Latino Professionals Association Celebrates Yo Soy: Fufilling Dreams to Benefit the Community
Moises Garcia is a first-generation Mexican American from Joliet, Illinois.
By Jonathan Gramling
Growing up in Joliet, Illinois as part of a first-generation Mexican American family, Moises Garcia was surrounded by the sweet smell of pastries and enterprising family members whose skills, heart and hard work formed a great foundation for Garcia in his teen and early adult years.
Garcia’s parents brought a lot to the table when they moved to the U.S. from Mexico. For over 20 years, they ran a couple of businesses with the most memorable being a bakery.
“We baked all sorts of Mexican delicacies like conchas, polvorones, mantecadas, cuernitos, bisquets, and churros,” Garcia said. “We made all types of Pan Dulce. One of my fond memories was my mom making a variety of Mexican desserts like Flan Gelatina. I have very fond memories of being in the kitchen with my mom as she was making these wedding cakes for people in our community.”
He also learned something about business and the community.
“I learned a lot in terms of how to treat people, how to treat employees right and most importantly, what can we identify to be able to give back to our community,” Garcia said. “Working in the bakery, there is something very unique about our bakery. We had a relationship with a couple of the local organizations. The most notable one for me was a daycare run by nuns. It was through that day care that we got to work with them because my uncle would donate bread to them to feed the kids. That instilled in me that you have to use your gifts to give back to your people no matter the cost and what you have to overcome.”
During his high school years, Garcia found his voice and his passion as a singer. And just like his parents working hard in the bakery, putting long hours in to make their dreams come true, Garcia did the same with singing.
“Music has always been an important facet in my life,” Garcia said. “It’s something that I started when I was 14-years-old. And I didn’t really start thinking about it as a goal when I was 14. I was in high school and I had a wonderful mentor by the name of David L. Jones who was the choir director. I knew coming into high school that I wasn’t necessarily the most talented or skilled, but I was a hard worker. I was willing to put in the hard work and I was willing to put my heart there in order to achieve a goal. He was the person who really pushed me being that first generation high school student studying music, never having had any private training before knowing that would never let you down as long as you are willing to put in the work and willing to put your heart on the table to achieve your goals that the journey is possible. And I think for me, through that four-year time span in high school, I was able to make it to state. And I went on my first international tour with the Lutheran Youth Choir International, which is an international Lutheran choir group. We did a tour of Germany.”
Garcia was hooked and studied music and business at Illinois Wesleyan University.
“While I was in college, I was in the Illinois Wesleyan University Collegiate Choir,” Garcia said. “I was in that ensemble for about my entire time there. It was through that ensemble that I was able to go on three international tours. For me, it was really crazy experience in that growing up in Joliet, I had always encountered a lot of small-town ideas of ‘Joliet is the world. The world is all here.’ I’ve always been encouraged by my parents. ‘Hey the world is bigger than that. It’s a very tough world out there, but you need to get out there and see everything and understand really the scope of what you can achieve in this world. It’s bigger than the town you live in.’ It was through music that I really discovered that passion and aspect of it. And I think that was something important for me.”
Garcia went on several semi-international or international tours with the Wesleyan choir. He also did an internship with the Vienna Opera, one of the most prestigious musical venues in the world.
“I was just a small kid in my high school choir room just plucking away at the piano because I wanted to be better at music,” Garcia recalled. “And the next thing I knew, I was interning at the world’s best opera house. Just understanding that through hard work and heart, you are able to get to places. And you shouldn’t let negative stigma or negative obstacles in your environment put you down. That’s something that drives a lot of inspiration in me when I continue to chase my goals.”
Garcia graduated when the COVID-19 pandemic was taking off in May 2020 and most music opportunities were shut down. So he went with the business side of his career and started working at EPIC virtually from the confines of his home.
“I worked from home for the first 5-6 months,” Garcia said. “And then we all got called back into the office in Verona around June. And then I was there for a couple of months before transitioning over to my current company.”
As a project manager at EPIC, Garcia didn’t feel like he personally was making a positive impact on the world, so he switched over to Kennedy Communications.
“I think one of the big things that I really loved about my role as a marketing account executive is that I am really able to work with the client in a collaborative setting where we kind of sit down and really talk about the business, some of the strengths and weaknesses of their business and some of the strengths and weaknesses of their market and really being able to create a collaborative solution to either help their business grow, bring in more revenue, or be able to hire additional employees,” Garcia said. “It’s that collaborative aspect of it that I really like.”
And of course, Garcia has continued to pursue his first love music in his spare time.
“Right now in the Madison area, I’m involved with three different musical groups,” Garcia said. “I’m involved with the Madison Chamber Choir. I’ve been a member of that ensemble for about a year. I’m entering my second season with them. I’ll be starting the season with the Festival Choir of Madison, We will be performing Handel’s Messiah in December. I think that will be a fun time. And finally, I’m a member a choral member over at St. Maria Goretti Church. I assist with being able to provide music for a couple of their services over there as well.”
Garcia’s dream is to eventually give back to the community. He plans to combine his love for music with his business acumen to create a Latin-music venue in Madison.
“I want to have my own music venue and be able to establish that platform for the Hispanic/Latino community,” Garcia said. “I want to establish a forum where people can come together and share and rejoice in the music that our community is able to bring. I think that is one of the most important aspects of my career. It’s something that I learned very young. No matter how far you go in your career, you always have to make sure that at the end, you are able to come back and give back to your people.”
Moises Garcia has received support and guidance from the community. And even at the age of 23, he plans to give back because of all he has been given. With young people like Moises Garcia around, the future for the Latino community in Madison and Dane County is bright indeed.
