Meet The Owner Telesha

A few years ago, I was running a home daycare, when I came up with the idea to start a smoothie shop to properly nourish my daycare kids.

I went through several tests of will, patience, financial stress, and unprofessional contractors for repair projects that should have only taken six months to complete. 

I believe in my vision so much that I continued with the project and we kept building for two years even through the pandemic without any government support.

A few solid friends and family helped me with building out my bar and putting the finishing touches to my business. From giving me the idea to name the smoothies after the “El” train system in Chicago to even taste- testing my recipes for feedback.

Being forced to open after the pandemic and not having the support of the town, city and state government, I was hesitant to keep pushing forward but I had come too far to give up now.

I realized that no one was going to save me but myself and I had made it this far. I found a new passion to continue to bet on myself and invest all I could into my business.

1-800 Flowers was an email from heaven. Because I did not receive any assistance when we were shut down during the pandemic, my partnership with 1-800 Flowers literally saved my business, allowed our doors to remain open, and allowed me to pay back rent that was owed.

Without a number of employees, the blessing that 1-800 flowers has brought me has at times been in jeopardy when I’m unable to keep up with incoming orders. 

My personal learning curve prevented me from not being fully prepared for the Christmas rush with 1-800 Flowers. Messing up orders caused me to lose out on pay because of the errors.

The Smoothie Joint is my baby and no one is going to care for this business like I will. I resigned from my main full time job in order to go full force within my business and be 100% dedicated to see my vision through.

I'm still currently trying to understand everything. I wear many hats within my business and everyday is a learning curve. Making time to take the needed steps to get my story out there is important and part of the plan to get my business consistently profitable.

My business is no longer operating out of the red and I’m currently working with other organizations to grow and expand my business to promote the Smoothie Joint as a brand.

Things are more organized with more customers. I’m able to roll out new items, grow our social media following, and expand our brand by getting our name out there.