Family business started with phone call by 12-year-old

ROYAL CITY - Pavons Satellites, a fairly new, family-owned, varied services business, has just opened its third branch, all because of a 12-year-old's phone call years ago.

Pavons is headed by Sandra Pavon and her sister Ana Celestino. Also involved are their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Cornelio Celestino, and Sandra's husband Ismael Pavon.

Pavons is a seller of DISH network and Direct TV. It also offers auto, home and commercial insurance, tax return preparation, cell phone service and a bill payment station. It is located at 123 Evergreen Avenue, next to US Bank.

The business had its beginnings more than 10 years ago with Mrs. Celestino. She had a little assist from Sandra, who was 12 at the time.

Trying to find a way out of farm work, Mrs. Celestino struck up a deal to sell DISH under a licensed seller. That deal eventually went sour, and Mrs. Celestino had to give it up.

But she didn't give up the idea of selling. She asked Sandra, who was learning English at school, to call the phone number on a DISH carton in the house and ask about how to get a license.

"It was very distressing. We were in great need," Pavon said. "I didn't want mom to go back to the fields. None of us four girls did. In the winter her nose would be red from the cold."

Besides, Sandra could see her mother was good at sales. She credits her mother with making her a business woman.

"My mother taught me to sell even tamales," she said. "I remember selling cookies in the trailer court. With the money I made, I took my friends to the store. I was crazy."

The woman at the other end of Pavon's call to DISH knew she had a kid on the line. She was amazed when Pavon said she was 12.

But the woman did not turn her away. She told Pavon the things that needed to be done and sent a license application.

"The letter said they would not accept applications with strike-throughs or marks. So I did it in pencil so I could erase," Pavon said.

The DISH woman called Pavon. She said she'd gotten a kick out of the penciled application. And then she told Pavon that if Pavon got all of the necessary papers to her, she would see to it that her mother got a license.

"She was inspired that I was a little girl," Pavon said. "It took one week to get the license to do DISH."

The Pavon family, who live in Mattawa, started the family business about two years ago with the first store in Pasco. There was to be a second store simultaneously in Mattawa, but Pavon was laid low by a pregnancy that became high-risk.

"I was doing almost nothing," she said.

The Pasco store, in the vicinity of the high-traffic Fiesta Foods, has two agents. The Mattawa store, at 314 Government Way and launched nine months ago, has two full-time employees and one part-timer. Pavon expects Royal City to settle at two or three.

"I would love to hire local people. We need some who are bilingual," she said.

Pavons makes money on all of its services, of course. But the bill payment station pays very little. The Pavons started it as a traffic-builder.

"They can make any payment here, even car payments," Pavon said. "It's pretty rare what I don't have. And if we don't have it, we'll get it. The idea is to get people to see what we have in the store."

One thing new is a cell phone deal for Royal City that requires no credit check, no deposit and no contract, with unlimited calling for $19.98 per month.

"You just have to pay for the phone and an activation fee," Pavon said.

In addition to business, Pavon and her sisters are succeeding personally. Pavon is nearing a business degree from Washington State University. Ana has a business degree from WSU and is pursuing a masters. Teresa is an electrical engineer at Hanford. Alondra, a sophomore at Wahluke High School, is posting good grades.

"We just needed to succeed," Pavon said.

They have, and the Pavons are already considering sites for a fourth store.