We had the good fortune of connecting with Amanda Behl and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amanda, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
We all have a LUCHA story…and I thought I would share my LUCHA!

Prior to starting LUCHA I brewed for personal consumption. I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at 26, underwent treatment, several surgeries, the cancer metastasizing to my lower abdominal muscle and ultimately a complete hysterectomy at 32.

Thankfully we beat the odds and I was truly BLESSED with my beautiful daughters. After being told I would never experience motherhood.

At 34, I was experiencing heart arrhythmia and I had to have a heart ablation for tachycardia.

Most recently at 42 I was told there was a possibility the cancer metastasized to my bladder. Fortunately, after several tests and procedures I was told it was interstitial cystitis.

With so much happening medically, my immune system was always low and KOMBUCHA I found helped me keep it going.
So we brought LUCHA KOMBUCHA to you with the hopes that what it does for us will do for you!

I fight for me, my happiness, my family, and my life. I am a LUCHADORA!

Everyone has their own LUCHA whatever it maybe be we all are LUCHADORAS and LUCHADORS! Always remember keep fighting as bad as it might seem keep going you’ll overcome it and just when you thought it couldn’t get worse it might but you’ve made it this far and you can keep going.

What should our readers know about your business?
I do all your fermenting and brewing. I split my time between my full-time job in law enforcement and my passion of Lucha.

We started Lucha with personal fermenting and wanted to be able to share all the benefits I was getting with other people. I noticed the impact kombucha was having and I wanted to help others. However, I wanted not only to bring our beverages to my community but also wanted to add the flavors of my culture.

Therefore, the idea was to provide beverages with the flavors of Mexico to your palette in a unique way. In addition to introducing kombucha with a cultural twist, we brought aboard Nitro Teas, and specialty craft beverages.

We started at the Farmers Market in 2019 and grew from there. The challenge was introducing people to kombucha, and trying to rid them of a preconceived misconception they already had from trying kombucha. So it took giving away a lot of free product, educating, and sampling.

We want people to never close a door because they think they know what’s on the other side. We want people to be open minded try it or try one of our many other beneficial beverages. We’re not just a kombucha company we have so much more to offer.

I think the most difficult thing is having to split my time between professional law enforcement career and my love of Lucha.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would start by going hiking, and visiting some of the historical sites in Yuma such as the territorial prison, the abandoned ghost town, and ocean to ocean bridge. I would tour all the local eats to take in the culture and local activities of our beautiful town.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My family continues to have my love and support throughout the ups and downs of owning a small business. They continue to encourage my dream and vision. My husband for picking me up when I’m down and telling me to keeping going, my parents for telling me how proud they are, my mother in law for her unwavering support and my daughters for understanding the commitment of owning a small business and always being patient.

 

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