REYNALDO SANTANA

Founder, Marketing with Experts

Business Development Director, Green Light Insights

Age: 29

Heritage: Dominican-American

 

Notable Accomplishments:

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• Named an Ethnic Gem by Ethnic Online

• UMass Lowell Medal for Community Service 2015

 

By Alejandro Ramirez

 

Reynaldo Santana has an unreal work ethic. The Methuen native earned three degrees from UMass Lowell: Business Management, Management Information Systems, and International Business. A trumpeter since childhood, he also minored in music.

 

As of August 2017, he’s now the business development manager at Greenlight Insights in San Francisco, a market research company focused on the emerging virtual and augmented reality industries. The 29-year-old is also the CEO and founder of his own digital marketing firm, Marketing With Experts.

 

“I’m known to handle two or three things,” said Santana. “I’ve learned that hard work and sacrifice does bring great results to people around me and myself.”

 

He gets his work ethic from his parents, who struggled to support him growing up.

 

“I remember my grandma raised me part time because my parents worked 70-80 hours [a week],” he said, adding his goal is to let his parents retire early.

 

After high school, he enrolled in Middlesex Community College as a music major and soon earned a scholarship to UMass Lowell. The new opportunity brought with it a new perspective.

 

“I thought hard about my life and my parents… is music gonna be enough to sustain me and my family and my future family?” he asked. He liked business, and he liked putting himself out there. He switched majors, graduating in 2012 with his business degrees.

 

In 2015, he earned an MBA in Leadership from Northeastern University. Looking for a mentor to guide his career, he found Clifton Dawson — a Harvard Business grad, NFL player, and CEO of Greenlight Insights— via LinkedIn, who offered him his current job.

 

Santana also focuses on being a good role model for young Latinos. He often tours as a motivational speaker with La Conexión, a Boston Boys & Girls Club program, and Business Not As Usual Entrepreneur Institute, which operates in YMCAs.

 

In the future, Santana hopes to be a philanthropist and contribute to science and arts programs.

 

His most ambitious goal may be his idea to use virtual and augmented reality technology to provide music lessons and education to children, especially as schools across the country slash those programs.

 

“One of my dreams... is to save the music and arts programs in the United States, to bring musical experience to children so they can learn. I think this can be a solution,” he said.