In her senior year of High School, Rodriguez heard a KIIS-FM promo for a new intern to work on Rick Dees' morning show. Rodriguez, who was only 17 at the time, skipped school and drove over to successfully interview for the position. Rodriguez worked her way up the ladder to positions on KIIS-FM's promotions and digital team before rising to the rank as an assistant producer on the recently formed Ryan Seacrest morning show.
On Air with Ryan Seacrest
Rodriguez has been a member of the On Air team since 2006, where she hosts the popular Ryan's Roses segment. She currently works as the show's senior producer, interweaving her love of music and celebrity with her personal life and love of her Latin heritage. Rodriguez has been able to use her platform on the radio to grow her social media brand and become a preeminent social media influencer.
MALA by Patty Rodriguez
In 2014, Rodriguez leveraged her social media influence to launch a popular jewelry line inspired by her Mexican-American roots. MALA by Patty Rodriguez has been worn by celebrities including Miley Cyrus, Rihanna, Gina Rodriguez and Vanessa Bryant.
Lil' Libros
After being rejected by several traditional children's literature companies, Rodriguez founded the popular bilingual children's book publishing company Lil' Libros with her childhood best friend Ariana Stein. In 2018, the company released on a children's biography picture book on legendary Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla. The book was an instant success rising to No. 1 on Amazon's best seller 24 hours after its release. The company's other popular titles include Counting With - Contando Con Frida, a book inspired by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo and Lil' Loteria, a bilingual board game based on the Mexican bingo game Loteria.
Other Ventures
In 2017, Rodriguez gave a TEDx talk at Cal State Los Angeles on the importance of representation and role models in art, literature and entertainment in communities of color. Rodriguez was the leading force behind a successful grassroots campaign to get MAC cosmetics to launch a celebrity makeup brand inspired by Selena Quintanilla. After several years of getting rejection emails from MAC corporate, Rodriguez started an online petition that racked up more than 40,000 signatures and led to the announcement in July 2016 of the signature Selena by MAC line of makeup.
Personal life
Rodriguez has two sons, which serve as the inspiration for many of the Lil' Libros titles.
Awards
LA Times Latinos De Hoy Cultural Influencer Award Ford's Latina On the Move Award Hispanic Public Relations Association Social Media Influencer of the Year Latina magazine's Top 100 Women of The Year
