To honor Hispanic Heritage Month, we are celebrating by sharing stories of hope. Mauricio Escobar is a Senior Associate on the Construction & Infrastructure team in Kilpatrick Townsend’s Houston office. He is also a music producer and electronic music artist. Here’s his story.  

I was born in La Paz, Bolivia and lived there until I was eight years old. My family (parents, me, my older brother and older sister) moved to Houston and we lived there until I moved away for college. Getting adjusted to living in the United States was not easy—in fact, it wasn’t until I moved  to Austin for college that I finally felt like I belonged here. 

In my younger years, I really looked forward to summer breaks because that gave me a chance to go back “home”—back to Bolivia. Not knowing any English when I moved to the United States really impacted my personality. While I had an outgoing personality in Bolivia, here I became shy and reserved. I was embarrassed because I was not yet fluent in English.

Growing up, music was a staple in our household. So when I started taking music classes in middle school, I found an arena  I could immerse myself in since there are no language barriers with the language of music. My love for music has allowed me the opportunity to play at the Grammy’s and perform as a cast member in a Tony and Emmy-Award Winning musical including a West End residency, Broadway residency and a world tour. Like many in my generation, I was deeply affected by the events of 9/11 two decades ago and I pivoted to law.

One of my favorite traditions of my youth in Bolivia is celebrating San Juan. The festival of San Juan is celebrated on June 23, traditionally one of Bolivia’s coldest nights of the year. Bonfires are lit and people celebrate with good food and dancing. As I reflect on that tradition, it gives me hope to know that no matter how divided our communities appear to be getting, there is a lot of good in a lot of us. Each individual has an innate ability to break the mold of division and unite people—one person at a time. And really that’s all it takes; one person’s ability to connect with another person can and will lead to a compounding effect.

To learn more about Mauricio’s music career and pivoting to law, click on the "Download PDF" link.