Rise & Shine

Rise & Shine

Local Woman’s Journey to business ownership

Story and photos by Felicia Frazar

Everything Mary Ann Leos Smith does is to better herself, her family and her community.

She puts her heart into her various businesses, while boosting up others in their endeavors as part of the Seguin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

“It is a great community,” she said. ‘I don’t do much, but whatever I do, I do it with all of my heart. I do whatever I can to help people.”

Smith is the proud mother of two children — Julie and Eric Leos.

“My kids are good,” she said. “God is good at taking care of them. I think that is my success, more than business more than money, is my children.”

Smith made Seguin her home in 1978 after migrating to the US, albeit illegally.

“I used to be kind of embarrassed to tell people how I got here, because I got here like every other illegal alien that come to the United States, crossing the river and walking, trying to make my dreams come true,” she said. “I tried to locate the American dream.”

But that dream was hard to come by. She remembers the day she came to Texas vividly, Oct. 18, 1978.

“That day my life changed,” she said. “I changed country, I changed friends, I changed language, I changed dollar amounts. I changed everything.”

When Smith made her way to Guadalupe County from Mexico, it was with a friend whose husband was already here. Once they made it to Seguin, Smith found herself on her own.

“They left me, practically in the streets,” she said. “I was walking the streets, finding someone to offer me a place to stay, here in Seguin.”

Smith made her stay here permanent and, eventually, legal. She got a job working at a local manufacturing plant, but a big mistake cost her greatly and found herself looking for work to support her family.

A friend, who owned a business, gave Smith a second chance and opened the doors for her to eventually becoming a thriving businesswoman.

“Tom Krause, at the time he had the Wrap Up — it was the Mailboxes Ect. from here in town,” she said. “I worked there for two years. Tom is really smart. He was teaching me everything he knew. I was hungry to learn. I was hungry to learn the business, I was hungry to learn anything.”

The businessman taught Smith the ins and outs of the operation from packing and shipping to financials, Smith said. The shop was shutdown, leaving a void in the community, Smith hoped to fill. And just a few months later, Smith opened Ups & Grounds in the building where Mas Tax Service is currently located. It was in the same space that Smith opened Su Casa, hoping to give other people, including her family, a place to work.

“I opened the restaurant because my older sister was here and she needed a job and not every place you go will give somebody a job,” she said.

Soon, Smith joined the Amway Corporation and began selling products. Her entrepreneurship has boomed and Smith is now one of the top leading salespersons in town, and has created a small shop for customers to pick up items as needed.

She’s also invested in real estate, purchasing houses to flip to either rent or sell.

“I took a course in Vegas about flipping houses,” she said. “The market always changes, but it’s a good market.”

When Smith lived in Mexico, she took bookkeeping courses and began learning about taxes. It wasn’t until she came to the United States that she began putting these skills to work, helping her neighbors prepare taxes. This gave Smith the opportunity to open Mas Tax Service, a business she hoped to open in Mexico before coming to the U.S.

“I said ‘I can make a living out of that,’” she said. “That’s what my thinking was, how am I going to make a living out there. How am I going to support myself in this little town (in Mexico). I didn’t want to be as poor as I was. I wanted to be able to pay my way out.”

Things didn’t work out as originally planned, and Smith found herself at home in Seguin.

“I love Seguin and thank the people here for being a part of my life,” she said. “I’ll be here until I die and I will help and do as much as I can to make Seguin proud of me.”

While she may not hail from here, she proudly calls Seguin home and strives to continue making it a better place.

“Living in Seguin for all of these years has made me the woman I am now,” she said. “Seguin is a beautiful community. “All of the people that live here are very friendly. We just have to make sure we keep it that way.”