A father and son from South Central Los Angeles learn new skills together — and now plan to open their own family business
Working for someone else can mean giving up control on important decisions — including what you do all day and even whether you still have a job.
This happened to Felix and Jose Cadena. Felix, 35, decided he was tired of the public works job he’d had for 14 years. And at 59, Jose was let go by his longtime employer because the work got slow.
“When that happened, I said, ‘Hey, I’m going to head back to school — let’s do it together,’” said Jose’s son, Felix. “So we started the electrical program.”
“I’m the type of person that likes things to go a little faster and not focus on things I’m not going to use.”
Felix Cadena, DACE studentt
The end goal, which is now within reach, is to own their own business. “My full idea is to open a business with my dad,” Felix said. “We were able to work really well together — and what could be better than having my dad have my back? I told him, ‘This is what I want. I want to be my own boss.’”
Not only can Felix employ himself and his father, but he also hopes to eventually bring in his 13-year-old son as well. “It can be a generational thing,” he said.
Both Cadenas credit the integrated education training program, which in their case involved some basic skills with their career training. The combination accelerated their pace and also sharpened their interest in learning.
“I’m personally not a math person,” Felix said with a laugh. “But over a very short period of time, I thought that [the program] gave me the tools that I needed to go into a field where math is required.”
In fact, a math teacher came into the classroom during their career training classes and taught the specific math skills needed for electrical work, such as formulas involving power, current and circuitry.
“I’m the type of person that likes things to go a little faster and not focus on things I’m not going to use,” Felix said. “The teachers were really helpful … and good at focusing on what you needed the most. I actually like math a little better now.”
Both father and son are married with family members to support and bills to pay, so the fact this program was both quick and inexpensive was really important.
“We both had high school and I had some college,” Felix said, but costly tuition and multi-year commitments could never have worked. “For us, [DACE] was a free program. It was also really convenient in terms of time — and we learned so much. This really isn’t offered anyplace else.”
For more information, visit https://laraec.org/.
Written by Thea Marie Rood
| Regions | Classes |
|---|---|
| Southern California | Careers in Manufacturing-Construction |
