Today we’d like to introduce you to Julyen and Karen Juarez-Sigala.
Hi Julyen and Karen, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
We are Julyen and Karen and as most of us, we all have dreams of becoming something bigger than ourselves. Ours began about a year ago. It began with the dream of owning our own business. We both did the usual, work, come home, sleep, and do it all again. It seemed like that is all we did. Our dreams had come to a hold with the everyday hustle and bustle of life. We always talked about how hard we work for others, so why not work just as hard for ourselves. We shared our ideas and how cool it would be to make our dream a reality. However, we had no clue where or how to even begin. We had to start somewhere. We decide to throw ourselves into the chamoy candy business in hopes of one day owning our own fruit concession trailer. We didn’t have the first couple of steps, a recipe, or a menu. Little did with know, finding our perfect recipe would take us eight months to achieve.
After many stressful late nights and so many failed attempts. After lots of wasted candy, we finally found our perfect mix. The only snag we ran into was that we had two great mixtures. We couldn’t decide which one to keep. We came up with a mango and a watermelon flavor. She loved the watermelon, and I enjoyed the mango. We decided to keep both and roll with it. Perhaps there will be more couples like us. A team watermelon and a team mango. Oh, boy! We weren’t wrong. It took us months, but we never gave up. However, we weren’t quite ready yet. Before we were ready for others to try our mix, we wanted to know everything about it. How long was the shelf life being left out in the open, and the difference it would make being store in the refrigerator, as well as what type of candy would go with the mixtures. We invited friends over to come to try them out and give us their honest feedback. After some tweaking, we were ready! The amazing support from our family and friends was the last piece of our puzzle. Our goal is to own our concession trailer in the future. So, we decided to start small.
On February 11, 2021, we took a leap of faith, and with the amazing support of our loved ones, we decided to launch our website of dulces enchilados, better known as Chamoy covered candy. That would mark the beginning of our new journey. As time went by, our dream grew. We added new items to our website. We became more involved with the community. The incredible feedback and support we received were beyond what we had expected. Our dream kept on growing. We decided to make our products available for shipping to all 50 states. In the five short months we have been in business, we have reached out to 20 different states and have partnered up with businesses in other states as well. As challenges arise, we adjusted, and with those adjustments came new ideas. From dulces enchilados to Aguas Frescas, we knew that we weren’t dreaming anymore. We were living our dream. We had become the proud owners of Pikosito Riko!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been an easy road. Along the way, we have encountered many challenges, from our recipe of which was one of the hardest ones to trying to launch our website through the pandemic. Finding the perfect mix of sweet and tangy created many issues. We wanted to bring a taste that would be enjoyable and definitely kid-friendly. Packaging was another obstacle in its self. Once shipping became available to all 50 states, we wanted to make sure that our customers received our products as fresh as possible. That endured getting to know the shipping side and the length of time it would take for our shipments to arrive. With this Texas weather, having our products exposed to the heat had us in a complete panic, but with research and with much trial and error, we found what we were looking for. Definitely with the everyday hustle and bustle, between both of us working full-time jobs, three kids, the pandemic, and all of our challenges, we had our hands full. One of the greatest lessons we learn was patience and perseverance. We are believers that everything happens for a reason at the moment it’s meant to happen. Every day is an opportunity to try again.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Karen has been with American Standards for ten years. She originally started to work on the production floor as a plumber. Little by little she started to work in different workstations. A while time after she was given the position of schedule expeditor. With more time, responsibilities were added. It gave her the opportunity to learn more aspects of the company, and with her knowledge, she became the Production Scheduler she is today. I’m proud of how far she has come along in the last ten years. I, myself worked for Poly-America. I started as a forklift operator, offloading trailers. Moved to loading trips for contractors till I was giving the position of a lead. I decided to leave my job and dedicate myself to our business. I believe one of the many things that sets us apart is our chemistry with one another. We balance each other out. Always challenging each other, bouncing ideas off one another. She is the force behind Pikosito Riko. There is no one else I would rather be in this journey with.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Even when things seem hard and hopeless, always keep on trying. Don’t let anyone stand in your way. Life is too short to wonder, “What if.” With hard work and perseverance, anything is possible. Even if one thing doesn’t work out, it will lead you to a new idea or a new place to start. We started with our candy, which lead us into doing chamoy rim dip. When things got a little too hot, we went and tried our Aguas Frescas. Every day is a new day to try new things. We are currently working on new concoctions to add and expand our menu. The possibilities are limitless. The only one standing in between that is ourselves.
Pricing:
- Aguas Frescas $7
- Candy Bags starting at $4
- Rim Dip $8
- Party Packages starting at $50
- 5 Gallon aguas frescas with cups and fresh fruit starting at $65
Contact Info:
- Email: pikositoriko19@gmail.com
- Website: www.pikositoriko.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pikosito_riko/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PikositoRiko
