Desiree Perez is one of the 2008 founders of Roc Nation and served 10 years as COO before becoming CEO in 2019. She shares with HispanicExecutive.com aspects of the journey as well as evolving positive change activities that the company embraces. Roc Nation is a multi-service entertainment company that works in every aspect of entertainment from producers, songwriters, and recording artists. She reflects on starting a company with only five employees. While she was learning about how the business worked she hadn’t realized that the company had grown 100 to employees without her knowing.
Among her earlier experience, Desiree Perez managed and operated nightclubs for more than 15 years and helped one avoid bankruptcy. She calls this experience as part of live entertainment and micromanaging every aspect of the business and compared touring to managing a nightclub on wheels. She was instrumental in expanding to avenues and transitioning from negative to positive revenue. She is setting and implementing strategies to reach both short and long-term goals and more
Social justice is also an integral part of Roc Nation. Working with families of those who suffer police brutality, offering scholarship funds for minority children with mitigating circumstances who want to attend college and Team Roc, with its global reach and the power of the artist and athletes of Roc Nation, will continue to make an impact and strive for social change. Desiree Perez is determined to offer greater opportunities to women and people of color as well as open doors for future generations. Efforts to achieve these goals include the Roc Nation School of Music, Sports and Entertainment at Brooklyn’s Long Island University and increasing Roc Nation’s impact through television, film, and publishing. She sees the role of each individual as supporting and help each other advance.