With more than a decade of experience in the construction industry, Dublin graduate David Aviles takes pride in a job well done. “I do the best work that I can,” he said. “I know what it’s supposed to look like, and I know how it’s supposed to be done, and that’s what I aim for — quality.”
Aviles graduated from Dublin High School in 2010. He spent his high school years working part time on his parents’ calf farm. After graduation, he married his high school sweetheart Annabell Sanchez and worked a couple of odd jobs in the area, first at Barefoot Athletics and then at Swish Irrigation.
In his search for a longterm career, Aviles decided to join dairy construction. “I just started from the bottom and really dedicated myself to learning, and I got pretty good at it,” Aviles said.
He worked for various construction companies for a few years then in 2014, he decided to start working for himself. “ I started getting little jobs here and there,” he said. “And sure enough, I started to stay busy enough to work for myself.”
Aviles fell on hard times in 2018, and went back to working for other contractors for a while. “I jumped around working for different contractors that I’d met along the way.”
He continued working until 2024, when Aviles had an accident and broke his neck. “I’ve never been so scared in my life, I was out for a good while,” said Aviles. “God really blessed me to survive in the first place, and then He blessed me to make a full recovery, and now He’s blessing me with doing my business again, and it’s been going great. It’s been wild, but all glory to God. He’s been on my side.”
Aviles plans to keep working in construction for the rest of his career. “God willing, I want to just keep going the way I’m going and keep trying to do the best work I can do.” he said.
When Aviles is not working, he loves spending time with his family. The Aviles have three sons, Santiago, 12, Diego, 4, and Teo, 2.
“I love to be with my wife and kids,” he said. “In the summer we’ll be outside, in the pool, or water slide or just cooking out— whatever they want to do, that’s what we’ll do.”
Throughout his adult life, Aviles has found inspiration in his wife’s encouragement and belief in him. “My wife always told me, ‘You have so much potential,’ and [at times] I wasn’t fulfilling my full potential,” he said, “I think just striving to accomplish what my wife saw in me [is my greatest inspiration].”
Aviles’ advice to Dublin graduates is to keep persevering. “My advice would be, put God first,” he said. “And there’s nothing wrong with failing, no matter how many times, but you’ve got to get back up and keep going.”
— Where Are They Now chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@ dublincitizen. com.