For 43-year-old Denver resident Juan Munoz, working at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was a great experience, including the time he spoke with an astronaut on a cellphone.
“I was like, ‘So, you're in space right now,” Munoz said, relating his wonder at the time. He said the astronaut thanked him for his work to keep the crew of the International Space Station safe, giving them the "power that we need to survive."
"I was like: ‘You're welcome. So, you're in space right now?”
Munoz grew up in Houston, where it was a common dream to work for NASA. It wasn't always his dream, he said, but it was something he was happy to pursue.
“I come from a family of blue-collar workers,” Munoz said. “My mom cleaned houses all her life … I even helped her clean houses as a little kid. My dad was a pipefitter. He still is.”
He said his parents provided him with a good life and taught him always to work hard.
“My parents were big on books and education and getting degrees,” Munoz said. “I was the first one to go to college and graduate.”
He received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Texas A&M, as well as a master's in engineering management from Washington State University. Following college, Munoz worked for Boeing. During his time there, he met his wife, Jacqueline, a fellow engineer, at a softball game. They have two children.
Taking a job with NASA
Eventually, Munoz was offered a job with NASA. He managed the hardware for the International Space Station’s eight solar array wings and the units that control electrical flow and power generation. He worked on algorithms to keep the arrays pointed at the sun, checked solar cells for needed repairs and supported missions by monitoring data and fixing issues from back rooms in the Mission Evaluation Room.
He worked there for a little over six years before moving to Colorado about nine years ago. He continued working as an engineer for various projects, including the space plane known as the Dream Chaser. For a decade, Munoz pursued real estate through different avenues. He became a full-time agent four years ago. He said he knew that real estate was his calling and that he wanted to help people navigate one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives.
Munoz is now the owner and leader of the Now Properties team at Your Castle Real Estate.
But “I still think like an engineer,” Munoz said. “I get a lot of data. I look at the numbers. I still do my spreadsheets.”
Going forward, Munoz hopes to continue to grow his business. “One thing that drives me is the family legacy … I want it to be the norm that you can own a business and be a successful entrepreneur and look beyond just working for somebody."
The following has been edited and condensed for clarity.
What did you enjoy most about working at NASA?
I enjoyed working on something big to further human growth and development and explore different things. It just opened my eyes.
What is a time when you used your engineering skills in real estate?
I was selling a house in my neighborhood, and the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system broke. I had to turn off the main breaker, take out the furnace panel and disconnect the wire.
What do you like most about your house?
What I like about my house is that we have a front office and an open floor plan. We created a nice back deck with a hot tub, a grill and a little projector that we can watch games on. And the basement. That was a new thing for us; Texas doesn't have them. We made that half "man cave," half kids' play area.
What advice do you have for first-time homeowners?
You can't really time the market. When you're ready, you're ready, but you need to understand the whole process. You really have to see what your financials are and talk to a preferred lender.