From the age of nine, Hugo Pérez Ovalles understood the meaning of decent and hard work. He started in a cabinet-making workshop, where he received one peso a week, and when Saturday came, the day he was paid, he felt like the happiest child in the world. From his childhood in his native Moca he fondly remembers the joy and camaraderie of the people in the neighborhood.

Thanks to his desire to improve, he excelled in his studies and was able to access the Educational Credit for Academic Excellence program, with which he became the first in his family to enter university. In 1995, at just 21 years old, he graduated with honors in Civil Engineering from the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra de Santiago de los Caballeros. His thirst for learning, effective performance and overflowing passion for construction and business practice led him to occupy different positions, from resident site engineer to project manager.

After working on several hotel proposals and studying the existing business models, he glimpsed a new niche in the management and direction of tourism projects, which led him, in 2004, to enter independently and assume the development of small tourism projects. hotels that the big companies discarded. Seeing the potential of the tourism cluster model, he decided to take a risk and found, that same year, Therrestra, a company dedicated to the design, construction and supervision of this type of project.

What business models served as the basis for launching independently?

The opportunity to work for myself came by itself, I didn't set out to do it, I just took it. But of course, with 10 years of experience, he knew what to do and what not to do. I think I took a little from each place I was, I took the best of what I learned from each experience to build a solid business platform. He is one of those entrepreneurs who come from a family of limited resources, overcome themselves and fight for an ideal.

What were the biggest challenges you faced when you decided to start your own company?

My case is not unique or special, there are thousands of stories like mine and with which I identify. My biggest problem when starting the work was the economic part. The only material he had at that time was a truck. I went to the bank and they lent me 350,000 pesos with it as collateral. With that money and my vehicle I went to Bávaro to work. That amount was all my capital and all my financial resources.

Why Therrestra? Did he see any guarantee that it was a niche where he could break through and grow?

Therrestra comes from terrestrial, because we are all terrestrial. I didn't know if it would work, there was no certainty about that, but I was sure of one thing: there was a lot of work, I wanted to work and I was willing to try.

How is Therrestra different from other companies in your area? What is your strong point?

There are so many construction companies… Essentially we all do the same thing, but from the beginning we have done the same thing but very quickly. Our delivery times are very short. Therein lies our strong point. In 2016 the company achieved the milestone of being in charge of the 50% of hotel construction in Jamaica, 11 years after having entered the neighboring island.

How is the process of expansion in the Caribbean continuing?

We are registered as a company in Jamaica, Aruba and Saint Martin. We are trading in Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda. We understand that there is a lot of hotel potential to be exploited throughout the Caribbean.

Where do you think the construction industry is heading in the hospitality area in the Dominican Republic? Do you think that the government's goal of reaching 10 million tourists per year by 2022 is a good incentive to revitalize the sector and create more rooms?

I understand that construction is going very well, Dominicans are solidly positioned in hotel construction and this continues. All swimming in the same direction we can make the government's goal of 10 million tourists a year possible. I have not the slightest doubt that this can be achieved; that's what we're working for. Many entrepreneurial initiatives end up disappearing in a short time or have to reinvent themselves to survive.

What would it take for that failure rate to decrease?

There is a song that says: "What once was, will not be." That is the harsh truth, what works for you today is not what works tomorrow, and by nature we are reluctant to change. But it has been shown that without changes the tendency is to cease to exist. We must let the market tell us what product to make. We must listen and stop thinking that the world revolves around us.

He is still very young and at 44 he has a long way to go in this life. Do you have other business ideas that you would like to put into practice?

Of course I have other business ideas, and we are already putting them into practice, slowly... but we are on our way. Despite that youth, his extraordinary career puts him in a position to be able to give advice to those who want to undertake and execute their initiatives.

What words can you dedicate to them?

There is no magic word or specific action for success. Too many variables are involved for success to occur. If I had to use just one word, it would be “attitude”. Knowledge is acquired, experience is acquired..., but with attitude you are born.

When Hugo Pérez Ovalles isn't thinking about Therrestra –or when the Billions season is over–, how do you use your leisure time?

Ugh, I love adventures, assisted parachuting and paragliding, rafting, mountain hiking, I like skiing, traveling... I'm tired of seeing the world through books, magazines, movies... I just want to see it with my own eyes. A place in the Dominican Republic that he always likes to return to and would recommend to a foreigner who comes to see the country…

The Manabao swamp is my escape, my retreat, my peace. The phones don't work there, the rivers are clean and cold; there are mountain houses, or you can sleep in a "sleeping bag" in a tent; There is a grocery store, a cold beer, and many, many good people in that place.