My name is Gerardo (Gerry) Mercado. I grew up in Compton, CA and have an amazing family that gave me the love and support I needed to focus on my studies growing up. I am grateful to my grandfather, Rito Mercado, who immigrated from Jalisco, Mexico to help my dad and family have a better future. He had a gardening business and saved up enough to buy a few properties in Los Angeles, all inhabited by my immediate family and uncles. May he rest in peace.
I graduated as Valedictorian from my high school Verbum Dei in 2006. I feel blessed that I got to attend this high school in South Central. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated to Verbum Dei to prevent it from shutting down in 2002. I went to UC Santa Barbara and graduated in 2009 with a Sociology degree. I became very interested in technology my last year of college during The Technology Management Program at UCSB.
I worked in retail for a few years after school at Enterprise Rent a Car. I eventually became part of Tioki, the professional network for educators, doing tech sales. I gained more experience with tech sales at Spreeify, a social media engagement platform for brands like Swarovski, Journey’s, and Etnies. I pivoted to financial services at Wells Fargo where I stood out for my excellent customer service skills and helped my customers succeed financially. I did well and started learning about investing/trading. I continue capitalizing on trading opportunities through stock options. I got back in tech after banking with Base CRM to further build out my sales skills.
Now I find myself at Wavefront by VMware on the sales team. I really enjoy the product I sell and am working on getting into sales engineering there. I’m passionate about business, technology, giving back, being a mentor to inner-city students, and involved with non-profit organizations like SCS Noonan Scholars, which provided me with financial support and mentorship during college and afterwards. I am grateful to them and mentors like Freeman, Alex, and Scott that helped me along my journey.
I’m now working with my mentor Troy Nguyen. My conversations with him have helped accelerate my personal growth and leadership development. This site, where I get to share my light with the world, wouldn’t have been possible without his support and encouragement.