David Garcia (Miami, 2022-25) really loves Miami. Born and bred in “the Magic City,” he proudly declares it "the best to live and work in!”
Indeed, when he first joined McKinsey's local office, David cherished the opportunity to see how such a large firm could impact the city he calls home. He remembers being inspired by office leadership and their commitment to the local community.
That’s why when David was ready for his next career move, he didn’t go far. He now sits just a few blocks away at the Royal Caribbean Group headquarters, where he serves as a Lead of Corporate Strategy.
We sat down with David to discuss his love of Miami, his career journey, and the skills and advice that have helped him along the way.
I’m so excited to be chatting with the David Garcia of Linkedin fame! Thank you so much for sharing your reflections from three years with the Firm.
Glad to be here!
When you wrote that viral post, you shared some of what you’d learned during your time with the Firm. Now, a few months into your new role at Royal Caribbean Group, what did you take from your McKinsey experience that most prepared you?
I’d say there are three key McKinsey-developed skills that I’ve leaned on in my new role.
Three?! Glad to see you’re still a consultant at heart.
First: being able to take ambiguous problems and frame them into a process that allows me to arrive at valuable answers. I have some fixed corporate-strategy projects that I tackle week to week, but so many things come up throughout the day—answers that our executives often need quickly. A lot of that comes down to project management—being able to turn a question into a plan and that plan into a process that runs end to end. All of this requires adaptability. That’s a McKinsey skill I’ve absolutely needed to leverage.
Second is clear and effective communication. Whether you’re running a presentation or engaging with stakeholders across the organization, knowing how to say what’s important—to get to the point—matters. You need to be able to communicate that conclusion effectively with different people that have different communication styles. That’s been incredibly helpful.
Third is stakeholder management. You could say I operate as an “internal consultant,” working across the organization—from product teams to finance teams to the teams that are responsible for delivering the new ships we put out. McKinsey helped me learn how to identify what other teams need from me and what I need from them.
What advice from mentors helped you develop while you were with the Firm?
That I need to advocate for myself so that others know what I’m looking to accomplish and how I envision my own journey. That allows them to support me. I can’t expect support if I don’t share what I need with those around me!
Looking back, what advice would you now give others?
If I’m talking to someone considering joining: If you’re weighing your options, my advice would be to do it. The Firm will test you day in and day out, but the learning experience you’ll get, you can’t get anywhere else.
For someone at the Firm, I’d tell them: To get the most out of it, though, you need to be open-minded, ask a lot of questions, and understand that you’re not going to know everything. With humility, you will learn a lot and gain perspective on what matters in the short and long term. Humility will allow you to learn as much as possible—take in as much from as many people as possible. It will make you a stronger leader when you step into that role.
So, embrace being a learner and a leader.
Are there any defining moments from your time with Firm that couldn’t have happened anywhere else?
I worked on really varied projects at McKinsey and got to meet so many interesting stakeholders and leaders of companies I’d never have imagined I’d be in a room with.
Out of all those experiences, though, one that stands out is an opportunity I had to work on a due diligence with a new private equity client that was just standing itself up as a fund; they hadn’t made any investments yet. We got to advise them through making their first investment. It was really fast-paced, hard work.
The engagement was a success, and the client purchased the company we did the due diligence on. I loved being part of that and seeing first-hand that McKinsey isn’t just about helping long-standing established companies; they can support industry veterans bravely deciding to stand up their own company to create new value
Now, turning to your current role with the Royal Caribbean Group, what’s a typical day entail?
I’m part of the corporate strategy team. We really work across teams—collaborating with brand product, sustainability, and finance teams across the company group as well as with executive leadership on specific initiatives. We are really involved in the strategic decisions that guide our overall direction as a company.
The work on our team does focus a lot on the “big picture” questions: What is the macro economy telling us? How should we best think about how to serve and address evolving guest preferences and needs across the group? How should we think about what we are investing in and where? We also work on developing our long-term strategic thinking, like one-, three-, and five-year planning. Sometimes our work is about supporting other teams across the organization to move their projects across the finish line.
Are you a cruise-goer yourself?
I am! I actually got to go on the first public sailing of Star of the Seas—our newest ship. It was really cool to see how far we’ve come with building these vessels. It’s an actual city floating on the water! Pretty magnificent.
Any favorite travel destinations (by cruise or not)?
Within the country, a couple of my favorites are New York City and Orlando, Florida! I love walking through the cities—seeing different buildings and historical sites, trying restaurants, checking out museums, going to theme parks, and visiting friends.
In New York, I always enjoy the views from skyscrapers. It reminds me of being in the McKinsey New York Office and looking out at the amazing view. It captures the magic of New York that can’t quite be put into words.
I am excited to go to Italy very soon for a best friend’s wedding and hopefully back to Europe again for my next Royal Caribbean cruise!
Is there a book, a piece of music, art, or a movie that inspires you?
Two movies come to mind. Moneyball and Ford vs. Ferrari.
I used to play baseball, so that draws me to Moneyball. The underlying message is not as much about the sport as it is about how to think about winning the game. It’s about challenging old assumptions and using data and ideas to make smarter decisions. I love how that story is portrayed.
Then, in Ford vs. Ferrari, I loved seeing a new era of innovation—the dream of putting out this fast new car and pushing it to its limits. You take risks. You trust people around you. All of that’s required to make bold moves. That's a good message for anyone with big ambitions.
What would you consider to be your biggest accomplishment so far?
Professionally, it was a huge accomplishment to have initially landed at McKinsey where I could work on really cool projects and learn that I enjoyed strategy and collaborating with teams to solve tough problems. Having the foundation of McKinsey allowed me to find an industry that excited me so I could work on strategy and collaborate with teams and stakeholders. It helped me identify what I’m good at—what I enjoy.
Now, I’m working at this super exciting cruise company, helping us get to the answers that allows us to continue providing amazing experiences for our guests! There’s purpose in that; it feels meaningful.
I love that. The journey, in many ways, is the accomplishment.
Absolutely. When I joined McKinsey, I had a bit of a nontraditional background. I didn’t have extensive, formal internship experience. I actually started my educational career in community college then transferred to a state university in Miami, Florida.
And then I joined McKinsey where I stayed for nearly three years. Part of why this is such an important accomplishment for me is that it meant staying in and contributing to my home-city of Miami.
Being able to have grown in my career there (and to still remain close) has meant so much to me.
