We were lucky to catch up with Juan recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Juan with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
I grew up in a household where we were not allowed to just lay around and watch TV. My dad was very good at pushing us to do our best and that meant get into sports and get a job while we were not at school. Both my Mom and Dad worked all their lives. My dad had a construction business and my mom did everything from catering, to opening a convenience store, to starting a pharmacy, and so many other businesses. I grew up in that environment of working and aspiring for more.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am a food scientist and sports nutritionist, after college i started a 20 year career as a food product developer for some of the largest consumer good companies in the USA. I specialized in creating innovative snacks that tasted great. Unfortunately, we only focused on taste and not nutrition, which did not made me feel complete. So I decided to start a business of my own creating snacks but this time with emphasis in nutrition and functionality. in 2015 I started my own snack company and created Pnuff Crunch, the first nutrition based peanut puff snack in the market. This invention focuses on delivering not only flavor but functionality. Made from navy beans, brown rice and peanuts, it delivers not only on flavor but also has 20g of protein per bag, good source of fiber, and low in sugar. In addition its gluten free and dairy free. We are now sold around the nation via Amazon and our webiste (pnuff.com), and in retail locations in the North east such as Whole Foods and Wegmans, and Central Market in Texas.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
1) Food product development skills: gave me the confidence I could create a very tasty and nutritional snack
2) Analytical: I am analytical and use logic and data to make important decisions
3) resilience: having been in Sports all my life taught me to never quit and always keep going
My advise to anyone starting an entrepreneurial journey is to love what you do. Seek help from others and surround yourself with people that can help you. Stay positive and pray everyday
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
Stress is part of being in business. But you cannot let stress take over your life. you need to take control. This was very hard for me to do specially the first 5 years of being in business. Until i got physically sick and mentally exhausted. At that point I decided that I was not going to let stress take over my life. What i did was to start looking at the bigger picture and then zoom back in. All the sudden the problems became less stressful and manageable. I realize that I can only do way I can, the rest I leave to God to take care of it. Also believe that God will not give you something you cant handle, because he will help you once you have done all you can.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.pnuff.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pnuffcrunch/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pnuffcrunch/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/71771259/admin/dashboard/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@pnuffcrunch
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
