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 Yesenia
Garcia looked into the eyes of a panel of judges and asked, “Why
wouldn’t you want to invest in my company?” in answer to their question
about why they would.
That got their attention.
And held it, apparently. Garcia, an 18-year-old Fresno City College
freshman planning to attend California State University, Fresno next
spring, won a regional entrepreneurship contest and a trip to national
competition in New York. Next week she will be the first central San
Joaquin Valley competitor at the National Foundation for Teaching
Entrepreneurship’s (NFTE) National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge,
which has a $10,000 top prize.
The regional competition, conducted in spring, was sponsored by the
Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Fresno State and
funded by the Coleman Foundation. Garcia attended Fresno’s Roosevelt
High School at the time and was the first in her family to graduate from
high school.
In New York, she will challenge 32 other students, hopeful her idea of a
bilingual business-card retailer, “Targetas de Negocio,” will be popular
with a new set of judges. Whatever happens there, Garcia has a plan for
her own future: “I want to major in business and someday start my own
business.”
Linda Jean Voth, Garcia’s teacher at Roosevelt and now her NFTE coach,
helped her put the plan together and practice presentation skills.
“The business was entirely her idea,” Voth said. “Her friend is in the
construction business and didn’t speak any English so Yesenia made him
English-Spanish business cards, which allowed him to communicate much
better with the community.”
Voth said the competition is valuable to at-risk youth because “kids
like Yesenia need to know that they are smart and that they have what it
takes to succeed.”
“This will be a great experience for Yesenia,” Voth added. “She has
never been outside of California. NFTE pays for two nights in the city,
the Lyles Center is paying for a third and I’m paying for a fourth
night. That way Yesenia can see [New York] and enjoy being part of this
competition.”
Genelle Taylor, associate director of the Lyles Center, is impressed
with Garcia and expects she’ll do well in the national competition. “She
knows her business, inside and out,” said Taylor.
Taylor said the Lyles Center sponsors a variety of programs and
competitions for students of all ages to help develop their business and
entrepreneurship skills.
Garcia said she is more excited than nervous because of all the help
she’s received from Voth and the Lyles Center.
Since developing her business idea last January, Garcia said the NFTE
contest prompted her to consider college. “I was concentrating on
graduating from high school, not what programs I would participate in
during college,” she said.
“I’m not used to talking to people. I’m normally really quiet,” she
added. “This competition has helped me with my speaking skills and I
have met a lot of knew people.”
Garcia also said she’ll work on ways to get more customers for her
business and to “make sure the buyer is satisfied on how they want it,
with quality and price.”
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