User:Marco A. Arce

Marco Arce Ludovisi always dreamed of entering the Financial Services industry. He started his career with a tenacious attitude. Arce knew that doing what he loved would take time, sacrifice, and determination. He knew it wouldn't be something immediate, and his efforts would take time before they took him where he desired. He first sold tamales door-to-door so that he could afford his college education. He took various jobs that taught him valuable lessons, started various entrepreneurial adventures that gave him the courage to follow his dreams. He accomplished some things, but failed in many others. No matter. Every failure took him closer to his true goal: He wanted to become a professional in the investment world. A professional in the financial services industry.

After many challenges, he was given the opportunity to join the Financial Services industry in 2015. He earned his license Series 7 from FINRA, and today Marco is a Workplace Planning & Guidance Consultant at Fidelity Investments. Marco also learned that community service is important. "It takes a village to raise a child." Therefore, Marco decided he would give back with his time, money, and efforts. He has served in various organizations. He has been elected in the Board of Directors for ALPFA, where he was Vice President of Marketing & Communications for the Dallas/Fort Worth chapter. He also served in the board of directors for the North Texas Entrepreneurship Council, was past honorary board member for the Irving Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and a Business Mentor at the Dallas Entrepreneur Center.

Early life and education
Arcé was born in Mexico City, Mexico, and grew up in a poor suburb in the district of Cuauhtemoc, to a Christian working-class family. He is the son of Antonio and Beatriz Arcé; Antonio is an engineer and Beatriz was an accountant for ten years until she became the business owner of a small cybercafé. Arce’s first step into the business world occurred at the age of 10, when he sold paintings to start a savings account and buy a Star Wars action figure. Arcé also started helping in his family business at the age of 12.

Arcé immigrated to the United States with his family at the age of 15. Upon arrival in 2006, Arcé spoke no English and knew very little about the American culture or its people. In his first year, Arcé was a freshman at Coppell High School where he was put in the English as a Second Language program. Arcé’s first two years in the United States were humble ones; grasping fluency of the language and working towards his academic goals.

In 2008, Arcé was accepted into Coppell Youth Leadership, a program created to help young teens develop or enhance their leadership skills focused on Cultural Diversity; Career Development; Social Services; Business; Government; Arts; Health/Wellness/Lifestyle; as well as community involvement and volunteerism.

During his senior year of high school, Arcé became student council president, senior class officer, class ambassador, president of the Spanish Club, and a volunteer for the Coppell Chamber of Commerce. Arcé graduated from Coppell High School with fluency in the English language, 11 awards in leadership, and the Texas Distinguished Achievement Program.

Arcé then started his college years with a major in Hospitality Management at the University of North Texas, where Arcé struggled to pay for his tuition through different jobs and scholarships. Arcé also spent a year at a local community college during his sophomore year. During his two starting years of his college career, Arcé came out to his family. Months later, a local newspaper published a story about Arcé’s coming out experience, which he use in order to promote the creation of local Gay Straight Alliances in local schools. Arcé also started working with the Human Rights Campaign to further promote education and equal rights for the LGBT community.

Career
Arcé’s official first steps were as an unpaid intern for the Coppell Chamber of Commerce, an organization which promotes the interests of 300 business owners. Two years later, Arcé became a volunteer at the Irving International Trade Development and Assistance Center(ITDAC), a center that facilitates the implementation of business information and assistance between companies in Irving and the international community with cities in countries such as Merton, England; Espoo, Finland; Boulogne-Billancourt, France; Marino, Italy; and Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico.

While volunteering at ITDAC, Arcé was also an intern for the Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce, an award winning chamber performing at the top 1% of all 7,000 accredited chambers of commerce in the nation. During Arcé’s involvement with the Greater Irving Chamber, he served in the ambassadors, membership, and small business committees. It was during this time that Arcé also became honorary board member with the Irving Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (IHCC), an organization that promotes the advancement of the commercial, financial, educational and civic interests of the growing Hispanic Community in Irving. Arcé was also named “2011 Ambassador of the Year” at the IHCC’s Annual Gala.

On August 2012, the CEO of the Irving Chamber awarded Arcé a sponsorship for the 2013 Leadership Irving-Las Colinas Class, a program which further develops professionals while networking their companies to some of the top leaders in state government, non-profit organizations, and Fortune 500 Companies in North Texas such as Microsoft Corporation.

Eventually on November of 2012, Arcé became a Business Development Associate for the Hotel Association of North Texas(HANTX), a non-profit trade association representing approximately 60,000 hotel rooms in cities across the North Texas Region.

After his involvement with HANTX, Arcé founded MPIN Consultants as a resource services provider for small businesses. MPIN utilized different partnerships, community alliances, connections, and industry experts to offer consulting services for various small businesses.

Arce later on joined Panda Restaurant Group, the nation's largest and fastest growing Asian restaurant company with revenues of over 1.5 billion dollars annually. Arce led operations for store 1876 at Winstar World Casino, where he was responsible for the people, financial, and operation aspects of the store. His store at Winstar Casino store had revenues of over 2.9 million dollar per year, which made it one of the most profitable stores in the nation. Arce also led over 30 employees and 5 million dollars in revenues at the Grapevine Mills Mall and Vista Ridge Mall locations in Dallas, TX. Arce also supported the company by doing recruiting. Overall, Arce focused in maximizing resources, minimizing controllable expenses, and promoting the company. While Arce was very efficient in his job, he simply didn't feel the passion. He knew he needed to explore and find what he truly wanted to do. He took various jobs the year after leaving Panda.

It was 2014 and he did a lot of soul-searching. He consulted various companies, worked part-time jobs with Cici's, Chipotle, Lincoln, etc. Until finally he was finally offered the opportunity to do what he loves. He joined Fidelity Investments.

Arce has also served in the board of directors for ALPFA, Inc., the largest latino organization in the nation for different latino leaders in the financial industry. He has served in the board of directors for the North Texas Entrepreneurship Council, is past honorary board member for the Irving Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and a mentor at the Dallas Entrepreneur Center, a collaborative environment brimming with experts and thought leaders from major corporations, investment groups, academic institutions and government entities. Arce enjoys being able to help others. He is also an active supporter of the LGBTQ community and is involved with different gay-friendly initiatives.

Marco's story continues, but he recognizes that his eagerness for a better life has taken him to places he never imagined. Arce is also grateful for the many mentors he had that truly helped him become who he is.

Category:Living people Category:Businesspeople Category:People from Dallas Category:American chief executives Category:Date of birth missing (living people) Category:Mexican emigrants to the United States