Power Couple Saves Student Laptops and Livelihoods at the USC Village

By: Ngai Yeung ‘23

Everyone breezes right past the sleek, austere storefront that almost looks like a mini Apple store on Jefferson—that is, until they’re in trouble. For where else can a student with two essays and a presentation due the next day go when smoke starts wafting out of their laptop?

“You need that for students because they have so much going on. That’s their livelihood right there,” said Angel Otoniel “Toni” Herrera, lead technician and co-founder of the Mac Repair Clinic.

Herrera set up the small USC Village shop just two years ago with his business and life partner, Emily Garber. Working side-by-side, with one in charge of Macs and the other in charge of iPhones, the duo pulled through the pandemic to keep the shop open seven days a week.

The idea for the six-figure investment began way back, when Herrera stayed behind after school to help out in the computer lab at the Fremont High School in South Los Angeles.

“I really got into it, starting to just find solutions and ways to help the students, and growing on my skills,” Herrera said.

Even throughout his two decade career of working on film set lighting, Herrera would keep on repairing computers on the side as a hobby. Finally, he quit his full-time job in 2017 to trial run a repair service, operating from a small second floor workspace near campus on West Adams.

“A lot of students started coming in after within six months,” Herrera recalled. “They were thrilled and they were telling me, ‘Well, this was quick. Wish you had a shop closer, though, instead of me having to take an Uber.’”

Herrera and Garber jumped at the opportunity when a spot opened at the USC Village and launched Apple Doc in 2019, before changing the name to Mac Repair Clinic.

“​​Their location is so convenient because we use computers all the time, especially as college students writing essays and taking notes,” said Irene Cho, a USC alumnus who got her Macbook fixed at the shop after she spilled coffee all over the keyboard in 2020. “If they weren’t here, I’d have to search frantically to see where the closest repair shop was and take a Lyft there.”

The nearest Apple Store is at The Grove near Beverly Hills, which takes around an hour to travel to by public transport.

The couple hired some front-desk help, but handled most else themselves in the beginning. Herrera would focus on Macs and data recovery, while Garber took care of all other aspects, from iPhones to business operations.

Garber, a full-time healthcare professional, self-learned all there is to know about fixing iPhones. She consolidated her newfound skill by attending weeklong training programs and taking certification courses to support the business, but also out of pure curiosity and for “fun.”

“I was inspired by [Herrera] and his interest in computers, and he was always saying, ‘Man, maybe I should expand my computer repair services and bring on an iPhone technician,’” Garber said. “So I was like, I can learn about that.”

The repair staff remains small, but Herrera emphasizes the shop’s quick turnaround time, made possible by having in-house components and tools. According to him, the Clinic finishes most repairs within 48 hours.

“Every day I feel like people want to bribe me, saying, ‘Can I give you 50 bucks or something?’” Herrera chuckled. “But everyone is in a time crunch.”

The Mac whiz prides himself on his data extraction skills in particular, staying long hours to help students preserve their data.

“I’ve rescued a lot of students for issues that will take up to a week or two easily without just giving it up and shipping it off to Apple who might wipe their data, I’ve got a solution to extract the data and reactivate the computer,” Herrera said. “And when it works, they’re [students] like high fiving you.”

“I stay here late, sometimes during the midterms because I have to. I know I can help them help you guys,” Herrera, who usually works seven days a week, added.

Student customers came in a steady, growing stream, until the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

“As a family business, we didn’t have reserves just in case there’s a pandemic. We were expecting to be busy right here on campus, and had our budget plans lined out,” Garber explained. The government’s PPP loan was the only reason the shop managed to stay open throughout 2020’s lockdowns.

“We literally could not have stayed afloat because the parts for repairing computers cost a ton of money. And to even afford parts during the pandemic, especially with supply shortages and the prices shooting up–” Garber shook her head. “That’s the reality of being in this business. It’s so hard.”

Still, Garber “freaking loves” the shop and would “100%” quit her day job in healthcare to run the business full-time alongside Herrera if it were financially viable.  

“We find such meaning in the work because we literally preserve people’s information and rescue their livelihoods and enable people to be successful.” Garber said. “Life is hard for almost everybody, and if we can do anything to make anyone’s day better, it will be worth it.”

Call the Mac Repair Clinic at (213) 440-5797, or find their shop on Jefferson at Suite 1660 in the USC Village, 929 W Jefferson Blvd, Los Angeles 90007.

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