Print
Email
Share
MIAMI — Cuban-born Latin pop legend Emilio Estefan has been on the red carpet plenty.
But on this night at the Eden Roc Renaissance hotel in Miami Beach, the spotlight wasn’t focused on Estefan’s more famous Grammy-winning wife, Gloria, nor his Miami Sound Machine band, which helped push the Latin music beat into mainstream USA.
The 56-year-old music producer, mentor, restaurateur, Miami Dolphins minority owner, overall entrepreneur and advisor to famous and influential friends, was on the red carpet as author of an autobiographical how-to book for other immigrants.
“Against all odds, I was able to become a success in this country and I want to help others who follow me do the same,” Estefan said of his latest project, “The Rhythm of Success: How an Immigrant Produced his own American Dream” ($24.95, Celebra).
Emilio’s varied influence in Miami is obvious by the collection of friends who attended the book’s unveiling — television celebrities, high-profile educators, the mayor of Miami, Tomas Regalado.
Eduardo Padron, president of Miami Dade College and among Estefan’s closest friends, calls him a Renaissance man — with a hand on everything from charity work, to community activism to preserving Cuban exile history.
“He is a driven, creative man, a true visionary — and graduate of Miami-Dade College,” Padron said.
In the book, Estefan shares his life story of how a penniless Cuban kid with big dreams and a $277 accordion bucked the music trends and maneuvered his band to the top of the Billboard chart.
He writes about his marriage to Gloria. And he discloses the agony of leaving his country and the less-known painful experience of returning twice.
Estefan said he was prompted to share his personal journey as a way to inspire others to pursue their own dreams.
“The next generation of immigrants needs to learn how we did it — how much hard work there was for us at the time we came to this country and, at the same time, how much we appreciate the American dream, how much we appreciate this country and how much we have to pay back,” Estefan said.
In a casual, chatty style, Estefan imparts the secrets of his success: discipline, planning and determination.
His wife says he follows his own advice.
“Emilio gets up at 5 a.m. no matter what time he went to bed. I couldn’t do it. And he’s always positive and ready to go,” said Gloria Estefan, who credits their success to her husband’s drive — and his attention deficit disorder — which Emilio also discusses in the book.
“He’s absolutely ADD, but he’s turned it into an asset,” she said. “He can’t help himself; he’s always thinking of things to do. I do one thing at a time; Emilio does 50.”
Emilio Estefan says that he’s in good company: “Many important chairmans of the board worldwide have ADD.”
In his book, he writes about dragging his uncle to a music store in downtown Miami at age 17 to buy an accordion, a purchase deemed too extravagant by his aunt.
“What I told her was the very core of my philosophy: ‘I need to do something I love,’” Estefan writes.
“Music was healing for me. I wanted to make music. And I needed to make money. The purchase of that accordion set off a chain of events that has led up to my life until now.”
Among the most heart-wrenching events were his departure from Cuba in 1967 and his returns in 1979 to see the brother he left behind, and again in 1980 to try to get him out.
Estefan first went to Spain and then emigrated alone to the United States in 1968.
The accordion became his entry to the music scene. He was hired for parties and local clubs, then moved on to form his own bands and ultimately meet and marry Gloria.
The couple traveled to Cuba in 1979 so Emilio could visit his brother in Santiago, on the eastern end of the island. During the Mariel exodus in 1980, he was among hundreds of exiles who piloted boats to Cuba to get family members out.
Estefan returned with an empty boat. The Cuban government would not allow his brother nor any of his immediate family members to leave.
Estefan’s family finally made it out by way of Costa Rica in the early 1980s.
His niece, Lili Estefan, wanted to become a model went she came to the U.S. Emilio hired her as as his personal assistant in the 1990s — and also fired her.
“I was not doing such a good job because I was trying to be a model,” Lili Estefan said. “He finally said to me — just go be a model.”
The advice worked out for his niece. She has achieved fame of her own as a co-host for a popular gossip TV show on Univision called “El Gordo y La Flaca.” Among a long list of other careers, Estefan helped ignite Shakira, Jon Secada and Ricky Martin.
Estefan said his father inspired his zest for life.
“My father taught me to appreciate life, to be optimistic. My life could have been so negative and I converted everything that was negative into positive.
“I’m so blessed.”
