This month Working Credit is shining the spotlight on Angelica, a Chicagoland business owner. Angelica began her credit building journey in April of 2023. While taking a class, she learned about Working Credit via the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) Business Career Center.
As the owner of Angie’s Tamales To Go, Angelica first opened her business in 2019. While mostly serving friends and family, she was off to a pretty good start until the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Regrettably, she had to close her business. However, Angelica was resolute in keeping her dream afloat, and with much determination, she was able to begin again, continuing to serve mostly friends and family, in May 2020.
Nearly a year later, Angelica saw an ad on Facebook that caught her eye. It stated that there would be an upcoming tamale competition. She decided to enter the competition and to her surprise, she won! “I won because I had different variations of tamales: cheese, chicken, pork, pineapple, mole’, and also vegetarian, while most tamale makers have only green or red.” Winning this competition let Angelica know that she was headed in the right direction. During that time, she was also taking a computer course and she just happened to show her instructor the award that she had won. His advice to her was to advertise her tamales on the Facebook Marketplace, and when she did, her business started taking off and she was no longer selling to only friends and family.
Since Angelica has been working with Juanita, her Working Credit counselor, she has been able to build personal credit as well as her business credit. “It’s been wonderful, a Godsend, and an answer to my prayers!” Angelica has been able to save $5,000 and she has also acquired one business loan and a grant for $10,000 all of which have been crucial to the growth of her business. “I’m moving through the world of finance with a lot more confidence!” Angelica beamed. Since meeting with Juanita, Angelica feels as if she is learning how to advocate for herself more and also that she has the proper tools and knowledge to face more complex credit and financial issues. All the while, she knows that her counselor Juanita is a trusted source she can always rely on.
Angelica continues to take classes in English and Business to build her business. She will be graduating this coming June. She also recently won an achievement award from the Literacy Council of Illinois and was recognized by the Secretary of State for her advancement as an adult learner. The awardees were noted as “exemplifying the best of Illinois and showing that even through adversity and challenges that seem insurmountable, a desire to learn is a powerful tool.”
What’s next for Angelica? She has applied for a $3,000 grant to help her own and run a new food truck! We are so proud of you Angelica! Keep rising, you shining star!
