We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Perla & Christian Zamora. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Perla & Christian below.

Hi Perla & Christian, thanks for joining us today. Any thoughts about whether to ask friends and family to support your business. What’s okay in your view?

Before starting Crush Superfoods, we both had dropped out of school. We knew that wasn’t what we wanted. Our family, especially our parents, were not too happy with the idea of us quitting school. Family members always wants what best for their children and wants to see them grow. When we told them our idea of starting our own business, they didn’t seem fond of it. They were scared it was too much of a risk and to us, it was a HUGE risk. They would still support us no matter what. Little by little they were able to see how it was going. Once we told them we were opening at an actual location, the support grew 100 times more! They believed in us and when we wanted to back down they kept pushing us. Our families helped paint, build our counter and shelves, helped with plumbing, electrical and much more!

We know family will always be there for you and they support us in everything. Our parents and siblings helped build Crush and they swing by every week to check on us, buy from us and spread the word around! The support system you always want to have!

Perla & Christian, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Our names are Christian Zamora and Perla Medrano. We are 23 years old and grew up in Mebane, NC. After we graduated from high school we knew we had to start adulting and figure our life out. Christian went to a community college right after high school to get his is General Contractor License. Perla went to a community college a year after high school. She was working three jobs as a waitress, hostess and worked for a tree service company before starting college. A few months into college, Christian decided to quit school and work for plumbing company. Perla also quit school in 2019, when the pandemic hit the US and there was need for the lockdowns. Online classes made it hard for her to keep up with work and everything going on.

We both traveled to Puerto Rico in the beginning of January. We were there for 2 weeks and we learned a lot in the time being down there. We fell in love with the juice bars that we saw on every corner. Once we came back home, we were curious to see if any juice bars were around us. Luckily, we found a spot about 30 minutes from home! It saddened us that no juice bars were found in a 5-10 mile radius near us. All there was (and is) are a bunch of fast food places on every corner. We knew that had to change immediately.

Christian started his own mobile detailing company with a friend in the summer of 2019 while still working his 9-5 (plumbing). Perla was unemployed after dropping out. It was very hard to find a job during the pandemic and she had quit her other jobs because of school. We both finally came up with a crazy idea… what if we made açaí bowls/smoothie bowls and deliver them and educate people on healthy food. An idea we thought wouldn’t work so we forgot about it.

Spring of 2020, we came back to the idea and we decided to start Crush Superfoods. We bought all the equipment needed to start , made our logo and our socials. We didn’t have much followers to start with, we started from nothing. Little by little we were able to make bowls and have people pick them up from our “kitchen shed” we had in our backyard. We were both very shy and this was a great way to talk and meet new people. We grew a following over the next few months. We then had to switch it over… by delivering and catering smoothie bowls the following year. We noticed because of the pandemic, this helped us even more. People didn’t or couldn’t go out, so our delivery service boomed.

We had many people ask us where our store and unfortunately we didn’t have one (yet). We were on the lookout for a small space. We looked at 2 spots that were very expensive and one spot was already leased. We started to give up until we got a call that there was the perfect spot for us.. a kiosk. Small but just what needed. 2021 we did our research and went all out to buy the right equipment. Way different from what we had bought a year ago. Took almost 4 months to build the kiosk from the ground up. Was very stressful time and we were unemployed which made it harder. December 1 2021, we finally opened up our shop. Started with just the two of us and the feedback the first day was amazing. We have grown so much in the past year and we would’ve never pictured ourselves starting Crush at 21 years old.

We focus on making açaí bowls, fresh organic pressed juices, smoothies and coffee! Our mission is to challenge and change the culinary norms in our area. There is a need for more healthy spots that focus on health and wellness! As one of the first açaí bowl/ juice bars to open in our county we take pride in what we do and make healthy food enjoyable in a fun way! We enjoy what we do, seeing new faces everyday and just how much we have grown in the past 2 and a half years fills us with joy. We wish to continue to build a community around our concept. All our ingredients are sourced locally (supporting other small businesses) and made fresh daily!

Both of us still have much to learn and grow. We have an amazing support system. Our families and friends have been with us since the start and that has been a huge help when struggling with stress and the ups and downs of this business.

We both love working together as a couple. We get to find out more things about each other. We were also able to hire employees! When working for yourself, you work more hours and the typical “9-5” sounds amazing at times. We are very proud of doing something we love and bringing people together with our products!

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I (Perla) met Christian on social media. We never spoke until he came in one day to my job and we clicked instantly! We dated 2 years before starting this business together! Both had different career paths but grew the idea of a juice bar and owning it together! Traveling and trying new places helped us out even more!

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Christian has been working ever since he was little boy, helping his dad here and there. After college he worked every day and saved his money and watched his expenses. He knew saving his money would come in handy one day. Perla had been working three jobs from 15-20. Saving her money and spending it wisely helped.

Knowing how and when to use our money helped build what we have now! A lot of saving came into play. We both put 50/50 into Crush when buying equipment and building our kiosk! We both helped each other out!

Contact Info:

• Website: crushsuperfoods.com
• Instagram: Crushsuperfoods
• Facebook: Crush Superfoods

Image Credits
Thunder Nguyen