Meet Holly Garcia | Corporate Recruiter and Business Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Holly Garcia and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Holly, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Throughout my entire life I have always felt like I was meant to do more. Not in a sense of becoming the president or solving life’s problems but wanting to do something further than being complacent in a 9-5. A lot of this changed when I met my boyfriend (now husband). He has inspired me to pursue that urge to do more. I grew up with wonderful and loving parents, but they were the typical 9-5, hardworking type of people. We did not have a lot, but we had what we needed. My parents gave us everything and I am so thankful for them, but it was hard to watch them choose between paying for school athletics, groceries, clothes etc. I’ve always wanted to create more for myself and my future family. Both of my parents had an entrepreneurial spirit and started businesses of their own, but I think they lost that passion after having kids. Realizing that providing for us was more important than the dream and potential risk of owning a business, and fear of the unknown so they found steady and stable careers. The older I get, the more I want to challenge myself and see what I’m capable of and my husband has really sped up this spark inside me. He has explored many income streams which really pushed me to do the same. I didn’t want to struggle or worry about money like many of our parents did when we were younger! So, I started doing research on small businesses and other ways to make money without working for someone else. The first business I landed on was candle making, but quickly realized how difficult and demanding it was for the little income it would provide. This might sound silly, but I googled something like “best small businesses with low maintenance” and found vending. I am a decisive person and tend to leap without thinking so I did some research and started an LLC.

What should our readers know about your business?
Starting a business in vending was kind of right up my alley. I used to work in sales for a light industrial staffing firm and had to pound the pavement to find new business. So this side of the business is something I am accustomed to, but I will say the hardest part about the vending business is finding locations for your machines. Once the machine is in a location, though, it’s smooth sailing. I love going to my client site and filling the machine, it’s been so much fun and such a learning experience. I have been tailoring the products based on the employee feedback which has actually tripled my sales. As far as the full process, it was a lot of learning, talking to other people for help/support, finding vending Instagram and Facebook pages to become a part of and watching others pave the way. I’ve learned too many lessons to count, but the main one I would say is that everyone is going to make a mistake, I think the fear of making a mistake or failing stops a lot of people from starting a business, but you don’t know if you don’t try!! I would just want people to know that anyone can start a business. Find something your passionate about and just learn. I knew nothing about vending, but I did know that I had to try, and keep pushing.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my best friend was in town I would take her to one of my club’s rugby games, wakeboarding/boating, go downtown to see the perot museum, walk Klyde Warren Park, and the giant eye. Food wise- there’s about a million Mexican restaurants here, so we would probably go a few times. Some of my favorites are Velvet taco, Mi Dia From Scratch, Uno Mas and many more.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I already mentioned this a little in the previous question, but my husband is a huge inspiration and factor in deciding to start a business. He is constantly learning and finding ways to make new streams of income. Both of my parents started their own businesses as well. My mom lived in San Diego and had a concession stand right on the beach before moving to Portland with my dad. My dad started a beer tap cleaning business and ran that for quite some time before starting the job he has now.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hngvendingllc/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hollyngarcia/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HNGVendingLLC