Today we’d like to introduce you to Lucy Rendon.
Hi Lucy, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Who would have imagined the little girl scooping fish out of tanks on her family’s boat would grow up to be a business owner herself. Hi, I’m Lucy Rendon and I am the owner of P’Z Candiez, LLC. We offer the crunchiest freeze dried treats around. Our products include freeze dried candies, sweet treats, fruits, veggies, herbs, spices, pet treats, and our own custom creations. I’m a first generation Vietnamese American. My parents came to the US after the Vietnam War as refugees. By the age of 7, I was helping my family’s fishing and shrimping business and going out with my dad on our fishing boats. At 15 years old, I helped manage and run the daily operations of our fishing company. Seeing how hard my parents worked to achieve the American Dream was incredibly influential in shaping my values. Despite the long hours and obstacles, they never wavered from working hard to ensure their children had a better life.
After college, I took the traditional route of going to college and then working for a fortune 500 company for over a decade. I was awarded the CEO Ambassador Award after working there for only a few months and quickly promoted to a senior level position. I enjoyed what I did and am so grateful for all the skill sets I’ve learned from being there. One day, I realized my personal growth hit the end of its road and it was time for a new chapter. As scary as it was, I started P’Z Candiez LLC by a leap of faith. I wanted to create something of my own that I can pass down to my children just like my parents did. I initially bought my first freeze dryer for food preservation and to minimize food waste. My husband, who is a candy lover, asked me to freeze dried some candy for him. We couldn’t believe how crunchy candies such as skittles and jolly ranchers became after being freeze dried. So that is how a fun hobby turned into a full time business. I love what I do and have a passion for educating others about the benefits of freeze drying.
Did you know with freeze dried food, it retains up to 97% of the nutritional content versus dehydrated products that lower the nutritional content to 60% ? 🙂
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Being a small business owner, you wear many hats. You are the social media manager, content creator, business manager, product maker, accountant, customer liaison, and more. Just last week, one of my freeze dryers had a mechanical issue, so I can now add repair woman to my list of roles. Prior to creating my business, I had no social media. Just navigating instagram, tiktok, and facebook was a challenge in itself in the beginning. While I value my privacy, I realized the hardships I went through in life and creating P’Z Candiez is something that could be shared to help others. It’s why I started my series on my social media where I talk about my family and things that led me here today. I hope others can learn and be inspired from my life experiences. Find something you love doing and use that to spread joy and kindness to others.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about P’Z Candiez LLC?
I named the business “P’Z Candiez” after our two beloved chihuahuas both coincidentally named Peanut (The “P’Z” aka Peanut SR and Peanut JR). They bring us so much love and joy to our lives that we want to bring the same amount of love and joy when people taste our freeze dried treats!
What sets us apart from others as a family owned small business is that we strive for inclusion with our products. There is something for everyone. Freeze dried fruits, veggies, candies, homegrown herbs/teas, peppers, seasonings, sprinkles, homemade desserts, ice cream, chocolate, sugar free candies, pet food, and more. We are constantly growing our product line and even do custom orders. Several products we now carry such as Big Hunks and tajin lemonheads have come from customers that requested a special order. We also offer freeze dried food services where customers can bring their own food to us to be freeze dried and packaged. This is a great way to save money, prevent food waste, and ensure their family is prepared for emergency preparedness. We also offer tastings and catering services where we will bring our freeze dried treats to your special event or place of business.
We know there are many freeze dried treats options out there but what we are most proud of is the service, quality, care, and love we put into our freeze dried treats. We make our freeze dried treats fresh to batch and hold our quality standards to the highest. We personal taste test every treat to make sure it’s up to standard before it gets packaged for our customers. From customers across the US to our local supporters, they all rave about how crunchy our treats are compared to other freeze dried products they’ve tried.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
My best advice for networking is to put yourself out there. Get involved with your community and think outside the box. We moved to Elgin, TX a few years ago and didn’t know anyone in town. I joined the Elgin Chamber of Commerce and met so many wonderful local business owners. Those interactions have led to several business opportunities and helped with our growth in the first year of being in business. Growing up, my parents taught me to get involved and help your community, so that is always at the forefront of our business.
We also donate baskets of freeze dried treats and funds to various nonprofit organizations such as the Elgin Juneteenth Organization, Elgin Livestock Show Association, Elgin Arts Association, Elgin Relay for Life, Elgin Texas Little League, Elgin VFW and more. We’re so appreciative of the love the community has shown us, we want to give back and help the community however we can.
Also, look for other opportunities to incorporate your product or business into something else. I have a passion for baking and recently started an Urban Farm Stand where I use freeze dried ingredients in various baked items. There is a rotating selection of sourdough bake goods ranging from Sourdough bread, focaccia bread, bagels, cinnamon buns, infused breads, and more. We also have homegrown freeze dried herbs, sourdough starter, and seasonings available in the stand. Our neighbors have really enjoyed participating in our free plant swap section. Soon we’ll be adding homegrown produce and herbs to our Urban Farm Stand. Never stop trying to be creative to introduce new eyeballs to your product.
Pricing:
- Freeze dried treats ranges from $5-$15
- Homegrown freeze dried herbs/teas/seasonings: $4-$25
- P’Z Candiez Merchandise: $3-$25
- Freeze dried Food Services for 30-35 lbs of food and packaging: $200
- Custom orders: contact us for free estimate
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.pzcandiez.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pzcandiez
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/14HSGonis94/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@pzcandiez
Image Credits
IG: La_Sirena_photography – credit for taking picture of my first pop up shop.
