Face Time: Fiesta Foods store director worked his way up

EDITOR'S NOTE: Face Time is a monthly feature profiling local business people in a first-person format.

Starting out in Toppenish

I was born in Toppenish in 1979. I was raised in Hillsboro, Ore., and Vancouver Wash., and that general area. That's where I grew up until I was about 10.

I moved to California for about a year then we ended up in a small town called Milton-Freewater, Ore., where I went to school.

I went to Central Junior High, then went to McLoughlin High School. I didn't graduate high school. I ended up getting my GED.

There was four of us in the house. I had two sisters and one brother.

My dad passed away when I was 17. He was a logger. He was in agricultural work for a long time, and then we moved to Milton-Freewater. He worked in Dayton -- he commuted from Milton-Freewater -- to work as a logger.

As a child, I liked to go exploring. I liked to go into the -- we'd call it the forest in our backyard -- but it really wasn't a forest. It was kind of like a field with a lot of trees in it. So, we'd go back there and just kind of explore.

I was a boy scout. I liked to camp. And I'd go bike riding. I played baseball -- wasn't very good at it. I played football -- wasn't very good at that either. My favorite thing was cross country. I really enjoyed running when I was younger.

Quitting school

I dropped out of high school to go to work. I was 16 and I wanted to work full time. So, at that time, I was given the opportunity to do so, so I did.

When I was 17, I went back to get my GED, because obviously, education is important. I attended college for about a year. I went to college in Pasco for about a year.

My very first job was at Burgerville, USA in Vancouver, Wash. I did that for a year. Then, I moved back to Tri-Cities, where I started working for Albertson's. I worked there for 10 years. I was a box boy. I pushed carts. I started from the very bottom. I pushed carts and I swept the floors and I threw away garbage for the cashiers.

I was hired as store director in Sunnyside in 2006. Before that I was assistant store director at Albertson's in Walla Walla.

I moved around. I worked at eight Albertson's stores. I lived in Ellensburg, Richland, Pasco, Walla Walla, Vancouver, Portland, and now Sunnyside.

Albertson's required me to move a lot. A position would open up, I'd take it and we'd move.

Life lessons

I think my work experience has taught me to be more respectful and open-minded. What you do is a reflection of who you are. They say it takes 30 days to form a habit. So, whatever you do every day and how you communicate, represent and carry yourself really says a lot about who you are, the type of character you have and I'm a firm believer in that.

We have 125 employees. Everyone takes some of what they learn. I've done that along the way. I've learned things at work and I apply them in my personal life. So, it just depends on what people want to take.

I went to college through my experiences. I'm very determined and outgoing and enthusiastic. I see myself running my own company, if not being a CEO for someone else someday. I want to get a bachelor's, master's and Ph.D. in business.

Fiesta Foods

My job is I come into the store in the morning and I open the store. I walk my store, say hi to all my employees. Then I hit the floor to make sure that we're stocked and that we have fresh quality product on the shelf. My mission is to have the best service in Sunnyside. To be the friendliest, fast service food store that we have in the city. I really hang my hat on that.

I really enjoy what I do. I enjoy being a grocer. I enjoy working with customers and I enjoy working with people. That's probably why I like my job so much. It gives me a chance to work with and communicate with people on a daily basis.

I guess I'd have to say the most challenging thing about the grocery business is just keeping up with what the guy down the street's doing -- keeping up with your competition, making sure you have the best product out there. That's probably the biggest challenge.

A Cowboy fan in Seahawk country

I'm a Dallas Cowboy fan, big time. I really like the Dallas Cowboys. They didn't make the playoffs this year, kind of broke my heart.

You know it's tough, because everyone here is a Seattle fan. It's always tough for me. Seahawks fans all over the place, all over the store and I'm a die hard Dallas fan.

-- As told to Assistant City Editor Scott Mayes

Leo Leal

* AGE: 29

* BUSINESS VENTURE: Store director, Fiesta Foods in Sunnyside, 2010 Yakima Valley Highway

* EDUCATION: Attended McLoughlin High School in Milton-Freewater, Ore. After entering the work force, he later earned his GED in 1997. He is currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in business administration online through South University.

* FAMILY: Leo and wife, Paula, have two children, Angel, 16, and Aaliyah, 9.

* HOBBIES: Describes himself as a "die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan and a fan of Mexican soccer." His favorite soccer team is Chivas.