Karla Garcia, founder and owner, Bris’s
Creations.
chance to talk about how Latinos can overcome
adversity.
She would advertise her company and
nonprofit at the end of the segments, resulting
in new customers. Despite any bumps on the
road, Garcia is grateful for her success and gets
teary-eyed as she shares how she realized the
dream of her late grandmother who dreamed of
having her own bakery.
“I got connected
with the Hispanic Chamber
of Commerce -- they opened
so many doors for me.”
— Karla Garcia
“We’re like a melting pot and everybody
has the same opportunities. There are a lot of
government opportunities, for example, but we’re
not really informed about it,” Garcia cautions. “I
had to go through the Hispanic Chamber of
Commerce or use my own political connections.
That’s the only way to get informed. We have so
many resources, but we don’t know about them.
You have to make things happen for yourself.”
And whether it’s lack of knowledge of
government-backed grants for entrepreneurs or
a division among Latina entrepreneurs with
different origins, experts agree there is still a
need for higher Latino representation in the
technology sector. However, that doesn’t take
away from the pride they feel that Latinos are
leading companies in a variety of sectors, from
real estate to retail.
Among those entrepreneurs is Griselda
Quezada-Chavez, president and CEO of GQC
Global Group, a company that produces private
label textiles, specifically men’s shirts, and
showcases handmade items from local artisans
and cooperatives in Mexico and Latin America
through its online boutique and gallery.
Like many Latina entrepreneurs,
Quezada-Chavez launched her business to fill a
void in the market. She had a difficult time
finding hand-embroidered ethnic textiles that her
husband could wear representative of the
Guayabera culture. Anything close in appearance
was mass produced and usually made in China.
On a mission to offer quality products while
accurately capturing the essence of their culture,
Quezada-Chavez launched her business,
bridging a connection among San Francisco and
Latin America through worldboutiquegallery.com.
“I love living in the Bay Area because we
have a lot of different cultures,” she says, adding
that the possibilities are endless.
LS
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questions on this article? Email us at
info@latinastyle.com
“I love living in
the Bay Area because we
have a lot of different
cultures.”
— Griselda Quezada-Chavez
Griselda Quezada-Chavez, president and
CEO, GQC Global Group.
LATINAStyle Vol. 25, No. 1, 2019 www.latinastyle.com 15
/worldboutiquegallery.com
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