Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa and Ismael Petrozzi.
Hi Lisa and Ismael, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My name is Lisa Petrozzi and my husband, Ismael and I are the Co Founders of LLamaLand Organics. At LlamaLand Organics, we believe that a healthy diet is at the core of human wellbeing and happiness. We strive to help our families reach their goal of offering healthier, cleaner options of convenient foods to the ones they love, without sacrificing on taste or fun.
Born and raised in the midwest, I had the opportunity to move to Houston to pursue my career as a professional ballet dancer with the Houston Ballet. Ismael, a native Peruvian, came to the U.S. to pursue a career in business. He earned an undergraduate degree in Business from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas and moved to Houston for work around the same time that I moved here. We met, fell in love and got married here in Houston. Ismael received his MBA from Rice University, and after completing his Master’s degree, he spent over twelve years in the consumer goods and food distribution industries leading high performing teams at PepsiCo and Sysco.
While my passion for healthy eating sprouted while striving to keep my ‘instrument’ in optimal performing shape as a professional ballet dancer, it grew stronger roots when motherhood challenged me to become even more aware of making healthy choices for our growing boys. Along with my GYROTONIC® training and holistic health training, I became more and more excited about getting the word out there about the gift of healthy eating as a part of a healthy lifestyle.
In April of 2019, Ismael and I decided it was time to combine our expertise and passions and follow a dream. We came up with the idea to start LLamaLand Organics with the vision of introducing highly-nutritious Peruvian superfood ingredients in convenient pantry staples to families across North America. We began working with trusted partners and farmers in Peru to help us come up with cereals and fruit spreads made with sustainably harvested ingredients, that are organic, non GMO, and native to the Peruvian Amazon and Andes. Being one of the most biodiverse countries on the planet, due to its unique geography and climate, Peru is home to a wide variety of fruits, plants, and grains with some of the highest nutritional and health benefits, known as superfoods.
As our LLamaLand Organics products were ready to hit shelves, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the globe. While the timing didn’t seem ideal at first, we believe it was the perfect time. Now more than ever, people are waking up to the reality of COVID-19 seriously impacting their health if their bodies aren’t metabolically healthy. So much of our population is dealing with underlying issues, mostly due to food and lifestyle choices. Now is the time to change course and get serious about learning the importance of what we put in our bodies today, matters tomorrow and long into the future. Families are more aware of the importance of choosing healthier options while at the grocery and are demanding healthier, better-for-you options, like our immune boosting, nutritious LLamaLand Organics cereals and superfruit spreads.
LLamaLand Organics is now available at Central Market throughout Texas, Harvest Market (Sienna, Katy and Woodlake Forest), as well as Bering’s and Phoenicia Speciality Foods here in Houston. We have nationwide distribution in about 350 natural food and independent grocery stores and have been named by Today.com as one of “Twelve Latin-owned food brands that you need to know about.” We have big plans for the remainder of this year and into next with more innovation, new cereals and new superfruit spreads coming soon.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No, but the “road less traveled” has its benefits. When it come to learning curves and growing pains, we have learned to take our failures and turn them into building blocks. We trust each other and have learned to trust the process with a lot of faith, as well as the belief that the unknowns really are infinite possibilities. There are many risks that go into launching a new brand and new products, especially when people here aren’t as familiar with some of our ingredients. But we get excited about the educational piece to LLamaLand Organics and the potential of these ingredients like Camu Camu, Lucuma, Aracacha and yacon root becoming more mainstream. We are the first to use some of these highly nutritional ingredients in fruit spreads and cereals. Grocery retail buyers can either look at it as innovative and creative and want to put us on their shelves or will say “no”, which we have learned just means, “not now.”
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Before launching LLamaLand Organics with Ismael, I danced professionally for over 13 years. As a certified GYROTONIC® trainer, while still dancing and upon retirement from the stage, I have had the opportunity to work with many pre-professional and professional dancers. Later, I became a certified holistic health coach and launched Spouting Seed Wellness, combining my expertise with my passion to become a wellness mentor for young artists and athletes around Houston. Throughout my personal experiences as a dancer, trainer and mentor, as well as having many mentors of my own along the way, I have become aware of the incredible tools dancers gain throughout training, performing and most importantly through rejection. Resiliency, creativity, innovation, self discipline, self confidence, grace, grit, and the list goes on an on. All wonderful tools in this retail entrepreneurial arena.
Ismael might have gone the more traditional route in terms of education, going through university and receiving his MBA, but coming to a new country, being immersed in a new language, and having his family’s support a continent away, gave him a lot of useful tools as well. Throughout his business career he has used his entrepreneurial spirit while managing high performing teams, delivering value across various industries, from Fortune 500 companies in distribution and consumer goods, to global leaders in energy and mining. He enjoys using his many “hats” of expertise in finance, creativity, innovation, managing and operations to keep LLamaLand Organics moving forward and thriving. He knows the importance of great communication and creating strong relationships with our partners both in Peru and here in the US, and he teaches me so much each and every day. I truly believe we make a great team as husband and wife, and many of the key aspects to a fulfilling marriage correlates with a successful working business partnership.
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
Ismael and I both have fond memories of growing up in loving homes with very supportive parents with all our studies, activities and helping us to follow our dreams. And having loving, supportive siblings and friends as well. We had great childhoods, and we are grateful to have that foundation of love, faith and hope to share with our boys as well.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.llamalandorganics.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/llamalandorganics/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/llamalandorganics/
