We had the good fortune of connecting with Patricia San Pedro and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Patricia, how does your business help the community?
As the head of marketing, communications and events at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, I am grateful to work in an environment of highly creative people whose talents bring joy and healing to the world through music. During these challenging times of COVID19, all live music performances are gone, just when we need them most. However….we have kept the music playing, virtually. There’s no doubt that music is healing and necessary to soothe the soul, inspire and bring joy to the heart. Music brings us together, even when we need to be far apart. So until the curtain rises again, we are bringing music from our artists’ living rooms to yours. With nonstop virtual performances by our Frost School of Music. We call it #FrostiesPerformForU (search that hashtag on You Tube, IG & FB) to see impromptu singing and playing from the living room of students, alumni and even faculty. Every Friday night on You Tube, we rebroadcast performances from the past as well, we call it Friday Nights @ Frost. We also launched Hire a Musician, to help our students and alumni get paid virtual gigs. See how you can hire them to perform virtually for birthday parties, anniversaries, any special occasion, as well as teach, compose arrange and much more. Check it out on www.frost.miami.edu/hireamusician. Another exciting thing is that the dean of our Frost School of Music, Shelton Berg and his wife Julia, composed a song called A Time For Hope, as this pandemic started. Sixty Six members of our school…virtually recorded the song and it turned out to be an awe-inspiring video. It sits on You Tube….search for A Time for Hope Frost School of Music.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Three things that describe me over the span of my career: 1. My philosophy has always been to go above and beyond, think out of the box, take chances and explore a variety of careers in order to become a well-rounded professional with varied and unique expertise. Plus I’m easily bored. J 2. Create value with my work, always be of service, and make a difference. 3. Treat everyone with respect, mentor and build others up. Throughout the years, I’ve been blessed with jobs where I can make a difference, not just in my community but in the hemisphere. As Vice President at The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald, I brought together community partners such as the American Red Cross, United Way, Catholic Charities, American Airlines, and others, to collect relief supplies and money to help victims of Hurricanes George and Mitch in the Caribbean. The campaign called Operation Helping Hands / Dando Una Mano, still goes into effect today when a disaster hits our hemisphere While at WTVJ NBC6 as Special Projects Manager and Producer, we created A Matter of Pride, one of the first media environmental campaigns in the country. We were ahead of our time, since the country was just beginning to thinking about the environment. This not only garnered me my first two Emmy Awards, more importantly, it made a real impact. My other Emmy during that time, was for a public service spot I produced to help the American Red Cross bring in new blood donors. In the 90’s I spread my wings and flew towards a totally different field…the airline industry. I was Corporate Communications Manager and Spokesperson for 75 American Airlines cities from Miami, the Caribbean and Latin America. Once again, I was blessed to be in a position where I could use my job to create a campaign to help others. Heart to Heart, was an employee volunteerism campaign that was put to the test shortly after it was established when Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida, and many of our 10,000 employees donated their time to We Will Rebuild. For eleven years, I ran San Pedro Productions, my own marketing and production company, San Pedro Productions. Working with so many different clients on so many varied projects was a joy. However, after eleven years, I was excited about working in a larger organization again with more collaboration from others. And that’s when the Universe placed me in my current job, as Executive Director of Marketing, Communications and Events at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, where my entire job is to be of service for the sake of our amazing students. Last year, we produced a hurricane relief concert to help the victims of Hurricane Dorian and it was a heartfelt effort by the entire school. On the personal side: In 2008, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Four hours after being diagnosed, I made a decision to use my journey to help others. I started journaling and videotaping my one year of surgeries and chemotherapy. All that documenting led to the book, The Cancer Dancer – Healing: One Step at a Time which guides patients through their own healing journey, from the day of diagnosis to the end of treatment. And of all my Emmy Awards, I can say I’m most proud of the my 4th one, which I won for the documentary I co-produced with Discovery, called The Cancer Dancer. The show aired on Discovery Familia in the U.S. and Discovery Home & Health in Latin America. My Positively Pat health and wellness community and our the members of our global Link of Hope Sistas, a cancer support group for women, empowers, educates and inspires others who are going through their own healing journeys. Bottom line for me is go for it…try new things…dare to dance….and always be of service!

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?
I’m a Coral Gables lover so tend to hang out mostly in this area, close to home, especially since I’m not crazy about traffic. Here are a few places, in no particular order: • Books & Books: Always great book readings by authors and their café has yummy food, drinks and music on the weekend • Miracle Theatre: For a great play! Caffe Abbracci: Love me some porcini risotto…and if I’m not caring about the calories, their profiterole for desert is a must. • KAO on Miracle Mile: Great happy hour sushi and amazing wasabi martinis (sounds weird, but they’re delish). • Coral Gables Arts Cinema & Tower Theatre on Calle Ocho for some great foreign movies • And of course, during the school year…I always take my friends to the Frost School of Music’s Frost Music Live concert series at UM’s Gusman Hall for amazing jazz, classical, contemporary and more. A bit further South: Love to head to the Keys. • Always start out with a visit to Key Largo Art Gallery • End up somewhere…anywhere…usually Islamorada to have fresh seafood and key lime pie! On Full Moon: • Crazy About You: I sit on their deck for dinner or drinks and watch the moon rise over Miami Beach. It’s spectacular. • Morada Bay for their fun Full Moon Parties on the beach. Wynwood: Love to show off the amazing Wynwood Walls and walk into any restaurant that calls my name.

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?
My mom Daisy. Although she passed away from breast cancer when she was only 59, she instilled in me confidence, wisdom, and strength. She believed I could do anything that I set mind on, such as survive breast cancer, melanoma, climb the corporate ladder, create value in the world, and most important….be of service to others. I credit her with my strength and positive nature.

Website: https://www.frost.miami.edu/ & http://www.positivelypat.com/ & http://www.sanpedroproductions.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frostschoolum & https://www.instagram.com/positivelypat/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/24800092/admin/ & https://www.linkedin.com/in/patriciasanpedro/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/frostschoolum & https://twitter.com/PatSanPedro
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FrostSchoolUM/ & https://www.facebook.com/positivelypat/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBHV07hj5IkmAgWI9ghL1gg & https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2uUATqxuzJ0sFePjHXPMmA
Other: http://www.discoveryourdoorway.com/ My photography site

Image Credits
My Frosties by Manny in Miami
My Frost School of Music team & Patricia San Pedro Frost: by Jenny Abreu
Positively Pat Link of Hope Sistas: no credit