Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Annis and Curtis Wilson.
Alex and Curtis, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Just a couple of midwestern boys, from Wisconsin. We helped out with a lemonade stand back there and loved it. Because of the harsh winters and colder weather, there wasn’t much opportunity there. We decided to move to San Diego and drive across the country. We have no background in any sort of business management and was definitely a learning exoerience the first year.
But we’re going on our second year now and things are looking good. We met some very nice and helpful people throughout the journey, especially at the University of San Diego.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We’ve been bad at budgeting through the journey. We learned that 60-degree weather is freezing weather here and that lemonade isn’t the best option. Back home, 60-degree weather would be considered pretty good lemonade weather 😅. So, we are just learning that some months aren’t going to be as profitable as others. We’ve been down and out and thought about throwing in the towel, but hard work and good advice have kept us more driven and better than ever.
Also just finding the right fit for us has been tough. We’ve done everything from farmers markets and festivals, to college sporting events and professional sporting events. Everything was a gamble considering everything was new to us. We won some and lost some, but learned a lot.
Please tell us about The Big Squeeze.
My partner and I own and operate an organic lemonade business called The Big Squeeze, located here in San Diego. We support local farms to get our products and make everything ourselves; shaken, not stirred. We use no preservatives or juices; only real fruit. We are definitely known for the shake (like how a bartender shakes some mixed drinks). The kids love it especially. Everything is freshly squeezed right in front of you, so each person can see what goes into their drink.
We have breathtaking flavors such as Mojito-Mint Limeade, Strawberry Lemonade, Ginger Limeade, BlackBerry-Mint Lemonade, Pomegranate Lemonade, and Honey Lemonade. I believe we now have 10-15 flavors. We always are experimenting and adding a new featured flavor each week.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Having sleepovers and playing games with my friends.
-Curtis
Always making my mom worry.
-Alex
Pricing:
- $5 lemonades
Contact Info:
- Email: thebiggestsqueeze@gmail.com
- Instagram: @thebiggestsqueeze
- Facebook: Big Squeeze Lemonade, San Diego
Image Credit:
Big Squeeze Productions
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