From Government Job to Entrepreneur: The Challenges Rodrigo Flores Faced Opening His Museum Design Studio

Rodrigo started out studying music, then wrote and composed, and ended up spending several years in public culture. He organized cultural events and festivals in Metepec, and in the State of Mexico government he became director of cultural heritage, in charge of the state's museums, libraries and galleries. He also completed a specialization in museum management and a master's degree in interior architecture.

Then he left public service and opened his own museum design and interior architecture studio. In this episode we talk about what changes when you go from working for the government to being your own boss, and why some projects need patience more than speed.

The problems he faced

1.Moving from public service to the private sector

Rodrigo says public service and the private sector are very different. In government, what you have plenty of is staff. At his own studio, the hardest part has been finding trained people.

2.Being your own boss has a cost too

Many people who work in government say "I would love to be my own boss". Rodrigo points out that once you are, there is nobody to complain to: if you decide to stop at 2 in the afternoon, you will not produce the same as someone who stays until night, and nobody will pay you for that difference.

3.Nobody knows you at the start

For him, at the beginning it is very hard to get known and get opportunities. He admits that sometimes he feels like going back to government. He compares the start to a long race: it is hard at first, but if you have the stamina to endure, it pays off.

4.Defending projects that "do not make money"

When he pushed for the Fondo de Cultura Económica bookstore in Metepec, people asked him: "why a bookstore? Better something else that does make money". There were also people who questioned investing in bringing in an opera singer. His answer: if 100 kids choose to study music or dance instead of hanging out at the arcade, that is already a big win.

5.Results that take years

In his work in public culture, the impact of what you do does not arrive right away. That is why he talks about resilience: changes in a society are gradual and you need patience. It is more of an endurance race, and you work "not to be recognized right away, but so there is a gradual, long-term change".

6.A job that eats your life

For years he gave almost his whole life to work. Government, he says, is very absorbing, and you have to be available at all hours, even for an earthquake that could damage the museums. Today one of his goals as an entrepreneur is to enjoy his young daughters: to go home for lunch, to come back earlier and not miss those years.

What he learned (and it can save you years)

1.Make your customer or audience a participant

Rodrigo explains that museums are no longer just a place where someone goes to be educated. Now they are participatory museums: people interact, and the museum also learns from the people who visit. It is an idea that works for any business: listen to your audience.

2.Bet on long-term projects

His example: a bookstore does not look like the most profitable business, but it encourages reading, puts the city center on the cultural map and helps more kids, moms and dads get closer to culture. The more tools exist, the easier it is for people to take part.

3.Support people who are just starting out

In government he worked with support programs for creators. He saw local projects, like short films and books, that later won awards or were published internationally. The artists probably would have gotten there anyway, but the support was a springboard that helped them take off faster.

4.Trust that your team can do more than they think

What makes him proudest is that former colleagues remember him fondly, and that a coworker told him she never imagined she could do what he assigned her, but when she saw the result she realized she could. As a leader, he says, you can motivate people to do extraordinary things.

5.Endure the start

About starting a business, he does not feel entitled to give advice, because he is still in the process himself. But he trusts that the initial effort, however hard, pays off if you have the stamina to continue.

“It is more of an endurance race.”

Is something like this happening to you?

If you are about to start a business or lead a long-term project, go through these questions:

Listen to the full episode

This is only a summary. The full conversation has many more details, stories and tips. Watch it in full on YouTube (it is recorded in Spanish; turn on the captions and choose Auto-translate to read it in English) or find every episode on the Pandas Creativos podcast page (in Spanish).