Meet Rosaelena Robledo | Rose

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

Hi Rosaelena, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Let me paint a picture. May 2020 few months into a pandemic and quarantine.

Very minimal work. Pregnant with baby number two. The thought process came about asking myself how do I go about creating a hobby for myself that will profit overtime? Pregnant me was always craving acai bowls but not just any acai bowls. Their was a specific location, except it was permanently closed. I went about making them myself and seeing the positive feedback I received I said “hey this could be something. Let me make a page for myself and throw myself out there. Either it will be a hard no or people will actually like it.” I never looked back.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Acaiholic was created a couple months after the pandemic first started. I remember I had made a social media profile for it June 1st. Everything about the pandemic was fairly new, precautions were being taken and businesses started opening up their doors again after quarantine but of course following city guidelines and codes. I was working at the time and this idea to sell and deliver acai bowls started because I was four months pregnant at the time. I craved acai bowls from a local small business I would frequent a lot, not knowing they had closed their doors permanently I was sad about it because no other place made acai bowls like they did. So I began making my own. I started by making several bowls and giving it to friends and family for free and only asked for shoutouts on Instagram to grow my following. I have this vision in my head on what I’d like for this business to look like further on and I think little by little it’s coming along. I think what sets me apart from others is my idea of making my caterings aesthetically pleasing to the client. The way I handcraft my bowls is different to other acai vendors although I do offer the basic acai for those who do want that. Also it’s very unheard of acai catering. I’ve seen many places that just make the bowls deliver and place them on the table for people to just grab and go. I can do that except I love to cater to the people as they can create their own and make it how they’d like. I am most excited to add more items to my menu! I just added mini pancakes and for the first time ever protein mini pancakes! I will offer a brunch service and I’m really excited to start promoting and advertising it to the public. In all honesty this wouldn’t have been possible without the support of my husband Jose! He is the man of all trades! Helps me and supports me in all the crazy ideas I have. Also the friends and family and everyone who continue to buy, refer or even just shout me out on social platforms. Getting here definitely was not easy! Like anything you come across many challenges when trying to run a business. My first challenge was to able to get the consistency down. Nobody likes a runny soupy looking bowl so having to find ways to keep the base cool and not so frozen. I finally got it down. Some of the lessons I’ve learned along the way is not everyone will like your product and that’s okay. When starting you wan to people please everyone but reality is it will be a hit or a miss for many. My main goal is to just provide the best customer service skills and put 110% into what I offer. When I first started this small business I knew going in I wanted to give back. Whether it was to an organization, a charity anything to help someone or anybody. I’ve made it my goal to put aside money from what I make in the year and donate at the end or beginning of the year to an organization or non-profit every year.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
oh man it’s a plus that I live in a city everyone wants to visit. There are so many places to eat, things do and places visit. Let’s say she got here Monday morning my itinerary would look a little like this. Monday: pick up my friend from LAX show her melrose do some shopping eat at a local small business cafe night out in downtown LA maybe even catch a game of whichever sport is in season.
Tuesday: Disneyland and Disney California
Wednesday: Hollywood Hike drive down to San Diego
Thursday: spend the day in Oceanside San Diego
Friday: visit Santa Monica show her around Long Beach
I live in a very active State so much to do so much places to be! I would show her around my local spots like downtown Whittier where they have so many cute shops and well as downtown citrus. She loves small shops and coffee shops so we’d be around areas like that

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
This shoutout goes to one person and an organization. First the person I’d like to shoutout is my husband, Jose . He has been my constant support whether it was buying supplies to start my business and always offering nothing but encouraging thoughts. I could also goes as far as to say he has mentored me as well. He pushed me to start and is always looking for ways to help me improve my small business. Thank you for the support my love! Secondly I would like to thank Megan Peiper who is the lead face of Your Body Your Story. It is an organization created to ease the financial burden in communities with invisible and chronic illnesses. Going into this small business I knew I wanted to help others in any small way possible. So I decided I would donate to a charity or organization at the end of every year. Megan and I attended junior high together so we have a long history. She reached out about featuring me into one of her blog stories and shared with me her goals for her organization and I was happy to be part of it! What she’s doing is such a selfless act of kindness! I will continue to support and donate what I can to her organization.

Instagram: @acai.holic

Other: email: acaiholic20@gmail.com

Image Credits
Some pictures were taken by Louis. He no longer has an Instagram