Meet William Garay, Jr | Transition Strategist

We had the good fortune of connecting with William Garay, Jr and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi William, can you share a quote or affirmation with us?
My favorite quote is by Leo Tolstoy “the sole meaning of life is to serve humanity”. I discovered this quote about a year ago and it’s aligned with how I live my life every day. When you can serve and give without expectations you find happiness. It starts small with a smile, courtesy, or acts of service and can grow and become lasting memories of the person you are. The fondest memories we have of those that have passed, are those that have brought us joy.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?

My business is like being a juggler, I like to have multiple things in the air and try my best to keep them all afloat. My wife and I have a vendor business together. We serve cold treats with warm smiles. We sell shave ice and freshly squeezed lemonades. We set up at community events, little league sports games, and we do large festivals. It has been a lot of fun to work with my wife Jessica and grow from a single tent only serving shave ice, to being able to do multiple locations, and events selling both lemonades and shave ice. Like most small businesses, we are self-funded and saved to buy our first equipment. We borrowed my parent’s trailer, tents, and table to make it work and slowly cash flowed everything else we needed with profits from the business. When we started, I was working at a warehouse full-time. My wife was managing our home life with four kids, and we were on a journey to eliminate our debt. The biggest takeaway that I share is you have to get started and you have to have a strong WHY. Our goal at first with the business was to bring in additional income to help pay off debt so that we could go to Disney World with all our kids with no worries about money. That journey took two and a half years. But we did pay off all our debt except our house, and on Oct 3-7, 2022, my wife and I took our kids to Disney World. It was amazing. We have new goals for the business. But having a strong WHY really helped us keep pushing forward when an event didn’t go well or something went wrong.

My other business venture is with Charlie Mike The Podcast. Raul Moreno and I host an interview podcast for veterans. We interview other veteran business owners, veteran nonprofits, and local veterans in the community who overcome adversity like addiction, PTSD, or legal issues and share how the listener can Charlie Mike (Continue Mission). We hope by bringing on a variety of guests and giving them a platform to share their story that the listener will recognize a bit of themselves during our shows. Veterans have the skills to excel but when we exit the military, we all deal with similar issues trying to “fit in” with the rest of the civilian population. By bringing awareness and highlighting what veterans are doing in our community, we can show, not only the veterans or people leaving the military but everyone what amazing attributes and skills a veteran brings now that they are out of their respective branch. Again, I must reiterate it’s about getting started. Raul invited me on as a guest and I had been wanting to start a podcast myself, so I jumped at the opportunity. We had one show together and after he asked to me be a guest cohost. Because our chemistry was great on air, he just kept asking me back until I became a part of the show.

Lastly, I am a coach and speaker. After I left my job at the warehouse, I was hired at a nonprofit for veterans called Impact A Hero, as the Director of Programs. I experienced so much professional and personal growth at Impact A Hero. I taught classes, coached veterans, and learned a lot about networking and building relationships. I started making morning motivational videos, centered around leadership and self-development. It was an amazing year that I spent with them. As I mentioned, it was in May of 2022 that we paid off all our debt and I was able to take control of where I wanted to spend my time. I took the summer to help my wife with the many events for our business, I took some classes on communication, and I continued to be involved with veteran events. Over the last few months, I have been asked to speak at various events. Speaking about resilience, changing our mindset, and setting goals. I continue to look for other speaking opportunities and I do one on one coaching for a few clients. My biggest takeaway here is learning to share your story. At Impact A Hero, I shared my personal journey often and it resonated with some of our potential donors, as well as veterans to get involved. At Charlie Mike The Podcast, I share my story so others know that even through dark times and struggles, we can overcome those challenges if we put our minds to it. With the business with my wife, I share my story so others can feel the love and service I must truly provide a great product with a caring smile. Because it’s all about the relationships we have with our event host and the walkup customer.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

To be fair, the greater Houston-area is larger than some U.S. states and with four young kids we don’t travel too far from our side of town. Houston has so many great places to eat and visit that I’m still exploring the city myself. If you’re visiting Houston, you must go to NASA. As kids most of us look up with wonder into the night sky and imagine going to outer space. When you visit NASA you leave with that same curiosity of a child. You begin to wonder about the magnitude of life or even the wonder in your own kids and how to encourage it. Since you are at a NASA, I would head down to the Kemah Boardwalk for some food and social interaction. We have spent many summer days/nights eating some great food from both Voodoo Hut and across the street at Skallywag’s Suds N’ Grub. Both have great food and drinks, and you can typically find live music or a DJ there.

If you’re only in town for a weekend, one day should be spent visiting NASA and the other day should be spent in Downtown Houston. One hidden gem in Houston is the Cistern History Tour. This tour is about the unique space and history of Houston’s water system. Trust me its prettier than it sounds. While downtown, there are so many great places to eat and, since it’s Texas, we must grab BBQ. I’m a huge fan of Cobo’s HTX. With great menu items like Boudin Mac-N-Brisket quesadilla or Birria tacos. The owner may throw down something special or unique at any time depending on the crowd or special event. Like an Astros baseball game. It’s also great atmosphere to watch sports and close to many other great spots in Houston, as day turns to night.

I don’t drink anymore but when I did, we would always (and occasionally still do) end our nights at 2-A-Days Sports Bar. They have a great staff and have always made me and any guest I bring feel like family. It’s a great place to watch sports, have a late-night snack and maybe an adult beverage ( I’ll stick to Topo Chicos). They host local musicians and have a great community feel by hosting events for charities or fundraisers for people in need.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?

I thank her almost every day for her constant encouragement, her belief in me, and her love. I must thank my wife, Jessica for standing by my side through these last few years and sometimes for a kick in the butt to get my act together. The last three years in particular, have been amazing and I’ve enjoyed watching her grow and blossom as much as I’ve grown myself.

I’d also like to shoutout, Raul Moreno of Charlie Mike Military Apparel and Charlie Mike The Podcast for being a yin to my yang. We may be opposites, but we are both passionate about our continued service to veterans and helping others to always Charlie Mike (Continue Mission)

Instagram: @WGarayJr

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/williamgarayjr

Facebook: @WGarayJr

Youtube: @CharlieMikethePodcast

Other: TikTok: @WGarayJr Shave Ice/Lemonade Socials: FB/IG @SnowieJeba