How To Make A Business Partnership Succeed With Paul Siwek

How do you make a business partnership succeed? Yanet Borrego introduces Paul Siwek, a Senior Manager in the Accenture’s Industry X Practice and co-owner of Roots, a wine bar in Houston, Texas. Paul talks about how partnerships are all about bending, understanding, and communication. When these three elements are present, it’s easier to establish trust. You need to determine your and your partner’s strength. Let the person lead where they are strong. Being respectful is also essential to keep the communication going. Need more tips on partnerships? This episode’s for you. Join in!

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How To Make A Business Partnership Succeed With Paul Siwek

We have a super inspiring guest, Paul Siwek. Paul and I met when I was in corporate, and many things caught my attention. He was a leader in the organization. Some of these things were your interest in helping people, Paul. It does not matter how relatable, how willing to learn, and how high up in the organization you are.

Those are the personality traits where I would love to connect with Paul as a mentor and as a leader in the organization. Not only that, Paul is an executive in one of the most prestigious consulting, global Fortune 500 companies. He is a restaurant owner. We are here in Roots, a wine bar in Houston. He is also a real estate investor, a husband, a dad, and so much more. This interview is going to be juicing with lots of information and advice for all of you. It is all about inspiring those people who want to get there where you are.

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Paul, thank you so much for being here. I appreciate it.

I appreciate the opportunity to share some of my perspectives and experiences in life.

Tell us about your background. Were you born here because you have a Polish last name?

My parents are immigrants, so I understand the immigrant hustle. They came here. They met in New York and moved to Houston in the late ‘70s. I was born and raised in Houston, so I grew up in the Southwest Houston Alief neighborhood. I went to high school here. I went to Austin for university. I worked in the engineering field. I traveled. I lived in the Middle East for a few years with my former company and then I moved back to Houston years ago. It has been basically home my entire life.

I did not know your parents were immigrants. I was talking to a friend and I was telling that friend, “The most natural entrepreneurs are immigrants because they have to get here, figure it out, and do not have a path laid out for them. They just make it happen.”

The discipline a corporate environment requires helps you operate at a more refined level.

 

If you can take that risk to leave your country, leave everything behind. That says a lot. A lot of times, the immigrants and their first-generation kids have that additional hustle. I’m not saying everybody can’t.

Other than your parents being immigrants, you have a couple of side hustles. Was entrepreneurship in your family? How did you get there?

My parents had a small rental portfolio when I was a kid, so I always helped out. I was, on the weekends, a painter. I would go clean out apartments when people moved out. They had four units when I was a kid. I have always had an interest in numbers and real estate. That was something I knew I would get into. After graduating college, the first property that I bought was a fourplex. I lived in one of the units and rented out the others, so I was able to break even on my mortgage, which doesn’t hurt. From there, it grew slowly, a house here, a duplex here, and it kept stacking and growing over the years.

What about real estate investing? Were you passionate about other than growing up in that environment?

In real estate, it is one of the safest businesses that you can go to. There is the intrinsic value of the property. It has a good safety net. The downside risk is lower than in most businesses, so that is beneficial. It is a very logical traditional investment that made a lot of sense and something I was exposed to as a child. I had an experience there.

I enjoy transforming properties. I buy a lot of properties that are in lower-income areas, and we completely transform them and make them the nicer properties in the neighborhoods. We are helping improve neighborhoods, building safer housing, do a lot of work with government housing agency like Houston Housing Authority, Paris County Housing Authority, Salvation Army, Avenue 360, Catholic Charities, and a lot of tenants who have more challenged backgrounds. We like to work with folks and give them a second chance.

That is so inspiring. You are doing what you are passionate about and, while doing that, impacting people. I love it because this show is all about that. This is a wine bar. It is not necessarily a restaurant, but you have good bites. I have been here and I love it. What took you from real estate investment to this opportunity of creating Roots?

This was one of my good friends’ brainchild and something she wanted to do. I enjoy creating and growing businesses and building something. Her passion is the food and wine side. Mine is the business acumen, so we fit in well together. She approached me with the idea years ago to recreate a wine bar that she frequently went to when she lived in London. She wanted to bring something home that was similar, so we came up with this concept of Roots.

It is a wine bar and restaurant. We have a full-service kitchen, a great Gulf Coast cuisine. She grew up in this neighborhood. She is from East Houston. Me, my wife and she are all native Houstonians. These are our roots. Houston is our roots. The roots are the most important part of the tree. It is where the nutrients come in to feed the fruit that creates the great wine that we have here. That was part of the brainchild behind the name and what this concept is all about.

What an inspiring story. From real estate investment to being in this industry, which I imagine is different, right?

It is very different.

What are the key differentiators there?

It is completely different. This is a very people-centric business. You go as far as the staff you have. It is part of this industry and there are a lot of turnovers. There are different sets of challenges working with people versus working with hard assets like in real estate. Granted, you still have tenants who are other people and who are your customers, but there are different sets of challenges there. We have had our struggles and successes.

The biggest thing is to be able to deal with the challenges and struggles and also celebrate the successes. We have battled through COVID. The second week we were open was the freeze in Houston. They are up there on the wall. The articles from Houston Chronicle, Houstonia, and CultureMap hit us as a Top 10 new restaurant and Top 10 wine programs after being only open six months. There are some good things we are doing, and we are looking forward to 2022 being a great year of growth for us.

I have been to a lot of restaurants and I had never seen a self-serving wine bar. When my fiancé and I came here, it was a fun experience, seeing the variety in front of your eyes and being able to serve it. That is what I enjoy the most.

That is what we say. We wanted to break the barriers, the bolt of the stuffy wine bar where if you do not know a lot about wine, you may be hesitant to order because you will feel someone there is going to judge you because you do not know about wine.

That would be me.

Shift your mindset from being an individual to being the leader.

 

I have the same pressure personally. I’m not a wine expert. I’m the business side of it. I appreciate good wine and good food, but I’m not going to say I’m an expert on it. That wine wall we have out there, you curate your own wine experience. There are 56 bottles of wine on that wall. You go look at the label and pick what you enjoy. You can take one ounce to try it. You do not have to feel committed and you did not buy a whole bottle. You can taste the $200 bottle of wine on one ounce. Where else can you do that?

It is perfect. It’s like, “Give me a little bit of that good thing. If I Iike it, I will have more.” No risk, right?

Exactly.

Paul, you talked about the challenges and highlights. What is the entrepreneurial mindset that you have been able to apply to all these businesses you have had to keep you going through those challenges? What are those things?

That is a complex question and a lot to unpack. We talked about it. I have a corporate background. I’m doing entrepreneurship and family. Balance is important. I’m not going to say I have it figured out. I’m trying to do better. We are very active with the family. We do multiple trips a year, so make sure to have that grounding there. There is learning from the corporate side that I implement in my personal business.

The structure and the discipline that is required in a corporate environment help us operate at a more refined level. I hope it is going to translate into a more efficient manner. There are things from my entrepreneurial ventures that bring a level of creativity and a different perspective to my corporate role as well. Both have benefited me to be a more well-rounded, creative, and hopefully, successful person.

That is amazing that you are doing all of this at the same time. In order to do that, what are a couple of actionable tips you can share? You manage a lot at the same time. I understand you own Roots with two more females. You’ve got to manage that interaction too and get help. What are the key things that you do in order to get there?

We are a woman-owned business. We are 75% female, 25% guy. We have a business partner and my wife is involved as well, so I balance all those things. It is good my wife is flexible and tolerant with some of the hoops I jump through, the fact that I will take conference calls at midnight, and working on holidays.

She is able to put up with a lot and she is fantastic in her role as a mother, managing the household and giving the children what they need so that I can focus on the things I focus on. in terms of balancing all of those things, that is a daily struggle. I have been working with a couple of coaches to help me prioritize what is right and be more disciplined. This is a work in progress about when to say no, what my limit is, and what the reality is.

From a workplace, I’m moving up in my career. I’m working more on enabling others to be successful and stepping back and not being involved in every detail. There are things I don’t need to be doing. I need to share, give advice or coaching on what my team needs to be doing, and hold them accountable to do that. I can’t do all these things because to run a practice, real estate business and restaurant, there is no possible way.

It is about selecting the right team to be able to implement the objectives. I’m working through that mindset shift of moving from a person who is the working individual to being the leader, manager, executive, and vision-setter roles. I’m going through my own mindset shift. I need to do that to be successful and make everybody around me in the best for position to be successful as well.

I am trusting the people. Sometimes, I struggle with trusting people. They will do the right things to the quality that I expect. What would you say around that? I believe that is a challenge for me as a business owner. I know we are all working through that, but how do you deal with that?

I wish I had a great answer for that because that is letting go and accepting. Somebody does it a different way. It does not mean it is wrong, but that is not the way I would have done it. Is it different or is it worse? Is it better? It is hard to break out of that mindset. That has been the most eye-opening thing with this restaurant venture. It is more out of my comfort zone.

It is not a business I have a lot of experience in. There has been a lot of learning. It has been a challenge even applying some of the disciplines I have from corporate because it is a different industry where people in the restaurant business work a slightly different way. Blending that into a culture that is successful and enables everybody to be successful has been a work in progress.

We have made a lot of strides in the first year of being open. A lot of them are excited about where we are. We have had our ups and downs. I feel like we have figured most of the things out. It is not going to be perfect. It is going to change but we are in a good position to have a foundation upon which to build from. I’m looking forward to 2022 from that perspective.

Partnerships are all about bending, understanding, and communication.

 

Paul, in one year, you tried a new venture which is this new industry. You are being super successful with your other two partners, and you have had challenges, as we all do in life. What are those key 1 to 3 things that you guys focused on in order to get here to this successful point? If someone is like, “I’m interested in that industry,” what do they need to focus on so you can make it?

Focus on the right research and have the information. In certain pieces, we did enough of our research and in certain areas, we should have been more informed and could have done more to be prepared in advance. Absolutely reaching out, talking to people who have experience in that industry and that background, whether they are a coach, an advisor or informal coach. You can never go wrong with getting advice from enough people. Another thing I have learned a lot is going with my gut when my gut says something.

Listen faster. I pushed them aside too much and let people tell me they are doing the right things even though I did not feel they were. Unfortunately, in certain cases, I let things go longer than I should have. There are some slight regrets around that but it is a learning opportunity. Listening to my gut is very important and having that end vision in mind.

I’m holding anybody who is involved accountable to what they have committed to. I’m not saying make them accountable for more than they should, but if they commit to something, make them accountable. If they are not, there should be consequences and follow through on those things. Those are some of the things that I have learned the hard lessons.

This is gold. I love doing these interviews because of our audience, but I’m learning so much. I feel like you are talking to me, “Listen to your gut or letting go.” Those are things that I’m working on consistently, surrendering, trust and partnership. This doesn’t count as a partnership because it is three people. Does it not or does it still count?

My wife and I are half, and then our business partners are the other half.

We will call it a partnership. For example, if one of our readers or more are interested in getting into this industry, how do you know when the right path is to go into a partnership?

Specific in this industry?

Yes, your industry or in general based on your real estate and this.

In my real estate, I have done certain investments on my own, certain with partners where I’m generally the lead partner and they are more silent investors. I’m responsible for delivering results to them so there is some level of pressure. This is different. This is legitimately a partnership. I don’t have sole decision-making. It is about bending, understanding and communication.

Each person brings their own strengths and perspectives. It is trying to understand where people’s strengths are. For us, it has been very natural where there is the construction part. That is my forte. I take the lead to finance, commercial things, and everything associated with more of the CFO type. That is my strength and my passion, creative direction, food, wine, ambiance, and customer experience. That is my business partner’s passion.

She takes prime on those, I provide input, and we have a discussion. We have had a fairly natural division of the things that are her strength and my strength. In those areas, the person who is that’s their strength take the lead, and then we have that conversation. It is a very interesting dynamic because she is also one of my best friends. We have been friends for many years. She is the godmother of one of my kids and we are super close. Sometimes, you are friends and business partners. You’ve got to be able to have those conversations and be respectful and be able to bend all those things. We have done a pretty good job overall of doing that.

There are two females and you. Tell me more about diversity and the advantage of being in a business with another gender or person who has a different perspective. How has that been helpful for you?

It has been natural. These are people I have known for a very long time. I’m not going to say the business is easy, but the cooperation is easy. Laurie, my business partner, and I have known each other for many years. We worked in an engineering firm together and consulting firms, so we know how we work.

It is implicitly. That has been fairly easy. We also have a very diverse staff here, as you would in many restaurants in Houston and Downtown. One of the things that have been commented on as well is our clientele is extremely diverse. We have had people come in and talk about like, “This is what Houston is. You have White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, everybody.”

Treat the CEO and the janitor the same way; they’re both human beings.

 

We have even set out to do that, but it has become a melting pot of a restaurant. That is what Houston is. I’m not saying we solved the problem, but we have demystified wine a little bit to try to make it approachable, so everybody feels comfortable. We have some good food that people enjoy and we are outside of Downtown.

Paul, as we conclude, what is your vision of yourself as an entrepreneur? Five or ten years from now, what is the future for Roots?

This is my passion, so I want to keep going down this path. I want to be a holding company of many companies. If I painted out my 20- or 30-year view, I have four kids, each one of them is running a business with them. We have this giant holding company. It is Siwek Enterprises. They are all engaged and all driving value.

On the real estate side, my goal is to get to 1,000 doors one day. On the restaurant business, we have talked about expanding to more vertically and horizontally, another Roots 2.0, and also different concepts. We will see what the future brings. There are other ventures that I’m involved with some of my other friends. I invested in a couple of tech startups. I see myself as a portfolio that I need to diversify.

Paul, a lot of our readers are trying to gain clarity. They are trying to seek their purpose, or maybe they have an idea, but they are afraid of taking action. What are the top three pieces of advice that you would give them based on your whole experience in corporate entrepreneurship, creating the life you want for your family and for yourself to make an impact? That is a trend I see in all of your stories. It is about giving and creating that impact.

It is so important. I love to network and connect people. I’m a connector. If there is one thing people will say, I connect people. One of the most impactful feedbacks I got from somebody was, “You treat the CEO and the janitor the same way. That was impressive.” I was like, “Why wouldn’t I? It is a human being. I’m a little maybe more intimidated by the CEO but at the end of the day, I’m going to say hello to every single janitor. They are doing their job. If they are doing it well, that is fantastic.”

Connecting to me is very important because you never know when that person is going to be a helpful contact or you are going to help inspire them to do something. If you are going to connect to people, they are going to create greatness. To me, that is fun and exciting. Find where you are passionate about and where you can have an impact. You need to take some chances and take some risks. It is not going to be easy. You have to roll with the punches.

That is one of the things people will say about me. You don’t tell Paul no. If you are going to tell Paul no, I’m going to keep bird-dogging until it is going to be yes. I’m not going to be difficult about it. I’m not going to be evil vindictive. If you put a 10-foot wall, I’m going to find a way over it. You put twelve, I’m going to keep grinding it out. You have to have that mentality of grinding it out because entrepreneurship is not easy. You’ve got to hustle, connect and find money. Those are challenges.

I love exactly what you have said. That is what I have seen of you. That is why I communicated and how I introduced you because that is even more important than any title. When I was thinking of introducing you, I’m like, “These are the qualities that I’m going to introduce. You do everything from a heartfelt way, very genuine.” That is what I appreciate of you. As we conclude, what is your information? Maybe Roots Instagram or whatever you want to share with our readers.

Come check us out at Roots. We are in East Downtown 3107 Leeland, Roots Wine Bar. It is @RootsHTX on Instagram. The same on Facebook. We are throwing up some holiday season parties. We are open for happy hours and private events.

Thank you so much, Paul. I’m so appreciative. I know how busy you are, and you still made the time to inspire so many people.

Important Links

• Roots
• Houston Housing Authority
• Paris County Housing Authority
• Salvation Army
• Avenue 360
• Catholic Charities
• @RootsHTX - Instagram
• Facebook - Roots Wine Bar HTX
• https://www.YBCoaching.com/clarity
• https://www.YBCoaching.com/wellness5minsroutine
• https://www.Facebook.com/yanetbcoaching
• https://www.Instagram.com/yanetbcoaching/
• https://www.LinkedIn.com/company/yanet-borrego-coaching/?viewAsMember=true
• https://www.YouTube.com/channel/UCqxL829o0Vk-QdY12F-GgMw
• https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/paul-siwek-816a8b4/ 

About Paul Siwek

Paul Siwek is a Senior Manager in the Accenture’s Industry X Practice and has more than fifteen years of engineering, construction, manufacturing, digital transformation, and consulting experience. He has a broad background in the Oil & Gas industry, including upstream midstream, downstream and chemicals.

With a broad background in the Oil & industry specializing in engineering, project management, project cost development and estimating, contracting and commercial management, and consulting experience. Before joining Accenture, spent more than a decade in project execution and business development within the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) industry. My responsibilities included numerous positions of increasing responsibility within the engineering, project management and business development ranks.

I spent three years living in the Middle East primarily focused on developing business opportunities for refining, chemical and petrochemical projects in the region, as KBR’s key account manager for Saudi Aramco and SABIC. I also led pursuits for PetroRabigh, Sadara, YASREF, Takamul, BAPCO, Oman Oil Company, Qatar Petroleum, KOC and KNPC.

As a Senior Business Development Manager, I was responsible for leading and developing the bidding and commercial win strategy for pursuits, including several project-specific Joint Ventures with Korean, Japanese and Chinese EPC firms for projects up to $10B.

In addition, I was an integral part of the team which completed the business case, due diligence, acquisition and subsequent integration of a 500 person engineering office (KBR-AMCDE) in Saudi Arabia. I am a degreed engineer with a MBA focused on the Energy (Oil & Gas) Value Chain.