Today we’d like to introduce you to Jess Justice
Jess, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
OH! Boba is owned by Ting, QQ, and I (Jess). Growing up in Asia, we were part of the Boba generation. Milk tea was a staple of our childhood, whether it was after school, on the way to a movie theater, or just strolling around the mall. We were always sipping milk tea through oversized straws while hanging out with friends. Milk tea and street food like bubble waffles were quintessential components of our social lives. When we first met each other, this common experience created an instant connection among us. It’s quite an amazing feeling, and that’s why we decided to open a bubble tea shop and bring the “boba experience” to Troy, OH.
During our search for our initial shop around Dayton, we discovered Troy and immediately fell in love with this charming and vibrant town. We were very fortunate to have found our potential permanent location on the public square during our first visit. We received a lot of support from Troy and surrounding community sine the first day we opened. We kept getting asked to go to private events such as weddings and graduation parties, then we got a food truck and started to go to private events and different festivals.
At the end of 2023, we opened our second location in CoHatch, Springfield. Then in May of 2024, we opened our third location on the brown street in Dayton.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No it’s never a smooth road. There are always bumps on the road.
One thing we learned is that construction time is almost always going to be longer than expected. We aimed to open our troy store in May of 2022, but we didn’t have our grand opening until September. Something with our brown street location, we thought we would be open in March but didnt open until May.
The biggest challenge for me personally is the food truck. It use to be a BBQ truck so it is huge. Try to parallel park that giant truck in a tight festival space while everyone is watch, that’s struggle for real. My drive skill has improved a lot.
The truck tire blew on a highway too. It didnt just blew, it exploded.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
OH! Boba is a small boba shop started in Troy, OH. Our menu is thoughtfully crafted to offer a delightful range of beverages and snacks. Customers can savor freshly brewed tea, milk tea made with fresh milk, fruit tea, sparkling drinks, and lemonades. Other than drinks, we also have bubble waffle, which is a traditional Hong Kong street food, a crisy outside, chewy inside waffle with ice cream and other different fillings inside. Cat Mochi Waffle is a cat shaped waffle with filling options inside, for cat mochi waffle you can get sweet or savory options. We also have different boba related cute accessories in store.
We have rotating specials every season, for summer, Sakura Milk Tea, Pandan Milk Tea, Cookies and Cream Milk Tea, Bad Blood (Oh! Boba’s Version),
Fall: Apple Cider Green Tea, Pumpkin Chai Milk Tea, Poison Apple and Mystic potion for Halloween, The Sparkler for Veteran’s Day,
Winter: Snowy Peppermint Milk Tea, Peppermint Mocha, Bengal’s Claw through the football season,
May 4th – we serve Bantha Milk, one day only.
November, we have a Harry Potter Boba Cup Event, each house will have a specific drink and people can earn points for their house by ordering that drink, they also earn points for dressing up. We celebrate the winning house at the end of November. Gryfindor has taken the cup two years in a row.
Quality and community are at the heart of everything we do. We prioritize using high-quality ingredients such as jasmine green tea and Assam black tea, ensuring every drink is exceptional. Supporting other small businesses, shopping local, and eating fresh are very important to us too. We try to partner with different local vendors to bring an assortment of products to our customers, such as local Asian bread and locally made boba bracelets.
Being a small business, there are very limited things we can do, but we believe every big movement is made up of millions of tiny forces. We try our best to be a tiny part of the driving force of our communities by donating to local schools, supporting charity causes, and more.
We are really proud of our brand image and our team members. In a time when staff shortages are common among businesses, we have a very low turnover rate. We treat our team members as our best assets, and in turn, we trust them to provide good customer service to everyone who visits our store.
We try our best to maintain our mission statement:
At OH! Boba, we strive for excellence in every cup of boba we serve. We are committed to using quality ingredients and crafting each beverage with love and care. But we’re not just about drinks; we’re about people. We believe that every interaction is an opportunity to brighten someone’s day. Our team is united by a shared passion for connecting with our customers, understanding their preferences, and exceeding their expectations.
At the heart of OH! Boba is a commitment to fostering a sense of community, where friends gather, conversations flow, and memories are made.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
I talk to people, then people will connect you with people.
For example, our realtor Jordan connected us with Karen, the owner of Pop-up on Main at Troy, so we were able to establish our brand before our brick and mortar was even ready. And while in the pop up, the vendor before us owns a BBQ business, by talking to them I learnt they have a food truck too and they are thinking of retiring. That’s how we got our food truck. With food truck we go to many different festivals, and then I quickly find out that it’s almost always the same people. I met a sushi chef at a seafood festival, he told me he has a permanent location in the CoHatch in Springfield and one vendor is moving out. That’s how we got our second location. One thing leads to another. It’s all connected. Just always be kind and ready to help, then people will help you in return.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ohboballc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ohbobatea
- Other: ohbobatea@gmail.com
