As co-founder of ISP Studios, Margie Aguilar has catapulted clients to new heights with her branding and marketing prowess. But her story began as the ninth of ten kids who grew up in a cross-cultural, bilingual and bi-national community in El Paso, Texas and neighboring Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. Her father, Manuel M. Lopez, came to the United States as part of the bracero program to work for Union Pacific Railroad in 1957. Lopez was one of thousands of Mexicans who came to the United States legally to work due to a shortage of workers during World War II. The program was largely a success and allowed thousands of Mexicans to prosper with legal employment and bring their families. Working in the media production business in both Mexico and the United States, Margie has a keen knowledge of the Hispanic community and continues to reflect back on her upbringing as she grows her business, marketing to both the Hispanic and general markets.
Eventually, Mr. Lopez secured visas for his entire family to come to El Paso, Texas, where Margie grew up in a bilingual household. School was challenging for Margie. Only later did she realize it was due to dyslexia. But while dyslexia made school work difficult, Margie’s other talents grew. With family still in Ciudad Juarez, Margie was able to adapt to the curriculum easier in Juarez so she continued school in Mexico from jr. high school through graduation. Margie’s cousin was a prominent news anchor in Juarez. He took her under his wing and every summer she interned at the television station where he worked, shadowing him on stories and learning the ropes. She learned every part of the business: videography, editing and producing. She graduated high school and came back to El Paso for college. Her communications teacher recommended her to Univision, who gave her an internship and eventually hired her. She was only 19. Immediately, with all her experience, she became head of production. From there Margie climbed the ranks and made her way to Univision in Dallas, which at the time was the number 7 market in the country.
She eventually left television news to enter the corporate world.
In 1990, she saw a news story about the Hispanic boom in Dallas. She knew she was in the right place at the right time, on the ground floor of what would be a renaissance in marketing to the Hispanic community. Margie had deep knowledge of the hispanic community and a well of ideas on how to market to the booming population. Margie knew that Latinos could no longer be an afterthought.
Feeling like she could do more, Margie went out on her own and started her production company, ISP Studios, with her business partner, Dan Craig. Their first contract was producing a spanish language monthly syndicated show to 11 markets in the United States for the Dallas Cowboys.
ISP was growing its clientele and in 2007 Margie decided to buy a studio in Irving. For Margie, it was a special purchase because the building she bought was a television studio that belonged to Univision. It was truly a special moment for her as she looked back at how far she had come, remembering that she had once been an employee and now as an entrepreneur, she was buying her former employers building. Shortly thereafter, the recession hit and many of their clients dropped off as companies stopped spending money. Aguilar remembers many of her competitors were shutting down as clients disappeared. She knew that if they could make it through the recession they would come out on the other side and survive. And that’s exactly what happened.
When companies began doing business again, while other production companies had shut down, ISP Studios was still standing. Business picked up and they landed some of their biggest clients.
Twenty years after starting their company, not only has ISP Studios worked with some of the largest global beauty brands, but has also transformed brands from fledgling organizations to thriving and powerful entities, with award-winning branding, marketing and production work in English and Spanish. ISP Studios is also a go-to marketing firm for clients who wish to market to the Hispanic community and beyond. Her expertise in the Hispanic market and Diversity and Inclusion is unmatched. Beyond what Margie does for clients, her passion is giving back to the community and empowering women.
Margie was recently honored with the Community Advocate Award by the Dallas Business Journal because of her work with Hispanic 100, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that unites Latinas and seeks to increase Latina participation in the areas of employment, procurement, and social issues. H100 was looking to modernize and change the perception of the organization to attract new and younger members to continue the legacy that the founders created while still retaining brand awareness. Along with a brand refresh, ISP studios launched a social media campaign that dramatically increased brand awareness, helped gain new sponsorships and increased membership by attracting a totally new demographic of Latinas who had not previously been reached.
Margie is a founding member of Hey Chica! Leadership Movement and Summit and conceptualized the marketing campaign for the summit, which was sold out. Hey Chica brings women together for real conversations that enhance business, build a network and a strong sisterhood. The social media marketing campaign won a Rising Star Award from AdWeek, the leading source of news and insight serving the brand marketing ecosystem. AdWeek’s award-winning coverage reaches an audience of more than 6 million professionals across platforms including print, digital, events, podcasts, newsletters, social media and mobile apps.
As a two-term, former board member for the Irving Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for six years, Margie transformed the Chambers signature event, their yearly awards gala. Margie and her team conceptualized, produced and executed videos and logistics for the gala, making it one of the most attended in the Chamber’s history. The gala has continued to grow in attendance every year.
Most recently, Margie has joined the board for the Young Women’s Preparatory Network. The YWPN works to support single-gender, college-preparatory, public education in Texas and beyond, giving young women the academic and leadership skills to achieve success in college and in life.
Margie also serves on the board of the Girl Scouts of North Texas as part of the community engagement committee. The Girl Scouts core value of believing in the power of every G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader) to change the world are in alignment with Margies core values as a mother of two women and grandmother to three girls. In everything that Margie does, whether it’s being a servant leader on a non-profit board or creating marketing campaigns for brands of any size, she seeks to empower women and the next generation of leaders.
