RESILIENCE TO OVERCOME

Edisney Roa Trujillo is a Latina entrepreneur and founder of Olalá Popsicles in San Jose, California.

At the age of 10, she and her family were displaced from their small town in Colombia due to the extreme violence and moved to the United States with her family to search of better opportunities.

However, this did not stop her from fighting for her dreams and always dreamed of having her own business since she was a child. Edisney studied business administration and completed seven semesters of industrial engineering.

MAKING A BUSINESS FROM THE TRADITIONAL FLAVORS OF COLOMBIA

One of Edisney's main passions is making traditional Colombian desserts for her family, especially passion fruit desserts.

Proud of her Colombian roots and missing the gastronomy of her country, she decided to start her own business Olalá Popsicles, making her delicious "paletas", so that others could enjoy the traditional flavors of her country.

"We bring joy to our customers. It is impossible to describe the experience of a Colombian who has not been to their country for many years and tastes one of our exotic popsicles with flavors from our land. Their happiness is guaranteed." - Edisney

Olalá Popsicles is a family business, in which they work daily with a lot of love and desire to see it grow. They have 5 distribution points, in San Jose, CA, where their main product is their Delicious Colombian Artisan Popsicles in different flavors such as passion fruit, guava with cheese, blackberry and soursop (guanábana), but they also have healthy breakfasts and slushies.

"My inspiration has always been my family, with my daughter Isabella as the engine, and catalyst for me to embark on this dream. I long for everyone to know a part of our delicious Colombian gastronomy. Delight their palates with our exquisite paletas, that they know another part of Colombia, show that Colombia is flavor, is passion, is joy, is life through Olalá". - Edisney

MOTIVATION AND PERSISTENCE TO FULFILL HER DREAMS

When she started her business, she feared that she couldn’t plan correctly, and lacked accounting knowledge.

After some friends encouraged Edisney to contact Centro, she completed the Basic Entrepreneurship Program. In this program, she was able to create a business plan for Olalá Popsicles in 9 weeks. Edisney then participated in the Advanced Entrepreneurship Program to take her business to a new level.

Thanks to her great motivation and persistence to fulfill her dreams, Edisney ran a Kiva campaign this year in which she raised $15,000 with the support of Centro Capital Hub. Thanks to this fundraising campaign, she has been able to purchase the machinery she needed to optimize the production and distribution of her pallets.

"Centro is magnificent, their name couldn't have been better because they center you. You land in your reality, sharing with other entrepreneurs and realizing that everyone is going in the same direction is a 100% dose of motivation. They also give you advice on any topic you need, they train you to become an entrepreneur, they give you the tools and they keep on looking after you after the course. And the most wonderful thing is that they advise you on how to get a credit with Kiva without interest, it sounds like a lie, but it's real, I have it!" - Edisney

LEAVING A LEGACY FOR HER CHILDREN

Currently, Olala Popsicles is growing, and Edisney is working to position it in the market and reach more audiences from different cultures. Edisney is working on its planning for the next year and among its goals is to have its own physical Olala location.

At the moment it is a family business, and one of Edisney's objectives for the future is to generate employment for single mothers and heads of household, and create a workspace where they feel the support and backing of their employer. It is also very important for her to set an example of work and effort to her children and to give them an example of self-improvement. "I like the independence and freedom, I like the idea of leaving a legacy to my children and feeling proud of having been able to build a successful company like Olala will be."

Thinking long term, one of Edisney's dreams is to be able to help and create her own Olala Foundation to help underprivileged people.

Join us in congratulating Edisney for being brave and following her dreams! If you are in San Jose and want to learn more about Edisney’s delicious Colombian popsicles and all of her products, you can visit Olala Popsicles on Instagram and contact her.