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[0:00] Leah Walsh: Hi and welcome to The Compass, the podcast documenting the struggles of life as an artist.

[0:05] Leah Walsh: I'm Leah Walsh. Hi everyone. My guest today is Susie Garcia. Susie is a vocalist, violinist, mariachi, entrepreneur, and just an incredible performer all around. We met over 10 years ago when she and my husband were both performing in a production of Measure for Measure at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Las Colibri, her all-female mariachi ensemble, were featured in the production. She is based in Los Angeles. She has two young kids now and I so admire her drive and energy and I'm just excited to share this conversation with you. On another note, I wanted to let you know that this is the second to last episode of The Compass. After almost seven years, I feel ready to move on and make room on my plate for other creative projects.

All the episodes will remain online, available where you listen to podcasts as well as on the Broadway Podcast Network site and app. So if you're missing these kinds of stories in your ears, please go back and discover the archives. You can check out what Susie is up to at lascolibri.com or her Colibri Entertainment site colibrient.com. I'll put out that last episode in about two weeks. It'll be something special and personal but I'm still figuring out. But until then, I hope you enjoy the 185th episode of The Compass.

[1:32] Leah Walsh: What do you do to try to keep from going to the dark side as an artist? And wrapped up in that is what is the dark side for you? When I say those words, what comes to mind?

[1:43] Susie Garcia: Right, I thought about this. I kind of got that question a little bit ahead of time. So, you know, I think the dark side for me because I feel like I am a very passionate person in so many things that I do, from my family, to my work, to just in general, you know, social justice. I think that the dark side for me is not letting all those things push me to this place when I think about when I was a little child, um, when I just flew off the handle. I was one of those kids, you know, I really had, you know, the sit down with my parents when I was like a teenager. And they were like, Susie, you have to figure out how you can control this anger that you have. And it just, you know, this high expectation that I have of others, you know, all those things come from, as we all know, just, you know, how we're raised, and a little bit of our DNA from both of our parents, our genetic makeup.

But I typically, as a younger person, a child, young adult, tended to get very mad and angry fast. So for me, that's my dark side. It's not being able to control these emotions that overwhelm my brain, and then cause me to open my mouth when I shouldn't. And that as an artist, as a manager, as a director, can be very detrimental to me, that's my dark side. So when, you know, just your emotions get a hold of, you know, your being, which we've seen recently, very, very clear on, you know, Hollywood and things that have happened lately, as of late, it is difficult to control yourself. So how does that happen? How do I figure out how have I figured out over the years to not go to that dark side of who I am?

I think people absolutely who know me know that I have this, like, high expectations, and maybe it's the look. I remember I coached a set of cheerleaders once. In my life, I was at an all girls Catholic school. So girls, of course, very in their teenage years, very vulnerable, very incorrigible. And they used to be like, Miss Garcia, I am going to feel so bad for your little girl. Because when they get that look, you know that you give and they said it's so sweet and so nice to me. But I didn't realize that, you know, this is a little my dark side coming out as a coach of saying, Wow, this is where, you know, Susie Garcia doesn't have any tolerance for me, or, you know, and you don't really know you're even doing it.

It's just, you know, that's who you are. And part of that's good, because, you know, in Spanish, we say XC hint that it's X, you're X, you know, you really, there's a lot of times I can't even say the words in English that come to my head anymore. But it's like an expectation level you have for others, you impose that on them. And, you know, they have to react to that and internalize that the way they need to or can't, maybe at the time. So how have you learned to deal with like when you have collaborators or, or team members or employees who have a different work style or like a different energy when they're approaching things like that?

[5:14] Susie Garcia: Right, I think that's where the all female Mariachi I am the director of an all female Mariachi Las Colibri. And amazingly, that has been I feel like my my teaching, you know, grounds, they have taught me so much about it's like having children, and I have 10 to 12 children all at once all the time from, you know, ages that are two generations younger than me or my own generation, or maybe a little older than me. So it and then collaborators that are, again, way older, maybe males, but really, those women, girls have taught me so much because women are very emotional people. They come with everybody has a lot of different scenarios in their life. So the the tolerance I have to have the understanding I have to have, I'm so glad that I got a master's in organizational leadership counseling, because it really and the counseling degree definitely helped me, which I didn't think about at the time I was really studying to be a college counselor.

Okay, yes. And I got a master's, which was more directed towards higher ed and organizational leadership. That's just how the program ended up for me. But all of that was so great, because I had to do the work. I didn't mean it's like, you don't even mean to be doing the work. But because you're learning so much about social learning theory, and all these other theories, your eyes open up and say, Oh, okay, I get that. I know how I can apply this to my own life. And I probably did my own set of therapy while I was in school, without having to go to a therapist, by just really internalizing all of that information about psychology, and looking at my own life, and then being able to apply that later on, years later into an artist setting.

But again, artists all come with just in general, you know, we're artists, because we're artists, we have things inside that we want to get out. And sometimes we can't always get them out the way we want them to. And of course, music takes a lot of practice. And, and some people learn faster than others. I mean, a group of 10 or 12, you imagine it's not just like, a quartet or something like that, or, yeah, and we have a lot of different levels of including myself, you know, when you're not the best one, and you're directing the best one. That's a whole different dynamic. I mean, it really is. It has been a whirlwind of, you know, ups and downs and craziness with with the women that I direct.

It's all good. It's all beautiful. It's all very fun. And but it's demanding on on myself, and also as a group to try and figure out all these personalities, and then create wonderful vibe and energy on stage, which sometimes happens with a special group, and sometimes it doesn't. Is it? Do you have a lot of turnover in your group? Or has it been like an ensemble that you've been working with long term, like those particular music?

[8:37] Susie Garcia: Right. So yeah, long term, we've had a lot of iterations of Las Colibrí. So it's almost impossible to have the same girls like at every show, because I have there's a running joke right now, who's the next one that's gonna have a baby? I mean, in the last five years, we've had babies, one of us has had a baby every single year. And that's me twice, right in the last five years. So that causes, you know, turnover, as you know, girl can't be there for at least three months, maybe six months. And just trying to figure out all our lives. We have husbands, we have just commitment school, I have professors, I have people with professional jobs, policemen, their schedules just don't allow them to be there at every show.

So it's that's, again, it's like the Okay, how do you calm yourself down when somebody tells you not showing up today for rehearsal, I'm not showing up to this show, and you have less than 24 hours to find out, you know, or to figure out what you're gonna do. So I do feel that I have a high stress job, in terms of this part of my life. And I feel like I'm a mom to more than just my two own children. Because it's just like, it's a psychologist job to really, I mean, girls, I can't even tell you, there's so many crazy things that have happened. But like, the girls who come to you to speaking and being pregnant and are screaming and crying their eyes out that they're pregnant. And you're like, What do I do? How do I What do I say, but just reassuring them that it's gonna be okay. And, you know, like,

[10:26] Leah Walsh: well, it must be interesting, because it's like in one in one way, you have this like family environment. And then in other ways, it's like, too much family environment, too much.

[10:38] Susie Garcia: Yes. And when do you decide to be a sister? When do you decide to be a mom? When do you decide to be your colleague, right, you know, or like the bad, the bad direct bad guy director and say, that's it, you know, I'm not dealing with this anymore, you know, or change your attitude, or, you know, I don't know. I know you, like, have you always felt that you were a leader? Or what was the transition that kind of led you from like, being the ensemble member to being the director?

[11:03] Susie Garcia: Good question. I, I definitely I've always been a leader. I was the president of my sixth grade school. Or when I was in sixth grade, I was the president of my whole school. When Yeah, that's like, my, my self, right, I definitely exude leadership in my style and my personality. And so I was, I feel like, yeah, I don't, I don't mind saying that I was a born leader, I definitely wanted to lead the way rather than follow. However, I had to be an ensemble member first to know and learn and be, you know, because I didn't have all the skills I needed to be to be a director yet, when maybe the opportunity would have, you know, proposed itself. When, when we were in, I was in an all female Mariachi Las Adelitas as an ensemble member, we had a male director.

And we really, honestly, may he rest in peace. But he we didn't, we really had butted heads. And a lot of the girls did, because we were just kind of, you know, he was very, very, I wouldn't say mean, it just was very, very, at that time, you know, there weren't girls around mariachi music. So, you know, men were also learning how to deal with crazy girls, too. So, you know, the, and we didn't, a lot of us didn't speak Spanish, or, you know, maybe I didn't very well at that time. Now I do. But, you know, to understand two different cultures, these girls were most of us were born here. He was born in Mexico, you know, the culture difference. And yeah, there's a lot of things. But after that group, we, we kind of just defected from Las Adelitas.

And we made our own mariachi, all girls on no man involved. And so we started to be more like a collective and and we didn't have like a leader leader. So that's when a couple of us kind of stepped up and started to make decisions and things like that, right? I still wasn't the leader. When I went to mariachi divas after that. It was the same thing. It was like an organic transition to a new group. And when we did that, I wasn't the leader again, because I was in school, I had a lot of things going on. It wasn't my idea to defect from the other group again. So um, although I was a force, right, so you know, I was one of those that definitely was like, let's get this together. Let's get it organized.

Another girl took her took it by the reins, Cindy Shay, who's now gone on to win Grammys, and she was a go getter from the very beginning. So she also innately had this leadership ability, and she had major goals as a full time musician. So I was never a full time musician my whole life till now. I'm still not necessarily a full time musician. I do other things. And I take care of a family. But she definitely had me as her like, right hand man, I was the other leader in that group. And I knew my place, I knew that I was, you know, making decisions or telling girls, this is what you have to do this week, or this is how you have to dress. This is how we're gonna comb our hair. And people describe me at that time is like, Oh, we were scared of you.

[14:31] Susie Garcia: Yeah, 'cause I, you know, I've always had that real, you know, like I said passionate serious. This is serious. This is not I don't do this. I do it for fun. I do it because I love it, but I want to be the best on stage. I want everybody to give a hundred percent like I do, 110.

[14:48] Leah Walsh: You feel like you've learned a lot from these other women who have led beside you or that you've led alongside, like learned from their manager style or leadership style?

[14:55] Susie Garcia: Absolutely, too, 'cause where they have a dark side and they have, you know, also things that you see, oh, whoa, like I don't want to be that, you know? That's one even the men that we've been, right, that I talked about, like their styles that were just like what I don't want to impose that feeling on. I know how it feels. I don't want to impose that on others. So it's being understanding musically, I think that's because I wasn't the strongest. I wasn't always the best in the musical aspect of my, you know, mariachi life. I'm a great performer. I have a lot of other amazing qualities to give to a group, but I know what my weaknesses were and I don't want to make others feel worse because you have to try to make them want to be better and to practice and to get to this place where everybody else is, you know, musically technically.

So that definitely where we're lessons others is just like again the personalities, how can you deal with it? And many of those things I felt like in divas it was like passed to me, right? Like Susie, you know how to deal with them better because I'm not conversational, right?

[16:12] Leah Walsh: Right, right.

[16:15] Susie Garcia: I'm your car and you're like, I don't mind. Yeah, I'll be the bulldog 'cause I don't mind. This is right. I am and I'm not scared. You know, I'm not really, I don't get really scared about much, so.

[16:27] Leah Walsh: Okay, sorry about that. All right, so we were talking about learning from other people's leadership roles. I did want to know, I think just to finish that whole thing is that, you know, you do learn so much from other styles and the good and the bad and, you know, the ugly too. And then, you know, I think when the opportunity came up for me or the decision came up for me to say, are you gonna do this? Because it's so much responsibility to be a leader and to be responsible for others' livelihoods. That's not it really. I mean, that's really what it ended up being like these girls depend on me for work and I gotta find it or keep giving it. And that's where I'm at now. That's the new struggle, you know, of how do we find a healthy balance of feeling responsible for others, but also making sure you're taking care of yourself as an artist and then your own family because you're dealing with everybody's drama or you're dealing with everybody's schedules, but what about your own schedule?

So that's what I feel as a mom now, you know, that's where my energy lies like, okay, I have to think about that and I've made it a little easier for you to prioritize your own life in your own schedule like having the kids as an extra incentive.

[18:01] Susie Garcia: Yeah, I think that I do. I think that you feel less guilty because you actually have a reason to say I'm gonna take me time or I'm gonna take my time for my family and everybody else does, so why can't I? And everybody always said, oh, it's easy to be a leader, you could just make the schedule. Well, that's true, right? You can make the schedule and say, well, I can't, you don't have to tell anybody why you don't have, you can't do it on a Thursday per se, but that's easier said than done though. Yeah, everybody coming to you with good reasons why they need you to adjust. Yeah, so I mean, I think that definitely having a family and we've just, I took my kid to work at a big old festival last week on Instagram, so when you just have to do it, you have to do it.

And before as a leader, I did allow the girls to bring their kids. I think that being a woman leader, I don't think they would be doing that if it was a male leader. Actually, I've never heard of that really truly happening so much, you know, because it would be just taboo or like, right? So they did it and yeah, it was hard sometimes, right, to have kids running around and screaming and, you know, as much as you want to try and appease them with a phone or iPad or something, it's sometimes you just can't. So I'm very proud of the fact that I've supported that and supported all the girls over time that have just had to take the day off or said I gotta take a break from this and the door's always open at the end of the day because I understand this is hard work and it's not always possible to do it all.

[19:43] Leah Walsh: There's so many things I want to ask you about, but first I wanted to ask you, you were talking about the dark side being that kind of those very, very high expectations. Have you been able to find a balance with how you apply those to yourself, like giving yourself a little bit of room or a little bit of softness sometimes, or do you feel like it works for you to always hold yourself to the high expectations?

[20:09] Susie Garcia: Yeah, I think I don't, I definitely, and the girls know that too. I mean, I think I'm the queen of the mistake, you know, the like oops, the wrong note. But they always, it's kind of a joke like, but guess what? Susie Garcia does the mistake with all the ganas and, you know, she owns that mistake and she a mile and she won't make a face and like I just have learned over time like it's gonna happen. There's no way I can count off and think of the next song and figure out who's gonna like remind that girl to go up to the microphone. It's like there is so much responsibility that I have in my head on a show. So can I be perfect with all of those things? Because the girl behind me just has to do her part and that's all she has to do, right?

Yeah, so I've given myself a little less expectation and understanding because, yeah, I do a lot and there's only so many neurons that are up there that can actually complete these tasks and I'm the most responsible. So, but again, I can be responsible, I can own it and I can say yes, I'm not perfect, so I can't expect everybody at all to be super perfect either. We're gonna do our best and the best is just like that's what I expect now, you know, not perfection. It's your best and having fun. And as long as the people are happy, I am happy and they are always happy. Like let them decide if we really are bad, we're good, they're good. We're gonna know they're not gonna get up, they're not gonna clap, they're not gonna say ultra, so so far so good, you know, we're getting more work.

People are just like, you know, over the moon about, you know, our progress in LA and we are LA favorite now and we are the chosen ones to do a lot of things and, you know, we don't have a Grammy, we don't, but we have so many other things that I don't have a CD. Why do not I not have a CD? People are like, why don't you have a CD? Because it's one more thing. It's a lot of commitment. It's a lot of money and if we were that big with a to promote a CD, let's say I made a CD and then we start promoting the state, well half these girls can't even go and go on tour. I mean, it's like also you have to be mindful of like these are my dreams, but right, everybody else, those aren't their dreams. They like to play on the weekends and, you know, I'm like I could go and search maybe those other girls out to create obviously, right?

If you build it, they will come that whole, but it's also like I think about the responsibility level to do I am I ready for that? Like can I leave my case? I mean, there's a lot of and prioritizing and there's something kind of amazing that you're prioritizing those live events, you know, and that live experience of listening to music, right? And the community. I mean, we do the majority, like we have our little niche thing that we do community. We are all about community. Profits all community organizations. We just partnered with the Autry to do some study about Los Angeles and a woman who wrote music in Los Angeles. Like those are such gratifying things. I will have a recording in the Autry Museum for the rest of my life, my children's life. Like those things are not gonna go away and that is cool.

[24:43] Leah Walsh: Can you talk a little bit about how you got into mariachi?

[24:47] Susie Garcia: Yeah, so my mom is a mariachi fan. My dad and my mom and my grandparents obviously were Mexican. Like most Mexicans love mariachi music because it's just so much part of the culture, right? It's like embedded in the culture of the country. Like love you getting the Guadalupe mariachis and tequila. Those are like, you know, Mexico is very, very, it's like deep in your heart and soul. And my parents really embody all those three things. My mom is a devout follower of the weekend, the Guadalupe. She loves music. They both love music. They were born in Los Angeles, so there it's something that they treasured from where, you know, their parents came from and they love tequila and the party. So mariachis and tequila, they go hand-in-hand and my parents just always love to have a good time.

And ever since I was a little girl, they always went on vacations and we were babysat a lot because they like to hang out and they used to go to this mariachi festival called the Tucson International Mariachi Festival and it's now like 50 years old. They've annually had these conferences. So my parents used to go and drive a camper down there and like hang out for a week and enjoy music and they used to come back and show me these videos of these little kids playing mariachi music and they'd be like, don't you want to do that? And I play the violin. My mom, I chose to play the violin when I was six years old. I went to private school and luckily I was able to choose an instrument that I had interest in and I chose the violin, right?

And you were learning like classical violin, classical Suzuki and I was like not really great, but you know, it was fun and I was learning something. My mom came back with these videos, my dad and he had the biggest super VHS huge camera. He would, you know, really video a lot of stuff and he'd bring it back and they were like, don't you want to do this? And I was like, I don't know what that is. Like I know mariachi, but I don't speak Spanish. I just was it like, yeah, I want to do that. There was nothing like that around my school that what, you know, they banned. I had to switch from violin by the time I was in fourth grade to clarinet because they didn't even have an orchestra. So I was like, I don't know.

I mean, okay, maybe, but where am I gonna go take a lesson? Like even if I said yes, mom, like where, what are you gonna, you know, magically teach me yourself? Like you're not a musician. I did, I just didn't know what she meant like by don't you want to do this until she was like, look, I found you a teacher. Don't know. So here we're gonna.

[27:28] Susie Garcia: Yeah, my mom sought out somebody to teach me mariachi and I was like, okay, I don't, that's fine. So I'll take a lesson. Well, I did, but the man didn't speak English and I started crying and I was like, mom, and I, I was trained with Suzuki method and it's an ear tonalization. So I was really good at like listening to something or somebody showing me how to play a note or two and then I could do it like I could copy it. Well, this was like reading music and I didn't know how to do that either and I was like an expectation of this teacher and I just cried and I said at first I don't understand him. Second, those that's like foreign language to me. I don't know what those notes on the paper, I mean, I've seen them, but I don't know.

Doesn't translate for me and I was already older, so I should have known, but I hadn't yet like they hadn't transitioned me into really doing these reading music yet. And I had stopped really playing the violin with a private teacher when I was nine. So now I'm 12. I'm in middle school, you know, the business I was in drill team and all those other cool things and, you know, I remember new kids on the block was right.

[29:00] Susie Garcia: You're busy, yeah, I was busy with my friend and she just was like, well, okay fine. I found you another teacher and this was a woman that spoke English and she was like a Chicana and her name was Laura Garcia. I know and it was great. I really took to her. She took to me. She could teach me the way I wanted to be taught, you know, and it was awesome. And from there there was a motive though, my mom was like, oh, so you can play for your grandmother's 50th wedding anniversary. So that's what she was prepping me for and she's like, don't you want to do that? And I was like, yes, like anything for my grandma, like this is like who raised me. My grandma really, really was part of my upbringing.

So and my grandfather, you know, just so close to them. So I said yes, and then that's where I started. It was for them. It was truly a gift that I just wanted to give to them and understood like the reason my mom gave it to me. And then I just was like, oh yeah, this is fun. I mean the moment I got to be in front of all those people and they were crying and they were. Then you realize like, oh yeah, this is fun. And you were singing too or you were just?

[29:02] Susie Garcia: It's just some of those things that you just get better at and better at, you know, I knew that I have, I know, in my mind, even today, I know I have a lot of talent. If I could find two hours a day to practice or an hour or 30 minutes, then, you know, I would be way bomb. But, you know, it's like all the other things in life that get in the way. However, I'm still pretty good. You know, like, I definitely love what I do. So that makes it more, you know, doable. And, and as a professional, like you can definitely keep doing what you if you love it. If you don't love it, people know and they catch on to that. And yeah, it's just you're not your heart isn't in it. And my heart's always been in it.

Always. I thought was thought money that she was super cool. I just didn't really know how to do it until my mom found me a place. And then from there, I never looked back. It never seemed weird to me. I mean, I knew that not every kid was doing this, but it was didn't matter. I don't know why didn't matter to me. It just didn't. And I would perform my high school. Like I obviously was not embarrassed. And I don't even think about that now. Like I, it just doesn't even seem like it crossed my mind at the time. It was just like, this is who I am. This is what I do. And, and it's part of who my family is like, this is part of my culture. And I'm proud of it. And nobody ever questioned that. It wasn't like, you're weird, or Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I maybe it's because I came from a real multicultural type city, a suburb, right? A valley, you know that. So but I met a lot of girls along the way. We performed at the Hollywood Bowl. We were 14 years old. Oh, my gosh. That was like a moment, right? That's like, we were motivated to keep playing because of moments like that we were given opportunity to really be in those these huge spotlights. And even if it was only for two minutes or three minutes, but it changes your life. It changes your life when those spotlights are on you. And people are like up to the grass at the Hollywood Bowl watching you play. It's amazing, amazing feeling. Can you tell me a little bit about I saw on your website that you started a program for young girls? Are you teaching or are you more like organizing that?

[31:18] Susie Garcia: Well, I organized it. It was something that was going on for about two years. And then unfortunately COVID hit and we haven't pieced it back together. So my dream is and we did that all funded by my own self and people who were supporting Viva La Tradicion, which is a cultural series, a live music production that I put on every year at the Ford Theater. And every year I had incorporated a youth group to come and play at the Ford Theater. And the best way I knew how to do that for a couple of years was, one, to find other girls in the city that wanted to do what I did and give them opportunity like I had. And it started with me and this other woman named Cindy Reifler, who's another great mariachi and has a lot of trayectoria.

She's got a long legacy here in LA too with Mariachi Reina. She just has played a long time and she's a gringa. She's a white girl, but she loves mariachi and a really great teacher. So her and I teamed up and I asked her to help me and she did. And it was great. Two of those girls are now in my Mariachi Lasco Libre. Oh, my gosh. Yes. So, yeah. So, you know, I think that I'm still actively looking for young girls to come and rehearse and, you know, be part of mariachi. I wish I could do it in a more organized fashion like I was doing it. Every other Sunday, they would come to Cal State LA and we found space there because Cindy was a professor there. It's just spaces. There's so many factors like I need to start a non-profit.

I need to do so many things. It's on the list. And then I could do all these wonderful projects or my kids just need to be like both five years old or five and eight. And then I can like, you know, see what I could do. But I have a baby and it's not that I was like literally strolling straight around those first, you know, to, you know, one year and the Sundays would come and I didn't have anywhere to take her. And Bep and I were doing it together because he was also my husband was also teaching with me on Sundays and doing the work and all for free. Like we weren't making a dime. It was just because we really wanted this to happen. And it just took, like I said, COVID hit and a little bit before COVID, I had had the, um, was already pregnant again.

And well, no, I got pregnant during COVID. So, you know, it's just craziness. I don't even know the years and the months anymore. The last five years have been really a whirlwind with two children. How are you doing now with two kids?

[33:50] Susie Garcia: It's crazy. And he was born during the pandemic. That's so intense.

[33:54] Susie Garcia: It was. I think that like, it was good and bad. He's definitely a COVID baby. He came out like, literally like this. Like his eyes were he didn't cry. He just like looked at around at me, like when they literally brought him like this, you know, his head was here. And he just looked at me like, what the hell is going on? And I was like, are you gonna cry? And he just started to cry, but I had to ask him to cry. And yeah, it was so amazing because my first pregnancy was so dramatic and like a long 40 hours. It was just a lot of process. She was born face up. It was just like grueling. But this one was just super fast and really hurt. And it was crazy. But he it's like a good. What do you say contrast to the girl?

Because I have a girl and a boy and he's so much calmer. He's getting the Susie Garcia dark side. I can see it. He's gonna have that. But, but it's okay. Like, you know, he'll he'll deal with it. He has a crazy sister. She really doesn't like him all that much. She's a diva. She was alone and by herself for three years. So this is a crazy transition for her and she's getting better. She just says, I just don't want him to be a baby anymore. And then I'm like, well, eventually he won't be. Yeah, eventually he won't be. And you can play with him and he'll know what you're saying. And, you know, I don't know if that fighting is ever going to stop. But but, you know, she has her moments of, you know, that new guy.

Just nice. I love you. He's so handsome. Like, you know, she she she really appreciates she really appreciates his cuteness. But at the same time, it's like this attention that we have to pay to him is not the business. This is not how it's supposed to be.

[35:47] Leah Walsh: How do you and your husband deal with supporting each other and both being artists in the same field? How do you guys work it out?

[35:54] Susie Garcia: Yeah. So Beppa and I have known each other so long that helps, right? Like that just you feel like, man, we've known each other so long and and and we've grown and we've gone through a lot of obstacles in the later part of, you know, in his relationship with me, it was like when he was leaving a band that he was in for 25 years, he like basically retired, you know, and is finding himself again and be having somebody there to sort of help him do that. And then for me having an amazing master of this craft that I am part of, you know, the genre music, somebody I looked up to, and then with a father, who's even more part of what I looked up to, as the director of Maria Chivargas for 40 years. And I look at his statue right here in my house every day.

And just, you know, you have this, like, this, like, almost spiritual, like, sense of like, you know, we were born to do this. And we were born to be together, right to continue this legacy and continue this music in the best way that we can for our people in our community and our culture. So it's nice to have that person that can help lift you up. And then like, you know, his knowledge of music is way bigger than mine. So he helps me and then I help him on the other side of like, okay, well, you know, business wise, this is what you have to do as a leader. He's never been a leader. He's been the band member and like the solid like follower and the soldier and it's any lived in Mexico for all, you know, 40 some years of his life.

So being an immigrant here, like scary. I don't speak English. And how do we deal with all those lost in translation? You know, things? It's definitely been a challenge for both of us. But at the same time, such a beautiful thing to come together after all these years, create two new like lives that we know we will follow, hopefully, our footsteps and just like, help each other through this pandemic when it was just so scary, like, what, this is what we do. How, how, how do we live now? And the good thing is, I've always had another job. So we were able to kind of use that and lovely, like opportunities for me in the education field, to use music and create videos. So that's what I've been doing to for the pandemic.

This pandemic cause education to like, look at the world differently to and say, What else can we do for kids to inspire them to help them learn a little differently, since they're going to have to learn online. And there's so much into technology now. It's just like social media is crazy. So I made videos. And I, that's really where I made money. I mean, yeah, it's my education business. But because of those opportunities, selling books and all that stuff, like I was able to get these contracts to create something called English notes, where I focus my videos on English learners and creating music videos that have to do with community issues, like homelessness, or saving water or climate change, and figuring out how to present those themes to them and get them to talk about those those issues using vocabulary that I use in the videos.

That's great. And Pepe has been there. Pepe has been the musical director that he goes, you know, he plays the bass, and he goes to do the piano because he has those skills. And I couldn't have done that without him. So we've really been collaborating a lot. Yeah, which is fun, fun, fun. Just so people know your other job, your education business. Can you explain just a little bit about what that is?

[39:52] Susie Garcia: Yeah. So since they call us book babies, these are kids who have grown up in the educational publishing industry, a lot of people don't even know that that exists, or just never thought about it. But the people, how do you get your books that you read in school, like your history books, your social studies books, there's actual big companies, corporate companies that create those books. There's also little supplemental companies that have little other educational materials that need to be sold to schools. And my dad was in this business all his life in a corporate setting. And I actually took his job, he had a slight heart attack. And then my mom was like, you're not going to work anymore. I ended up taking his job.

When I don't even know how old I was. But in like 1994. No, no, had to be 2000 something. And then I worked at Houghton Mifflin company for six years. Houghton Mifflin company is very much known for Curious George, the publishers of Curious George. And they're in Boston. And so I was with this company for six years. And then I took a leave of absence because I they merged, it was like typical corporate merger, I wasn't happy. And then I left to do independent sales, I actually left to be a producer, I went to Ashland to do a big play for a year, I took a leave of absence for Colibri really. And then I didn't go back to my job. I just decided, I'm not going to go back.

[41:21] Susie Garcia: Oh, that was a transition. That was a transition. I went and I left and then my boss said, Yes, my the best boss I've ever had in my life. And he said, Yeah, go. I'll, I'll, I'll give you the leave of absence. And so it didn't, it didn't necessarily, like, what do you call that? Like, I didn't know that I was gonna have a job that I came back, like, it wasn't secure 100%. But he said, we'll figure it out, you know, right. So I left like, with no, I was like, I'm out of here. I came back. And then I decided to be a producer and a musician. And that worked out, for the most part, but I went back to books, because, again, it's just a source of income. That was important. And I became an independent sales rep.

So that means that I independently sold books for smaller companies. And I just work on commission. That's basically it. But I'm hustling that life. hustling the music. And but it gives you a little bit of flexibility. I'm an entrepreneur for educational materials. And it's my business. And I decide who do I, who I represent. And, and now just creating my own material, which is amazing.

[42:37] Leah Walsh: Yeah, yeah, that's a silver lining, for sure. For sure. There's a couple questions that I always ask at the end. But was there anything that you really looking forward to talking about that I haven't touched on before we get there?

[42:51] Susie Garcia: I think we we hit a lot of things. I mean, I think it's more about the women and I think the the influence that other women had on me to be a better leader to be a better musician, and then ultimately, just to change things in this mariachi genre and leave our mark, Las Colibri, leaving my mark, our mark, whatever you want to call it, we decided to look different to perform differently with a dress instead of the traditional traje. And we all have different colors. So we kind of maintain our sense of identity in a collective.

[43:32] Susie Garcia: I love that. Yeah. And how did you how did you get to those decisions? I think it was just really an organic kind of thing. Like, well, let me tell you how I think this is like, again, the Susie Garcia, you know, leadership that you're talking about, like, how do you decide this is going to happen? Or this is the way I want to look or feel or this this, you know, want to present? Well, you know, being a woman and being in this diet, I don't know if everybody can, like, go look it up on Google if you're listening to this podcast, but a traje de charro is so constraining for a woman. It's like the traditional suit, traditional suit, and it's a suit. So you have the skirt, long skirt, high boots.

And then you have a, like an undershirt, like a, like a full like, dress shirt. You can imagine that like a button up dress shirt, then you have a vest and then you have a jacket. Okay, that's even imagine like lifting your arms to play and then like, like, women are just like more I am at least that's the way I was performing, right? Like 110% dancing, moving, you know, playing my violin hardcore, and then I'd be sweating, like, and I was like, because I'm a sweater, like, it grows profusely after a show. And I'm like, I look like awful. My makeup's totally smeared. My hair is like now not curly. It's now like just drab and like falling. It's wet. So I don't want to play like this anymore. How do you get the best out of yourself performing when you're, you can't even walk because the skirts so narrow that you're like, you know, you can't and it's heavy because it has all those like adornments on the side.

They're like silver. So I just was like, this gotta stop. This is and I don't want to like ruin the traffic because it's such an important like symbol culturally for mariachi like I need I we need to like just not do that at all. And let's be feminine and let's go back to like the 40s and 50s when we used to see our idols singing on TV, or on the Mexican movies of the 50s. Like let's get to that. That style because that was beautiful and people really accepted that. So let's see if we can get to that. And we went to a seamstress and decided to talk about and sketch out what we thought was going to be good for this. And, and she did it and she got it. Right. And we've never had to switch our, our outfit.

And that's amazing, too. We have different variations. Now my colors, we have all white, we have black, but for the most part, people still love the full like different colors, like the fiesta look that's very Mexican. And, um, again, going back to the individuality of the girls, I really like that because in the traffic, you all look the same. Sometimes you can't tell one girl from the other, you put the sombrero on and then you really don't know who's who. So I felt like these colors, these colors really like brought out the individuality of the girls like people would say, Oh, I love the girl who sings in the green. So like it gave them like, um, like a place and a voice, you know, visually, to people to recognize them and just to praise them for who they were, you know, and everybody sounds different.

Just like, to me, it all like came together with the choice of moving to a different vestuario, as you say, like a just, just a different, different type of look. Yeah, but it's our trademark. That's our brand now. And people say, Can you wear that? And I'm like, No, we can't. That's just not who we are.

[47:12] Leah Walsh: Have you seen any other groups starting to emulate?

[47:15] Susie Garcia: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's the fun part is that like, Oh, we did it, we made a, we made a statement. And people obviously liked it a little, you know, enough to copy it or to do their own. It gave like, open the door. And maybe they're not looking exactly the same. But now people are just starting. They decided, okay, now we can kind of there's some wiggle room here, there's some wiggle room, somebody did that. And now we have the permission kind of to move in a different place. So that's good, too. I mean, you know, I think that was a good move on my part in decision, executive decision that I made, mostly selfishly, because I just didn't want to sweat so bad and feel uncomfortable as a woman playing this music. I wanted to feel free, more free.

[48:00] Leah Walsh: Yeah, yeah. And why not? Can you imagine all these years later now, like if you had been playing in that in the suit the entire time?

[48:05] Susie Garcia: No, I was. That's why it's like, No, I didn't want to do that anymore. And I'm proud to put it on when I if I want to put it on again. But not for Koli Brice purpose. We have too much to give and I need to dance with everybody and sweating all over them.

[48:23] Leah Walsh: If you do feel like you're in the dark side, or you're not feeling motivated or down, are there any things that you come back to like tangible things you come back to again and again, that can help get you out of it, like a book that you reread or music that you listen to, or like things like that, that are like touchstones?

[48:39] Susie Garcia: Oh, gosh. I think, you know, for me, I'm really glad I have a husband that I can bounce stuff off, you know, I think talking about it, like when I'm really fired up, I know, in the moment, it's harder to do. That typically doesn't happen to me so much. I think more of my dark side happens when situations come up in, in the process of like, directing the group. That's where I feel like that's when I get really mad at something or, you know, it could be even like a client or but mostly personnel wise, right? Like, you know, because that's how it's hard to deal with all these people all the time. And not that anybody manager is a skill. Yeah, yeah, it's hard. So that's where I feel like we're more of.

And I think of those cheerleaders again, like, you know, like they could see that dark side of me in a positive, they saw it like they could see like Miss Garcia is bringing out the best in us, but she's hardcore, you know, and I think I've always had that. However, how do I like, think about it? Say don't, don't say that. Like, it's just, I think I think about my parents and sitting me down that same place of saying you can't be like this, you know, somebody really like, ingraining in me that like, this isn't okay. So tone it down. Take a breath. Don't I don't really think that came? Well, of course, I have some amazing books. And I will say, the best book I read, and I'm not sure, you know, you can't pinpoint what parts of your life it's helping you sometimes at the time you read it.

But my favorite book was Iliana Vincent. Oh, gosh, what's the name of the book? I just had a I want you to put this if you can, because it is. Yeah, I know that. I just want I can't think of the name. Well, sorry, let me just look at her. That's Oh, one day. Yes. Okay. So the book I read that really changed my life was one day my soul just opened up. And I, I don't I mean, there's I read a lot of self help. In my 30s. My 30s. I did. I wouldn't say so the dark side, whatever was happening in my life, or I feel like I get a sense of calmness from a lot of the self help that I did read during those years. And there's, it's like the Oprah's book club list, like, typically, you know, the good earth, or all those ones up the tipping point, things like, you know, that we're just really good, good books for, for leadership.

And but this one, one day, my soul just opened up, I don't know, something, I feel like it was like, the one thing, the one book that helped me see, I guess the good in myself, that there's, there's good. And so don't doubt that. And understand that you just have to work at those demons, you have to work at that dark side, so that it doesn't alienate others from you, who you are, or who you, you know, because that could happen so easily. And I've done it before, I've alienated girls that they just said, I'm, I'm not going to be here anymore. So it maybe was just our personality conflict, right? Me that my, my style to their style. But in the end, like, I know, we're all friends, like, nobody's ever, I mean, I'm not that bad a person where I don't speak to any of the girls that used to be in my group.

And many of them have come back to Class Colibri, which is nice to know that, like, maybe it was just the timing of our lives that it was, you know, they needed to take a break. But that book to me, I'm going to request it from the library today. And it really helped me really did.

[52:40] Leah Walsh: Okay, good. I'm gonna, I'm gonna get it. I'm just there's just one more question, because I know we've been talking for a while. But is there any work of art that you've taken in lately that you want to recommend of any art form? Could be something local in LA or a TV show or?

[52:55] Susie Garcia: Oh, yes, a TV show. I'm glad you let me pick that one. I am going to say I'm really, really enamored by Ted Lasso. It's a lot of fun. It is a lot of fun. And I feel like this is like a manager. This is a inspiration to do what I do. I mean, one, he's not a master of his craft. Like he's not he doesn't know anything about soccer. He's trying to also, he's in a culture that he's not 100% part of. So, you know, sometimes I feel that way. We didn't even get into this. But I learned Spanish. I learned to be a mariachi. This is not something like Beppe, who's done this because his dad and his grandfather, right? You know, all of his family do it. It's like when you're when you're a foreigner, it's just something like I sometimes feel to either, you know, hardcore Mexican culture, because I'm a Chicano.

My parents were born in Los Angeles. Like, we love our culture, but we're not sometimes we're not, you know, considered like, I don't know, authentic enough. I don't know. That's a Chicano sort of, you know, self image hurdle that all you know, we deal with. But the Ted Lasso, right, he's finding himself in a different place. He doesn't he's not a master's craft. Sometimes I don't feel like I'm a master at my craft, but you but you have to be that motivator and not and pretend I guess I don't know, you know, like he he has to he sells himself as like this soccer coach to all of Britain, all of Britain. And I love that he's just like, so positive. I'm not positive, like that, like to that degree, right?

I try to be positive. But like, wow, he inspires me to like, be more happy. And because that's my dark side. I'm not super funny. I'm not a lot of things that other people may be. And so I really love his believe in like, just the things that this show, the heartwarming things and and and also all those mental things that other people are dealing with in his in his soccer teams. So like, it's like, yes, yes. Like, all these people are so crazy. And I have to deal with it, too. But I'm trying to be that person to support all of them. So I don't know, I guess I just see so much of this managerial stuff in Ted Lasso. And I really appreciate for English learners what I'm doing on a daily basis, teaching kids and thinking, yes, this is like how they feel like on the other side, the people who are in Great Britain are looking at Ted, like, what does that mean?

What is, you know, like those Americanisms that he says, and people look at him like, what, that's how English learners feel like, what, what's a piece of cake? Like, why do you say that? What? I don't get it. Right. So I also like, oh, my God, I want to do a series on all the little last. Yes. So that like, English learners can understand what he means. And like, I want to do like the like, the guide to watching Ted Lasso. Which is kind of like that little weird. My dad was watching it. And I was like, what is this? He's like, I think you'd like it. Yeah. And so I can't wait for season three. I've already gotten I've already binged. Oh, well, who has time to binge? I don't have time to binge. But I did it because I was like, watching it at one in the morning. Well, after my kids went to sleep. That's how bad I wanted.

[56:41] Leah Walsh: Oh my gosh. Amazing. Well, Susie, thank you so, so much for doing this. This was such a pleasure.

[56:45] Susie Garcia: Yes, it's good to see you!

[57:01] Leah Walsh: Thank you for listening to the Compass Podcast. If you find these conversations valuable to your life as an artist and would like to support the ongoing production of the Compass, please consider becoming a patron at patreon.com slash the Compass Podcast pledges start at as little as $1 a month and anything you can give would be greatly appreciated. Also, if you have a moment, please review and follow in iTunes. Every little bit helps other listeners to find the podcast. I'd like to thank the following people for their generosity. The Compass cover art is by Kim Miller, music by Brendan Spieth, audio assistance from Monic Choksi and a special thanks to Frankie J. Alvarez. See you next time.