grew up in San Diego, California.

In San Diego, Esteban attended Francis Parker School for grade school and The Bishop’s School for high school. At both schools, he was known as Steven Villanueva or Steve Villanueva because many of his classmates had a hard time pronouncing “Esteban”!

Esteban then went on to attend Dartmouth College in New Hampshire where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from this prestigious Ivy League Institution.

After college, Esteban moved to Los Angeles to attend Pepperdine School of Law where he focused on Entertainment Law. During his studies, he had multiple internships at law firms specializing in entertainment law, as well as internships at record labels such as American Recordings, where he worked in the A&R Department for famed record producer Rick Rubin.

After law school, Esteban became the Director of Business and Legal Affairs for a music production company, recording studio and music publishing company. Projects he directed during that time won Grammy Awards including Fabulosos Cadillacs, “Fabulosos Calavera”, Best Rock in Spanish 1997, Ricky Martin “Vuelve”, Best Latin Pop 1998 and Carlos Santana “Supernatural” with 12 Grammy Awards including Album of the Year.

After several years in the music industry, Esteban returned to San Diego and continued to run international businesses focusing on trade and import/export with Mexico and Latin America.