Charles Garcia Speaker Biography
Charles P. Garcia, one of the nation’s top entrepreneurs, a best selling author, and leading Latino motivational speaker, got to where he is today by refusing to take a backseat. He took risks. He was determined. He followed his passion. And he motivates his audiences to do the same.
For Garcia, success in life means finding your passion and following it. Using motivational tools and valuable takeaways presented with an energetic style, he encourages his audiences to look within themselves to discover their life’s passion. Doing so, he teaches, will help them improve themselves, their client and personal relationships, and their work and home lives.
His lessons stay with audiences long after they’ve left. Bold, provocative, and inspiring, Garcia’s message serves as a catalyst to help people dream big, set written goals, and take action.
Speaking on a wide variety of topics from leadership to diversity to parenting to entrepreneurship, Garcia appeals to many different groups. To ensure he provides the right, perfectly customized message, he consults with his clients to understand the goals of the speaking event and to assess the demographic and psychographic elements of the audience.
A true speaking sensation, Garcia enlightens, empowers, and energizes every audience, every time.
Why Choose Charles Garcia for your audience?
Supercharging audiences with positive energy, Charles P. Garcia provides invaluable takeaways for individuals, which will help them break through their perceived limitations and pursue extraordinary success.
Unlike many motivational speakers, Charles P. Garcia speaks from true experience. His life story is eclectic and inspiring. He grew up in the Republic of Panama , graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy, founded an investment banking firm that grew from three people into 60 offices in 7 countries, and serves as one of the youngest members of a Fortune 500 board, among other accomplishments. Today he is an established leader in the business, Hispanic, military and government worlds.
This highly decorated military officer is also a Columbia Law School graduate, a former White House Fellow, and a bestselling author. Garcia is a living example of the philosophy he preaches and the lessons he teaches. Hailed as one of 14 Latino role models for the nation in the book Hispanics in the USA: Making History and as one of the nation’s 100 most influential Hispanics by Hispanic Business magazine, Garcia’s leadership abilities have earned him a role in the administration of four U.S. Presidents.
Garcia encourages and motivates audiences nationwide to apply his “success strategies” to their own lives. The most unique part of his rousing presentation is the free interactive web based software program that he provides audiences as an invaluable takeaway to guide them to create a written life plan with action steps to accomplishing their ten most important goals. These concrete steps translate into extraordinary performance in all areas of their lives, greater productivity, and career fulfillment in their chosen field. Individuals can even receive action “reminder emails” to their computers three times a day to keep them on track
Biography:
Charles P. Garcia is the bestselling author of “A Message from Garcia”. His personal story is as dynamic and inspiring as his books. Whether he’s serving as a key advisor to some of the world’s most important business, military, and political leaders, founding his own highly successful company, surfing a towering wave off the Hawaiian coast, or racing his Dodge Viper, he does it with a refreshing blend of gusto, style, and down-to-earth approachability.
Since graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy and earning a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Oklahoma as well as a law degree from Columbia Law School, Garcia has made a mark in business, government, the military, and education—and as a role model to the Hispanic community. In 1997, at the age of 36, he founded a global business that was ranked eighth on the Inc 500 list of fastest-growing privately held companies in the country. Hispanic Business identified Garcia as one of the 100 most influential Hispanics in the United States, and Univision Television selected him for their series Orgullo Hispano(HispanicPride), which spotlights Hispanics who have made an exceptional impact on the culture and life of American society.
In 1988 at age 27, Garcia was selected as one of 14 White House Fellows that year. He later received two more presidential appointments: the first was to serve on a national education commission, and the next was to serve as chairman of the U.S. Air Force Academy Board of Visitors, which oversees all operations at the military academy. Additionally, the governor of Florida appointed him to serve as the only Hispanic member of the state’s Board of Education. Garcia has worked in three presidential administrations and has advised a Cabinet secretary, a governor, and a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander on diverse issues ranging from education, drug interdiction, Latin American politics, counter insurgency training, and more. A highly decorated military officer, Garcia was tapped to be the behind-the-desk military analyst for Telemundo during the Iraq War and has appeared as a commentator on Crossfire, Fox News, CNN,CBS, Univision, CNN en Español, and The Cristina Show.
Garcia has attended corporate governance courses at Harvard Business School, the Wharton School, Columbia Business School, and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He currently serves on two Fortune 500 company boards—the board of directors of the WinnDixie Stores, Inc. and an advisory board of Aetna—and has become a highly sought-after speaker, presenting talks on leadership at Fortune 500 companies, professional associations, government agencies, and other organizations worldwide. By using anecdotes to illustrate character-building lessons learned throughout his lifetime—from his childhood growing up in Latin America to his thrilling years in Washington, D.C., working along-side the world’s most respected leaders, to launching his own successful global firm from an empty broom closet—Garcia shares inspiring stories of leadership, public service, entrepreneurship and family life that motivate and energize audiences in powerful ways. His deep sense of peace, his commitment to public service, and his infectious zest for life have inspired thousands of people around the world—his trademark takeaways can change your life or transform your organization.
Apply the Secrets of Great Leaders
Live these proven “greatness strategies” Charles Garcia learned from his four-star mentors.
Charles Garcia has always believed in the power of mentors. Throughout his diverse career he has worked with some of the greatest leaders in the military, political and business arenas, including: General John Galvin, a four star general who went on to become the NATO Supreme Allied Commander; John C. Whitehead, former chairman of investment bank Goldman Sachs and Deputy Secretary of State; William Bennett, former Secretary of Education and drug czar whom Garcia helped draft the nation’s first National Drug Control Policy.
While under the tutelage of some of this nation’s most prominent individuals, Garcia paid close attention to how they operated and what they taught him. Synthesizing their knowledge he applied it to his own life and career as founder of the stunningly successful and widely recognized national and international firm Sterling Financial Group of Companies.
Get Motivated - Yes, You Can Succeed
Plenty of motivational speakers get you revved up and energized about possibilities and opportunities. The problem is, once you leave the room you don’t know what to do next. Your energy dissipates, your excitement vanishes, and your hopes and aspirations fade with each passing day.
Entrepreneur and author Charles Garcia is a different breed of speaker. He inspires, yes, but he also provides do-it-now strategies for dreaming big, setting goals and creating concrete action steps to achieve them. He uses powerful stories of people he’s encountered in his rich and varied career—as a highly decorated military officer, a White House Fellow and founder of investment powerhouse Sterling Financial Group—to validate his points and make them real to every person.
Whether you want to achieve stellar success in your career, your personal life or both, Garcia will give you the tools and strategies to get started today.
How to Catch the Latino Wave
Living the Americano Dream: What Latinos Must Do to Harness Our Power and Leverage It for the Common Good
We know the challenges faced by the Latino community: poverty, high drop-out rates, a reluctance to assimilate into American culture, a tendency for various Hispanic groups to fight among themselves. That’s the bad news. The good news is that, in terms of sheer numbers, we are a force to be reckoned with—and we have the strength of character and capability to come together as a united people.
Latinos comprise nearly 14 percent of the U.S. population; we are some 40 million strong and growing. Charles Garcia believes that to leverage this power we must unite under a core agenda. We must band together as “Americanos” and determine the core issues that are most important to our community. Garcia believes these issues are: Education—We must break the “drop-out” cycle and push for bilingual education. Immigration—We must promote a fair policy, dispel myths and expose realities. Heath care—We must address the huge problem of uninsured Latino families. Foreign policy—We must engage Latin America as a major partner in U.S. trade and politics.
If we all unite and stand behind the issues that matter to us—and vote!—we can enjoy all the benefits that come from being Americanos. And yes, we can do it without losing our identity or our culture.
How to Fix Our Schools
Seven out of ten children cannot read proficiently. This statistic comes from the National Center for Education Statistics in their annual “Nation’s Report Card.” Staggering, indeed—disheartening, to be sure. Something must be done. Since 85 percent of the curriculum is presented in written form, children who cannot read at grade level early on (key years are first through third grades) will inevitably get left behind. U.S. students now rank near the bottom in international comparisons of knowledge and achievement.
America cannot compete on a global level if we do not solve our education crisis! Charles Garcia, who serves on Florida’s State Board of Education, and who was chosen by President George W. Bush to draft a strategic plan for improving education for Hispanic Americans in this country, believes the solution can be summed up in five words: Run education like a business. If we can refocus our attention on student achievement—and back it up with empirical data—we can turn around the dismal performance of our public schools.
History has shown that throwing money at the problem does not work. The solution centers on good teachers. Garcia believes that by recruiting and keeping the best educators, rethinking teachers’ unions, redirecting inefficient dollar allocations and reevaluating rigid qualification criterion, we can begin to make policy decisions based on evidence and success as opposed to educational hunches and proven failure.
Make Diversity Work for You
Integrate diversity into your corporate culture and enjoy increased profits, improved market share and higher shareholder value.
Charles Garcia is a strong supporter of diversity in business. In fact, in 2003 he directed that his company, Sterling Financial, join the “Fortune 500” brief of leading American businesses supporting the University of Michigan in its quest to attain a diverse student body. Garcia believes that diversity in education translates into diversity in Corporate America—and that embracing diversity is not just a way to remain competitive in our changing world but can give you the competitive edge in seeking out new customers and increasing revenues.
The rapid globalization of business and our own changing demographics will have a profound effect on America’s corporations. Those who embrace diversity with a strategic approach and an eye on economic benefits and return—as opposed to a socially mandated, “feel good,” unquantifiable way—will be able to compete more effectively in the future.
Companies must take a holistic approach to diversity, one that incorporates employee recruitment, supplier/affiliate relationships, marketing, community involvement and more.
