Jess Rivera

In My Own Words

I’m Jess Rivera. I’m a Marine veteran, a barber, and a small business owner. I’m also the oldest of six kids from a Mexican-Irish, working-class family. Where I come from, you pull your weight. You take care of the people around you, and you don’t expect anything to come easy.

Military service runs deep in my family. Both of my grandfathers served in the Korean War. At 17, I joined the Marine Corps. It wasn’t just a decision to serve, it was a decision to survive. The Corps gave me structure, discipline, and a way to carry myself through the world with purpose. It also taught me when to speak and when to listen. And that both matter equally.

But to tell the truth, I wouldn’t have made it there without the people who showed up for me early on. Folks like Mrs. McKeehan and her husband Spencer. In 1993 I was in her second grade class, biting my nails till they bled from the stress at home. She noticed. She didn’t just brush it off or send me home with a note. Instead, Spencer came up with the idea to give me candy canes to help keep my hands busy. And when Mrs. McKeehan saw I needed more to focus on, she started giving me extra assignments from higher grades. Not to pile it on, but to challenge me, to give me something steady when life wasn’t. That kind of quiet care changed the direction of my life. We remained pen-pals until their passing in 2007.

By 13, I was working odd jobs to bring money back to my parents. By 15, we lost our home to foreclosure. Those things stick with you. They taught me that stability doesn’t show up on its own. You have to build it. Piece by piece. For yourself, and for the people you love.

After my time in the Marines, I found a new sense of purpose behind the barber chair. I got licensed in cosmetology in 2017, trained overseas, and after COVID I came home to eastern North Carolina. I opened The Garrison Barber & Parlor in downtown Wilson. Not just as a business, but as a place where people can feel proud to walk in, and even more proud walking out. A place that says we all matter.

I believe in service before self. I believe strength comes through community. And I believe public systems, when they work the way they should alongside private enterprise, can transform lives. I’m living proof of that.

I’m running for State Senate because I know what it’s like to fall through the cracks. And I know how much it matters when someone reaches out and says, “I see you.”

This campaign isn’t about me. It’s about what my people need. What they want from their elected officials. Not what I think is best, but what they’ve been saying for years. I’m here to carry that forward with them.

A vote for me is a vote for you. For our shared future and for the working communities that keep North Carolina going strong.