When Karina Villaseñor walked onto the stage at the 2026 ISSA VEO Conference in Dallas, she did so from a different spot than the year before.

At the inaugural conference in Chicago in 2025, the vice president of human resources for 4M Building Solutions received the VEO Visionario Award. This year she returned as co-host alongside ISSA Chief Engagement Officer Karina Neff, the first Visionario honoree to take on that role.

Her session, “De Honrada a Anfitriona: Liderazgo que Eleva a Otros” (From Honoree to Host: Leadership That Elevates Others), builds on that change in position.

“Last year, I was honored,” Villaseñor said. “This year, I’m here to help create a stage where more people can be seen, heard and elevated.”

In her view, recognition is a moment. Leadership is the multiplier. The real test for anyone handed a platform is what they do with it afterward.

“Will we use it to only be seen?” she asked. “Or will we use it to help others become visible?”

She walked into the people business

Villaseñor joined 4M in 2007 without a grand plan. “I had no idea what I was signing up for,” she admitted. “I just knew that they had an opening for me.”

She learned fast what kind of business she had joined. Clients, coworkers and frontline team members all add up to the same thing. Accounts may be won in a conference room, but the cleaning gets done by the people who show up every night and walk into those buildings.

“Ultimately, they are the ones that make it happen,” Villaseñor said.

When she started, 4M had roughly 500 team members. Today the St. Louis-based contractor has more than 7,000, and Villaseñor oversees recruiting, screening, benefits and labor relations across its 27-state footprint. The growth came with its share of trial and error.

“Well, let’s try this. Well, that didn’t work. What else can we do?” she recalled.

The openings keep coming back

Villaseñor pointed to federal labor data to frame the stakes. About 2.34 million people worked as janitors and building cleaners in the U.S. last year, according to the figures she cited, with women making up 36.2% of that workforce and Hispanic or Latino workers 35.6%.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment in the occupation will grow only 2% from 2025 to 2035. Even so, the agency expects about 321,800 openings each year over that decade. Most of those openings come from replacement needs, as workers move into other occupations or leave the labor force, rather than from new jobs being created.

For Villaseñor, that makes retention the bigger issue. A position filled today means little if it opens up again in a few months. She was blunt about who notices when a frontline worker doesn’t show.

“Nobody cares if I show up to my office and I work from my office,” Villaseñor said. “But a client is going to care if Joe or Mary or Cindy did not come into work.”

Keeping those people means taking care of them and giving them somewhere to go. Representation is part of that equation.

“Representation matters because opportunity does not distribute itself,” she stated. “When people see someone like them in leadership, it changes what they believe is possible.”

Moving from me to we

Villaseñor drew a sharp contrast between two kinds of leaders. One keeps the spotlight, guards information and treats personal advancement as the goal. The other shares what it knows, builds access for others and keeps asking who it can help move forward.

She put herself firmly in the second camp. After nearly 20 years in the industry, she told attendees to come find her if they are stuck on a problem she has already worked through.

“I don’t mind sharing even best practices,” Villaseñor said. “Whatever you guys need, let me know.”

Four doors any mentor can open

Villaseñor laid out four doors a mentor can open for someone with potential. The first is confidence.

“I see potential in you, even before you fully see it in yourself,” she explained. Plenty of capable workers never say they can take on more. Sometimes it takes a leader saying it first.

The second is learning, which means providing tools, context, feedback and chances to build new skills. If a team member believes they can do the job but lacks the tools, the answer is to get them the tools.

Visibility comes third. That means inviting people into the meetings and rooms where decisions get made. The fourth is sponsorship, and it carries the most weight.

“I will use my credibility to recommend you to opportunities when you’re not in the room,” Villaseñor said. Some employees will raise their hands for a chance to lead. Others won’t. “They’re sitting there just waiting for you to uncover their potential,” she added.

She paired those doors with a simple sequence: see it, validate it, connect and elevate. Spot the effort in people who may not seek attention. Tell them specifically what they did well and why it mattered, rather than defaulting to what went wrong. Connect them to mentors, training, projects and customers. Then give them room to present, influence decisions and be seen by others.

Starting with the toolbox talk

Villaseñor described how that looks in practice. Take a reliable team member who is known for quality and care but has never been part of a leadership conversation. Most cleaning operations already hold daily safety or toolbox talks. The next time one comes around, hand it to that person to lead. Over time that comfort can grow into running a building, which gives the company a bench of leaders ready when it wins new accounts.

Training has to reach people in a language they understand, a lesson 4M learned the hard way.

“We did not get this right from the start,” Villaseñor acknowledged. “I’m going to be completely honest.”

The company had been sending out training materials in English and wondering why nothing stuck. The problem was obvious once they looked at who was reading it. Most of the frontline team spoke Spanish, and other parts of the company included Haitian Creole speakers. 4M started with Spanish because it covered the largest group, without writing off everyone else.

Onboarding got the same scrutiny. Sending a new hire to a building without telling them which door to use or who to report to is a quick way to lose them. Villaseñor asked leaders to picture themselves in that spot.

“Would I be willing to go work for someone that I don’t even know what door I should go in?” she said. A better first day includes clear directions and a named partner, such as an experienced team member who works alongside the new hire for the first two weeks.

Growth should come in steps, too. Leading one toolbox talk doesn’t mean someone is ready to take over a building the next day. A small process improvement project, introductions to operations leaders and specific public recognition help build that path. The goal is a dependable team member who becomes a confident lead, then a supervisor and eventually a mentor for the next generation.

Building a bench through Lead 360

At 4M, that path runs through what the company calls 4M University and its Lead 360 program, which trains leads and supervisors to step into account manager and field manager roles. Company materials describe it as a 14-week program that combines BSCAI training modules with instruction on 4M’s internal management programs, HR policies and safety protocols.

The early version was rough. “It was not good at all,” Villaseñor admitted.

The fix was finding the right person to own it. 4M turned to Gustavo “Gus” Jaramillo from its safety department, someone passionate about safety who loves to teach. Jaramillo, now vice president of safety, compliance and training, took the program over and built a team around it. Course materials that once went out in bulky binders shipped across the country now live on a shared drive.

The program has produced 189 graduates in three years. 4M has since added Lead 360 Advanced for current district and regional managers, using talent reviews to identify gaps in areas such as finance and safety performance and then training to close them.

“It’s not going to happen overnight,” Villaseñor said. “It’s going to take consistency, but it does work.”

What a real career path should answer

Opportunity doesn’t help anyone who can’t see it. Villaseñor said a credible career path should answer a handful of plain questions for every team member. What can my next role be? What skills do I need to get there? Who can help me prepare? How will I know when I’m ready? Can I see people like me who have made that journey?

Retention work has to happen long before anyone mentions leaving, she stressed, especially as staffing pressures across the industry grow more visible.

“If somebody’s telling you they’re leaving, it’s too late,” she said.

One person and one door

Villaseñor closed with questions for every leader to take home. Who on my team has talent but not enough visibility? Whose name can I put forward for a specific opportunity this month? What systems need to change so advancement doesn’t depend on knowing the right person?

She also gave attendees an assignment before leaving Dallas: Write down one person and one door you will open for them.

Being a host, she noted, goes beyond standing on a stage. It means welcoming people in, making room at the table, introducing people to one another and celebrating new voices. The greatest recognition, in her view, comes from watching someone else find their own stage.

“Leadership is not measured by how many people applaud,” Villaseñor said. “It is measured by how many people grow because someone believed in them, prepared them, connected them and opened the door.”