San Gil told himself that lawn maintenance was only temporary work he could do before starting a career that was more germane to what he studied in college.

            Contrary to his expectations, Dominic became the founder of a small business, Dom’s Lawn Maintenance, established on January 27, 1997.

            His first few years were not exactly prosperous. He noted that minimum wage was about $4.11 an hour.

            “It was very hard to compete,” he said.

            He noted that back then, most people would simply cut their own grass. They did not view a landscaping business as their first resort. However, he saw an increase in demand for his service in the past 10 years.

            Despite what the business’ name might imply, Dom’s Lawn Maintenance isn’t restricted to cutting grass. Adam, Dominic’s son and employee of the business, elaborated that Dom’s Lawn Maintenance is a jack of all trades.

            The business offers everything from minor janitorial services, like sorting recyclable materials and water-blasting, to minor construction work, such as concrete forming and fencing.

            “Whatever needs labor, we’ll study it and figure it out.” Adam said. “If you ask us to wash dishes at a fiesta, we’ll do it.”

            The willingness to expand into other forms of labor has earned San Gil’s company unique connections and skillsets.

            For example, he had the chance to work with representatives of a company located in Switzerland and New Zealand, who were also connected to FIFA.

            These representatives were sent to Guam to lay down artificial turf in places such as Anderson Air Force Base.

            They hired Dom’s Lawn Maintenance to take part in those operations.

            “We’re the only company that know how to install artificial turf on Guam,” San Gil said. “A lot of guys say it’s easy.”

            Amber, Dominic’s wife, and a federal employee, is supportive of her husband’s passion. But sometimes she worries about him.

            “We’re not getting any younger,” Amber said. “Owning a business is very stressful.”

            She mentioned that the pandemic put extra burden on San Gil because he was concerned about how his employees were going to get paid.

            San Gil elaborated that he lost both private and government contracts, but he has since recuperated much of his losses.

            Some lawn maintenance businesses that were smaller than San Gil’s have gone out of business. This has given him opportunities that otherwise would not have been available if it were not for the pandemic.

            When asked about how he felt about the business, Adam did not hesitate to state his feelings about working for the company. He looks forward to getting feedback from clients after finishing the job.

            He also feels accomplished after doing janitorial work.

            “It’s always nice cleaning up the island,” he said.

            When asked the same question, Amber felt no different about the business.

            She recalls that when she runs into clients in public, she often receives thanks and compliments about her husband’s work.

            Despite how differently she would run the business in contrast to her husband, Amber said, “I’m really proud of everything he does.”

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“I was really scared at first to actually start it because I kept comparing myself to others,” Sapigao said.   

The idea came when Sapigao was hired by a church friend to photograph a birthday party.

She said the event helped her realize that people will pay affordable prices for high-quality photographs at small-scale events.

Sapigao’s focus right now is to promote her business in order to build a bigger client base for Reel Life Guam.

She hopes to gain this client base through advertising her business on her Facebook and Instagram pages.

“Right now, we actually have an ongoing sale of $50 a session,” Sapigao reveals as the promotion she is offering in the advertisements.

Sapigao’s journey in photography started when her father encouraged her and her siblings to develop an interest in it by teaching them how to use a camera to capture important family memories.

“I was like the family photographer,” Sapigao said. “Every time we were on vacation, I would be the one carrying the camera. I would never be in the photos but at least I took some pretty good photos.”

It wasn’t until high school when she really knew her way around a digital single-lens reflex camera, and that was the time people would ask her to take pictures of them because of the quality of her camera.

From there, Sapigao’s passion for photography began to flourish and she decided to take an introductory photography class at UOG.

The class provided her with the basics of the field and provided the basis for understanding the tricks and terminology.

“Once you know how to use a camera, you just keep practicing [sic] and use other resources online to improve your skill,” Sapigao reveals as the reason she didn’t pursue a higher photography class.

Sapigao enjoys capturing candid photographs of her subjects that convey a story that words can’t express.

“Each expression [sic] just tells this deep story that we can’t put into words,” Sapigao says.

Sapigao greatly appreciates any support she receives and hopes Reel Life Guam will keep telling stories through their photos.

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