{"id":23386,"date":"2022-01-31T19:25:17","date_gmt":"2022-02-01T00:25:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2022\/02\/01\/necc-leads-to-career-in-music-publicity\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T15:30:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T19:30:29","slug":"necc-leads-to-career-in-music-publicity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/31\/necc-leads-to-career-in-music-publicity\/","title":{"rendered":"NECC Leads to Career in Music Publicity"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Genesis<\/a>

NECC Alumna Genesis Garcia<\/p><\/div>\n

Genesis Garcia was one semester into her freshman year at a private college when she realized something: there were more affordable avenues to a great education. While she wanted to earn a bachelor\u2019s degree, she also worried about the negative impact that a standard four-year experience could have on her financial health.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter being there, I realized that it wasn\u2019t the best decision financially,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

It was in that moment that Garcia, then a Methuen resident, remembered Northern Essex Community College, which, at just a short drive away, offered a great avenue through which to complete all her general education requirements for a fraction of the cost.<\/p>\n

By the spring of 2011, she enrolled in the college\u2019s LA: Journalism\/Communication Option<\/a> program, with the hope of refining the skills needed to achieve her ultimate dream: a promising media career.<\/p>\n

NECC was the better choice, she says, but it was not always easy. A first-generation college student, Garcia walked into her first semester with five courses and two part-time jobs, and often struggled to maintain a healthy balance between her personal life, work, and studies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember my first semester being challenging,\u201d she says. \u201cI worked my retail job on Tuesdays, Thursday, and weekends, and I worked as a janitor with my mom, cleaning offices, every evening Monday through Friday. Finding the time to do homework was hard, but I always had a goal in mind and that\u2019s what kept me laser-focused on my studies.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that laser focus paid off. By 2012, Garcia had successfully completed all general requirements for her major and transferred to Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY, where she went on to earn a bachelor of arts degree in communication.<\/p>\n

Since then, Garcia, who now lives in Brooklyn, NY, has enjoyed a rewarding career in music publicity, first at Def Jam Recordings, and later at RCA Records, where she serves in her current role as associate director of publicity, helping the flagship music label to promote artists.<\/p>\n

\u201cI work hand in hand with artists and their teams to develop a space in media that highlights the artist\u2019s narrative and grows their audience,\u201d she says of her work.<\/p>\n

Garcia points to one campaign in particular that solidified her passion for the field. During her time at Def Jam Recordings, she had the opportunity to work closely with emerging hip hop artist 070 Shake, who was lauded as the \u201csecret weapon\u201d to Kanye West\u2019s five-album run in 2018. It was Garcia\u2019s job to find stories that would highlight her as an artist in her own right and pitch those stories to major magazines, including Clash Magazine, Billboard, Pitchfork, Vogue, and more. The articles that resulted gave 070 Shake a substantial boost in visibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe received a four-star review from Rolling Stone, where they compared her to Pink Floyd and Frank Ocean,\u201d Garcia notes. \u201cTo this day, it is still one of my favorite campaigns that I have ever worked on because, as a team, we built it brick by brick.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking back on time at NECC, Garcia expresses gratitude for the many support services, including PACE<\/a>, that helped her reach her long-time dream.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe PACE program was great and helped me so much. I remember having a meeting with [PACE Program and TRIO Student Support Services Director] Kristin Arnold, who helped me plan out my classes semester by semester.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the PACE program, she says, that also opened up the doors to the many scholarship award opportunities available at NECC each year. These went a long way in ensuring she could have the best and most affordable education possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese scholarships that were worth $200, $500, etc. eventually added up and it helped me to buy books, school supplies, and a laptop,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Her advice to those who are just starting on their college journeys is to accept the inevitable road blocks and challenges that will come along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s okay to fail,\u201d she says. \u201c\u2026Continue to put in the work and believe that all the energy you\u2019re investing towards your goals will one day be reciprocated in abundance.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Genesis Garcia holds a rewarding career in music publicity — and credits NECC with helping her find her start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":25211,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[9,19],"tags":[55,352,381,427],"class_list":["post-23386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-stories","tag-alumni","tag-journalism-grad","tag-liberal-arts","tag-music"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNECC Leads to Career in Music Publicity - NECC News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/31\/necc-leads-to-career-in-music-publicity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NECC Leads to Career in Music Publicity - NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Genesis Garcia holds a rewarding career in music publicity -- and credits NECC with helping her find her start.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/31\/necc-leads-to-career-in-music-publicity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-01T00:25:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-13T19:30:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/000722490008-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1744\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2036\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"scomiskey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"scomiskey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/31\/necc-leads-to-career-in-music-publicity\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/31\/necc-leads-to-career-in-music-publicity\/\",\"name\":\"NECC Leads to Career in Music Publicity - NECC News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/31\/necc-leads-to-career-in-music-publicity\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/31\/necc-leads-to-career-in-music-publicity\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/000722490008-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-01T00:25:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-13T19:30:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/a71ddaa7fa066d1402b0639a36648517\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/31\/necc-leads-to-career-in-music-publicity\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/31\/necc-leads-to-career-in-music-publicity\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/31\/necc-leads-to-career-in-music-publicity\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/000722490008-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/000722490008-1.jpg\",\"width\":1744,\"height\":2036},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/31\/necc-leads-to-career-in-music-publicity\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/home\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"NECC Leads to Career in Music Publicity\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/\",\"name\":\"NECC News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/a71ddaa7fa066d1402b0639a36648517\",\"name\":\"scomiskey\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/799f7c337ba493511d194f2f2083ce3e2cd1d6b3b9ca6e21546ba5001fd27884?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/799f7c337ba493511d194f2f2083ce3e2cd1d6b3b9ca6e21546ba5001fd27884?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"scomiskey\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/scomiskey\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"NECC Leads to Career in Music Publicity - NECC News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/31\/necc-leads-to-career-in-music-publicity\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"NECC Leads to Career in Music Publicity - NECC News","og_description":"Genesis Garcia holds a rewarding career in music publicity -- and credits NECC with helping her find her start.","og_url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/31\/necc-leads-to-career-in-music-publicity\/","og_site_name":"NECC News","article_published_time":"2022-02-01T00:25:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-13T19:30:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1744,"height":2036,"url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/000722490008-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"scomiskey","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"scomiskey","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/31\/necc-leads-to-career-in-music-publicity\/","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/31\/necc-leads-to-career-in-music-publicity\/","name":"NECC Leads to Career in Music Publicity - NECC News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/31\/necc-leads-to-career-in-music-publicity\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/31\/necc-leads-to-career-in-music-publicity\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/000722490008-1.jpg","datePublished":"2022-02-01T00:25:17+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-13T19:30:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/a71ddaa7fa066d1402b0639a36648517"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/31\/necc-leads-to-career-in-music-publicity\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/31\/necc-leads-to-career-in-music-publicity\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/31\/necc-leads-to-career-in-music-publicity\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/000722490008-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/000722490008-1.jpg","width":1744,"height":2036},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/01\/31\/necc-leads-to-career-in-music-publicity\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"NECC Leads to Career in Music Publicity"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/","name":"NECC News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/a71ddaa7fa066d1402b0639a36648517","name":"scomiskey","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/799f7c337ba493511d194f2f2083ce3e2cd1d6b3b9ca6e21546ba5001fd27884?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/799f7c337ba493511d194f2f2083ce3e2cd1d6b3b9ca6e21546ba5001fd27884?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"scomiskey"},"url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/scomiskey\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23386"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33128,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23386\/revisions\/33128"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}