“I’ve been an entrepreneur my whole life,” says Caine Monroy — and he means it. He started selling snacks and water to visitors at his father’s garage when he was just seven years old. A few years later, a homemade arcade that he created in the garage spawned a viral YouTube video and led to Monroy giving TED Talks to aspiring young people.

Today, the CSUDH graduate’s entrepreneurial spirit finds him running STE Wholesale, his own extremely successful online retail business. Behind the calm façade of a Vernon warehouse, Monroy and his employees are selling hundreds of items a day in rapid-fire online auctions.

Most of the warehouse is taken up by shelf after shelf of gigantic cardboard boxes, each one filled with hundreds of items Monroy has bought at store close-outs or liquidations. Everything from sports merchandise to socks and underwear peek out from the boxes, waiting for their turn to be auctioned.

One side of the warehouse is devoted to a pair of broadcasting stations, where Monroy or one of his employees conduct live online auctions. Monroy’s team does six three-hour auctions per day. Every item’s auction price starts at one dollar, and each item is given a ten-second window to sell.

“The mentality is all about volume,” explains Monroy. “I sell a bunch of stuff and make a little on each one. I lose money on some things, but overall, I make a small profit on almost everything.”

In between the two auction stations, a pair of employees work tirelessly to package and mail off the items that have been sold. The buzz of activity doesn’t stop until 10 o’clock at night, when the last auction ends.

The seeds of Monroy’s business were planted when he was in high school. “I loved collecting clothes,” he says. “I was always looking out for the newest pieces.”

When his fellow students started asking about buying pieces that he’d worn a few times, Monroy saw an opportunity. “I was able to resell my stuff for more money than I’d paid for it — so I’d buy something and resell it. Sometimes I’d buy new clothes, wear them, then resell them. It’s vintage now that you wore it!”

Monroy slowly began to expand his business. He saved up $1,000 and bought a pallet of 100 unsold shoes on eBay. He sold those at a profit, then reinvested in more shoes and clothes, often buying up sample pieces or other items from online vendors.

“Once I got to college, I started to get into closeouts and merchandise liquidations,” recalls Monroy. “When stores couldn’t sell whatever was left over from past seasons or when new collections came in and they needed to make space for new items, I would buy up their inventory, then sell it online.” His business has continued to grow — his current warehouse space is his second, having outgrown a smaller one last year.

Monroy graduated from CSUDH in 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in business. He started college in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, so his first two years were online. “I didn’t really get a college experience those first two years,” he says.

“But the last two years, once everyone was back on campus, I joined the Innovation Incubator,” Monroy recalls. The Innovation Incubator is CSUDH’s entrepreneurship and innovation hub, which provides a variety of programs and services designed to help startups and other businesses grow and succeed. “That ended up being what I loved the most about DH. I think it’s something every business student should do.”

With the help of the Incubator, Monroy finalized his business plan. “My plans were already in the works, but I was able to get good mentorship from [Innovation Incubator Special Consultant] David Ochi. With his help, I was able to fine-tune my ideas.”

“Caine represents the best of a Toro entrepreneur,” says Ochi. “He was curious about opportunities, willing to learn and experiment, and action-oriented. He dreams big but started small.”

Monroy’s success at such a young age may seem startling, but he thinks it’s within reach of anyone. As he puts it, “If you have a good idea, you’re never too young to put it in motion.”

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