Meet Roberto and Shamika Brooks | Owners

We had the good fortune of connecting with Roberto and Shamika Brooks and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Roberto and Shamika, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
We wanted to bring a healthy option to our community. Smoothies is an item as a family we loved making. However we wanted to bring a product that was not loaded with sugar and artificial flavors. We began to work on our ingredients to create a consistent, tasty and healthy product. Both owners love Hip Hop music so we decided to incorporate old school Hip Hop in every aspect of the business from the decor to the naming convention of the smoothies.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
We both come from a corporate background.

Roberto Brooks worked many years within the insurance industry. His roles ranged from customer service, to team leadership, to risk and quality control management. He has a bachelors degree in business management. Roberto is the back bone of Hip Hop Smoothies. His organizational and business mentality has allowed us to meet various goals and expand our business.

Shamika Brooks worked many years in the banking industry. Her roles ranged from customer service, to operations management to financial crimes investigations. She holds a bachleors degree in communications and a masters in criminal justice. She has been a vital piece in coming up with the scheduling and game plan for the business. She has been responsible for anything connected to communications and social media.

It has been a hard but easy process. We have thoroughly enjoyed growing our business and building relationships.

Of course there are always some challenges from staffing, to availability as a leader. People who work for you may not always provide the same level of service so that has been a challenge finding great energetic staff. We have been very particular when choosing people that represent Hip Hop Smoothies. We personally have had to put in many hours to ensure our business is functioning at 100%

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Of course 1st stop would be Hip Hop Smoothies

We would then check out the schedules of some of our favorite food trucks What the Fries, G.R.I.Ts and Jimmy Ps to name a few.

We would head uptown to see what activities may be occurring and just hangout and walk the city.

We would possibly checkout the 90s museum or Paparazi Charlotte.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We would like to shoutout every single customer who has had the opportunity to taste our smoothies, book our service or have referred a family or friend. Huge shout out to our family and business partners that have allowed us to grow and blossom into a sustainable business.

Website: Hiphopsmoothies.con

Instagram: Hiphopsmoothies

Twitter: Hiphopsmoothies

Facebook: Hiphopsmoothies

Image Credits
Doordash for smoothie images