Sabina's Story

Sabina was born to be an entrepreneur. After emigrating from Mexico in 1993, Sabina began working full-time in a factory to support herself and her family. To make ends meet, she started selling flowers on the street. Sabina’s friend told her about Grameen America two years ago, and she immediately joined a group with some of her closest friends. Since then she has been a very dedicated borrower. Sabina put her first loan of $1,500 towards plants and flowers to grow her small inventory. Four loans later, Sabina had saved enough money to rent out her own storefront in Queens!

Sabina recently took out her 5th loan for $3,500 which she used to purchase a large refrigerator for her flowers. Because the fridge was a bit more expensive than the loan she was eligible for, she used her money from her savings—set up by Grameen America—to supplement the loan for the purchase of the fridge. With her official storefront and refrigerator, Sabina now supplies flowers for weddings, birthdays, and Quinceañeras.

Sabina recognizes that to grow her business even larger, she will need to expand past her own community in Queens. Sabina’s dream is to open a second flower shop in Westchester, NY where she knows there is a strong demand and limited supply of quality flowers. Opportunity is calling her name!

Sabina is incredibly proud of her business, as she says, “in this life, anything is possible with hard work and perseverance”.