Alexis & Yessica: Building a Future with OnePay

Alexis grew up fast. As a teenager, he took on more than most kids do: helping to financially support his mom, his brother, and his sister, making sure there was a roof over everyone's head. As a teenager, he started washing dishes and working in retail. From there it was security work, then driving for Spark, whatever job kept things covered. 

"Not having a father figure in my family took a big toll as a teenager," Alexis says now. " Having a childhood was what I should have had, but I carried that responsibility of working.”

It's not a complaint, but a fact he's still making peace with – the childhood he should have had, was traded early for a job. 

His wife, Yessica, remembers what stability meant to him back when they first met: it began and ended with that roof. Nothing more felt possible yet. 

"It's something I wish no child should have to deal with," Alexis says now of his financial situation growing up. "It's not a nice place to be in. But it toughens you up. It made me realize I want to get out of this situation, and we need to do better."

Family opens a door

And then he met Yessica, and together, things started to change. 

It started through her father, who runs a small construction business. He brought Alexis on, not just as a hire, but as his eyes and ears in English, someone who could stand between the crew and the client and make sure nothing got lost along the way.

Ask Yessica's dad about him, and he doesn't hesitate. 

"Es una persona fantástica," he says: a fantastic person, easy to get along with, someone who doesn't get into trouble and is always listening, always looking for ways to help. "I'm supporting him," he says. "He knows he can go further, further ahead. That's the best thing you can wish for: that someone helps you with everything."

Building credit, together

Alexis signed up for OnePay in July 2023, after hearing about it through Spark. Yessica followed a year and a half later. 

From there, the two of them built a financial life piece by piece. Alexis used Credit Builder Loan and Builder Card to establish a credit history he'd never had the standing to build before. Alexis started to watch his credit score climb, and Yessica did the same. They started managing money together and Alexis even tried crypto, just to see what it was about. 

None of it happened overnight. But slowly, it has started to compound. 

The story reaches further than the two of them. Yessica's father built his construction business from the ground up, the same business that gave Alexis his start and taught him a trade. But

it does more than support the people working it in Manhattan. Every month, some of what that small business earns travels a lot further than a job site: back to the family's village in Mexico, sent through OnePay's Global Transfers.

What stability looks like now

These days, when Yessica describes what's changed, she doesn't lead with a number in a savings account or a credit score. 

"It's the simple things," she says, "like going out for a coffee run. But above all, watching him live for himself for the first time. We're just so grateful we found the tools to help us live our best lives."

Alexis and Yessica are married now, with a Chihuahua at home and a family of their own on the horizon. They just got back from a vacation in Virginia Beach, the kind of trip that wouldn't have been possible a few years ago. 

"It's great, life's great to see the least," Alexis says. "We're looking forward to all these things. Going on vacation, things I've never would have thought I'd ever do.”

Watch their full story.