Emmanuel Almonor is Orlando’s modern day renaissance man. With business ventures ranging from real estate and call centers, to his own Omega Music Label, Almonor has built his first small company into a city-wide business empire. Leveraging his sales savvy and keen eye for investment, the young entrepreneur turned his job fixing cell phones into a vast network of store fronts and brands covering the city of Orlando and beyond.
Despite his later successes, Almonor does not come from money. Born in Miami, Florida on May 22nd, 1992, he was still working a minimum wage job at Hollister and fixing his buddies’ electronics at age 17. “After a few years of fixing friends’ phones and X-Boxes, I kind of had a knack for it,” Almonor recounts. “I was approached by a manager of a local AT&T store that said he liked my personality and thought I’d be a good fit for sales. I got hired and by my second month was among the top ten salesmen in the company nationwide.”
By his third month, Almonor was promoted to store manager and began to dream bigger than a future in sales alone. He began saving up money to start his own business, keeping it close to the chest until he found a business worth investing in. By keeping expenses low, saving up cash, and biding his time until the right opportunity presented itself, Almonor built the steady foundations of his later success in those early years.
Almonor’s patience finally paid off at one late-night poker game: “One night while playing poker, I met a guy that was blowing his money,” he remembers, “so I asked him, ‘What do you do for a living that you’re able to spend so much on cards?’ He told me that he owned a couple of call centers, running various programs in the area. I knew nothing about call centers, but exchanged information, thinking I could team up with him to open my own.”
Fast forward one year and Almonor had saved up enough to open his first independent call center. Now a district manager at AT&T, he was taking a major risk striking out on his own, but Almonor had been preparing himself, picking up business and sales skills along the way. Despite a few initial ups and downs, the call centers soon took off, and Almonor was able to invest the earnings into other small businesses. Within a year, the young entrepreneur had bought up car washes, lawn care services, prepaid phone stores and even daycares, expanding his businesses’ reach across the Orlando area.
Having gained success with his call centers and later with a series of income-tax offices, Almonor looked to expand into something that had always been close to his heart, Orlando’s music scene:
“My main project now is getting Orlando to the next level in the music industry. Helping artists be successful from Orlando instead of moving to another city has become a real passion of mine.” Almonor’s Omega Music Label now works with artists and producers including Tyla Yaweh, London On Da Track, Off the Wall OTW407, Young Gambino, Easy$Jav, and Ripper De La Hoya.
Past music, Almonor’s story of hustle and success has also sparked multiple speaking engagements, as he now looks to share his expertise with the next generation of entrepreneurs. Success doesn’t come easily, though, and Almonor would be the first to admit it. His drive and self-discipline took years to hone, and the time he spent learning business and people skills was just as important as the years he spent building the businesses themselves.
When asked what drove him to success, however, Almonor’s answer is heartfelt and movingly close to home. “My main motivation to success was being able to take care of my mom,” he explains. “Once I started making the income I needed to, I made sure I could help my mom retire and take care of everything she needed. She gave me her life raising me and I wanted to make sure that I could repay her the same.”
As he looks to expand his music label and partake in future business ventures, Almonor has a few words of wisdom for the generations under him: “The key to success is consistency,” he says. “Go hard for what you want and don’t be afraid to chase your dreams. If you sit around wondering, it will never happen. You got to go out and get it!” Words to live by, from one of Orlando’s truly homegrown entrepreneurs.
Follow Emmanuel Almonor on Instagram and listen to Omega Music Label’s newest release here.
