We had the good fortune of connecting with Henry & Cely Galeano and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Henry & Cely, how do you think about risk?
We believe that sometimes risks are good lessons to learn from. There are only two things that can happen, you either fail but you learn from it or you succeed. In our case, we took a risk of leaving our full time jobs and investing all of what we had to start our business. 9 years ago, we had no idea our business would be were it’s at today. It is still growing and we have so much work to do but we’ve come along way. We are proud that we were able to grow our business all while being first time parents. Actually, a few months after we started our business we found out we were expecting! We took the risk of following our dreams of becoming business owners and thankfully that risk has paid off significantly.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We created OCBuyBack because we saw a growing need in the smartphone industry for consumers wanting to sell their used cell phone elsewhere. Most of the companies out there only offer credit or a gift card in exchange for turning in your used phone. At OCBuyBack, we offer cash for that used cell phone to help put that extra money toward your new phone or just extra pocket cash. We are based in Brea, CA but anyone within the States can select the free shipping option to sell their phone to us. In fact, over 80% of our customers are acquired via online from all over the U.S.

It was definitely not easy getting our company to were it’s at today. We didn’t major in business or even marketing, both of us actually dropped out of college. We made so many mistakes! Building website presence is not as easy as you may think. The good thing is we have lots of motivation, our child, our family. This is what pushes us to move forward and every time we hit a road bump we somehow have managed to work around it. We think living in this time era, the Information Age, with Youtube and Google, has helped us learn faster and be more efficient. With that being said, Research, Research, Research is the name of the game that has helped us get our business to the next level. We know who our competition is and we keep an eye on them to help us incorporate ways to better our business model.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Southern California has some of the most things to do around California in my opinion, and the weather is usually always pleasurable. In the same day you can enjoy the breathtaking views of the beach and within a few hours be in the mountain side. On day 1, I would take my friend on an ocean trail hike at Sunrise Trail in Rancho Palos Verdes. The hike starts with beautiful ocean views on the top of a cliff and ends with your toes in the sand relaxing after a hike down the landscape. We would end dinner at a nearby Peruvian restaurant with authentic cuisine. On day 2, I would take my friend to Temecula for a nice walk around the historic and western old town. There are many selections to choose from when it comes to lunch that I’m, sure anyone would love. The evening would end with a hot air balloon ride taking off during sunset and enjoying the beautiful mountain views. On day 3, I would take them an hour south to San Diego for another ocean view hiking trail ( trust me you will never get tired of coastal ocean views in California). At the end of the trail there are a few artisery vendors that have little trinquets you can look at. Crossing the street you will find many restaurant options to choose from for lunch or dessert!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We would like to give a shout out to the special person who helped and encouraged us to start our own business in the cell phone industry, our brother (brother-in-law), German. We wouldn’t be where we are today if it wasn’t for his advise, his patience and love. Unfortunately, German passed away earlier this year but we will forever be grateful for his guidance. We also want to give a shout out to the rest of our family for their support and of course to God.

Website: www.ocbuyback.com

Instagram: @ocbuyback

Linkedin: OCBuyBack

Facebook: @ocbuyback

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