US Army Veteran Pursuing Passion for Hospitality

US Army veteran Pedro has been inspired by high-level military commanders while serving in Afghanistan, and award-winning professors while working toward his Master of Science degree in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at St. John’s University. But the ultimate inspiration has come from his mother, whose advice still echoes in his head and motivates him to continue pursuing his goals.

Pedro’s mother was raised in a rural farming town in the Dominican Republic; when she came to the US in the 1980s and settled in Brooklyn, NY, she found a job in a local factory. “My mom sought a better life than what she had in the countryside,” Pedro explained. “She was raising a family, and had no time to further her education. She always had to work to survive and continue providing for her kids.”

Pedro recalls the advice she regularly gave to him and his siblings when they struggled with schoolwork. “My mother always used to tell us that she believed she would have struggled less if she had decided to study and go to school. These words continue to motivate me to be a better person.”

After Pedro graduated from high school, he enlisted in the US Army. “I made this decision because I wanted to be independent—and because I knew my mother did not have the financial means to help me pay for college,” he said. “The military offered me a way to earn a college education.”

Twelve years later, after completing a tour in Afghanistan, Pedro decided to buy property in the Dominican Republic—and that is where he discovered his passion for hospitality. He began offering short-term rentals to tourists who were visiting the second biggest city in the Dominican Republic, Santiago de los Caballeros. He now manages 10 properties and runs his own company, Short Stay DR.

Pedro is set to graduate with his master’s in May. “I plan to use the education I received at St. John’s to continue growing this company and others,” he said. “My mother’s struggle is my motivation to succeed.”