Today we’d like to introduce you to Jimmy & Becky Norris.
Hi Jimmy & Becky, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
Before we opened our store and began building mobile bubble tea shops, Jimmy was a welder by trade; where he built his career working long, hard hours in the industry while his wife Becky was busy putting her degree to work as a Community Health Promotion Coordinator for the Health Department. When the pandemic hit, it caused the whole world to go upside down, and this is when we decided to follow our dream of being in business for ourselves and share our love of Bubble Tea with our local community. We spent the next six months planning and building our small shop using only the savings we had for our retirement to keep costs low. We opened our doors on April 20, 2021, to find a long line of customers who had been anticipating our opening, which seemed never-ending. The welcome we felt was overwhelming and assured us that what we were doing was a good match for our wonderful community, and this also required Jimmy to be at the shop full-time. Since then, our business plan has included the expansion of our flavor and topping options, additional food, a large retail area, and claw/vending machines. We have now expanded the store’s hours to six days a week, began collaborations with other local businesses, and started two boba mobiles. In July of 2023, Becky was able to relinquish her position at the health department to be at the store full time, while Jimmy spends much of his time on building and running the mobiles that are scheduled to attend twenty large fairs or festivals and many small events this year.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
While we attempt to keep a positive attitude and work through obstacles in the most logical ways, we find that we deal with challenges daily. Beginning our business with such a modest amount of money made it so that our offerings and décor were very minimalistic and were only able to mature as the business grew. This made it difficult for a while to really give the experience we have now become known for. Time is another challenge; between our shop and two mobiles, we are constantly working on how we can improve and expand while also finding time for family. This causes us to feel like we never have enough time in a day to get everything done!
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Boba Bowl?
Boba Bowl is not your typical bubble tea shop; we are a bubble tea experience. We offer a drink menu made with exclusive recipes created by the Boba Bowl family or a fully customizable drink experience that the team will walk you through and give samples. Our menu consists of 7 tea/coffee bases, 27 fruit tea flavors, 31 milk tea flavors, 8 sugar-free flavors, 21 popping bubble flavors, 8 jelly flavors, 6 crystal jelly boba flavors, and our traditional boba that is cooked fresh several times a day. We also offer smoothies, slushies, popping sparkling sodas as well as gourmet drinks and flights that change monthly. The ingredients that are utilized are quality products from a top-rated supplier. Our Fruit Teas are Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Seafood Free, Nut Free & Vegan Friendly!!! Our Milk Teas are Gluten Free, Lactose-Free, Seafood Free & Vegetarian Friendly!!! We also offer a variety of food, including crepes, loaded apple bites, handmade mochi, Crème Brulés, and Boba Bowl’s very own Crumbowls! Each Crumbowl is 100% customizable with top-quality ingredients. We offer fresh fruit, crisp granola, premium yogurt, acai, raspberry or mango sorbet, a selection of toppings & local golden wildflower honey.
While you wait for your order, you can browse our extensive retail area that has a variety of items, including handmade jewelry, keychains, plushies, Asian candies, anime, reusable cup sets, and many more items! You can also check out the selfie station, entertainment area, or Boba Buddy wall, which showcases other local businesses, or the community boards, which feature business cards and flyers.
What’s next?
We always think that if an opportunity is for us, then the future will reveal it. We never really know what new adventure that Boba Bowl will be on, but we do know that we will continue to expand our brand by taking on more large events and fairs with the mobile and expand our retail and entertainment section of our store as time and money permits.
Pricing:
- 16 oz Bubble Tea- $5.50
- 24 oz Bubble Tea- $7.50
- 32 oz Bubble Tea- $11.00
- Crumbowls- $7.00
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mybobabowl.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/bobabowl/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/MyBobaBowl
- Other: www.tiktok.com/@officalbobabowl
Image Credits
Boba Bowl, LLC
