You're Not Hiring an Agency.
You're Hiring Ricardo.
17 years leading marketing at a Fortune 500 company. Then I built Poppy because small businesses deserve the same strategic clarity that big companies pay millions for.
The Story
The Path to Poppy
I started my career as an award-winning sales leader in retail, where I learned the power of connection, clarity, and customer experience at the ground level.
That foundation led to leadership roles at one of the top 50 companies on the Fortune 500 list. I led internal communications, brand strategy, and digital transformation for national teams.
But what I've always been most passionate about is helping people grow.
After years of watching small businesses struggle without access to the same strategic resources as larger companies, I knew I needed to bridge that gap.
Poppy exists to make strategic support, standout branding, and smart automation accessible to small business owners.
Especially those from underrepresented communities.
What I Learned
What I Learned at a Fortune 500
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People always come first
Employees. Customers. End users. Products and systems only work when they're built for real people.
Data beats intuition
No matter how good an idea sounds, if the data doesn't support it, it's probably not the right move.
Momentum matters more than perfection
Things don't need to be perfect to begin. They just need to start.
Partners matter as much as plans
Great businesses are built with people, not just ideas.
And one quiet truth
While large companies may have bigger budgets, they don't always have better ideas. Resourcefulness and clarity often outperform money.
Personal
Beyond the Work
I'm a husband, father, immigrant, creative at heart, and children's book author ("The Rainbow Bee").
Hispanic. LGBTQ+. I understand what it means to build from the bottom up.
I work between worlds—supporting corporations that serve small businesses and supporting small businesses navigating large systems.
That dual perspective informs how I think, how I build, and how I partner.
The Name
Why "Poppy"
The poppy flower grows in harsh conditions. It's resilient, vibrant, impossible to ignore.
And "Papi"—what my children call me—is the heart of everything I build.
Poppy combines resilience with heart. Strategy with soul. That's what this company is about.
