This second volume of Quality in Life features Braeden Ralla, the founder of Purpose Smoothie Co., also located in Richmond B.C. From its inception in 2017 until now, Purpose has been serving its community and people who come to visit from afar with nutritious and extremely delicious smoothies along with other food items. Whether you are craving something fruity and refreshing, you want to satisfy that sweet tooth, or you need something warm and hearty, Purpose has it all. It is hard not to notice the enjoyment people are having as they are spotted around Steveston Village enjoying one of their refreshing drinks or food items. Moreover, Purpose's goal has always been to educate people on the importance of nutrition. Braeden has noted that one of the ways they do this is to use their storefront as a catalyst for learning about healthy living. However, Braeden not only serves his community through his storefront but also takes the time to provide invaluable knowledge about healthy living through his podcast “Living with Purpose”. We have been honoured again by another amazing individual who has agreed to be interviewed by us. Braeden is yet another perfect example of someone who is able to express quality and community through his own business and craft. As such, we took the time to learn more about his journey and found out some interesting facts that have led him as well as his brand to being a natural nutrition powerhouse.
When asking Braeden about his journey, we could not help but feel incredibly moved. He took the time to mention three critical things that have made him into the person he is today; family, his privilege to play sports growing up and his mother. While Braeden accredits his family and sports with being raised properly and learning critical life lessons, he says that the most impactful out of the three was his mother's diagnosis of terminal cancer in 2014. Only a short time after her diagnosis she, an avid runner, was also told that she would not be able to continue running. As this was the case, Braeden took it upon himself to start running for her while she was unable to. This was described by Braeden as a turning period in his life where he was truly able to reflect and try to improve himself for the future. Through this and the struggles he had faced, Braeden also noted that this was instrumental in realizing important life lessons that would then serve as the foundation for starting Purpose and the brand being what it is today.
After talking about Purpose’s story with Braeden, we were so thrilled to learn about how Purpose came to be and how it has grown into a medium that serves as the foundation for learning about the benefits of healthy eating. First off, the concept of Purpose Smoothie Co. had always been somewhat around Braeden as he grew up with an allergy to eggs. At age 13 Braeden took it upon himself to start making smoothies to substitute for a lot of things he could not have and he shortly fell in love with making them. Later, during his mother's battle with cancer Braeden and his family had visited a naturopath in order to find ways to help with her health. In 2015, Braeden said that he really began to have his eyes opened by the power of real food healing through this naturopath. From then on, Braeden started to make smoothies for his mother to help boost her health and even made smoothies for friends who would ask him for them when they had health ailments. After that, Braeden began to think about this as a potential way to serve his community and start a business doing this. From coming up with the idea of the business to its inception and where it is now, there have been struggles and obstacles along the way. However, being able to operate from the heart and acknowledging that smoothies may be the first step in someone's journey to living a healthy and purpose-driven life is what Braeden states keeps him resilient during hard times. Braeden’s journey with Purpose and particularly his own are inspiring to us all. However, the story does not end there as we were able to find out more about his journey by asking about how Purpose conveys both quality and community.
When asking about quality and community in terms of Purpose and how they operate, Braeden decided to relate it to Koterie and our mission to always provide quality garments that age well and make you feel proud to wear. He said that his smoothies and food items are meant to help people age well, feel great, energized, and be proud that they have put a foot forward in being conscious about their health. The biggest way to add quality to people’s lives, according to Braeden, is to serve a product that provides a tasty solution to holistic nutrition. Additionally, Braeden referred back to his days at the University of Calgary and his experience with a cafe in the kinesiology building called Brew & Blenz. He stated that he and his roommate would always go there firstly because of the electric vibe it had and secondly because the late head of the cafe Annette became one of the biggest inspirations for Purpose. From remembering everybody’s usual order and their dietary restrictions to getting to know each and every person on a deeper level, Braeden says that she always prioritized building relationships with people and treating them like family. This is one of the many ways Braeden expresses quality through Purpose as he has always strived to provide that same quality in both his food and customer service. Something as small as taking that extra bit of time to get to know his customers and make them feel like they are a part of Purpose. Moreover, the concept of community goes deeper than just surface level with Braeden. Of course, Steveston is and always has been known to be a tight-knit community. However, when we asked how Purpose conveys community, he mentioned that it has to do with the nutrition that his food items provide. By providing a solution to improve people’s health in an easy and tasty way, Braeden says that this translates to people being the best version of themselves and enhancing the community as a whole. We were so ecstatic to learn more about Purpose, and hope that through this article you feel that you have learned something new about them and take the time to see what they are all about.