Rudy Mejia

Rudy Mejia

Title: Senior Vice President
Firm: Estrada Hinojosa & Co.
Age: 35

As a West Point graduate and former U.S. Army captain, Rudy Mejia knows the meaning of “service,” his associates at Estrada Hinojosa & Co. say.

“He demonstrates this in everything he does — from serving his country to serving his community,” says Tania Askins, vice president of the Dallas-based firm. “He seeks to be excellent at every aspect of his service to his clients.”

After his career in the Army in 2012, Rudy joined Estrada Hinojosa in Austin, where he leads investment banking efforts in Central and West Texas. He currently serves some of the largest issuers in the state as a financial advisor and bond underwriter.

Company founder Noe Hinojosa Jr. recruited Rudy as he was preparing to leave the Army.

“His was the first meeting I took, and he hired me on the spot,” Rudy recalls.

Rudy spent his first year and a half building relationships with local officials in Central Texas and getting his name out in public finance circles.

“In my opinion, there are three keys to starting out in this business: failure, forgetting and fear,” he said. “The more opportunities you have to fail, the more success you’ll have. You have to forget every time you’ve been told no. And when you get the first transaction, you have to have the fear that you won’t get it right.”

Rudy has worked as lead banker or advisor on more than 50 transactions in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. He serves as Estrada Hinojosa’s financial advisor to Fort Worth Independent School District ISD and the Pflugerville ISD. He is also a member of the firm’s quantitative analysis team.

He holds an MBA from The University of Texas, McCombs School of Business. While not working on public finance, Rudy serves on the board of Con MiMADRE — an organization that seeks to empower women.

“Rudy emanates humility and trust and a genuine sense of team building on every transaction he undertakes,” Askins said. “He is a tremendous asset to the municipal bond community.”

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