Meet Sharet Garcia | Educator, Career Coach, Consultant & Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sharet Garcia and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sharet, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?
UndocuProfessionals is revolutionazing the career services, programs and spaces by including undocumented students, individuals and professionals. For the first time we have a network of professionals and aspiring professinals in the many fields to talk about careers, jobs, have career resources, mentorship and networking.

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?

I started UndocuProfessionals Network in the darkest days of my life. I was going through a divorce, had financial problems, Trump was in office and attacking the undocumented communities, and I became head of household. I was devastated, angry, sad and frustrated. I started to ask myself, “what will happen if I lose DACA today or if DACA gets revoked today?” the reality is that DACA is a temporary program that continues to be attacked and due to the anti-immigrant climate this reality hit me.  I also felt alone and didn’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. I had just finished my doctoral classes and was starting to think about my dissertation which was about undocumented students transitioning to professionals and exploring career options. I decided to begin doing research on undocumented professionals but couldn’t find any information. This is actually very common as their is a need of research of the undocumented communities and in many cases we don’t have a lot of information. I decided to find professionals in many spaces so one of the first things I did was to signed up to a UCLA Undocumented Student Conference they were having. UCLA students were looking for speakers and I decided to sign up so I can start pitching in the idea of bring UndocuProfessionals. I didn’t have a mission, vision or goals of UndocuProfessionals but decided to attend to start the platform. I attended the conference and it became the initial steps to starting the UndocuProfessionals Network. Today, UndocuProfessionals has over 20K followers on social media, has an online community with over 250 members, the first virtual national mentorship program with over 500 participants that has connected undocu mentee with undocu mentors, a National Conference with over 800 participants, have a job board with over 50 opportunities, and much more!

I became intentional about pushing for career and professional resources for the undocumented communities. It was not easy because UndocuProfessionals became a full time job while I was trying to keep up with my positions as a Counselor.

Today, in less than 2 years I have been able to partner with over 15 Colleges/Universities throughout the US and finally getting paid for my time, skills and knowledge. In less than 6 months I was able to make over 10K with my consultation services alone. For someone that never thought about hiring herself and becoming an entrepreneur this was huge for me!

As a DACA recipient I felt a bit more security that I can continue my career without the benefits of DACA by going into Entrepreneurship which includes: freelancing, contractor, and or business owner without having to change my career completely or  feeling that Im starting from nothing. Undocumented individuals have many skills, knowledge and education and  we are not starting from nothing. For someone Undocumented trying to continue my career this is huge!  I am learning to use my skills, education, knowledge and connect it to my passion and then entrepreneurship. I want other undocumented family out there to be reminded that we do have options (very limited but these are options) as we continue our career journeys with or without DACA.

Overall, I want the world to know that undocumented individuals, students and professionals have been excluded from many resources. UndocuProfessionals Network is here to remind everyone that we have the talent we just need more opportunities! Its time to include the undocumented communities in career resources, opportunities, and conversations.

Support Undocumented talent by hiring out and posting undocu friendly opportunities in the UndocuProfessionals opportunity listing. It’s free and takes less than 5 min to post! If you know of an opportunity such as internships or fellowships please post it as well!

Together we are creating something new and highly needed for the undocumented communities.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

LA has been my home for over 20+ years. One of many things I like about LA is the diversity and the many things you can do. Here are some places I would highly recommends friends and family: AM: Downtown LA has many restaurants to have breakfast or just to grab a coffee! I will recommend a small business.

Afternoon: Will go to a hike. One of my favorites is at the Griffith Observatory Park.

Evening: visit the beach some I will recommend are Long Beach, Marina Del Rey or Santa Monica – will let my friend/fam pick one!
Evening: For Dinner Grab some LA Tacos! Street vendor tacos are the best!

We will be super tired because we will be going all over the place but will all be worth it!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
UndocuProfessionals Network has only been possible thanks to the support of the undocumented communities and allies. I want to take this opportunity to give a shout out to all the undocumented professionals that are part of the UndocuProfessionals network already, volunteers, interns, allies and community members that have participated on our events or recommended us.

Website: www.undocuprofessionals.net

Other: Follow UndocuProfessionals on all social media platforms such as Facebook, IG, LinkedIN, and more! Email us at: undocuprofessionals@hotmail.com

Image Credits
All images belong to UndocuProfessionals