Home Depot Regional Rental Manager Talks Overcoming Obstacles and Believing in Yourself

Originally published on Built From Scratch

“My mother has such a strong work ethic that I could not help but follow her lead,” shares Dominicana Figueroa, regional rental manager at The Home Depot. Dominicana has many accomplishments thus far: being the first person in her family to go to college, earning three degrees and paving a new career path within the company. She feels fortunate to have this success, but growing up, she worked hard to overcome difficult obstacles.

“We grew up as a really close family,” Dominicana recalls. “My father struggled with addiction and wasn’t present in our lives. My mother raised us on her own, working three jobs to support our family. Although we didn’t have a lot, my mom made sure that we had enough.”

At age 26, Dominicana stepped in to raise her niece and two nephews as her sister fought a battle with addiction. All under 11 at the time, she has since watched them all grow up and is now a proud grandmother to two grandsons.

Despite these adversities, Dominicana decided at a young age that she was going to be “the girl who went for it.” This mindset helped her thrive in school and throughout each of her career moves, eventually leading her to The Home Depot in 2018.

Three years ago, Dominicana made Home Depot history by becoming the company’s first female regional rental manager. In her role, Dominicana supports the rental organization, which provides customers with small tools, large equipment, trucks and trailers in one convenient place.

Her role hits close to home because she watched her mom obtain a commercial driver's license and drive charter buses on the weekend to earn money for their family. Because of that, Dominicana is passionate about supporting women in the trucking industry.

"MY BIGGEST PIECE OF ADVICE IS TO REMEMBER THAT NO ONE ELSE HAS YOUR LENS. YOUR EXPERIENCES, YOUR BACKGROUND, YOUR EDUCATION AND YOUR UPBRINGING ARE WHAT MAKE YOU UNIQUE. DON'T EVER DISCOUNT YOUR ABILITIES OR THE VALUE OF YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS."

- DOMINICANA FIGUEROA

Her experiences inspired Dominicana to start a group at The Home Depot called Women in Rental. It’s a group that aims to drive female engagement in the rental organization through education, celebration, encouragement and support.

“I used to wonder how I would be successful because I wasn’t raised in a traditional home with a mom and dad,” she says. “But I look back, and I’m so proud of what I’ve accomplished.”

Interested in a career at The Home Depot. Visit www.careers.homedepot.com.

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