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Dr. Rico Austin PhD is not the kind of man who sits still long enough to be easily categorized. Born the oldest of five boys in Southwestern Idaho, Rico began writing at age 13 as a reporter for his local newspaper and never stopped. What followed was a life so full of adventure, ambition, and unexpected turns that most people would need three lifetimes to live it.
Rico holds an Associate Degree in Marketing and Sales from Boise State University where he also walked on as a football player, a BBA in International Business from Grand Canyon University where he was named Outstanding International Business Graduate of 1995 and selected as Mr. Future Business Executive at the Arizona State Leadership Conference, and a Thunderbird MBA in International Management from one of the world's most prestigious global business schools. He earned his Doctorate in Tequila, a distinction held by fewer than 180 people on the entire planet.
Before graduating from Grand Canyon University Rico spent a summer in Vilnius Lithuania teaching English. During his senior year he studied at Staffordshire University in England and started on the American Football Team for the Staffordshire Stallions. At Thunderbird he worked simultaneously as a full time feature writer and freelance journalist for the school paper DAS TOR, writing several articles in Spanish for Latin American students and winning the school's first and only writing essay contest in March 1997.
His most defining journalism assignment took him to Washington DC to cover the opening of the 105th Congress and the Inauguration of President Bill Clinton. He was also one of only 16 students personally selected to attend a private class led by former Vice President Dan Quayle at Thunderbird. He received an A.
Hollywood came calling in 1997 when Rico appeared on Baywatch in the episode Night of the Dolphin, playing a drug lord on a luxury yacht. Producer and Casting Director Susie Glickman personally invited him back for a second episode. He declined to protect his finals. Rico chose education over stardom and has never once regretted it.
Rico is the founder of BAJARRIBA TEQUILA, a brand that has appeared on the cover of Tequila Aficionado Magazine a record three times. Rico himself has been featured on that cover twice. He starred in the short film Shipwrecked, played the lead antagonist in the feature film Sharktana with an IMDB credit, appeared on Legacy Makers TV with Rudy Mawer, competed as a contestant on The BLOX Season 21 with Wes Bergman, and was named to the cover of The Enterprise World Magazine in February 2026 as one of the Most Influential Leaders Driving Global Business Growth and Success.
He was also selected among hundreds of writers to co-author How to Create Credibility as a Freelancer, published alongside 13 other prominent authors in 2009. Rico made history as the first author ever to feature sponsor advertisements inside a published novel.
A Licensed Realtor in Arizona, a land developer, an avid fisherman who has cast his line into waters across the globe, a stand up comedian in his younger years, and a man who has lived across Idaho, Hawaii, California, England, and Lithuania, Rico now makes his home in Scottsdale Arizona with his wife Connie.
He is the author of 10 published books.
His debut novel My Bad Tequila earned the following recognition and awards:
Hollywood Book Festival Honorable Mention. Readers Favorite Silver Medal. Readers Favorite Finalist. Amazon Kindle Number 1 Top Rated eBook. Five Parrots in a Palm Tree Award of Excellence for Superb Island Reading. Number 1 Book to Read June 2011 selected by New York Professional Reviewer Fran Lewis. Arizona Authors Association 3rd Place Fiction Book of the Year. London Book Festival Honorable Mention. Los Angeles Book Festival Honorable Mention. New York Beach Book Festival Honorable Mention. Bibliocracy Author of the Month June 2012. Featured in Suspense Magazine July 2012.
My Bad Tequila also inspired a hit country single of the same name co-written by Rico and performed by Elly Garrison and her band QuarterDeck, available on iTunes, Amazon Music, and Yahoo Music.
As Ernest Hemingway once said, in order to write about life you must first live it. Rico Austin has lived enough for all of us.
Peace, Love and Tequila.
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