specializes in improving spaces for homeowners. Weather its adding square feet to a home, improving a kitchen or bathroom space we do that and everything in between.

We are very proud of the expertise we bring to every project. We didn’t wake up one day and decide to be general contractors. Outside of our education at CSULB, UCSB and UCLA we come with experience in managing major multi-million dollar projects on the commercial side. The experience we gained in running these full-scale projects is something we bring along with us to every home we enter.

We believe that we bring a “New Generation” to renovation by building a reputation of not only having a great vision for space but also having excellent business practices that respect the homeowner, while delivering a quality and custom product. It’s been said that we are the designers dream contractor because we know how to bring a designer’s idea to life.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
We unfortunately find ourselves in one of those industries where there are far too many zero’s and not enough hero’s. The trades are filled with people who are many times unlicensed, operating with no insurance and the homeowners pay the price for it.

Truth be told many times homeowners, looking to save a buck keep unlicensed contractors in business because they are looking for the “cheap” way out. In so many cases the homeowner pays the ultimate price for it.

Putting our experience and commitment to our craft aside, Mario and I have values that we hold our self, our employees and our business to. Something so simple as doing what you say your gonna do when you’re going to do it goes a long way in any kind of business and in our line of business in particular.

We believe in treating each client as a partner, and setting the bar for the best client experience.

We pride ourselves on making the renovation process as seamless as possible. We take on the responsibility of updating a homeowner’s space and caring for the project as if it were our own. Through respect, communication and care we are building this business up: brick by brick,

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