Maria K. Garcia | Born: Philippines | Raised: NY | Currently: DFW

PR, Event Production, Celebrity Wrangling, Experiential Marketing

I’m a New York implant from San Antonio, Nueva Ecija, Philippines. I’m a content creator, entertainment publicist, and experiential marketer.

I’m an alumna of the Fashion Institute of Technology, having graduated early as Summa Cum Laude, with a B.S. in Advertising & Marketing Communications and a Minor in Economics.

During my high school and college education, I completed eight internships in the areas of journalism (Rockland Journal News), public relations (Nike Communications), fashion design (Loris Diran), social media (Hatsumi Toshima), and fashion merchandising + styling (FiftyTwo Showroom). I served as the NYC Fashion Writer for Examiner.com, often working with clients such as Ford Motors, Kimpton Hotels, and Project Runway. 

After FIT, I began to work for renowned celebrity hair stylist Ricardo Rojas and then eventually for his partner Jim Mannino, at JMPR. I attribute a lot of my best experiences to the JMPR team where our clientele ranged from Facebook to Tiffany & Co., American Horror Story, U.S. Open Tennis, Moët & Chandon, Herradura Tequila, Desert Smash, Entree Lifestyle, Delta Airlines, and The New York Knicks.

After leaving JMPR, I ventured into the area of music and went onto DJ at venues including PHD Terrace at The Dream Hotel Midtown (headlining their opening night), HILO, and Velvet Lounge in NYC. I also went on to serve as the Director of Events for The Chamber Group, working with the likes of STARZ's hit show POWER and media personality Wendy Williams.

Throughout my freelance experience, I've had the luxury of curating events for Major League Baseball (MLB), Kimoto Rooftop, The Fifth Column PR (Remy Martin), (DJ) Ben Paul, DJ Level, Eternity Flux Entertainment, Kingsley Restaurant, Playboy, The 82 Group, and Tiffany & Co - where I spent two years in house on the Global PR & Communications team.

In my spare time I am a freelancer for Cosmopolitan Philippines. Most recently, I've joined Forbes’ Communications Council.

I am also a proud partner of the charities Compassion International, Freedom United, and The Innocence Project.