Meet Maria
Maria owns Pepe’s Fruit Cup, a popular chain of juice stores in Austin. Maria sells juices, snow cones, tortas and the eponymous fruit cups throughout the city.
Before joining our program, it was difficult for Maria to access capital to grow her business due to the collateral requirements. Now as a member of Grameen America, she has taken out seven loans to support her businesses expansion. Maria used to her first loan to purchase new equipment and make improvements to the original store.
Today, Maria has been able to expand the business to five locations, with the additional capital going towards purchasing new equipment and inventory for the burgeoning juice chain.
A true entrepreneur, Maria built her success through hard work, diligence and by being organized. Her success has not gone unnoticed—Maria was recently profiled by CBS Austin on the growth of her business.
Maria is a role model to her family and the women she employs. She hopes to keep expanding Pepe’s Fruit Cup throughout Austin and wants to provide a better future for her six daughters.
