Abbey Joan Burgess

Olivia Heine, or Oli, as she prefers to be called, is in a word, striking. All angular cheekbones, with an unapologetic, edgy undercut interrupting her inky black hair, and three symmetrical, painted black dots adorning the right side of her forehead.

De Vega Concrete was built with the tireless work and steady hands of Fidel Vega, a Marines veteran whose belief in the importance of hard work and collaboration helped his company grow from the ground up.

Urban Roots is a snow removal and landscaping company run by husband and wife duo, Jimmie and Tiffany Willams. Urban Roots has grown from having only two clients to serving the entire Western suburbs, and has been featured in the Chicago Sun Times, CBS News, and iHeart Media as a startup business to watch.

From a career at a household-name luxury tech company to carpentry, you could say that Jaime Villagran’s path to the construction industry was unconventional. Eight years as a high-level recruiter there taught him to identify and nurture the best talent but left him wanting more for himself and his future employees. Jaime combined his hobby of carpentry, empathetic nature and HR expertise to launch Construo Construction, a company that is setting a new precedent for customer service in the industry.

Today we are profiling Mario Diaz, President and CEO of Reef Contractors. A self-described lifelong learner, Mario had successful careers in both medicine and healthcare administration before launching his general contracting company.