Meet Cecilia Reyes | Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cecilia Reyes and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cecilia, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I was born and raised in a Puerto Rico. My mom worked in advertisement and my dad was a musician. I grew up in a very musical household and always had a lot of support from my family. My dad, Ray Reyes, was in the latin boy band Menudo from 1982-1986. I would go to many of his reunion concerts when I was little and I was always inspired by him and his creativity, on and off stage. My mom is a relentless single mother who has been my main support system for my entire life. She’s always had to work twice as hard as the typical mother to give me every opportunity in life. She enrolled me in music classes, theatre, dance, band, etc. She is my biggest inspiration and I find strength in her. She is the strongest and most resilient person I know. My tias and abuela (Yayi) are the women who inspire me to fight and always continue to learn. They grew up in a time where women weren’t encouraged to go to college, sometimes didn’t even graduate high school. Women were married young and stayed at home while their husbands went to work. The women in my life went against the norm and pursued higher education, two of my tias going on to become college professors at the University of Puerto Rico. My Yayi was the smartest woman I knew. She was constantly teaching us the importance of keeping an open mind and always being open to learning new things. She would always greet people with an open heart, and nobody ever had a bad thing to say about her. I carry my family and my culture in everything I do. I owe my creativity and everything I am to them.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Getting to where I am today took so much patience, and lots of support from the people around me. I grew up in a small island where opportunities were limited. When I moved to Miami in 2011, a whole new world opened up to me. I’ve always been insecure about my talents. I’ve always felt like I’m not good enough, or like people are judging me. But the truth is people are always gonna find something to not like about you. What I do to overcome that is just let it fuel me to be even better.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
For brunch, I’d take them to Threefold Cafe on Sunset. The avocado toast there is to die for. While we’re in the area, I’d take them for some iced tea and shopping at Tea and Poets, hopefully to hear some cool live music by local artists. Next, kayaking in Virginia Key. The water is beautiful and kayaking is such a great way to spend time outdoors and get exercise. For dinner, I’d take them to Montys, or really just anywhere in the grove. I love walking down Commodore St and looking at all the cool shops and restaurants. Monty’s is great because it’s right on the water and there’s usually live reggae music played by local artists. To end the night, ice cream at Walls Old Fashioned Ice Cream.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I owe everything to my amazing mother, Marinet Quinones. She is everything to me and my best friend, I carry her in everything I do.

Instagram: @cecireyesmusic

Youtube: Cecilia Reyes