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”.

Lucia is the mother of three and worked as a full-time babysitter for over ten years. Eight years ago she opened up a side business selling Avon beauty products. She started selling Avon products because they are cheap to buy wholesale and local demand is high. Lucia stocks up on beauty products strategically so that she doesn’t have to buy new products for three weeks. She knows her client base well and this system of getting products works perfectly to fit demand in her community. Lucia knows the power of savings and how important it is to keep money aside for her family.

Since her first loan, Lucia has expanded her inventory to include facial creams, perfume, make up, and most recently shoes. With her next loan, she plans to once again increase her inventory of beauty products and purchase clothing fabrics for dresses. Lucia’s dream is to open a clothing store to sell handmade dresses with a space for babysitting in the back—two businesses in one! Lucia wants all women to feel beautiful when they go to a party, and at her store, ladies can drop off their children, and walk out ready for a night they will not forget!

Alecia was recently invited by a couple of her closet peers to join their Grameen America group. Alecia runs a small business selling Jaffra cosmetic products on the local streets. When Alecia is not running her business she cares for her ten grandchildren, for whom she babysits every day. Alecia would like to take out a loan to buy more inventory to grow the business. She currently sells to about sixty clients a month and with the loan, looks to reach 100 clients.

Alecia has never opened a bank account before, despite her repeat attempts year after year. She also does not own any credit cards because the potential fees were too daunting. Alecia explained that she knew how important it is to have a credit history, but due to high fees, she has never had the opportunity to build hers. While Alecia was not currently saving any money before joining Grameen America, she is now learning the importance of saving and is looking forward to the day when she can finally take her first vacation with the money. After attending her first group meeting, Alecia says she can’t believe how successful the businesses of her fellow group members have become and says she’s going to tell everyone she knows about Grameen!