Whether she’s bringing something beautiful to people’s homes through her job at a furniture company, creating a sense of community by gathering her friends and family together, or feeding the hungry through her friend’s nonprofit, Sheila Flores makes people’s lives better.
Flores graduated from Dublin High School in 1994, and went on to Tarleton to study English and psychology. She earned her degrees in 1997, got married and started a family.
She also started working in IT. In 2000, the market crashed and she was laid off, but Flores took it as an opportunity. “I always wanted to try as many things as I could in life because at that age — or even now — you’re still trying to figure out what you want to be when you grow up,” she said. “When you’re younger you’ve got to leave yourself open to opportunity, right?
So she changed careers and started working at a furniture manufacturing company called American Leather. The company specializes in high-end, well crafted furniture, and Flores manages their quality team.
“An average day for me is chaos,” she said. “I’m at the factory by 5:30 doing inspections, running around each individual area checking the quality [of the furniture]. I’m checking to see what issues we had from the day before, and checking in with different departments like our customer service department to see what feedback we get from customers and we put those directly to production.”
This month is Flores’ 19th anniversary of working at American Leather. “The company is 33 years old, so there’s a lot of people who have been here since either at the inception of the company, or have been here 20-plus years,” she said. “We’re a family. It’s pretty awesome.”
Flores has no plans to leave her position at American Leather. “I enjoy helping bring beautiful things to people,” she said. “I really love what I do and I could see myself staying here until I retire.”
In her free time, Flores enjoys spending time with her friends. “I’m the person that brings people together, whether it’s family or if it’s friends,” she said. “If I’m not working, I’m organizing some sort of get together.”
Flores also volunteers. “One of the most rewarding things that I’ve done and continue to do is to feed the homeless,” she said.
She goes beyond just bringing people food, and spends time talking with them and listening to their stories. “It’s so important that we try to have that human interaction, compassion and help other people, and that’s something that I really truly enjoy,” she said.
Flores also enjoys spending time with her husband Reyes and her three children, Reyes Jr., 22, Julia, 33, and Alex, 16.
Flores’ father Bill Zachary passed away several years ago. Her mother and stepfather, Linda and Rusty Earp, still live in Dublin, where they once ran the Patrick Street Inn. The business is currently closed because Flores’ mother spends most of her time taking care of her mother, Flores’ grandmother Helen Anderson, but will likely reopen in the future.
Flores’ grandmother is her greatest source of inspiration.
“She is the most beautiful person on the inside that I’ve ever known,” Flores said. “She had a very humble beginning and she grew up in a time where women didn’t go to college — but she fought to go to college. She was a teacher for over 50 years. She can accomplish anything but she’s also so kind and generous and loving. She’s just an amazing spirited person.”
To future Dublin graduates, Flores offers the following advice: “Dream big and don’t underestimate yourself,” she said. “You can accomplish anything. Make sure you set goals long term and short term but as long as you dream you can do whatever your heart desires.”
Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@dublincitizen.com.