Eduardo Juarez was born in Huntsville, Texas, and split his upbringing between Ennis and Lake Jackson. Military service wasn't a family tradition walking in the door, it found him almost by accident. "I actually didn't have a path forward," Eduardo says. "I went into the recruiter's office to drop off my friend, and he ended up not joining, but I did." That one decision would turn into a 25-year career, one that would later be echoed by his own family: his cousin serving in the Army starting in 2000, his younger brother joining the Marine Corps in 2004, and most recently, his son earned his Airborne Wings with the 82nd Airborne Division.
Eduardo began his journey at the USMC Recruit Depot in San Diego, serving several years in the Marine Corps as an armorer supporting an infantry battalion. After Iraq, he crossed over to the Army, where he spent nearly a decade as a reserve Drill Sergeant before becoming a 12B combat engineer. His career took him through five tours overseas—Afghanistan in 2002 at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Africa in 2003, back to Afghanistan in 2004, and Iraq in 2005–2006—along with platoon sergeant time in Syria in 2022–2023 and a stint as a company first sergeant before finishing his career with an Observer/Controller-Trainer unit. He retired as a Sergeant First Class in July 2025, closing out 25 years of service.
Eduardo found his way into industrial construction for a simple reason: the pay was good, and the timing was right. But what kept him in the field was the work itself. "I enjoy the technical aspects, the math, the planning," he says. "Getting to watch my lift plans come to life in the field, and the expressions on people's faces when from the ground it looks like you don't have enough headroom, but you have just enough."
Eduardo joined Performance as an ironworker and has spent more than seven years with the company, now serving as a Crane and Rigging Superintendent. While much of his role involves planning lifts, his current position has put him back in the field, a change he welcomes. Along the way, Performance has supported him well beyond the jobsite. While working as a structural foreman at MHI and attending college at night, his managers let him leave early to make it to his classes, helping him complete his bachelor's degree. He's continuing that momentum now, recently enrolling at the University of Houston to study engineering.
When it comes to leadership, Eduardo points to adaptability as his biggest growth area. "My growth has come in the way I handle stress and change," he says. "You have to be flexible, Semper Gumby." He also credits the familiarity of military-style structure for easing his transition into civilian work. "It's having a very similar schedule and hierarchy," he explains. "It also helps that there are a lot of vets with shared experiences in the field; it creates a sense of familiarity." As for the values he carries from his years in uniform, he says they're simply part of who he is. "Having served as long as I did, it's hard to separate. But I think that's what makes veterans a great asset to the company."
Outside of work, Eduardo enjoys restoring old cars and traveling whenever he gets the chance.
When asked what he'd tell other veterans or active-duty service members considering a career at Performance, Eduardo kept it simple: "Bring your work clothes. This place is very similar to the service, it can be whatever you want it to be. You just gotta be willing to put in the work and speak up when there needs to be a change."
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