Squeezed With Purpose: A Brand Rooted In Real Ingredients

What does it take to build a community-rooted juice bar without losing yourself along the way? We sit down with Petra, the force behind Fruitful, to trace a story that begins in a great-grandmother’s garden and grows into a Columbia spot known for organic juices, focused offerings, and real talk on small business survival. From juicing single ingredients in childhood to navigating grad school in India and opening a shop while pregnant, her path blends memory, culture, and relentless heart.

We get specific about what makes Fruitful different: no water, no fillers, and no added sugar. You’ll hear why apple, beet, carrot, and fennel earn a permanent place on the menu, how turmeric and ginger power immunity blends, and why the color of true cold-pressed juice changes over time. Petra breaks down pricing, the cost of organics, and the label traps to avoid—concentrates, “nectars,” and preservatives that trade freshness for shelf life. She also shares a smart hack for juice cleanses and travel: freeze bottles to pause oxidation and keep nutrients intact for up to three months.

The conversation goes beyond ingredients into the decisions that keep a small business alive. We dig into closing Clarksville, moving into a Columbia wellness center, and the choice to simplify a sprawling menu into a tight, fast, reliable lineup. Petra opens up about being a Black woman entrepreneur in Howard County, the mentors who shaped her grit, and the family support that makes the work possible. It’s a candid look at risk, marketing misses, cash flow reality, and the peace that comes from aligning the business with the life you want to live.

If you care about clean ingredients, local businesses, and honest entrepreneurship, you’ll find both practical tips and deep encouragement here. 

Ready to taste the difference for yourself? 🥕🍎

Visit Fruitful Juice Bar at:
📍 8975 Guilford Road, Suite 170, Columbia, MD 21046

Explore the full menu, learn more about Petra’s story, or start planning your next cleanse here:
 🌿 Website: https://www.fruitfuljuicebar.com/

Stay connected for seasonal specials, wellness tips, and behind-the-scenes moments:
👍 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fruitfuljuicebar

 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fruitfuljuicebar

Transcript

Warm Welcome And Name Fun

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey friends, and welcome to Mom Talk Maryland. I'm your host, Claire Duarte, founder of the Columbia Mom. And this is your spot for real conversations, local love, and a whole lot of community. Whether you're folding laundry, running errands, or hiding in your car for some peace and quiet, let's dive in. I'm so excited to have you on Petra. It's Petra Petra. Petra. Petra, thank you. Neither. Okay, perfect. So I know a Petra. So I really?

SPEAKER_01 0:25

Yeah. It's like I'm meeting people, people, I know Petras. I've heard a lot of Petras. I've never heard of a Petra before.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:31

Wow. Um I know.

SPEAKER_00 0:33

So it's like all like in the e-sound. Yeah, it's all just e-sound. Peach. Yeah, well, there you go, Petra. Well, that kind of fits perfectly with the business. Yes. Fruitful. Fruitful. Yeah. I'm of course, like in my heart, I'm like, I'm so sad that you're not in Clarksville anymore. Because that was just right down the street.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

And it was so convenient for a lot of people.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

Like you obviously know like my really good friend Heather. Yep. Down the street. And we're like, we miss you so much. Because I'm right off of 108, so I'm right there.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

But yeah. Yeah, we were perfectly in that situation, but I had to do what I had to do.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

No, no, absolutely. I mean it's still Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Yeah.

Why Leaving Clarksville Was Necessary

SPEAKER_00 1:07

Um we will yeah. It's I get it. I get it. Um I mean that's a newer shopping center. It's you know um trial and error. Right. Well, that's just you know, I was literally talking about that about business yesterday. So, you know, um, I mean, what was I talking about? I was talking about like taking risks in businesses and decisions, and you know, um, I mean, last year, you know, la I mean I mean that was also happening last year, you know, in the midst of everything. Last year was brutal.

SPEAKER_01 1:38

It was brutal.

SPEAKER_00 1:39

I mean, I don't have a brick and mortar, and it was so hard.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

Horrible. So I was like, you either pull out now or you drown. Right. Because I was pretty much suffocating, pretty much. And I was like, I gotta I gotta get out. Exactly. Now I'm happy I did. No, you got out perfectly. I'm so happy I did. Because I thought about getting out the year before, to be honest. And then I was like, let me stick it out, you know, because this should make it four years total, I think, in the business. Oh wow. Yeah, so um four years at that location, just four years. Oh, yeah. Well, actually, no, I didn't complete three, it was like two and a half-ish. Yeah. Um, and then I moved to Columbia, but um, yeah, the first two years, I was like, let me do a first two years and see, and then my sister-in-law passed away, and that's when I was like, um, I'm no longer attached to this place anymore. It wasn't serving me, my family, my mental health, and I just was like, it was the best decision for my family and myself, to be honest. Because I was there seven days a week.

SPEAKER_00 2:36

That's a lot. That's a lot, a lot. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So especially for something you're gonna pour like so much of your heart and soul into. Yeah, I did.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

I did everything I could, and so I'm happy I still have people like Heather and still have people like my friends Aaron and just other people in that clean that still support us. Oh my gosh. So Columbia's not that far. I'm like, Columbia's not that far, but I'll come to you if I need to dress the job.

Burning Out And Choosing Family First

SPEAKER_00 2:58

I know. So I'm telling you. So yeah. I know. Um, yeah, no, I mean, like I well, um, so one thing that I love to do on these pods is of course we're gonna we're gonna yap because I'm a yapper. And we're moms, you know, so we're gonna go all over the place. But um I always love to uh get to know you. I love an origin story. I always want to know, like, tell me, well, first tell me about you, how you got started, and how did fruitful come to be, you know?

SPEAKER_01 3:28

I mean, fruitful kind of origin before I even knew the pl the seed was already planted with my great-grandmother. So I'm West African. My mom is Liberian, my dad is Nigerian, and uh my Liberian great-grandmother came to the States and I pretty much, you know, she helped raise me um in the kitchen too. So, and she had a garden in Montgomery County and she would juice. At the time I didn't appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

No, why would we as juice?

Origin Story: Great-Grandma To Fruitful

SPEAKER_01 3:54

It was single ingredient juices. So I was like, she's like, help she with your eyes and not look at me and have glasses because she was like, You need to work with this, all these things. And then fast forward to 2015, I was in my social work program and for grad school, and I was fortunate enough to go to India for five months. Oh my god. So my grandmother had already passed on at that point, but it kind of brought back my childhood memories of you know, juicing and just having access to the things that we need, you know, food is medicine, natural foods. And so then I came home juicing in um 2016. I wrote my first book, and I told my boyfriend now, my husband at the time, I want to open up like a juice bar cafe. He said, Well, we're in grad school, let's finish up, maybe start a family, you know, and I think he was trying to test me to see if I was you know still serious. Yeah, right. And I was still serious about it, and so then fast forward to like 2020, um, we had two kids at the time, and I was like, I want to open up a juice bar, and I want it to be called fruitful, um, where we're bearing fruit in all areas of our lives, you know, and so who knew after that I was then fruitful and had a third baby that I did not expect while opening up Clarksville. Oh my god. So I was pregnant throughout that whole process. Yeah, so that's how fruitful. And if you notice, a lot of people are like, is that an avocado? It's really a pear, and it's so funny because the pear looks like she's pregnant. Yeah, that was me, pretty much. I love it. All of that was chosen before I knew I was pregnant. That's so funny. Yeah. Talk about fruitful in that way. Yes, girl. And her name is Chi Chi.

SPEAKER_00 5:24

Yeah, I love that. Chiamaka, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

Oh my god, that's so precious. Yeah, so that's how fruitful came about. Um, just juicing at home. Um, and then, you know, you can go back to when we had our first child trying to make certain things from scratch, yeah. Right. Things like that. And after the second child, we kind of just do whatever, but we won't talk about that. I know. But I it just ignited my drive to wanting to open up a juice bar um locally. And I grew up in Howard County, so I knew the Howard County area was gonna be perfect for me.

SPEAKER_00 5:58

Right, absolutely. Well, that actually kind of is the perfect, like my next question was to like talk to me about the ingredients because a lot of these, like, um, whether it's juice place, smoothie place, you know, um, I feel like ingredients are so key, and I think that's also this distinguishing factor of what makes you different than other places and like why come to Fruitful. So tell me about like tell me about the ingredients, tell me about the sourcing, tell me about like your vision with all of that.

SPEAKER_01 6:21

Yeah, so with the juicing, um, so out of all of the items that we because we do asai bowls, we've kind of scaled back since we've um scaled down to Columbia. Um, so we offer like two acai bowls now instead of we had a you've been to the other.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

Yeah, yeah, and you guys had a lot.

SPEAKER_01 6:37

We had a lot of options, and so but the juices though, we've kind of stayed true to our top four juices um just because there's so many benefits in our juices, um, and they're organic. So that's something that I wanted to make sure that our juices are organic. Some obviously some of the other items is kind of hard to stay true to being organic. Yeah. Um, but I love you know, working the ABC is like one of our popular juices. This apple beats carrots, and we added fennel for digestion. Yeah. Um, my husband's a pharmacist, and so we really tried to make sure that we made the juices fun and easy for kids to even enjoy. My kids drink the juices so that way. Oh, that's huge. Yeah, so and then now they just drink them. You know, before I would dilute it with some apple juice and things like that. The green juice, especially. Yeah. Um, so we wanted it to be something that was exclusive for inclusive for everybody. Yeah. So not just for a mom that wants a green detox, but also for a child that wanted something, or for a family member that's fighting the immunity. They need an immunity booster, which is RB Fruitful. Because it has the turmeric and the ginger and the carrots and all of the things. So we have our fruit juices that stay on our shelves all year round, and then we try to add in um seasonal juices. Yeah. So like apple cider is very popular come fall. Um, so and then February, we're ending February now, but we had our um our Valentine drink, um, pink Valentine, and that had pomegranate and strawberry. So we try to stay a little trendy, but keep it very simple because in the beginning I was like having trying to have like seven, eight juices, and that's where it's a scale.

SPEAKER_00 8:06

It is.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

Fruits and veggies aren't cheap. No, not talk about that.

SPEAKER_00 8:10

It wasn't cheap then, but it's not not now.

SPEAKER_01 8:12

No, um, so and staying true to that and trying to stay organic and not slip up and it's hard. It's hard. It's very, very hard. And I think people don't, and so I will say our juices are eight dollars. Yeah, 12 ounces where they're eight dollars, but they're packed with I'm not adding water. People ask me, is there sugar in here? Nope, that's just coming straight from the fruit. Right. Or the veggie itself. We don't add fillers, and I think that's what's important for people to realize is when we go into these stores, um, that we love, you know, I love a good Wegmans, I love a Whole Foods, of course, but they're gonna be added sugars because why in preservatives for shelf life? Yeah, you're fighting for that, and that's something that I just wasn't willing to do. I enjoy juicing frequently throughout the week. Yeah. Um, but you can bet your bottom dollar that the juices are fresh. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 8:58

Well, and I was gonna say that's huge because um, you know, as whether, I mean, I don't know, my my taste, my my palate as I've gotten older, I don't like things overly sweet. Of course, like when you want, like yes, you're gonna be. When you have a sweet tooth, you know, you wouldn't hit that, but well, and certain certain things that are tart or sour, you need sugar to help cut and balance whether it's the acidity or if there's spice. You know what I mean? There's there's a difference between balancing the flavor profile versus like sugar forward, right? And um, and I I know that I don't love the taste of things when like because you can kind of tell when there is added juice in there because you're like it's very sugar forward, you know? Yeah. Um and at that point you're like, huh, you know, it's like, um, so that's a good to know you don't you're not adding fill, you're not adding any um sugar. And even when you are I mean, I personally don't like buying a lot of those drinks from the store because I just know that I'm just like crowdsourcing additives, you know what I mean? So exactly. But like when you look, when I've when you look on the bottles, even if it doesn't necessarily have added sugar or added juice, you have to watch out for like the juice concentrate, right?

Naming Fruitful And Building While Pregnant

SPEAKER_01 10:04

The nectar, all of these different things that they throw at you when you're seeing the ingredients you're thinking, you're drinking apples and celery, but you're not seeing so the only preservative that we add in our juice is lemon or lime, and that gives it it, that gives it its natural shelf life for a few days. And so if you notice, you can see the colors changing, so you know it's getting older. Yeah, you're not gonna see that if you go into the store because there are other preservatives that they're adding in there, and sugar is something that keeps the shelf life a little longer.

SPEAKER_00 10:34

That's so funny. Yeah, that's so funny. I remember I'm I bought like um a few one time, and I remember I was like getting towards the end of it because I had like a few in my fridge. I was like, I'm because it was summertime. I was like, I need to get this on it. And I might have pushed it a little bit, but I was like, I am not wasting a drop of this. I don't care if it's like the last day or whatever.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

I need to drink it.

SPEAKER_00 10:52

I was like, it's gonna get it's gonna get had.

SPEAKER_01 10:55

But one thing that we do just because again, the preservation of the juice is shorter than you buying it from the store, we tell people freeze it. Right. You freeze it, it stops it. So a lot of times when people are doing a juice cleanse from us, um, we freeze it because then it stops it and it's good for three months in your freezer. So a lot of times people that are going on vacation are like, hey, I want to do a juice cleanse when I come back, I'll freeze it immediately because I know they're not gonna consume it right away. Yeah. So that way it's not spoiled, you know what I mean? It's frozen. And then you once you take it out, then you need to make sure you do drink it.

SPEAKER_00 11:30

Or if like you do buy them and you realize you're not gonna maybe consume them within that like three to five day window, you know what I mean? Right, right, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 11:38

Oh, I didn't think about that. So that's what that's what I do too. So sometimes if a juice, a particular juice that I like and I see okay, it's not so I'll put it in the freezer because I mean I drink it. Right. Because I'm I have we have our expiration date for a few days. It's still good after, but just to keep it fresh, the color vibrant, we take it off the shelf and then I'll drink it so it still has maximum benefits and I make my husband drink it.

Ingredients, Sourcing, And No Fillers

SPEAKER_00 11:59

Right, no, somebody it's gonna be. As a black woman building a business here in Howard County. What does that journey felt like for you personally? I mean, obviously, I feel like you know, you're you've only been a few years in business, you've already gone through so much just with, you know, location. I feel like that alone is its own journey in and of itself. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:30

Um, I would say it's been, you know, 50-50. You know, I think that's fair to say. I grew up again, I grew up in Howard County. I consider Howard County to be a melting pot. Yeah. So people from different cultures, ethnicity, backgrounds, um, people that are a little bit more open. And I would say Howard County is pretty good at supporting local for the most part. Um so I had that in my backpack back pocket when um opening the juice bar. Um, you know, but I will say that, you know, there were some, you know, times where it was a little bit more difficult. You still have to, as a student, I would say I was I was a scholar in school. Yeah, yeah. Um, but you know, I'm a business owner now, so now I have to prove myself it's different. It's a different thing. Especially as a woman, and I can all and then yeah, as a black woman, as a black woman, you know, um young black woman too, so fairly new, learning all of the things. Um, but while I will say my dad is an entrepreneur, so I had that as well. And so and so I'm seeing his grit growing up and the things that he sacrificed, I knew okay, if I'm doing this, I gotta go all in. Yeah, um, and I can still pivot. It doesn't mean that I'm failing. Um the Clarksville location was my baby, yeah. My fourth baby. Yeah. Um and will always be my fourth baby.

SPEAKER_00 13:40

I was gonna say your business is always your business. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:42

Yeah. Um, so I will always give thanks to Clarksville because I was able to meet so many people that I'm still connected to.

SPEAKER_00 13:50

Exactly. You still have a lot of people. I didn't lose that.

SPEAKER_01 13:51

No. I didn't lose that. Actually, one of my customers told me about the location that I'm in today because she knew that I was looking for a way out. Yes. And she was uh, and her name is Vicky Rand. And she was like, hey, I have an opportunity. I think you might like it, I think it might work well with Fruitful. Take a look. I literally ran, met the owner, me and the owner cried, and I was like, Oh my god, this is it. Right. Um and it Columbia is actually back in my old stomping ground. So it's like my husband and I say, Well, we wish we started here, but I'm like, no, I'm happy I started where I started. Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 14:22

So I and just little even like side tangent real quick. I was um recording some things like for talking about business yesterday, and I like one of the questions was if you um had to rebuild in 90 days, what would you do differently? And my this is sort of my philosophy. I mean, granted, I'm sure you can probably relate to being a you know a young business owner, is like I've made a thousand like I think mistakes feels harsh because it's just like we try we make choices that we are kind of hoping for the best, right? You know, and but I feel like I don't there's not a lot that I would dramatically change because some of the lessons I genuinely did need to learn, and I learned them because of the situation we were in. Right. You know what I mean? And because I was so young and so new and doing all of that, like you know, um, so yeah, for like me personally, I feel like there's not a lot that I would dramatically change in those circumstances. Like, yes, when it comes to like losing money, of course it's but but it's sometimes it takes um you know, going through those experiences to realize like um I don't know, like at least for me, I think the biggest thing, you know, is like if you know, if you were to ever rebuild in like 90 days, I feel like I always come back to like okay, if I could just have a stronger foundation in my time, my value, my worth, um, my rates, like those things, that's the only thing that I would have a sh much stronger foundation and bubble on. Everything else, like, it's it's just riding the waves, you know.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

And I think the time that we opened was at such a crazy time, business-wise, for a brick and mortar. Yeah. Um, you know, there's always, like you said, woulda, coulda, shoulda, but I did. And I know again, and so I think we bit off more we could have, you know, I but I there was so much potential we saw.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

I know. Um I mean there was there was and still is in that area.

Shelf Life, Freezing, And Freshness

SPEAKER_01 16:12

Exactly. So exactly. So I think we're like, okay, this could be something, but one thing I could have, I feel like my husband and I say all the time is we should have been in a more established, up and running community. That's something that that's the one thing I would change. Well, I was still in Clarksville. It could have been your giant specific, yeah. It could have been your giant, you know what I mean? Like something where their flow was there, you know. Um because I mean, we were there for what, a good two and a half years, and to get, oh, we didn't know you were here. It's like, oh, we've been here for and then marketing. I think that's something we didn't really do well, you know. Yeah. Um, still struggling, and you know, it's hard when things are constantly changing. Oh, I know. Marketing's not the same anymore. Even if you do go anymore. Even if you do go door to door, it's not the same anymore. So it's like those are the things that, you know, like it's like wow. Yeah. And my even my father, who's still an entrepreneur, is like, times have changed. Oh my gosh, you know what I mean? Constantly changing. And they're still changing. I know. So it's like we have to just I don't there's not many things that we've changed. Right.

SPEAKER_00 17:17

I agree. I know. Because I mean, yeah, it's like you look back and like, I wouldn't have don't want to have lost the money or whatever the case may be. Exactly. But but like, you know, again, especially I think all small businesses, um, we had, I mean, even myself, I don't have a brick and mortar. We had uh, you know, a tough year. I don't I don't know anybody who didn't have to make some tough decisions last year.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

Yeah, a lot of businesses that I've known and still are like, I have to close or I need to do this, and it's like it sucks, you know.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

I know, but I know. No, you've talked a lot about like your your dad, your family members, and you know, were there any mentors or family members or black entrepreneurs that inspired you along the way?

SPEAKER_01 17:59

Yeah, I'm still my dad. I think probably know the answer to this. I'm a daddy's girl, and I love that. That's where I get my mom says all the time, you got the entrepreneurship because she's like I would have given up a long time ago. She was like, That's your dad to the core, and and you know, just seeing my dad sacrifice so much. I'll never forget when my dad decided to make the leap to go into owning his own business. He told my brother and I, he said, now things are gonna look a little different financially in this house. Like, don't expect a whole bunch. Right. And I'll never forget, like, I we felt it, you know.

SPEAKER_00 18:29

You feel it as kids, you it's different, it's hard to explain.

Being A Black Woman Entrepreneur In Howard County

SPEAKER_01 18:32

And we were older kids at that time. I was probably especially when you're older, you feel it a little bit. Christmas a little different, yeah. You know, there were things that I'm like, okay, there are different things, but just seeing that he stuck with it, you know, business fluctuates up and down, it does, you know. And so seeing that I already knew, okay, he told my dad, said, Well, you've been at rock bottom when it comes to this business. Like, sucks that you experienced it so early on, but I don't know if you can go any lower. Like, he was like, That's what he said to you. That's what my father said to me. He's like, You really exp like he's like, So now it can only be fruitful from here. And so, I mean, yeah, you know, I was crying. But I but he was like, and so just to hear that my dad says, like, I want you to know we're not gonna be disappointed in you, we're proud of you. Like, it hurts them when they're like, What are you doing? And I'm like, Oh, I'm going to the juice bar to juice, and it's late at night, I put my kids to sleep. People don't know the things that go behind entrepreneurship behind closed doors. And so I'm on the phone with my parents at night talking to them while I'm on the juice bar. My mom, my parents are so call us when you get home. Um, so I would say my mom is not an entrepreneur, but she's also been a mentor to me, like in terms of like the emotional part of things like hey, therapy, hey, yeah, self-care. Let's go to the Pearl. Um boomer mom's at her. Uh-huh. Like, you need your hair, your nails. Yeah. You can't look like that. I love your hair. I love the braids. But it's my mom, my mom will give me that look. She will come in that juice bar, she would have her next appointment. Call the I'll call her now. So my mom has been a mentor of Lika, okay. I know you're in business, but you need to carry yourself a certain kind of way. Like, yeah. And I'm thankful for my parents in that way. And so I've had mentors that don't know they're my mentors, but just from the forearm watching, because I don't think mentors always have to be like, hey, can you be my mentor?

SPEAKER_00 20:18

It's not always about like them coaching you directly. Because there's a coach and then there's a mentor.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

Yeah. Right. But I've had a mentor, you know, like I would say, my uh my childhood pastor who I admire so much. Um, you know, so looking up to her and seeing how she's running her business. And I have she tells I have to go check in and do things on my own and just check out sometimes, like it's important. You don't want to burn out. No. Hire someone to come clean your house to take that load off. No, I exactly. We don't have to do all the things, we don't have to stress ourselves in every area of our lives. So I've that has helped me, honestly, um, throughout this journey. It's just having mentors, um, my parents, and just support from my family.

SPEAKER_00 20:57

I know uh you talked about mentors, but my family support has been like that's what I'm seen like in your in your pictures, like from like the grand reopening, and I saw your whole family and the kids.

SPEAKER_01 21:10

I wouldn't be here, honestly, if it wasn't for I have one brother and he was married to my sister-in-law who passed away from cancer. She opened up that juice bar with me. Oh, that's girl, you know that Anesia. That girl was my so when she passed away in September, October, I said, I'm ready to get rid of this place. Cause I think it was just like I was grieving her, but I was starting to grieve that location. It was like she helped me. She there was no plans for her to be, she was just coming to volunteer time, like family. She's like, No, I want to be here. Yeah, I want to be here. Do her through her keynote, she would come and help me. Like, she was such a anyway.

unknown 21:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:47

So I think aside from mentors, people like I have good support, and I have my husband has three sisters. Um, who A lot of women, a lot of women, yeah. And they're they help me raise my kids, like and his parents. And I wasn't fortunate enough to have two sets of grandparents. Talk to my great grandmother. I didn't meet my grandparents, my mom's mom, or anything. But my children are have been blessed to have two sets of grandparents who are actively involved in their lives. And that I'm truly thankful for because I don't think we would have we wouldn't be here without that. No. So mentors are great, but that family support has been top tier. Yes. For me.

SPEAKER_00 22:25

Absolutely. And I I love that. And I feel like I can even relate. Again, like I did, my parents, or sorry, my grandparents were living when I was growing up too, but it was just a different generation, I feel like. And uh yeah, it's just it's just very different.

SPEAKER_01 22:39

It's different. But it impacted you because it's funny, my husband and I were laughing the other day because he was like, We'll be in class, and you know, they have like mother this or dad this, and then you know, our parents are involved in our lives, but then we came down to the grandparents. Sometimes they'll have grandparents today, or you'll hear your friends talk about Mima and Papa, and it's like, who is that? They're your grandparents, but it's like, no, we have Yaya, we have G-Dada, we have G-Ma, we have grandpa, you know, so it's like cute now because I hear my daughter Zoe talking about, oh Yaya, do you have a Yaya? And it's like, well, everyone's name is not Yaya, right? Right, right, right. And then the G-ma, so it's cute because I didn't get to be a part of that, but seeing my parents love that is amazing.

SPEAKER_00 23:19

I know. No, same. Like my um my kids get to like have sleepovers at their grandparents like multiple times. Like it's well, and it helps. I mean, my my grandparents were like close. We were in the DMV, so we're like slightly more spread out a little bit, but um, but wait, you I'm going back, you okay, your dad um saying something to you when you were going through the big transition last year. That just reminded me. So again, like last year I, you know, also went through a lot in business. I remember my neither of I don't I don't come from a line of entrepreneurship, so it was kind of like um You were the first one to take either. Yeah, well, and entrepreneurship for me, like I feel like it looks and feels different when you don't I don't know. I think like I struggle with imposter syndrome for so long. I also don't have a brick and mortar, so when you work from home, it kind of feels for a long time can just feel very fluffy.

SPEAKER_01 24:08

Yeah.

Lessons, Location Pivots, And Marketing Gaps

SPEAKER_00 24:08

Because there's you don't you don't we don't have a physical product. You know what I mean? Like even when I do like produce work, you don't like you see it in the sense of like you can see a blog, you can see a but it it's just different, yeah. You know what I mean? So, um, anyways, I don't come from a line of that, but um my parents have both you know worked their whole lives, they're still both both work full-time. My mom's finally retiring this year. Oh, good friend. She's like a 46-year career woman, like been at the same company, like unheard of. 46 years. I know. No, great. The company's been bought out a few times, but she has stuck with them. But she's been there. Wow. You know what I mean? Um, so it's it's just it's kind of it's insane. So, anyways, I'm I'm really happy. So she's like been a massive role model for me as far as just like sticking through things and changes and hardships and all of that. Um but I remember I came to her too last year when I had to uh like make some big decisions in my business. And and I remember thinking, I'm the oldest of five kids, and I remember thinking and I remember thinking, I was like, I don't know if like you know, I mean my parents have always been supportive of what I've been doing, um, especially you know, recently, you know, um, but I didn't know if they ever like fully understood it or whatever, and I came to her like they respected it.

SPEAKER_01 25:19

Yeah, like I knew that they like you know, like you know that they do, but it's hard because you're their child, so you know if you know they're gonna support you, blah blah blah.

SPEAKER_00 25:25

It's like of course, but and I'm grown, so of course like they can have that hands-off of like whatever. But um then I came to her and I was, you know, really upset and I was struggling to make these decisions, and um the way that she just like same thing, like took me in her arms and just give me a big hug, and she was like, and I'll never forget what she said to me, because kind of how we started the conversation was like every decision that you make in business is a risk. And I and I was like, and I was like, mom, like you know, she's she's an accountant, you know. My dad is too. Well now, there you go. There you go. They know about it. And I was like, but I was like, I was like, wow, she sounded like so wise. I'm like, she doesn't like you know, own and run her own business. She like obviously has been co in corporate America for like her whole life. But you know, anyway, so she's like, every decision that you make in business is a risk. So she's like, even the calculated ones are still a risk because you still don't entirely like it's still how it's gonna play out. Yeah. And and then the uncalculated ones, you know, obviously we still don't know how it's gonna play out, but it's funny because when you have those two prongs, right? And this I was sorry, I'm just nerdy out because I was talking about this yesterday. Yeah. The calculated ones, it's then from there, it kind of like trees out, right? So if it works out, we're like, okay, it worked out because I researched, I did all the things to make sure I did. Exactly. And then when it doesn't work out, you're like, oh, that's kind of a bummer, but I can kind of reassess. I don't feel as bad because at least I felt like I took some proactive steps, kind of thing, right? But then on the other side, when it's like more of that impulsive um whatever, like I'm just gonna go for it, which is probably the majority of my life. My husband hates me for it, but you know, he is not. He's well, you're the 17th. Wait, are you still a Pisces? I'm a 16th, yeah. I'm the Pisces. Okay, I'm Aries, and so I'm very we probably share that energy. We do because my best friend, yeah. I'm a Aries. One thing about me is I'm a leap.

SPEAKER_01 27:23

Yep. Not even looking. My husband is like having to constantly pull me, like listen. Yeah. He's like you're moving too slow. Oh, yeah. He yeah. We need them though, so I know. They need us. They need us.

SPEAKER_00 27:38

Like, we need to make a decision. Yeah, exactly, exactly. Um the uncalculated side, right? So when that works out, we're like, wow, that was pretty lucky. Like that's right. Or we go like, oh well, I don't maybe I won't say I'm lucky, like I trusted my gut. Yeah. And then when it doesn't pan out, we're like, oh, it didn't pan out because I didn't do all those steps that I should have done or you thought.

SPEAKER_01 28:03

Right.

SPEAKER_00 28:03

Yeah. You know what I mean? So it's just funny and all of that, but I just I'll never forget her saying that. And um, and that's why I kind of when it goes back to like that rebuilding and like the hindsight 2020, like, yes, there's so many things we can always do differently, but I s I still am like a firm believer that you know all the all the missteps will, especially in business. Like, I mean, no one of course like wants to like look back at the books and be like, oh we're losing money from these things, but payroll child. Oh god, I know payroll, cash flow, all of that. I hate all the words that you have to learn.

SPEAKER_01 28:38

And I was like, what's it on the They told me people were saying be careful with that, be careful with rent and payroll, and it stay true. It's yeah.

Mentors, Parents, And Support Systems

SPEAKER_00 28:48

Yeah, yeah. Well, talk about okay, I think this is another really important thing in business. Is you when you were in Clarksville, you had a couple different offerings, and then when you went to Columbia, you scaled down a little bit. And I think that is such a true thing, regardless if you're a brick and mortar, even if you're if you're a service-based business. Yes, so talk to me about that and your decision and with how you kind of trimmed some of those things.

SPEAKER_01 29:13

So I have like people pleasing syndrome sometimes. Like I I've grown a lot, like I and when I say that, like I'm a I love to serve. So people pleasing in terms of like my boundaries, no, that's not an area I struggle with. Yeah, but it's more so me just wanting to serve and wanting to see people happy with the products. So I that was that's another thing that I could have tweaked on, and my husband, my husband used to tell me we need to dial back, keep it very simple. And I was like, Well, this one person said they love the mango tango, so I'm gonna make it as a bowl. So trying to offer so many services and and products and items burned us out. Like we were making it from scratch, like every time, so then that could create a wait, and you know, people were waiting long periods of time, so you got the fruit seas, then we have the bowls, then you have oh, we did chicken salad. We even had salads at one point in time.

SPEAKER_00 30:06

Yeah, I was gonna say I've tried like the majority of the I remember the toasts, the bowls, the smoothies. Oh, we were adding Oh, you had a lot.

SPEAKER_01 30:14

We were almost becoming a little panera a Panera bread.

SPEAKER_00 30:16

Yeah, you had a lot.

SPEAKER_01 30:18

We had a little bakery in there, like cheesecake. We were I was trying to do it all. And I and I was like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. That's go that's not what I wanted to do. Yeah so I said, Okay, this space we're going into. I'm not two, we're doing one aside base, two different types of bulls. Yeah. And my husband's like, look at McDonald's. I feel like when they talk about the blueprint, he's like, look at that blueprint. They don't pivot, they stay in the middle. McDonald's filet, they duplicated different items, but they don't pivot. They have their 10 items. And they delete them and they nail them. And not only that, but he was like, we have to make us make it simple where someone, sorry, someone can say, I want an everything avocado toast. That's it. Uh not okay. I don't know if you remember if you don't know if you got in a bowl from us, but our bowl system was sick. Um, can I get a purple rain? The names were cute. Can I get a purple bowl? But then they didn't stop there. What toppings did you want? Oh, I have to choose my toppings. Okay, strawberry banana. What type of crunch? Right. Goji berries, drizzle. Oh, and it's so it's like people just want to come in and say, Can I get an OG asai bowl? And that's our number one bowl in Columbia. OG Asai bowl, because it's like that's what it is. I see the toppings on there, almost like pliable. You know what I mean? Keep it real simple.

SPEAKER_00 31:34

Well, you know what you're you there is, okay, you're speaking, well, we're both kind of talking about it from the business side. Yeah. But I'm even as a consumer, and this is this is not a this is in no way a critique whatsoever, just because as a consumer, we're all consumers, right? Yes, we are. Because I mean, I also struggle with decision making. And I remember thinking when I I remember one of the first times I came in, I was like, there's so many options. I remember struggling with what to decide I wanted because there was a there, I mean, everything sounded so great. So I was like, what do I want? Yeah. But then when you force your consumer, your customer to have uh, you know, fewer options, they can make the decision a little bit better. And it's so it's helping your consumer, it also helps your staff with production. Yes, it helps your bottom line with ingredients. Like it's crazy the ripples.

SPEAKER_01 32:19

Yes, you know, so many things that go behind, like, okay, that one item on that board that you're like right, right. I know the smoothies weren't the issue, it was more so like the I would say the bowls we had about like I think like we started off with like a few, and then we at one point we were like, all the smoothies we can make them all as bowls. And I was like, no. So I think with this new location, I cut it down tremendously, where it's like, listen. And then when I get that customer, it's like, oh, it'd be nice if you can, that's nice. Keep it going because I'm not trying to change the formula at this point. Absolutely.

Risk, Decisions, And Money Realities

SPEAKER_00 32:55

No, and you're so right about that. And I think like, um, because we also have that like spring horoscope energy, you know, I think one thing I realized myself in my own business journey too is I never totally called myself a creative because I was like, well, I'm not really, I'm like really good at art or drawing or whatever, right? But like the more that I've been in my own space in you know my social media marketing world, again, it takes a certain type of brain to be in this field, right? Just like, you know, in your own field, in your own industry, and um, and then again being, you know, a a business owner, right? So one thing I've realized for myself is I get really sucked into because I get really excited of um the dangers of ideating, of like I or a shiny object syndrome of like like all these ideas sound so good, and I get very excited about it. And distracted. It's and it's hard because it's uh there's a fine line. I think I think there's a very necessary part of that in business because so many areas of business are constantly evolving that so it's important for us to kind of like stay fresh and adept and understanding trends that are happening and not only trend is your trend to happen. Exactly. I know, and it's hard because we get, you know, um, but you know, there's certain things like you know, to be mindful, like when you come back to like your offerings. I mean, I I still struggle with that now. Like I'm telling myself, okay, Claire, but like keep it simple because even when I go into like a proposal room, like you know, get my offerings are different. I don't have like a board, a sandwich board, but like, so but I can like Claire, if I present them with eight options, their heads are gonna spin. Oh yeah. You know, keep it simple.

SPEAKER_01 34:40

Yeah, because my husband's like, you go to a restaurant, you can't even order. I'm always like asking the server, what's your favorite item? Just for me to be like, oh never mind, I'm not gonna get that. Nope. Um, so he's like, You're very indecisive, and that's one thing I have to come to grips with. I'm indecisive. So you creating a man, I had to, he's my reviewer. Let's cut that, cut that. And he, I will say, my husband told me in the clerk, he's like, We need to cut, and I'm like, No, you're not there, because he wasn't physically there. And I was like, You're not there, you don't know, blah, blah. And he's like, I understand, but it's costing us. Yeah, you know, because you gotta think about the inventory, you gotta keep those things fresh. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 35:15

And once it's inventory, it's yeah, it's it's so much. I know. So what's uh what's on the horizon for Fruitful Now over at Columbia? I feel like you guys have some really cool connections over there.

SPEAKER_01 35:28

So we're in that wellness center, um, Nourishing Joint. I don't know if you've been. Yes, yes, yes. Yes, so they have uh so many services actually. Um, and I think it works out nicely there. Um, and so we're gonna be there for a couple years. We'll we'll see how things go. Sure. Um, and then um we have our boards by Peter, which I do the boards.

SPEAKER_00 35:47

I love watching you cook. If you don't follow you, well, you will be following Peter after this.

SPEAKER_01 35:53

So I'm that's something I am passionate about cooking and you know, baking here and there. But so I love doing the boards. The boards are like I think the therapy that I needed in addition to the juicing with the juice bar. So I enjoy doing it. So whether we're there long term or you know, maybe I'm working at a ghost kitchen, fruitful will be around. I love it. Um so we're just taking it day by day, honestly. And I'm yeah, no longer beating myself up about it because I was in the beginning. No, you you know, I you do, you do like so um, but I will say that I have taken a step back a lot from the juice bar. I'm not there as much because I need I took away a lot of time from family. So this time around, I'm like, I'm spending a lot of time with family and just mothering, yeah, being a wife and all the things in between and trying to practice self-care as well. So absolutely. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 36:42

And you know, business is is a journey, you know, just like your dad said too, right? It's like there's gonna be highs and lows, and I think that's kind of the beautiful thing about it, is that we can still make it look however we want it to look. We I think, you know, we ourselves beat ourselves up because we have this idea of success, you know. Right. And the reality is is like regardless of what's going on internally or inside of the business, people don't know. You know what I mean? We think as soon as things are going bad that everybody they don't. They don't even know. They don't. They don't. It's true. And and that's and that's kind of the beautiful part of it. Like, yes, there's that sad path, like they don't know you're struggling, but like we don't the world doesn't need to know that you're struggling to that extent. And that's okay. You made a decision, and right, like it's not their information to know, you know what I mean? And and that's like, you know, so at the time's in one we're struggling in business and people are like, what are you talking about? Like, and that's kind of the energy I mean, is like people like won't know, and that's kind of the beautiful part of it because they just see you, they see your business, they see what we're doing.

SPEAKER_01 37:46

Yeah, you know, what we're giving. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 37:48

And you know what? And whatever way that ends up looking over the years, is like it still gets to be yours, it gets to be fruitful in whichever way it ends up being, and we are so thankful that you are still in Columbia. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:01

So at least I'm still in Colombia, guys. Um, but so yeah, we're in Colombia, and um Clarksville will always be my my fourth baby, yes. But Columbia is where we're at, so that's where I grew up. So it still rings a bell. I'm right by human high school, so I enjoy.

Trimming The Menu And Simplifying

SPEAKER_00 38:18

So for broken land, uh kind of right at the end, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:21

Yep. So we're in there, great and nourishing journey, and so I look forward to seeing you guys come and visit.

SPEAKER_00 38:26

Oh, yes. So we're okay. Um, where else can people where where can they find you on Instagram? Where can they find your uh your business, um, best ways to order, etc. etc.

SPEAKER_01 38:36

So if they Google Fruitful Juice Bar will pop up, they can order through Clover. That's the POS system that we use. Uh we're on DoorDash one or Uber Eats if they want to order online, you know, to have it delivered, or they can come pick it up. Um and right now we're open Monday through Saturday. We're close on Sundays. I was like, I'm not I need a day, I need a day. Everybody needs a day off. Absolutely. Because I need that, yeah. We were open seven days a week, but yeah. Um so yes, and then social media wise at Petra V Wosu. So it's P-E-T-R-A-V-N-W-O-S-U on all platforms. So and um you have a you have fruitful handle. Fruitful at fruitfuljuice bar.com. Yes, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 39:15

Well, and and if you're also like me, I think one time like uh I'll like call on the way over. I'm like, can I place my order? Because I'm like, I'm on my way. And I was like, I want to grab that and call it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:26

We love those. Like, hey, I'm outside your door and I'll like see people outside. Uh-huh. Can't you just make that smooth? I'll be out in a few minutes. I'm gonna work hauling.

SPEAKER_00 39:33

Especially this time of year when the weather starts to warm up because I'm like, I there's nothing more that like I literally will start like once the weather starts changing, yeah, I will literally crave those juices and like warm weather.

SPEAKER_01 39:43

And I was like, I just want to, yeah. I was telling my mom, I was like, I have seasonal customers. I was like, I see customers that come summertime, springtime, summertime, and they come fall. Once it hits a little, once it hits below 50, I don't see them again until the following year. I have my seasonal ones and I have my all-year time all-year-round ones. Right. And it's just interesting, it's so funny. I know. I know, but like look guilty. No, no, no, but I it's it's funny to see because it's like, hey, so like when we left the juice bar at Clarksville, a lot of people didn't know we left, you know, and so it was weird. But some people crave smoothies and stuff in the wintertime, and so then they found me. It's like, wait, I didn't know you left. So I was like, Yeah, we've been gone since April. They were like, Oh, I didn't know. I know, I know.

SPEAKER_00 40:23

So well, I remember um I I think I was one of those because I had seen the Columbia location, so I didn't realize that Clarksville had closed, but I had already like called in and ordered, and I was like, I don't care. I was like, I need this.

SPEAKER_01 40:35

So when we opened Columbia, we did have Clarksville, and I was like, okay, maybe I might keep both, and then I was like, that's crazy. So then I was like, yeah, I was leaning towards it was perfect, it was perfect, honestly, actually, because I opened up Columbia and then I was like, maybe let's play with it, and I was like, mm-mm. Nope, we're good. Why? Yeah, I know. I don't need both. So I know, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:56

Well, we're so grateful for you. I love all of your stuff. Um be sure to follow along and um and definitely get your juices um from fruitful this year. Yay! Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Mom Talk Maryland. If you loved it, leave a review, share it with a friend, or tag me at the dot Columbia Mom on Instagram. I'd love to hear what you think. And don't forget to follow the show so you never miss an episode. Until next time, keep showing up, keep supporting local, and keep being the incredible mom, the woman, human that you are.