Favi Pantoja grew up watching her parents persevere through hardships to give their children a better life. Seeing their work ethic and the care they put into their relationships shaped Pantoja’s perspective on the world. “I really learned that success isn’t just handed to somebody,” she said. “It’s earned through dedication, resilience, and just showing up every day and working hard.”
Now a successful corporate marketing professional for one of the largest automotive groups in Texas, Pantoja is grateful for everything her parents taught her.
Pantoja graduated from Dublin High School in 2012 and went to Tarleton. She started out studying nursing, but soon realized that wasn’t the career she wanted. “I met with my advisor at the time, and I told her I want to do business, but also didn’t want to do financing or HR or accounting. So she pointed me towards marketing. I’ve always been kind of creative and I love to have an idea and put a plan together to actually make that idea come to life — and that’s basically marketing. And so what I did was an international business degree with a focus in marketing. [It focused on] how different cultures, different people, different areas, different demographics see business, and how we can communicate what a business does to specific people.”
Pantoja added a minor in Spanish and was able to study abroad in Spain before graduating with her Bachelor’s degree in 2016. After graduation, Pantoja began applying for jobs in the area, and found a position working in sales for a large Ford dealership in Weatherford. “I love working with people and I love meeting people, and so for me, sales was a good starting point,” she said.
The job helped her understand the industry and how marketing played into auto sales. “Selling cars really made me appreciate what dealing with people really means, because they’re not just buying a car; they’re there for the experience,” she said. “They’re making a huge investment. For some people it’s their first time buying a car, so you really get to cater that perfect car-buying experience to the customer.”
After four years working in sales, Pantoja’s colleague suggested she apply for the position of internet director at a new dealership. “I had done sales and internet sales for a while and he liked the way that I worked,” she said.
She didn’t know all the skills needed for the job, such as managing a team and training employees, “but I’ve always loved the challenge,” she said. “I was like, you know what? Let’s do it.”
Pantoja thrived in the role, and stayed there for three years. The automotive group was growing fast, and in 2023 she was recruited by the groups’s marketing director for a corporate marketing role, supporting multiple dealerships with marketing strategy, customer retention processes, reporting, digital advertising, and more. “I went from working for one store to working for 22 stores,” she said.
In an average week, Pantoja juggles many responsibilities. She makes sure websites and marketing efforts are running smoothly across all 22 dealerships, works with vendors, puts together creative emails for promotions, and helps with special events and sales.
Her favorite part of the position is the people she works with. “[In this job] you run into some really interesting people with amazing backgrounds that all teach you something,” she said. “They all either teach you some real knowledge, or they just teach you how to mold yourself to work with specific people.”
She also appreciates the opportunities she’s had to learn and grow. Through her career, Pantoja has taught herself to get comfortable being uncomfortable. “I think a lot of people think that marketing is really for very extroverted people, right? And I’m not. I’m much of an introverted person,” she said. “But I have learned to be comfortable when I’m uncomfortable, whether that means maybe having to present in front of a ton of people, or even messing up and having to fix it, or just facing uncertainty. Every promotion for me meant stepping into something completely new that I didn’t know. So there were plenty of moments where I was like, ‘Oh my God! What did I get myself into?’ But then I would just figure things out.”
Pantoja hopes to stay in the automotive industry for the rest of her career. “I do want to eventually have a marketing director role, and so I’ve got a lot of learning to do,” she said. “But I’m not afraid of trying new things, so when the opportunity presents itself, I’ll be able to have the knowledge that I need.”
Pantoja currently lives in Weatherford. When she has free time, she loves going back to Dublin to visit friends and family, working in her yard and trying new restaurants.
Pantoja’s parents, Gaudencio and Carmen Pantoja Sanchez, are her greatest source of inspiration. “I’m a daughter of immigrants from Mexico, and watching them build a life through hard work and sacrifice has really just shaped who I am,” she said. “They came here to create opportunities that were never presented to them when they were growing up, and I was able to grow up in Dublin because of their sacrifices, and actually pursue an education — again, an opportunity that they didn’t have. Thanks to that, I was able to build a career.”
“Right now, many immigrant families, including some within our community, are facing a lot of uncertainty,” she said. “And no matter where people stand on the issue, it’s hard not to recognize the emotional toll that uncertainty can have on families. What continues to inspire me is the resilience that I’ve seen through my community. We keep showing up. We keep supporting one another and finding ways to provide for our families. Being a daughter of immigrants isn’t just part of my story. It’s one of my greatest sources of pride, and it reminds me every day that to never take an opportunity for granted, to work hard for everything I have, and to always remember where I came from.”
Pantoja offers the following advice to future Dublin graduates. “Don’t be afraid to dream bigger than your hometown — just never forget where you came from. At the end of the day, you don’t have to have your life figured out. I most certainly didn’t. But you need to work hard, ask questions, and be kind to people. Don’t be afraid to take opportunities that scare you a little — you’d be surprised where those opportunities can lead you.”
“Don’t be afraid to fail,” she added. “I think failure has such a negative connotation, but failure teaches you something. So you can decide to see failure as failure and just give up, or you can decide to see failure as, ‘I learned something, I won’t make that mistake again,’ and keep on going.”
Pantoja is extremely grateful to have grown up in Dublin. “Dublin gave me my roots. My parents gave me the courage to dream bigger than I ever thought I could, and the people [in Dublin] gave me the confidence to believe that I could accomplish those dreams. No matter where life takes me, I’ll always be proud to say I’m from Dublin.”
— Where Are They Now chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@dublincitizen. com.