Mr. Martinez has joined forces with the Opioid Awareness Foundation as one of the Outreach Program Directors. Rudy’s new role is another important step in his entrepreneurial and spiritual lifetime journey. He is known affectionately as “The Cuban Jew” amongst his inner circle. Everyone who knows Rudy Martinez would be quick to agree that he is a curator, not in the sense of curating art exhibits (though he is an art collector), but in the way that he connects people – a curator of relationships, so to speak. Some might call him a professional “Rainmaker”, in the way that term implies how he makes things happen that are mutually beneficial to the people involved. As a creative consultant working with well-known producers, writers, executives, and artists, his legendary interpersonal skills are behind a number of global ventures that have had a lasting, positive impact on the entertainment world.

Rudy was an entrepreneur at the tender age of 17, in the early 2000s, when he founded a successful high-end cigar business. Subsequently, he started to invest time and energy into nightlife ventures, specifically the rave scene in Miami. In the next chapter of Rudy’s life he segued into a prosperous new career in the music business. In collaboration with several other friends and colleagues, (all operating on an equal playing field, with “no egos”, as Rudy tells it), his efforts helped launch the career of Armando Christian Perez, better known today as Pitbull. They combined their talents and connections to showcase Pitbull’s talent in what was recognized as one of the biggest fusions of American and Latin culture at that time. For the next 13 years, Rudy was Pitbull’s ‘right-hand man’ – he was there at the beginning and remained integral throughout those years of unparalleled success.

Rudy moved on to start an independent label, Crybaby Records, where he has supported and developed new talent over the past few years. He uses his extensive knowledge of the music industry to come up with unique and innovative ways to market the artists signed to his label. Not a traditional manager, Rudy considers his clients ‘partners’. As in the early days, he prefers working with others for the greater good rather than for only his own success. His outreach work, in which he will use his platforms and leverage his contacts to raise awareness around opioid abuse, and promote safer alternatives, is a true reflection of who he is and what he stands for.