The Leadership Lesson That Built Aron Marquez’s $100M Business
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 7 April 2026
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, Aron Marquez’s story begins in the fields, working long hours and learning firsthand what hard work really looks like. Years later, he would go on to build WildCat Oil Tools, a Texas-based company generating over $100 million in annual revenue and employing hundreds of people.
But for Marquez, success was about people, not just profit. From doing the same work as his employees to building a culture rooted in respect, he learned that leadership is earned long before a company scales.
Aron shares what it takes to build something that lasts and why the way you treat people ultimately defines the strength of your business.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.6 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:14.0 | This is Lee Habib, and this is our American stories. |
| 0:18.2 | And we tell stories about everything here on this show, from the arts to sports and from business to history, and everything in between, including your stories. Send them to our American Stories.com. |
| 0:29.6 | And now we continue with our Do the Right Thing series, a series based upon ethical dilemmas that's sponsored by the folks at the Daniels Fund. |
| 0:39.7 | Joey Cortez brings us the story of Aaron Marquez. |
| 0:43.8 | Here's Aaron. |
| 0:44.9 | In our industry and most industries, your reputation's everything. |
| 0:49.4 | You know, I think Warren Buffett said it takes 20, 25 years to build a great reputation in five minutes |
| 0:54.9 | to ruin it. |
| 0:56.1 | And it's so true. |
| 0:57.9 | Aaron Marquez immigrated from Mexico to America in the second grade. |
| 1:02.1 | And he is now the founder and CEO of Wildcat Oil Tools, based out of the Permian |
| 1:07.5 | Basin in Texas, the largest petroleum-producing basin in the world. |
| 1:12.6 | They provide oil field services, |
| 1:14.9 | specializing in cutting-edge technology |
| 1:17.2 | and a world-class workforce. |
| 1:19.4 | The company has 150 employees |
| 1:21.8 | and generates over $100 million in annual revenue. |
| 1:25.7 | Aaron has lived the American dream, which, according to him, has a key ingredient. |
| 1:32.3 | You have to make sure that your ethics are in place that things that are not negotiable, |
| 1:37.3 | and it's your integrity and your ethics and the way to do business. |
... |
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