High school is a big step into the future, as well as an opportunity to explore and prepare for what’s coming next. The pandemic put many students in a learning halt due to remote classes, as they were unable to properly learn about their futures and had less opportunities to research in-person what careers they may want to pursue. Now that COVID-19 cases are less present the school environment, the Business Club has introduced the Career Fair tradition once again. Last Wednesday, Apr. 13, students had the opportunity to experience a whole new world: the world of employment.

In this year’s Career Fair, students got to interact with many companies and people behind them, from Sony Productions to law firms to music producers. One of the presenters was Jesus Lara, who he works with famous Latin artists to create content and stream music on the Internet. 

“I work with my team and we discuss and negotiate deals with artist for events online and in the real world, like podcasts and concerts all streamed on Univision,” Lara stated.

Lara’s job brings light to production of music and the distribution of media. His first connection with the music industry came when he managed his cousin, Nil Lara, at the age of eighteen. For [Jesus] Lara, this was a new opportunity to enter the professional field of music production, but with this new opportunity came new roadblocks. He had never managed a person’s music career, but he recounts seeing this as a crucial point in his life that could change the course of his future in professional careers. 

“Even though [Nil] was my cousin, I felt that he had a lot of potential so I decided to take the opportunity and invest in it,” Lara said.

Eventually, the opportunity became a gold mine. Lara decided to completely follow his dream of producing music, traveling, dropping out of college, and beginning to focus on Nil. When Nil’s music pursuits ended, Lara began pursuing a new college degree and started working with MTV throughout the 80’s and 90’s while living in Mexico City for three years. After completing his degree, Lra founded his own music production company under the name Amusse, working on that project for over six years.

Lara described his “company creation” experience as a tedious one. “I set up my own business, and then I moved to Southern California  to try and get my own business running,” he recounted.

Now, in 2022, Lara has moved from managing his cousin’s music business to becoming the president of digital communication at Univision Productions. Lara got to observe first-hand how the music industry, from the first steps that a music manager can take, to becoming the president of one of the biggest sectors in the Univision Company.

“Talking to Lara made me realize that from Point A to Point B isn’t a straight line and success isn’t measured by how far you can go. It’s measured by how fast you can get up onto your feet after you fall,” junior Ivan Ezcurra said.