Brenda R. Velazquez was born in Monterrey, Mexico, and immigrated to the United States in 1987 at the age of 7. It was this background, combined with her desire to support her family and the encouragement of her husband of 20 years, Luis Erik Velazquez Sr., to which she attributes much of her current success. She was further inspired by her father, an engineer, and developed a great love for marketing, business and construction. This led to her establishing Future Sign Co. in 2001, alongside her husband and mother-in-law, while working toward her citizenship, which she achieved in 2004. Today, Ms. Velazquez acts as the chief executive officer of Future Sign Co. and is responsible for conducting meetings to go over projects and expectations, working on proposals and bids, and attending marketing events.
Holding considerable expertise in the signage industry, commercial sign design and installation services, Ms. Velazquez believes strongly in the importance of education and has a great love of learning, which has led her to pursue considerable education in an effort to bolster her business acumen and expertise. She has completed coursework in business and accounting with the University of Phoenix and is two semesters away from the completion of her dual degree in business and accounting. Furthermore, she is licensed in REA and ESC and has been certified by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council. In 2017, she completed a number of business courses and seminars with LinkedIn, including “Discovering Your Strengths,” “Enhancing Your Productivity,” “Thought Leadership” and “Gretchen Rubin on Creating Great Workplace Habits.”
In order to keep abreast with developments in her field, Ms. Velazquez has volunteered with the Texas Sign Association since 2019 and is presently working on the requirements to be accepted to the steering committee of the International Sign Association. She is also incredibly active within her local community, serving as a public relations and communications specialist for Northside, Houston, since 2019. Previously, she was involved with the Houston & Southeast Texas chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association from 2008 to 2017 and an administrative coordinator for Fun-Fair-Positive Soccer from 2014 and 2016 and for Culture Beat Entertainment from 2013 to 2014. In addition, Ms. Velazquez has served as a volunteer fundraiser and advertisement donor for The Women’s Home in Houston.
Ms. Velazquez considers her crowning achievement to be her position as the chief executive officer of Future Sign Co. She takes great pride in how Future Sign Co. is growing and exceling as a woman-run business in a very male dominated field. Furthermore, she has cultivated significant skill in juggling multiple responsibilities at once. In 2017, she managed a major signage work project for the Super Bowl while taking care of her mother-in-law through her illness and eventual passing. She felt being able to pull through in both her work and for her family to be a major accomplishment. More recently, she was recognized as the Best Business Person in Houston by Alignable in 2020 and 2021 and named to the 2021 Women Leaders by Sign Builder Illustrated.
Looking toward the future, Ms. Velazquez hopes to be able to travel internationally in support of her business. In her free time, she enjoys spending dancing, reading for leisure, relaxing and having time alone for self-reflection. Ms. Velazquez is very devoted to her family as well, which includes her husband, Luis, who has been a huge source of inspiration for her, though she feels he doesn’t give himself enough credit for it, and her seven wonderful children.