Exploring Life & Business with A’va Bazzi of Bee Fruity by Ava

Today we’d like to introduce you to A’va Bazzi

Hi A’va, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started making acai bowls from home in 2017 & posting photos of them on my social media. Shortly after, my dms were getting flooded with people asking me to make them one because acai bowls weren’t a “thing” yet. After making them for so many people, my friends encouraged me create a business page on instagram to sell them. After creating my page business started to pick up more than i expected. This was the beginning of “Ava’s Acai Bowls.” I started physically selling them in early 2018 & slowly after it became my full time job. I began taking orders everyday & eventually had to quit my jobs. This became full time for me & something i thoroughly enjoyed. I worked out of a little corner in my mom’s kitchen for 6 years on & off while working 2-3 other jobs on the side. During this time i transitioned my business name to “Bee Fruity by Ava” as i wanted to sell more than just acai bowls & felt limited with my previous name. I hustled for a really long time until i saved up enough to try looking for a physical building to try to open a restaurant. I faced a lot of obstacles during this time & had a lot of doors slammed in my face for being so young & also a female. It’s tough in Dearborn when you’re not a man. After several opportunities were taken from me i eventually gave up & began working a job i was utterly depressed at. I would cry to & from work everyday knowing it wasn’t what i was meant to be doing with my life. Late last year i received a call from the owners at Bowl Appetit in Dearborn that completely changed my life. They presented me with the opportunity to open my business inside their business. They had taken over the building next door & tore down the wall to create a duo restaurant & felt my business would work perfectly next to theirs. Spoiler alert, it did 🙂 It’s been almost a year now & i couldn’t be happier with the way things took a turn for me. I have an amazing support system & my family & friends continued to motivate me to stay focused on my goals & never give up. Also my faith in God is what really led me here & i feel extremely blessed everyday.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I faced a lot of struggles along the way of this journey. Considering i am a young female in a field filled with men, it was never easy for me. I had several meetings with several realtors to try to lease buildings & none of them would take me serious. I constantly had to bring my dad with me & would notice that they would solely give their attention to him & i would have to revert their attention to me multiple times throughout the conversation. There has also been times where we would get as far in the process as brining contractors in to begin work & the realtor would string me along only to trick me into making me look bad, knowing all along he wasn’t going to lease me the building.

As you know, we’re big fans of Bee Fruity by Ava. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
At Bee Fruity by Ava, we sell an amazingly large variety of food & drink items. From fresh pressed juices & shots to smoothies, protein shakes, acai bowls, fruit platters, refreshers, coffees & so much more…. Everything we make is with natural & fresh ingredients. We handcraft everything with love & always promote a happy environment. The thing that sets us apart from others is definitely the effort we put into our work. We genuinely love what we do & the passion is something you can notice. I am a very detailed person so for me, it’s all about the details. There are so many little things we do that make a big impact.

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
Honestly, no. Everything i know as been self taught or learned from business owners i’ve worked for.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.beefruitybyava.com
• Instagram: @beefruitybyava
• Other: tiktok: @beefruitybyava