In episode 64 of Everything is Up, Tammera Hollerich interviews Roy Rodriguez, CEO & Founder at Intercon Paper, the largest family-owned paper converter in Texas. Roy shares the story of how he and his father started the business, the challenges they faced, and the evolution of the company over the years.
Tune in to gain insights into the balancing act of being a successful business owner and a dedicated family man.
TIMESTAMPS
[00:03:06] Family business legacy in paper.
[00:08:23] Entrepreneurial journey and learning process.
[00:11:16] Family business dynamics.
[00:14:16] Losing both parents to COVID.
[00:19:50] Overcoming family tragedy in business.
[00:22:40] Paper conversion process explained.
[00:25:37] Paper manufacturing process.
[00:33:11] Balancing work and family.
[00:35:23] Paper production insights.
QUOTES
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
Tammera Hollerich
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TammeraHollerich
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tammerahollerich/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thollerich/
Roy Rodriguez
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/roy.rodriguez.5203/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rogelio-rodriguez-74799123/
WEBSITES
Everything Is Up: https://everything-is-up.simplecast.com/
Tammera Hollerich: https://tammerahollerich.com/
Intercon Paper Solutions: https://www.interconpapersolutions.com/
Welcome to everything is up a podcast about the real life stories of people who have created extraordinary levels of success. These are conversations with people who are constantly striving to take things to the next level. And now here's your host.
Welcome to everything is up with Tammera. Joining me today is it's Jose, but you go by Roy, right?
Tammera Hollerich
Jose, actually that's my father's name. It's Jose Rogelio Rodriguez. And I was just Rogelio Rodriguez. So the name J.R. Rodriguez International Corporation is because he was actually, he and I started the business way back when. Actually, he started it and I partnered up with him.
Roy Rodriguez
Perfect. Okay, so, guys, everybody, this is Roy Rodriguez from Intercom Paper. I'm really excited to have you on the show today, Roy. It isn't often that I get to have somebody right here from home. You guys actually started Intercom Paper right in Fort Worth, Texas, correct?
Tammera Hollerich
Yes, that's correct.
Currently now you guys have the largest family owned paper converter here in Texas with the plant in Dallas. Is that correct?
Yes, yes, we're right here. Close to downtown Dallas between DFW and Love Field.
Nice. OK, so paper convert. Well, let me back up everybody. So just so everybody who's listening kind of has the background here. This is. This this is very cool. And you know, we have a lot of businesses that managed to stick around, you know, 3040 years, but you guys have literally been around now for 74 years. And in here in Texas, have managed to grow a international business because you have locations in Mexico as well. And that's I mean, that's really awesome. And while your dad started it, you joined him and are now president, correct?
Yeah, so really the company when my father and I partnered up was back in 1998. My dad had been around in the industry for for a long time, way before then. So. As you know, he's doing his thing in the in the paper business, in the printing business, this was completely for cell phones. So.
Right. I didn't think about that. Yeah.
Yeah, it was booming back then. So the printing was the way companies were communicating with their customer base. And my father was a part of that during that boom way back when. So that's really where the idea of starting in the paper business, just listening to my dad for years and years and years, And then when I got out of college, we started JR Rodriguez in 1998. But yeah, before then, he had been in the industry for a long time. And it was one of those things where we get in the business. Apparently and supposedly when the market was really in a downturn, you know, we had already seen the heyday of the paper business. So I was just getting into getting out of college. And I always heard my dad talking about it, talking to his customers and just the way he was so enthusiastic about it. I had no idea what he was talking about, but it sounded really cool and it intrigued me. And when Right when we decided, okay, let's start doing, let's start selling paper. And like as 100% what we did full time, I had no idea that it was in a downturn because there was a tremendous amount of printing companies. There was a tremendous amount of paper companies. And right about then, a lot of people started going out of business. So in a way, It that downturn really worked out for us because I was able to go to all these auctions and buy paper. I was fresh right out of college and I would go to these companies that were going out of business. And these were these companies that seemed like there was a company going out of business like every month. And back in the day, we would go into these warehouses and they would have equipment. They were auctioning off equipment. They were auctioning off office desks, chairs, and then paper. And I was just kind of hanging around for the paper because I really had no interest in any of the other stuff. And I just kind of remember my mind being so fresh. I was so young, so eager that I would sit there and say, hey, this this stack of rolls, you know, you got to put a bid in. And I would I would do the math in my head. And I knew exactly how much I could pay. And everybody else that was there, I guess I don't know. I don't remember if they were older gentlemen, but it was completely catching them off guard that they didn't even know how to bid. And it was going so fast. And I was able to capitalize on a lot of those.
uh bid opportunities and uh that's the right that is the right word for it because um you just didn't know any better right you didn't know i had no fear no fear right risk taker right out of school um well and that's the beauty of it too because you know you hear um success stories be like You know, I just had an opportunity, like I just saw an opportunity. In any downturn, there's always an opportunity. So regardless of whether or not these companies were not able to pivot, or they weren't progressive enough, or they were kind of stuck, because I think that happens a lot, you know, older companies, they get stuck or paralysis, right, you know, and they just can't see the opportunity that you saw. That's pretty amazing. That's pretty amazing.
Yeah, and I think they had hit some type of a maturity at some point because even a lot of the people that I was able to meet in the industry back when didn't stand in the industry. They went off and started doing different things. There's very few people that were getting out of the business that were saying, hey, it's going to shut down, but we're going to go and open something else up. So in a weird way, it just opened up a lot of opportunities because there was some type of void. And I didn't have any bills. I didn't have any kids. I wasn't married. I didn't have to make any money. I was just happy being an entrepreneur and just being able to go out there and, you know, traveling, you know, into Mexico, into different factories in the United States and just getting to network and meet different people. So I had absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain. And my father was He and I were just partners and he was handling all the operations part of the business, which I still participated in quite a bit of it, but it was very different than what he was accustomed to. I remember when he and I first started, he was coming from a printing background and we were getting into a completely, you know, because we knew that printing was dying, I guess, in a way, that type of printing. So we weren't going to go that direction. We're going to say, hey, we're going to we're going to get rolls of paper and we're going to cut them and we're going to sell them and we're going to add some value in between there. And but since we didn't really know what anything, any of that meant, I just I was using the very basic business economics. Buy low, sell high. And that was, I was just keeping it very, very basic, very simple while we were in this learning process of acquiring equipment, acquiring a warehouse space, acquiring, you know, starting to have our first employees and things like that. So it was a, it was very, it was a new thing for him and it was a new thing for us. And I remember buying this, really old piece of machinery. And it was so bad that when my dad had come from a very brand new equipment type of a background and where he came from, I don't really think money was really that that important. These people were really invested in equipment. And I bought this machine out of basically out of a recycling warehouse. So we went and we were like, OK, we're here. I had already paid for this machine. I had never seen that silent scene. I paid for it. OK, I'm here to pick up the machine. And the guy at the warehouse says, hey, well, what are you talking about? So I bought this machine from so and so. And he told me to come pick it up. It's a it's a cheater. And he's like, man, I think I know where it is. And then he came back and he said, hey, you know where we're in that corner or whether there's like. It's over there and we go over there and there was just nothing but trash and cardboard and dust, and it was a mess. And I started moving it around. I'm like, oh, yeah, I found the machine. It was it was in such bad condition. Oh, wow. Well, I guess I'm unloaded. He's already paid for it. And the guy that that sold me the machine, he ended up even loaning me a trailer and a truck to go pick it up. So we loaded up, we loaded on the, on the truck. And my dad was like, what the heck did you just buy? And I was like, just loaded it. We'll figure it out. And we ended up loading it. We're going, it was in Arlington, Texas, and we're driving down the highway and there's like dust flying everywhere. and come out of that recycling. And we get it to the warehouse and, all right, well, how do we put it together? Because we had never put a sheeter together. And so we figured it out. We put it together. And we started cutting paper. But it was very hard. And it got to a point where my dad disagreed with some of the decisions that I was taking. And I'm like, I think this is what we need. And he was so used to doing things his way. that I remember we were getting into some arguments. And he said, you know what, Roy? I really don't want this business to ruin our relationship. I'm like, yeah, well, it doesn't. I'm just I just I know what I'm seeing. I'm the one that's going out there and and talking to people, and I feel that this is what we need. And we had said it's not going to ruin our relationship, but I think it was something that he really wanted to get off his chest just to kind of secure, you know, reassure him that that this wasn't going to get in our way of. a father-son relationship, a family relationship. And after that, we never argued again. We never did. My dad said he basically handed the reins over to me and said, hey, Roy, all right, you run with it. And I think, you know, obviously not perfect, made a lot of mistakes, but also made a lot of good decisions.
Yeah. Yeah. You know, I jokingly yell, anyone who works with family, you get the hallelujah, amen, kumbaya from Tamara. Because it is difficult to work with family and protect the relationships at the same time. I mean, at least your dad had the foresight to be like, okay, his priorities were in the right place. The relationship is far more important than the business. Obviously, that was a concern for him. And the fact that the two of you never let that get in the way. That's, that's pretty good. So, you know, I understand that your father has, has passed. And when I say past guys, he is no longer with us. But you had to deal with losing your dad, you know, obviously, as a very valued business partner, and, you know, very key, very influential person in your life, to COVID. and during COVID. How did you manage? I mean, it was already hard enough for business. But to have to lose, you know, lose your dad to this wicked pandemic. Anyway, you know, how did the company How did you guys manage, you know, to get through all I mean, when I say COVID was hard, we all know we were all there. Anybody with a business, we all know it was tough. But it was doubly tough for you guys. How'd you guys manage to get through all that?
Well, you know, that that is, I'm good with it. I've made my piece and I felt like I've learned a lot. We grew up in very, very religious household. So for us, that you know, that that that was, even though it was very, very challenging, very, very difficult. He died three years ago. You know, for For me personally, it was, you know, we're here on Earth for a very short time, and we believe that in the afterlife. And so I firmly believe that I will see my father again and my mother, because it was actually, we lost both father and mother.
Oh, I didn't know that. I'm so sorry.
Yeah, it was real quick. So my mom had cancer and my dad was healthy and she had just gotten out of her chemo. Wow. And like that week. And so they both ended up getting COVID and my mom ends up in the hospital and then my dad ends up in the hospital about two or three days later. And I took them both. I took them both to the hospital. And and my dad, my mom came out. She was probably in the hospital for two weeks, but my dad never made it out. And he passed in the hospital. And then four months later, my mom passes away because of, to me, it was her immune system was very, very compromised. And with COVID, it seems like just the cancer just came back. The chemo didn't even, the chemo really didn't do anything for her because it was just like, it just took over her body. So that was a tough year. I believe, what was that, 2021? So talk about a distraction from business and work, just to have to deal with that that whole summer and for the rest of the year. The thing is, is that we have some really good employees here that really stepped up, like everybody stepped up when when that was occurring. And they basically ran the business while we were dealing with all these personal, uh, issues. And, and the thing, it's not like, it was really hard to separate church from, from state because my father was like the guy, the owner of the company that was here every single day. Like literally he had, my father had no hobbies other than family, uh, church and, um, and work. He loved to work. And he had a he had bought a house here in Irving, Texas, where he had really nice piece of land and close to the factory. And he would always just kind of go back and forth. And that was he really, really enjoyed that. So. Oh, go ahead.
I was gonna say, when you are that close, and you are an owner of the business, and you are that close with your employees, it affects the whole business. Like, there's no way it can't. Those employees were grieving, even though they did step up, you know, they were grieving just as much as the family, because to them, it is family. I mean, most of our employees, this is their home away from home. You know, they're, they're at work, probably more waking hours than they're at home with their families. And I didn't realize that you guys had lost both of your parents in like within six months of each other and still trying to run the business. Okay, like, yeah. How? How did you guys manage? That had to be, I mean, resilience, obviously. I mean, we can see that, but wow, I don't even know what to say. I'm just going to leave it at that.
Yeah, that was, and then not only, it was me and my that I was dealing with that. And then also my sister works, she has a logistics company, a trucking business that she basically handles all our freight. And she was obviously dealing with it as well. And she's an integral part of the business. Our goods still had to get delivered. She still had her customers that she had to deal with. she's dealing with that and she has she you know she's a mom and she has kids and dealing with with with dad um and then uh my brother also works at the company so you know the whole everybody is affected and it's not like we're this huge company so uh it was it was very challenging and my father You know, he worked, he literally worked until the last day till he couldn't because he would he was in the hospital bed and texting the employees and saying, hey, make sure that you're doing the maintenance on this machine on this date. And did this crack this forklift, did it get fixed? He was he was on top of everything. And. Yeah, he's probably bored at the hospital anyway. He was getting it done. And yeah, eventually, he just he, you know, obviously, whatever happened happened, and he couldn't do it anymore. So that was just a hard and but even when he was, I was at the office when he ended up passing because you couldn't be there at the hospital. You couldn't see him. He couldn't even go and visit. And, uh, I'm sitting in my office and, uh, our vice president of operations and our CFO, uh, are in my office when I get the call from, from the doctor, we're all very, very close. My father and all of us were, were, and, and I'm just like, yeah, okay. All right, thank you very much. And then I hung up and let the guys know. So they were like the first ones to know that he had passed. And then we have to spend, take quite a bit of time off and be there for each other. But everybody here at the factory really stepped up and I'm very proud of them. And they went above and beyond to make sure that things were getting done. And it did affect us when my dad, you know, everybody, you know, it's what I saw is that for like six months, everybody was like, oh, yeah, we're going to we're going to do this. It's going to it's going to be fine. This is what they called my father, Don, Don Jose, Mr. Jose. And this is where they'll say we're going to we're going to do this and everything's going to be fine. And, you know, this is what he wants. And and it ended up it was pretty Cause he, my dad basically was, was Papa. He ran the whole, all the employees knew him and he, he worked with them. But then when he, when after six months, when everything kind of like, okay, this is different now, there's a new, there's a new boss, which I was the CEO, but I'm not really involved. So things started going a little haywire with the employees not getting along as much. And like you said, that they were grieving, they were mourning. And so we, we had to make some changes, but thanks be to God that, that things really worked out for the best and in a way that with his passing, you know, we were able to bring, actually we had to bring in new people. We had to bring in more people to cover for my father because obviously as the owner, you're probably doing the job of two or three people.
Right, yeah.
So we figured out a way to get a lot more organized to get a lot more, be more efficient, hold people a lot more accountable and responsible and hold ourselves accountable also for what happens in the factory. So it took us a good two years. after he passed away to really figure it out. But this thing is now running like a very fine old machine.
Nice, nice. So I know what a paper converter is because I did my research. But can you explain to the audience, like when you say paper converter, I mean, Intercon, right? basically converts raw material to paper, correct?
Yes.
All right, so walk us through what that looks like. So when you talk about raw material for paper, what is that? So walk our listeners through what the factory does.
Okay, so what I like to when I am at cocktail party or just somewhere and they're asking me, Hey, what do you do, man? I just, I get to the point where I like, I like to tell people like, we're really a real behind the scenes type of a company. So what that means is that whenever you get, I'm going to some of the products, like an Amazon box. So let's say you get an Amazon box. That's an, that comes in a corrugated, uh, paper with a medium and liner board. Sometimes that paper comes through our factory where it gets cut, it gets, we're storing it, we're cutting it, we're doing something to that paper where it goes to the next process where somebody, a corrugator, puts the corrugations on it, laminates it, and then goes to a box company and then make it into a box. uh that's for that's for boxes uh for for printers whenever you get your flyers in the mail from a dentist office from a real estate office your bank statements your credit card statements your any type of statement that's kind of long uh that gets produced by a uh by a by a printing company, but these are special printing companies because they have a lot of sensitive information where they have to really, like when I go see my customers, sometimes it makes it really hard for me to go and see my customers because there's almost like a background check that they'll do before they let you in into the facilities because there is a lot of sensitive information that they have to really hold. they can't just let anybody in. So those are, we cut, we get these big rolls from the paper mill. So from the people that actually make the paper, they load them in rail cars. They come to my facility in like, let's just say 86 inch wide rolls, 90 inch wide rolls, 98 inch rolls. And we cut them down to like sixes, sevens, nines, tens, elevens, just to different sizes. And then we also changed these rolls typically sometimes away anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 pounds, and we'll cut them up into like three or four, five, 600, 800 pound rolls, which you need There's a lot of things that you need in order for that to happen. Right.
I'm like, you don't just go pick them up and bring them in the warehouse.
This isn't just something that say, I'm going to go to Home Depot and get some nine and seven eights, 24 pound bond. You know, no, it's it's a very, very specialized process that that just with the with the equipment that that grabs these roles and off the rail car or off a truck goes into our warehouse. And then we have to receive it in, and you really have to know what you're doing, know exactly what type of paper you have and how you stack it and how you handle it, and then how you take it to the machines to where you cut it to different sizes. So what we do with that paper, so we'll take these big rolls, and then we either slit them into other rolls so it can go to somebody to make an envelope out of it or make a statement out of it, or we cut it into sheets. as well. Whenever you see these presses that just print on both sides and it's just stacking it on the other end, we supply that paper at times or sometimes we just do the converting from rolls to sheets and then those sheets will go to a printer that prints for whoever's selling the marketing materials to the real estate company or whoever.
whoever. Yeah, I don't think I realized that from the paper mill, they would come in such you like in roles like it never even dawned on me that the paper mill didn't put them into eight and a half by 11 sheets of paper like that never even occurred to me. So that's why I wanted you to explain because even just as a layperson, like not in that industry at all, you just assume, which was my mistake, first of all, right? I just assumed the paper mill itself just created, you know, eight and a half by 11 sheets of paper and or, you know, nine by five, whatever. it never dawned on me that there was a, you know, an additional process to take it from a 8000 pound roll into, you know, sheets of paper like that. I guess it just never even dawned on me, which is why I really wanted you as guest on the show. Because I was like, if I didn't know, I could tell you there's a whole lot of other people that didn't know too. So, you know, plus, you know, you have you guys, you have got you as a family owned business, Um, which, you know, nowadays, we all want a family owned business, right? Or to a certain degree, some sort of control over, you know, our livelihood, but you guys have managed to do it for two generations now. And so that's, um, you know, and I had no idea. I mean, your sister, while she's even an integral part, she's kind of got her own company, but logistically, she's so important to the family business too. So, you know, that's for sure. Pretty cool as well. So I'm going to pivot here just a little bit. So you had said when you first kind of got started single, no kids, really no bills. Right. But you are married now and you have a family now. And you guys are a pretty close knit type family, you guys, sports and what does an average, you know, walk out the door at the office, walk into the house, what's an average day for Roy and the family look like?
You know what, it's evolved. It's definitely evolved. When my kids were babies and then as they grew up to be toddlers and then into elementary school and then into middle school, high school, and now my oldest son, Benjamin, is in college. There's always been, you know, we've had to adapt as far as My wife and I and how we manage it because, you know, obviously I have a very big role, a very big responsibility here with the company and making sure that, you know, there's a lot of people here on payroll and at the end of the day, the buck stops here. You know, I'm literally responsible to make sure that everybody has a paycheck and they're working their 40 hours. And that's a big responsibility, which I don't take lightly. And I think my wife has, she knows, she understands that and being an entrepreneur and the challenges and she has seen the ups and the downs. Also, that thing that has really taken me, it's very significant, is just the business environment. When business is good, I kind of sit back and the business is basically running itself and I'm really just dealing with It makes my job easier. Let's just put it that way. When the economy is good and business is good and I don't work as hard. When business is not good and we got to go out there and get business and figure out ways to keep the employees employed and keep the machines running. and keep that paper constantly turning. I have to really I go to my wife and say, hey, I mean, you know, it's these are going to be, you know, 12, 14 hour days. I just don't know when when it's going to get better. And it's just it's very cyclical. So that's we've had to adapt to that. So like when you know, going back to the kids and the family, it's really on, you know, family first, obviously, you know, health and family. And luckily, I've been able to spend a tremendous amount of time with my kids growing up, taking them to go and basically, I don't think I've missed hardly anything because of work or travel. I've always based my my schedule around their schedule. And I've been there. I've been tremendously blessed to be at basically everything. I've missed a couple of things, maybe in my life. I'm sure if I ask my wife, she'll know exactly which ones I missed.
Right, of course.
But for the most part, I've been able to be mobile. At one point, when the Sprinter vans first came out, I bought me a Sprinter van because I knew I was going to be traveling a lot with my kids, taking them to practice. So my Sprinter van was actually an office. So I would go take them to practice, and then I had my laptop, everything set up, and I would go. And sometimes I would take both of them, I would take one because he practiced at like six and the other one practice at 730 and then my wife would come drop one off. and pick up the other one. And I would stay for like the three hours. But I would be in my van doing emails, spreadsheets, phone calls. I was able to constantly be mobile. And I feel like I've really adapted to being mobile and being with the family and making the priorities. So extremely blessed to just be able to do that and just having a home office and doing all that. But that's not everybody could do that. I really. And then when my dad was here, it made it a lot easier because even I had responsibilities and I said, hey, dad, can you go pick up Ben at school and take him here and there? So we kind of like when my wife wasn't able to do that and she needed help and and I was busy, you know, my dad would have no problem. I would he would go do the grandpa.
I was gonna say grandpa to the rescue, right? Yeah. But you know what, that that ebb and flow and that work together is almost critical if you're going to be able to be, like you said, adaptive to situations that are going on in any given minute. I don't know. I literally do not know how single moms do it at all. Like, I it is got to be so hard for them. Because Yeah, a lot of respect for single moms out there. Yeah, for sure. I mean, it takes a bit and they have to have a good support system. But like, I don't even know how they pull some of that off just because they have to work. Right? So yeah, obviously a lot of respect because, you know, you and I, you know, business owners and kids and literally I have a whole village, right? So a receptionist is like, Hey, can you go grab Madison from school? Like, yeah. So you, it's really the same way. I love what you said when you said the buck stops here. That ownership out of leadership is massive. I think a lot of business owners or CEOs, presidents, There's not as much of that. I don't hear as much of that as, okay, they know that it stops there. It's like, no, that responsibility, the expectations is a little bit different. So that warmed my heart to hear you say, hey, the buck stops here. At the end of the day, whether they feed their families or not depends on whether or not we have business. And then ultimately, that's my responsibility. So that's really very, very refreshing to hear. So, I want to be super respectful of time. I know you're incredibly busy and I'm so excited to have had to be able to explain to everyone intercom paper because. I was a little like, what did they do? I'm like, what do you mean? It's not eight and a half by 11 sheets in a box that comes from the paper mill. I was like, what?
What I like to tell people, if you ever see any kind of paper, any paper that you see anywhere, unless it's like really thick, and we don't even have to get into that, it always starts with a roll. Doesn't matter. It always starts with a roll.
Had no idea. I mean, that's fascinating. and the things that we learn these days. So how did you know there was a show I think, I think it's on Netflix. It's like, how did they do that? That was so literally when when Sarah was saying, Yes, they cut paper they wrote and I was like, how did they do that? Like, so let's get him on this. Let's get him on the show today. That'd be a lot of fun. Well, Roy, you know, obviously, all from all of us here and everything is up and from our listeners, our condolences. grieving takes forever, years and years and years. So, and when you're missing that right arm, running your business can't be any easier. So all of our condolences. How can, you know, obviously this is fascinating. If our listeners wanted to get in touch with you, what is the best way? I think LinkedIn probably for most of us, but website so they can check out the company.
Yeah, so you go to interconpaper.com, that's where you can find us. If you Google paper converter Dallas, Texas, paper converter Texas, our website will come up. And yeah, LinkedIn is very good, easy to find, and all my contact information is on the website.
Perfect. All right, everyone. It's Roy Rodriguez with Intercom Paper. Roy, thank you so much for spending a little bit of your time with us today. And congratulations on such a success. And we wish you all the best. Everyone, this is Everything is Up with Tamara. And make sure you like and share the podcast with all your family and friends. Everybody have a great day. Thanks again, Roy. Appreciate your time.
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