My dream was always to be on television. As a little girl I would dream of being a television show host. I watched them all. The English shows, like Oprah, the Price is Right, etc.and of course the Spanish shows as well.like Primer Impacto, Don Francisco, and more.
I remember practicing with a brush in the bathroom mirror. Nothing would hold me back.
I grew up in many different places.
When I was about 2-3 years old, my parents, worked in the agriculture fields of the Central Valley here California, near a small town called Avenal. Yet, they dreamed of raising a family back in our town of Linares Nuevo Leon Mexico. My father saved up all his hard-earned money, returned, and built a house in Mexico.when the home was finished, he changed his mind, and decided his 3 children would be raised in the U.S. This with the intentions of us potentially obtaining an education, a well paid job, and accomplishing all the material and emotional goals he'd never reached.ever.
Nevertheless, as a young girl I grew in Avenal, a very small, rural, lack of resources town. About 5000 population, no stop lights, 1 high school, 1 supermarket, dirt track field.
In the fourth grade, I learned I had a passion for sports. I began to run track. Never did I think, that would be my past-time for the next 9 years.
Throughout middle school, I also played volleyball and basketball. My body was small built, very thin.no.extremely thin, and I seriously sucked. I got pushed around by the older girls. I was picked-on for being a "rail." and my chest was smaller then most boys I played soccer with a lunchtime.
When the regular 7th grade girls gathered around during lunch-time to talk about stealing their mom's Covergirl make-up and the boys they had crush on during lunch, yet I was out on the track field shooting goals with twenty 7th grade boys!
When I reached 8th grade, I grew a bit, but nothing like the other girls in my class. I wore a training bra, still, my Laker sweats outfit was my "best" outfit to school, and no make-up was my thing.
Throughout those years, sports were my life.my grades were fantastic and I manage to compete in 3 National Track Jr. Olympics.
Then the summer before high school was thee summer.
I "blossomed."
In height, I grew 4 inches.from 5'3" to 5'7", my training bra disappeared, I "grew" from a 32A to a 34C, amazing huh.and everything else fell in.including my sense of style.no more clothes from K-Mart or yard sales.it was all about Millers Outpost and Macys! I learned about curling irons, revlon make-up, and wooden wedge shoes.
Sports continued to be my passion. I exceled. My height helped. I played varsity in every sport as a freshman, which fed my popularity level, yet I never lost focused of one day being on television.
The summer before my Jr year. in high school, because of problems with my brother, my parents decided to move the family to Roma, Texas where most of my mother's family lived.
It was rough. New school, new people, different lifestyle, it was rough. Sports continued to be my focus and some of my team-mates became my best friends, and other my worse enemies.both until this day.
I couldn't wait to get the hell out of Roma when I graduated, I wanted to go back.back to Cali.I did.
I enrolled at Fresno State, declared in Mass Communications.moved into the dorms and embarked on the college life! I loved college. In college I was everything I ever wanted to be, without the guilt, the fear, or regret of anything. Freedom. Independence. I became this flamboyant woman.fearless and comic.
I began working for the college newspaper as a baseball reporter, covering some of the best athletes to ever to play at Fresno State who some are now pros.then I began working at Univision, as a news reporter. I learned everything I needed to know to be on camera before even stepping in to a broadcasting class.
There, I developed my famous line."Work hard to play hard" I loved to shop (every week), travel, and party.so I studied, crammed, wrote the 15-page papers, and hustled for school.
The very next day after graduation I went on the air at a local radio station in Fresno. This thanks to a good friend who also worked at Univision. I worked there and also as a news reporter in Bakersfield at ABC23. The 120 mile ride back and forth from Fresno to Bakersfield was rough, so I took a full time radio sales job at the radio station where I was working at, Romance 106. In little time my boss, discovered my on-air talent was Regional Mexican music. Very true. And I did both. I was on the air and sold advertising. That was very exhausting. One day the general manager, pulled me in his office.it was August 16th and straight out told me to my face"you will never be on the air again".not because of "lack" of talent, but because of my success in sales, and his intention to keep me only in sales.I cried.
For the next 2 years I sold radio advertising. I was very successful and well-liked among my sales managers.BUT.I knew my love, my passion, my heart of lion was to be on the air as a radio personality.
Soon thereafter, I moved to L.A. only to face the worse 4 months of my life. I hated where I lived. I shared a cold room in a apartment in Pasadena with 1 other girl and 3 other girls in the same apartment. It was chaos. One week I got very sick. Never had I been so sick. I hated the job I transferred to, the traffic, the "classes", and the boy.who was just a yo-yo.
I was robbed. Someone stole an expensive SYMBOLIC diamond ring I'd bought as a gift for myself for Valentines. Then during Christmas, my brother and I went back to Texas to spend with the family, on Christmas day.my camera, video camera, a dvd player on other valuables were stolen. Bah humbug.
I was deteremined to change it all.
I came back to L.A. after the vacation and was determined to go on the air. Where ever. Any radio station. I had to do it.
I didn't care what gate, bridge, radio executive, or anything I had to get past to reach my goal.
So I recorded a demo with a great friend back in Fresno on a regular weekend in January. Tiburon and I spent 6 long hours on that demo. 2 months later after deciding to go back to Fresno, I received some news that a radio network from San Jose was moving their corporate offices to L.A. I did little investigation and the next morning I set out to meet with WHO EVER ran that station and gave him my demo PERSONALLY. 3 days later I was signing a contract and was BACK on-the-air on "La Tricolor" radio networked aired in Phoenix, Denver, Las Vegas, Sacramento and other markets.
This contract was about 1/3 of the money I was currently making in sales, but I didn't care.all I thought was."take me to the dance, I'll figure it when I get there."
La Tricolor was very good to me. I loved it. They loved me.and the listeners are always in my heart until now.
During that time I also worked at Mun2 as a t.v. host. We were on the air in the US, Mexico, and Central America. It was great learning experience with sneaky producers who later got fired for taking money.
While I was on-the-air Tricolor in the afternoon, I also had the chance to work at an oldies station in the mornings in L.A. It was a wrong move, but the money from that 2 month gig bought me a condo.
Going onto my 3rd year at Tricolor.I got an offer to work at the morning show at Latino 96.3fm. I accepted. Ah.I liked it, especially the listeners and the PUSH, but waking up at 3:30am wasn't my cup of tea and neither was reggaeton, I knew I had to go back to Regionaland I did.
I went on the air at 97.9fm La Raza. BUT during my time at Latino 96.3fm, I caught the eye of a television show producer who came to scope out the morning crew for a reality show on MTV. When I left and went next door to La Raza, he recommended me to the producers of new show called "Zona 22."
As Zona 22 was getting ready for take off, I got the magical call that I was waiting for since those days in front of a mirror with the brush.
The moral of the story.everything and everyone happen for a reason. They'll make you stronger and better.keep your eye on the prize.and every type of training or experience in that particular field will help in the end.
The dream is not over yet.
When I finally reach it.I fill in the blankE=)
I also worked as a radio personality at "97.9fm La Raza" in Los Angeles Monday thru Friday 7p-12m. Great experience.
I also hosted a television show called "Zona 22" on Channel 22 in Los Angeles and San Diego. Zona.
I also hosted "Levantate" television morning show on Telemundo.
Currently, I host a "Descontrol" on Telemundo national television. With hot and talented dancers, live presentations with artists, and great music videos of Regional Mexican and Reggaeton music. Along with Jessie Camacho.
Hola I'm Erika Garza, my friends call me "La Huerquilla" a kid name for someone from Nuevo Leon, Tampaulipas, or Texas! Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoy Huerquilla's music, presentado con amor.BENDICIONES! E=)))
