SERVING BUSINESSES ALL ACROSS TEXAS
MODERN LUXURY · 2025 & 2026
In the Press.
Twice in two years, Modern Luxury Magazine has featured FreeAgent&Co. founder Ruben Gomez and the approach behind our work :
Luxury isn't a price tag. It's about how people feel about a brand and about a business.
MODERN LUXURY HOUSTON · OCTOBER 2026
Men of Influence
Modern Luxury Houston named Ruben one of its 2026 Men of Influence in the October Sports Issue.
The feature looks at how 25 years working with luxury brands like Cartier, Rolex and Montblanc shaped his belief that customers buy the feeling as much as the product.
It also covers Sidebar, the jazz lounge and restaurant in downtown Edinburg where Gomez has put this approach to work since 2017, his upcoming project with the UTRGV College of Fine Arts at the Sidebar Art Gallery, and his forthcoming book, "Luxury Isn't a Price Tag".
The issue was celebrated on Thursday, October 8th, 2026, at RAFA Racing Club in Houston, with an evening of cocktails, light bites, and great company honoring cover star Rafael Martinez and the 2026 Men of Influence.
"Consistency of experience has become the real luxury."
RUEN GOMEZ · FOUNDER & CEO
MODERN LUXURY HOUSTON · JUNE 2025
Power Players
A year earlier, Modern Luxury's Power Players feature told the story of how FreeAgent&Co. began. Ruben helped open Sidebar with owner Dr. Robert Puig with no restaurant background and a location most people would have passed on. He solved those problems one by one, and Sidebar became the proving ground for the brand strategy, creative direction, and culture work FreeAgent&Co. offers today. The feature also covers Ruben's 25-year relationship with Deutsch & Deutsch, which brought events with Cartier, Bvlgari, Gucci, Tag Heuer, Montblanc, and Hublot to Sidebar. Along the way, Sidebar saw a 50% year-over-year increase in Google search visibility.
From the beginning, the goal has been the same. Help small business owners stand out and grow on their own terms.
