By Riley Kaminer
The last time Refresh Miami we shared news from Miami native Patricia Garcia, she was a bright-eyed Florida International University student who won a $5,000 prize from a student pitch competition.
Just over three years later, Garcia is just as bright-eyed as ever – but now has two additional degrees under her belt: master’s degrees from the University of Southern California and University College London.
When her time at USC was coming to an end, Garcia was unsure of her next steps. That all changed when she went to eMerge Americas last year. As she was reconnecting with an FIU connection, she received an email that would change the trajectory of her life: a notification that she would be able to attend UCL through a Fullbright scholarship, the organization’s Entrepreneurship Award.
“Sometimes I look back and think how I didn’t go to Harvard or Stanford but I’m the first Latina to receive this Fulbright Entrepreneurship Award,” she told Refresh Miami.
“The UK is the most competitive country to get a Fulbright. They always tell you to apply elsewhere because you have a higher chance of getting a Fulbright in other countries.”
“Despite this, I’ve done it. As a first-generation American and the daughter of Cuban and Nicaraguan immigrants, it means a lot to me knowing that my parents sacrificed so much. Coming back to Miami, I can show that you don’t need an Ivy League degree to be a successful entrepreneur or to win prestigious fellowships. You need determination and grit to make things possible and to persevere.”
Garcia has applied this same perseverance to her startup, Unithrifts (formerly College Thrifts). The platform, a marketplace for students wanting to buy and sell official branded products, has raised $120,000 is non-dilutive funding – including a recent $10,000 grant from AT&T and the Hispanic Heritage Foundation as part of their “Grow Your Chispa” program.
“The fact that AT&T is supporting underrepresented founders is amazing, especially as I’m the first entrepreneur in my family,” said Garcia. “It’s encouraging to know that there’s an organization like AT&T that has your back.”
“This is a significant amount of money, and it will allow us to scale our impact beyond just impacting the lives of one student at a time, which is what Unithrifts has done so far – but rather to expand to a B2B model.”
This new model, which has been in the works for over a year now, will see Unithrifts expand beyond the clothing marketplace to partner with higher education institutions and private student accommodations to help them achieve their sustainability goals. For instance, Unithrifts will help coordinate recycling initiatives at the end of the school year, when students moving out of their accommodation might be tempted to simply throw out some of their possessions.
“We’ll be there to help you divert your waste,” she said.
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