Business Ethics

Last month, I had the chance to visit one of my childhood friends in Salt Lake City. We’ve known each other since we were kids from riding bikes around the neighborhood, to capture the flag to sharing our earliest entrepreneurial endeavors in our early twenties. To name a few: Exporting clothes to Mexico to sell, running a ranch and managing club nights at bars. We’ve both taken very different paths in business. He owns a thriving construction and real estate development company; I run Isla Talent, a recruiting firm specializing in connecting Puerto Rican workers with opportunities in the mainland U.S. On the surface, our industries couldn’t be more different, but spending a few days with him reminded me that the fundamentals of running a successful business are universal.

We spent hours talking about our companies, sharing what’s been working and what’s been challenging. While I learned about the complexities of managing crews, subcontractors, and large development budgets, he was curious about how to recruit workers from Puerto Rico and how I handle multi-state recruiting, client relationships, and candidate experiences. We found that even though the products and services we offer are completely different, the core issues of leadership, communication, financial discipline and long-term vision are the same.

One topic we kept coming back to was business ethics. We talked about how in both construction and recruiting, trust is the foundation. In my world, it’s about ensuring clients get the talent they were promised and candidates are treated fairly. In his world, it’s about making sure projects are built to last, contracts are honored, and promises are kept. Ethics isn’t just about following the law, it’s about doing what’s right even when no one is watching. The choices you make when it’s inconvenient, costly, or tempting to cut corners are the choices that define your reputation for years to come.

The trip was also a powerful reminder of how important it is to step out of your day-to-day routine. As business owners, we can get stuck in our own lanes, so focused on solving our immediate challenges that we forget to look up. Visiting another business, especially one in a completely different industry, gives you fresh eyes. You notice how they run meetings, how they manage their teams, and how they handle customer relationships. Sometimes it reinforces what you’re already doing right; other times it opens your mind to a better way. And sometimes its as simple as having someone that's known you for a very long time to be a cheerleader for your success, big and small. 

Coming back from Salt Lake City, I felt recharged and motivated to push Isla Talent forward with renewed energy and clarity. That visit was more than just catching up with one of my closest friends, it was a reminder that growth often happens when we step outside our comfort zones, seek out different perspectives, and remain open to learning from others. Whether you’ve been in business for two years or twenty, there’s always value in looking beyond your own walls and letting someone else’s success fuel your own.