Meet Gerardo Garcia Jr

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gerardo Garcia Jr. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Gerardo, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?

My mom was diagnosed with kidney failure at the age of 18. Since then, she has had multiple kidney transplants. She has endured this vicious disease’s mental and physical trauma her entire adult life. Yet, that did not deter her from being a great mom to me and my sister.

I remember having similar childhoods as other Mexican-Americans; Mom chasing me around the house with a chancla in her hand. When others would have simply quit, she persevered. I strongly believe this was because of her optimistic outlook of life. In order for us to not be consumed by our troubles (everyone has them), we must maintain an optimistic view of the future. This is where I get my optimism from.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

Like many professionals, I believe my story is why I do what I do. I am first generation born in the United States and the eldest of four. Growing up in the Southside of Chicago, money was always an issue. Due to my mom’s illness, she wasn’t able to hold a steady job which put pressure on my dad’s sole income. We relied heavily on food stamps and public aid to get by. Nonetheless, I always wanted to give back to my community and country. Because after all, both sides of my family sacrificed so much to come to the United States.

This is when I decided to serve my country and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. Where I honorably served for over 7 years. I knew I wanted to continue to serve but wasn’t sure in what capacity. That’s when I was introduced to the financial industry. I was in awe and shocked by how little I knew about personal finances. Financial literacy was not taught in the public schools I attended nor within my community. Even during my tenure in the Marine Corps, I was still living paycheck to paycheck. Curiosity pushed me to learn more to see if I can make my financial situation better.

This was over 7 years ago. Today, my wife and I manage our own fiduciary, advice-only financial firm, Confianza Wealth Management. The curiosity I had years back led me to obtaining a wealth of knowledge that helped me and my family enhance our standard of living. Which is why we now focus on providing holistic financial planning to families with less than $500,000 in investable assets.

We provide financial advice that is uniquely tailored to every client and their family to help them achieve their biggest financial goals. We take the uncertainty and confusion of finance by building an actionable financial plan. We do not sell any commissionable products, which allows us to sincerely recommend only what is in your best interest.

I love what I do because I get to strategize with my clients and develop the best way to achieve their goals. And let me tell you, there is nothing more special than seeing the stress, anxiety, and fear dwindle away from my clients.

If you would like to learn more about our services, I encourage you to visit our website. Additionally, we have launched our own podcast, Building Wealth From Scratch – where we talk about personal finances and how financial planning changes our lives. Our podcast can be found on Spotify, YouTube, or Apple Podcasts.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

The three most important qualities and skills to have as an entrepreneur are:
-Discipline
-Innovative
-Critical Thinking

Everyone wants to be their own boss, until it’s time to be your own boss. You have to have discipline to do what you need to do on a timely basis. If you scheduled it, commit to it. The good thing about being your own boss is that you dictate your schedule – so long as the work gets done.

Business today has to innovate at much greater rates than even 20 years ago. Artificial Intelligence has been the greatest disruptor – which is why business owners should always find ways to set themselves apart or they will be left behind.

Critical thinking is important when facing challenges, but one area about critical thinking that is usually not talked about is critiquing your business/services. You should be okay with assessing what worked, what didn’t, what can we make better. This will help identify flaws in your operational processes that can cost you in quality, money or worse, time!

Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?

I believe you should focus on the areas that you are good at and offsource the things you lack. As an entrepreneur or small business owner you are already wearing many hats. Why add to that? The reality is you are not going to enjoy every part about running a business, so hire someone to do what you don’t enjoy doing.

Having been part of arguably the world’s best fighting force, the United States Marine Corps. Leadership and teamwork were fundamental to accomplishing any mission. It was up to the leader to build a team that complemented each other’s strengths and weaknesses. The same should be applied to business, if you are weak at something – it’s usually better to let someone else with greater skills take charge of that area.

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