Meet Eric Mbiu | Founder & President

We had the good fortune of connecting with Eric Mbiu and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Eric, other than deciding to work for yourself, what else do you think played a pivotal role in your story?
Choosing to be PROACTIVE and not just settle for the bare minimum at the workplace when I started in the mortgage business.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
STEM Developers is a full fledged development company that can offer design, finance and build services not only to clients but to our own projects that are currently in the pipeline as well as those that are ongoing. Currently as a rookie company (less than 5 years old) venturing into the construction industry post Covid, I’d say that many companies are ahead of us when it comes to funding sources, etc., but what sets us apart I believe is our will to succeed and never quitting and also the fact that we were in the real estate business from the lending/finance perspective so we know how to structure deals to be able to get 3rd party financing to at least build the products we want and cater/service the clients who need us the most.

I have always been in business since I came to this country from Kenya. When I was in elementary school and middle school in the Spring School District, my mom used to take us to Harwin, we’d buy items/goods on wholesale and go to flea markets on Aldine area and even Traders village and sell them retail. We’d also help clean this church back in the late 80’s, early 90’s on Wheeler St. (forgot the name of it or if it’s still there) and when I got to high school, she and I opened our first business together, a boy’s home for the Mentally challeged called Westwood House. So, that work ethic has and always has been instilled in me and it led me to where I am today by way of the Mortgage business.

No, starting and running a business is NEVER EASY. Especially when you want to Joint Venture (JV) with people and they want to take advantage of you or genuinely help people thinking they will reciprocate and they are in it just for themselves. There are many projects I’ve helped or been a major part of and it always ended up where, when they succeeded, they don’t throw you a life line or even acknowledge your contribution. Even sometimes with family, it can be a journey that can really question your being and will to continue or give up and get a 9-5. I have been and seen so many failures and that has helped me overcome those challenges as with each failure or process, I always so the positive outcomes and was able to correct the mistakes every step of the way and for 2023 and beyond, with the great partners, investors that I have, the future looks bright indeed. I am in no way saying it will be easy, no investment or business is, even when you think you’re out of the woods, you just have to keep getting better. Our biggest obstacles is also getting funding, whether it’s Lines of Credit or getting low interest rates from banks especially with construction based businesses. We fight a good fight and add/contribute to the housing supply in our niche markets but banks requirements can make it difficult to get funding even when you bank with them and do lots of transactions through them but we still find a way until we succeed. I’VE NEVER BEEN A QUITTER AND NEVER TAKE “NO” FOR AN ANSWER.

In all my social media and sometimes I say it to myself, the work “Kaizen”, meaning, “continuous improvement.” With every failure or hardships along the way, I always say that to myself as with every obstacle, failure, hardships, I tell myself, did you improve or learn something from it??? It has kept me going and kept my mind focused at the reason I am doing this.

What I want the world to know about our brand is that, we are really focused in revitalizing our own communities and rural areas and in doing so, we have a non-profit that is an NGO and together, we are tackling the affordable housing and rental space through our Baptist Builders, Inc. (https://www.bbiintl.org/) and we look forward to those who want to donate for us to continue doing our work can do so by reaching out to me as the VP of Finance and Real Estate Development. And then we have an Opportunity Zone Fund called DerliMax (https://derlimax.com/) with a few partners of mine that is strictly for those with Capital Gains to invest in our fund so we can help revitalize areas known as Opportunity Zones. If they need more information on it, they can read it on our website or contact me directly through my website (www.stemdevelopersllc.com) contact page.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
There’s so many places to go in Houston and it being a city of many cultures, we’d visit China town as I know my friend’s love great Asian foods and hang out at several City Centre’s (The Woodlands, Sugar Land and Spring Branch area) for drinks and great time. I would also take them to The Post as my friends also love architecture and the rooftop at The Post downtown would be a great location for them.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Through my journey, I can say there is more than one person that is instrumental to my journey to be successful, from those who have believed in me so far to those who have literally and genuinely invested hard cash into my real estate development projects. From family, to mentors, friends and investors. They know who they are when they read this and if they have to think if they are, then they are probably not the ones.

Website: https://www.stemdevelopersllc.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stemdevelopers/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericmbiu/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STEMDevelopers/

Image Credits
Image credits to “STEM Developers LLC, Baptist Builders International, Inc. & Derlimax LLC”