Michael L. and Lisa M. Lujan, Co-Owners, Mentoring Minds When they heard the phrase “a mind is a terrible thing to waste,” U.S. Air Force veteran Michael Lujan and his wife Lisa took it to heart. In 2002 they founded Mentoring Minds, with a mission of developing affordable, effective learning tools to help children think critically and give them the skills to succeed not just in the classroom but in life. What began less than 10 years ago in a garage selling a single, homemade teaching aid is now an education publisher with more than 50 employees and more than $10 million in sales in 2009. When sales grew rapidly during the company’s first year, Michael and Lisa experienced cash flow problems, so Michael went to SCORE and to the Small Business Development Center in Tyler for advice on how to manage the company. He received counseling and cash flow training which helped him manage the growth. Today, Mentoring Minds ranks 344th in Hispanic Business Magazine’s 2010 list of the largest Hispanic-owned business in the U.S. It is also on Inc. Magazine’s list of the top 5000 companies in the nation in 2010. Their 700 learning and teaching aid products for grades of K-12 are used and sold across the United States.