UTRGV alumna starts custom pin business to show school spirit

EDINBURG, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Showing school spirit comes in many different forms, but for one University of Texas Rio Grande Valley alumna, she had to put a pin on it.

Edinburg native Cielo Cruz, owner of Pretty in Pin, began her custom pin business days before the first UTRGV Vaqueros inaugural football game.

Courtesy of Cielo Cruz

Cruz is a 2021 UTRGV grad who obtained a Bachelor's of Mass Communications with a concentration in Public Relations and Advertising, a minor in Marketing, and a 2023 Master's grad of Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing.

Cruz told ValleyCentral, her inspiration to start her business began by observing other college football games from different areas in the state.

She stated it's standard for fans to wear pins to football games to represent their favorite team.

"I got myself a pin machine at the time, because I knew if I ordered the pins I wanted to wear for the UT game, they wouldn't come in on time, so I was like, I'll just make them myself," she said.

From there, Cruz started watching YouTube tutorials on how to make pins and made her own unique designs for the UT game she attended.

As time went on, she slowly forgot about the pin-making machine until a friend mentioned, asking to make her some pins for the first UTRGV game.

From there, her business bloomed, and orders came in as word spread that she designed custom UTRGV football team pins.

"I decided to make this for the community as a way to show off their school spirit and kind of bring that energy here in the Valley, because I know it's a known thing up north with bigger schools," Cruz said. "So why not us? It's a fun way to show off our UTRGV spirit."

Although Cruz creates her own designs ready to sell for UTRGV football fans to wear in the stadiums, she is open to making custom designs for organizations in the school.

"Most of the designs are from my imagination, from putting together different fronts and kind of show off my creativity," she added.

Cruz told ValleyCentral that, although she could not get tickets to the UTRGV football games, it makes her happy seeing her customers tag her on social media wearing her product at the football stands.

For updates on Pretty in Pin's latest drop or to place an order, visit her Instagram page @prettyinpin.rgv.