“My family would come once a summer to Disneyland.”
Mikey Trujillo’s Disney voyage began in a way familiar to many fans — as a guest at one of the company’s worldwide resorts.
“Somebody in this family has to work here,” Trujillo, Sr. Manager, Marvel Studios Franchise Events, said. “I was honored to be the first one to do so.”
Just like one in three management-level cast members at Disneyland Resort, Trujillo began his career at the resort in an hourly operations role.
Captain Mikey — as he was known while working at the Tomorrowland attraction Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage starting in 2012 — has steadily risen the ranks and gained diverse experiences across the company since then.
“I’ve continued to grow and expand my career with six completely different roles across Disney over the last 12 years,” Trujillo explained. “The company is so supportive of employees growing, making connections and advancing their careers.”
Trujillo’s story is a microcosm of the dynamic way that The Walt Disney Company operates — connecting seemingly disparate segments to enhance the company’s storytelling capabilities and deliver worldclass entertainment across a wide variety of consumer touchpoints.
Mikey’s Story
After beginning as a ride operator, Trujillo was able to transition to Guest Relations for two years, before becoming a Disney Ambassador.
Ambassadors lead and participate in events, share cast member stories, spread Disney magic within their communities and represent their resorts as official spokespeople.
That program was a good opportunity for Trujillo to “soak it all in, get involved… learn teamwork.”
From there, in 2019, Trujillo made the leap into management as an Event Programming Manager for Disneyland Resort.
For Trujillo, the key to moving up was to first “do what you’re assigned, and then you can do the fun stuff.” From there he was able to show “other people, ‘this is what I can do, but this is what I wanna do, and here’s examples of what I’m doing to achieve that.’”
Now, Trujillo finds himself as a Senior Manager for Marvel Studios Franchise Events. In that role, he works on events where Marvel will have a strong presence, such as both San Diego and New York Comic Cons, and D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event.
Trujillo’s experience at Disneyland — where every day is a live event — no doubt provided him with a unique experience and knowledge of what will delight fans that he’s been able to bring to his role at Marvel Studios.
The Disney Way
Just like thousands of other Disney employees, Trujillo turned an entry-level job into a successful and diverse career where he hasn’t repeated the same role twice — all within the Disney ecosystem.
The Walt Disney Company is unique among entertainment companies — it contains filmed and live entertainment, animation, consumer products, experiences, sports, news, innovation, and more. That diverse of a portfolio is hard to come by in this sector.
Disney can leverage its world-class intellectual property to tell stories across various consumer touch points. It takes employees and cast members like Trujillo to utilize their connections across the company to bring those characters and stories to Disney consumers and fans in various ways like no other company can.
At Disney, “You are part of something bigger than yourself. It’s just so special how caring and giving everyone is,” Trujillo said.