But First, Get to Know Me!

Shot by Victoria Lewis at Uptown Shots!

AH! OK, here I am with a whole ass blog. I’ve been putting this off for a long time, but the time is here and I’m truly excited to be on this journey! So let’s kick this off with an introduction :)

Let’s start with how the world defines me.  I’m the founder of Chic Influence, a New York City-based public relations and talent management agency. Professionally, I’ve spent the past 15 years in the public relations, marketing and talent management industries where I’m able to bring together my obsession with the business of beauty along with my love of storytelling via product campaigns and branded content with a focus on diversity. I currently work with the some of the world’s most known content creators and emerging beauty brands. Simply put, I do dope shit with dope people. 

Now, how I like to define myself. I’m a human, passionate about achieving all of my goals and dreams by any means necessary, but always with integrity and compassion. My whole life, people have put me in a box because boxes and labels make other people comfortable. However, my journey to who I am is layered and complex.

I am the daughter of Cuban refugees who fled in the early 1960s at the peak of the Cuban revolution. Born and raised in Miami into a family business (Check them out here Enrique Munoz Studio). I started working at the age of 5 because my family and I were literally raised at the studio. So when most people my age (36) started working at 16-17 years old, I already had 10+ years of work experience under my belt. By the time I was 12 my mom and I opened up an invitation store, which we had for 8 years before I decided that I wanted a corporate job (because the grass is always greener on the other side, right?) 

My college years felt like such an unnecessary chore. I proudly went and graduated from Florida International University, but I was frustrated for the whole 4 years because I felt like I was being forced to be “book smart” when I already knew what the real world was like. My disruptive nature really kicked in, in college. I would negotiate with my professors who would teach from slides because for me time was money. I could be at the invitation store working rather than have someone regurgitate information I could read for myself. So after the second class when I saw the teaching patterns, I’d go to the professor and be like “Look, I can’t learn like this. I’m a visual and interactive learner. If you’re going to read off of slides, I’ll just follow the syllabus, turn in all of my assignments on time, and I’ll show up for test days, but I’m not coming to class to fall asleep. I’m just keeping it 100.” Most professors were shocked, but they loved my approach because I was honest. They told me, no student had ever been so blatantly honest, but I followed through on my promise. They couldn’t argue with me because I graduated from FIU with a 3.9 GPA.

So I nab an amazing job right out of college at a global PR firm. I’m like “I made it!” I spent four years working in PR in Miami and then I’m bored/comfortable. When things feel like they come too easy, I thrust myself into things that make me uncomfortable. I don’t know why I’m wired like this, but I literally want to feel rock bottom, in order to rebuild myself up again. That’s when growth happens, for me at least. So I move to NYC with no friends, no family, no network. Just a job and my poor excuse for winter clothes. I stripped every comfort and luxury I had known. At 25 years old in NYC, I actually start paying bills. I learned so much, but I LOVED starting at nothing, knowing no one and really, truly hustling.

I rise quickly up the corporate ladder. I came to NYC as a Senior Account Executive in 2010 and by 2015 I’m the Senior Vice President of a Global PR Firm working on the world’s biggest brands. That growth is unheard of, but there was no secret to it. I worked and ASKED for everything I wanted. I learned that the only way to get what you want is to work harder and smarter than even the most senior level person in the room.

Then, BOOM, I reach this unimaginable title at a young age, compared to everyone else at my title level, and I’m bored again. I’m comfortable. So I do the logical thing (I’m being highly sarcastic right now), I resign (my parents were equal parts horrified and supportive) and start my own business. At that point I was with my then boyfriend now husband, who is my biggest mentor and greatest inspiration, and as an entrepreneur himself, he kept holding a mirror up to me and being like “you can do this for yourself.” So with his support, I dove head first into starting my own company.

So I’m back to starting over, and not only do I start over, I create the DNA of Chic Influence to be the complete opposite of how Corporate America trained me and in turn I create a disruptive yet profitable company in “two markets” (remember, people love boxes) - “General Market” and “US Hispanic.” But for me, I’m just operating as a culturally connected business owner catering to the diverse makeup of this country as a whole, not in boxes. GASP! 

So this blog post is getting too long, I’m also a wife, daughter, sister, marathoner, dog mom, and so much more.

Here’s to living life on YOUR terms, and as I peel back the layers of my mindset one blog post at a time, I hope you feel inspired to look at your dreams and goals as completely attainable, but it’s going to get very uncomfortable and disruptive in the process!