When I first came to the United States in 2004, I carried the American dream in my heart. I was a young woman from Brazil, full of hope and ambition. Soon after arriving, I found love and married, becoming a stay-at-home mom to two beautiful children. For ten years, I poured my heart into my family. But when my marriage ended, I found myself at a crossroads—no job, no income, and two children to care for.
I started working at Dunkin' Donuts for $9 an hour, but it wasn’t enough. That’s when my parents stepped in and bought me a small Western Union/ convenience store. I had never run a business before, but I learned quickly. I learned to survive. I learned to be an entrepreneur. When competition started to crowd me out and overhead became too high, I had my AHA moment: I knew I needed something new, something mine. That’s when I took a leap of faith and started Maha Juice Bar.
I’ve always juiced, even back in Brazil—it was a way of life. When the idea of opening a juice bar came to me, I threw myself into researching everything about running a juice bar and operating a restaurant. Since I had no one to test my recipes on before opening, I reached out to a local business owner, Charlotte Walsh, owner of Charles River Running in Norwood, MA, who believed in me. She helped tremendously by sending her running club to try us out on opening day. Word of mouth spread quickly, and that’s how Maha Juice Bar began to thrive. It didn’t happen overnight—it happened through community, courage, and a whole lot of blending from the heart.
Opening Maha in 2018 was a leap of faith. We started with one goal: offer something pure, something real. But behind every bowl and every smoothie was something even deeper—my story, my family, my faith, and my love for community.
Today, Maha Juice Bar has grown to three locations: Norwood, Franklin, and Cambridge—and we’ve taken an even bigger step: we became a franchise so we can reach more and more communities across the States. A lot of people think I’m crazy for doing that, but the vision to serve healthy food to more people is worth the challenge.
If you believe in what Maha stands for—authentic food, real ingredients, genuine service, and a space that values balance and wellness—we invite you to continue this journey with us. Your support means everything. Whether it’s stopping by for your favorite bowl, telling a friend, or leaving a kind review, you are helping to keep this vision alive. Maha Juice Bar isn’t just another juice bar. It’s a heartbeat in this community, and that heartbeat is you.
Article by
Marci Pastorio
Published on
July 10th, 2025