We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ray De La Garza. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ray below.

Alright, Ray thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Your ability to build a team is often a key determinant of your success as a business owner and so we’d love to get a conversation going with successful entrepreneurs like yourself around what your recruiting process was like -especially early on. How did you build your team?

Early in my career, my first real job was working as a van driver at KIIS FM in Los Angeles. I worked my way into the studio and was lucky to work with the morning show host, Rick Dees. Rick gave me the best advice: never to get in the boat alone. When things are good, bring good people with you. Don’t get in the boat alone, thinking you can do everything alone.  Things will go bad, and you will need those people to help guide the boat back on track. I’ve always had great people next to me who can help bring me up. This is the best advice I have ever gotten, and I still use it to this day,

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My company, Roc Cartel, is a music management and film company. I help guide the careers of music artist and the business side so they can continue to create and develop their artistry. I’m known for being honest, truthful, and transparent with my clients, meaning I share the good news but, more importantly, any bad news so we can work through that together to accomplish our goals. My first client as a road manager was Expose out of Miami, Florida, and then Paula Abdul and my career took off. Currently, through L3V3L Music, I manage their label and artist Vella, whom I had signed to Universal Music Group, Sweden. For Roc Cartel films, I was Co-executive Producer on the film “The Day The Music Died, The Story of Don McLean’s America Pie,” which was nominated for an MTV Movie Award in 2023 and is currently streaming on Paramount+. My latest film is “Point Of No Return, X-posed.” I produced and directed the documentary, which will be streaming on Tubi and Amazon Prime Video on June 12, 2025.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Lead by example, not fear, and don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty. When I work with teams on the road or in my office, there is no duty that I am not willing to do that is too small. If you’re eager to do any needed work, so will your team. I had my first board meeting for a radio network that I was a co-founder of called Radiovisa. When the board meeting was over, and everyone cleared out, I was one of the last people to leave, and I noticed the conference room was still a mess with food and drinks. I started to clean it up, and another employee saw me cleaning and helped and said there was no need for me to do it. I stayed, we cleaned it together, and that employee stayed with me for 3 years before we sold the company. If I ask someone to help me with any project, I would be willing to do it myself if need be; that’s how you gain respect. You don’t demand respect; you earn it.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I learned that “Pivot” is not a negative word. For a long time, I assumed the word “Pivot” meant you did something wrong, and now you have to correct your mistake and “Pivot.”
A few years back, I was producing a TV show called Business Rockstars. We interviewed Rockstar CEOs like Marc Cuban, Daymond John, John Paul DeJoria, and others, and they talked about how they had to pivot their business for success. I realized from them that to pivot meant you realized the market has changed; you were smart enough to recognize that, make a pivot, and continue to your goal. I frequently pivot now due to other circumstances that I cannot control.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roccartel/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RocCartel/