If you like Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's movies, you may want to thank Dany Garcia.
Garcia, 53, is more than just Johnson's strategic advisor and former manager. She's partnered with him>On growing up as the daughter of immigrants: I wanted 'to build wealth to take care of my family'
I was born in Belleville, New Jersey, but the majority of my growing up was actually in Succasunna, New Jersey. We were>On meeting Dwayne Johnson in college: 'We both wanted more, to do more'
We first saw each other in the weight room at the University of Miami. I was in my senior year>On finally shedding the 'ex-wife' moniker: 'It took a long time'
Kudos to Joneswork [Garcia's public relations team] over the last three years for not getting mentioned as the ex-wife. It took a long time.
Not taking it personally is No. 1. I'm not an actor. People don't just know the name "Dany Garcia."
The second thing is: Who you are in the room defines what your future will be. When I'm in the room, I'm always Dany Garcia, the business partner. We used the word "manager" in the beginning, so the industry would be able to contextualize why I was taking so much ownership into decisions.
I always showed up as who I was and who I was meant to be, not letting anyone else's narrative interfere. That's important, because there are things you can control and there are things you can't control.
The great thing now is that I have my own platform and social media. I have allies now, compared to the past, where there was>On her advice to her younger self: Being different is your 'superpower'
I wish I could have told myself, "Yes, you are different, and you're going to be different all your life, and that is your superpower." The differences in what you see are the opportunities of what you want to create.
The other thing is to make decisions that build your happiness, even if they don't look like normal decisions. I've spoken to my daughter a lot about this. Being the only woman in the room, a chairwoman of a sports league, these positions have discomfort because no one's there.
But I've lived with discomfort for all my life. I have competed as a professional bodybuilder, and been judged for my physical appearance. I've won and I've lost.
Personally, when I get to the playing field of business, [that's my mindset]: I've already won so many games. I know discipline. I have been pushed to the edge — and come back — 10 times over. I've already been on the line.
