Dago Garcia
Creative Manager
Better Business Bureau serving the Heart of Texas
Milestones
My road in life took a while to figure out.
I only applied to one university, and it was St. Ed's. They took me in, and I got enough scholarships, on-campus jobs, and loans that I made it through pretty unscathed.
Since I was 15, I wanted to write and teach History. That meant I needed a PhD, and I was pretty deadset on that. Did research summers at ND and Chicago as an undergrad to prepare.
The recession hit. People with advanced degrees went back to grad school, and I got rejected from every PhD program I applied to.
Regrouped and went after an MLA degree from St. Ed's. I figured it would help my CV out and I would use it to find my way academically.
I got burned out on school and decided that if I couldn't teach I would at least try to make a difference. I started looking for work with local nonprofits.
I was an event and contract manager at a local NPO. I planned conferences and managed our relationships with public and private funders. But I grew tired of being so multidisciplinary in my work.
I decided that I loved the marketing aspects of everything I did. Design, planning, copy... so I looked for marketing positions.
I've been at BBB for three years, and I've had two title changes and am now the Creative Manager. I stuck to my principles, kept learning, and filled in where I could where there was a vacancy.
Keep following my journey
Education
High School
Bachelor
Graduate
Career
Creative Manager
Any and all creative work that comes from our organization is planned, designed, and implemented by my team.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Non-Profit Organizations
Business
Being Creative
Day to Day
I get to my computer, and I go through emails. I'm an inbox at 0 kind of person. That doesn't mean I do every task immediately, but I take stock of what I've been asked to do or any tasks that are incomplete and I put it in a paper journal. I see what tasks I can knock out in a quick 5 to 15 minutes, and I just start knocking them out until everyone gets in the office. Then, we examine where we're at with our creative projects and start tackling things.
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for college students
Read up on what positions may mean in an agency or an in-house marketing team and see what piques your interest the most. Figure out how you can get there by researching and finding mentors that can give you guidance on how you can meet your goals. The great thing about marketing people is that they're all narcissists and will take any opportunity to talk about themselves / what they do.
Recommended Education
My career is not related to what I studied. I'd recommend this path instead:
Bachelor
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
"You're too ambitious for this position. You aren't a perfect fit skills-wise. You have to be traditionally taught to be good at something. "
Challenges I Overcame
Financial
Gangs / Violence
First-Generation Immigrant
