Today we’d like to introduce you to Roxana Aparicio.
Hi Roxana, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I am 48 years old and I am from Rosario, Argentina. I was raised in a family that has been running a Health Care Business for more than forty years. My father Francisco was born in Murcia, Spain, and moved to Argentina when he was 8 years old by ship. He traveled with my grandmother Adelina and my uncle Jose Luis, who was 3 years old. The journey lasted fifteen days. My grandfather, also called Francisco, was waiting for them in Buenos Aires, as he had moved a couple of months before.
Nowadays, both Francisco and Jose Luis are very successful physicians and entrepreneurs. They run a Hospital that is known for its excellence in Orthopedics, Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine.
In my case, I started Medicine School in March 1992. It was in ‘Anatomy’, my first class, that I met Hernan. We went through University together and graduated the same day six years later. We got married in 2000 and we had three children: Renzo, Josefina and Sofia. He used to be a Spine Surgeon and I worked as her neurophysiologist. In 2016 he was diagnosed with a very rare type of lymphoma. He died in 2017 despite all medical treatments. I was knocked by this sudden event in my life and I decided to make a change. I wanted to keep helping people to stay healthy, but from another perspective. I was looking for natural alternatives to traditional medicine. Looking for new alternatives, I got into the Functional Mushrooms world. All of a sudden I understood that this was my new commitment: to grow functional organic food, as a natural way to promote health and longevity. I wanted to build healthcare solutions from natural, free of chemicals, preservatives or artificial flavoring products.
But that was not the only change; I wanted to build this new project in another country, following the experience of my grandfather Francisco. This time the trip was easier than his; just ten hours of flight brought me to Houston. We arrived in Katy in January of 2021 and the new adventure started.
I founded Reishi & Health, a farm where we produce edible and medicinal mushrooms and microgreens indoors. All under organic conditions. But I did not do all this alone. Maria de los Angeles Cano shared with me all her experience growing mushrooms and working in the food industry for 20 years.
When everything was running, we still had to arrange our legal status to stay in the country, as I found it very hard to run the business from Argentina. The American Embassy in Buenos Aires was closed due to Covid-19, but that did not stop me. We tried in Chile first, which was delayed for 6 months. I later thought about Spain. My attorney said it was too far away from Argentina to go with my children there. I felt that was not totally true…my DNA told me I could do it. I finally made the decision and I was able to use those canceled tickets
I had from before the pandemic, two years later!
We got our Visa on March 15, 2022; 30 years after I had started the University and met Hernan. That was really meaningful for me.
We moved to Houston on March 25. As another meaningful event, we started our journey to America from Barcelona; the port from where my grandparents’ ship left Spain 70 years ago.
Since the day I founded the company, the business has been increasingly growing, in spite of the inflation and all the hardships we are going through nowadays. I have always known it would not be easy. However, as I mentioned before, my DNA still tells me that God gives the toughest battles to his strongest soldiers. I gave up my medical practice, took my family and started all over again in a completely different country.
I have two angels guiding me; Hernan and my grandfather ‘Paco’.
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?
Certainly, it was not a smooth way. We had to start the business from Argentina, during Covid-19 quarantine, where flights were very restrictive. We had many issues sending money from our country and opening the bank account online. Fortunately, we met a lot of kind people that helped us on this process and made the process smoother. Additionally, permissions, licenses, county habilitation, and other bureaucratic issues took us a lot of time and money.
Another concern was to hire an employee with mushroom knowledge, which was not simple. We went through several employees without success. Finally, a guy one day called me and asked me for work because he was a mushroom grower looking for a job!. That was amazing for us, as we had been looking for staff for months and all of a sudden he just appeared in our lives.
Our main struggle has been, and still is, to get into a very closed market, where few people know us. Not many people are familiar with the functional mushrooms beverages and their health properties. Nonetheless, we are successfully dealing with this day by day. We keep on going to as many farmers markets as we can and we are also calling every local health store asking for a little place on their shelves for our products. Moreover, we are consulting with chefs and restaurant owners in order to show them our organic locally grown gourmet mushrooms. Every day is a little step forward.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
On the one hand, I have been a physician since 1997. I am specialized in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Neurophysiology. I am well known as an intraoperative and clinical neurophysiologist. I have had my own practice at my family ‘s Hospital in Rosario;
Sanatorio Mapaci SA. I am proud to have been a pioneer on intraoperative neurophysiology in Rosario since 2002. On the other hand, I started my business experience in 2013, being a member of the board of Sanatorio Mapaci SA, and later becoming vice-president in 2017.
All that mentioned, the time to start my own business has arrived. My products are unique because like no other, they mix adaptogenic mushrooms with the best combination of medicinal herbs for each medical purpose. We have different blends of herbal teas with Reishi mushroom, each with its specific health property: energizing, sleeping, anti-inflammatory, digestive and immune-boosting. I put the best of my medical knowledge in these products to promote health and longevity.
We are a small women, physician and latin owned business with the commitment to Protect the planet.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Many people find stability as happiness; I do not think they are wrong, it is just that I do not have the same feeling about it.
When I was in Argentina, I somehow felt like I had reached my maximum performance in medical practice and was on a boring plateau. I had reached the house of my dreams in a beautiful place, a very nice car and plenty of travels…but it was not enough. I felt I needed something new: a change.
Nowadays, it makes me happy to see my own business growing everyday, maybe slower than what I thought it would be, but step by step. It also makes me really happy to see how my kids are having new experiences and finding their new roads in this new place.
I see myself in some years taking this business to another level, I will make it grow internationally. And this time Spain will be my next destination.
Pricing:
- Reishi Mushroom blended tea $15
- Fresh mushrooms $15 per pound
- Yerba Mate with Reishi $20
Contact Info:
- Website: www.reishiandhealth.com
- Instagram: @reishiandhealth
- Facebook: @reishiandhealth
