Cindy Garcia

I credit my success to two incredible mentors. The first was my boss at State Farm, Lana (L-O-N-A). I was just a cashier at Office Depot straight out of high school, and she loved my energy, loved my smile, the fact that I was treating everyone equally. She invited me in for an interview even though I had no idea what insurance was, didn't know what a policy was or a deductible. Five and a half years later, I was able to become her personal assistant as well as servicing client policies. The fact that she took me under her wing and taught me a lot of what I know, a lot of the soft skills, have helped me obtain other high-level jobs in other industries. The other mentor is Bill, his nickname was Bill from Brazil. He was the regional manager at Texas de Brazil. While I was still a college student, I just needed a part-time job, so I started working there as a host. He saw that I had energy, he called me Dynamo because he saw that my energy was just bigger than my body (I'm 5'1"). There were over 80 people that had applied for the general manager position, and he essentially got me to apply even though I was nervous and didn't want to. He trained me as server, bartender, I was a dishwasher, a cleaner, I was in the kitchen, so he helped train me in every single position. The fact that he saw something in me when I did not see it myself was just life-altering for me. Bill from Brazil gave me the confidence to even hire a person that was deaf and mute, and instead of having to type notes to communicate with her each time, I took it upon myself to learn American Sign Language so that she would feel included. I've been learning American Sign Language for the past 3 years now, and it's helped me connect with other people. I credit that to Bill from Brazil, because again, he saw something in me that I did not realize I had.

I would tell young women entering media and marketing to start building relationships early, and never underestimate the power of your own personal brand. Your reputation is your currency, so you must be reliable. Follow through on your commitments, and treat everyone with respect, from interns on up. You can learn something from absolutely everyone. I would encourage them to speak up and share their ideas. Sometimes women feel like they need to be 100% ready before raising their hand, but in reality, growth happens when you step out of your comfort zone, before you feel completely comfortable. Never be afraid to start, and never stop learning. Just remember to be transparent in everything that you do. Transparent and integrity go hand in hand.

The values most important to me are transparency, integrity, and creating meaningful relationships. At the end of the day, making real connections is what's most important to me. You're selling yourself to be able to gain trust of other people, and the only way to do that is through transparency and integrity. I believe your reputation is your currency, so you must be reliable and follow through on your commitments. I also value treating everyone with respect equally, because you can learn something from absolutely everyone, from all ages. I'm passionate about community engagement and work closely with local nonprofit organizations, other leaders, and entrepreneurs. I wanted to be able to use my first language, which is Spanish, to be able to connect both cultures, especially amidst so much tribulation in this country. I wanted to be able to be a bridge and help connect those people, and help them focus on what we have in common, not what makes us different. When I hired someone who was deaf and mute, instead of just typing notes, I took it upon myself to learn American Sign Language so that she would feel included. To me, it was just a way to meet her on her platform, on her level.