Meet Amelia and Cristina León | Co-Owners if No Nut Vegan Sweets

We had the good fortune of connecting with Amelia and Cristina León and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amelia and Cristina, how do you define success?
I think success means being happy with what you do, no matter what anyone else says. If you are proud of your relationships, your work, your life I think that is success because you are owning what you do. Success isn’t always making a million dollars, getting married, or winning awards. Everyone’s journey is different so success can mean a lot of things to everyone. Even small positive impacts on you or other people’s life can be a success because you’re striving to improve something step by step. Success is a journey, not a singular moment, and you’ll know when you experience it when you feel it.

What should our readers know about your business?
We are a top 8 allergen free and vegan dessert company that makes food accessible for those with dietary restrictions. That’s what sets us apart from other dessert companies. The reason we wanted to make desserts without these allergens is because our co-owner Amelia is severely allergic to nuts and could never enjoy good desserts because of it. Realizing others with allergies experienced the same lack of accessibility, we decided to make a top 8 allergen free company that people with allergies and dietary restrictions can enjoy. This was absolutely not an easy take. We had many, many failures. Making allergen free desserts is hard because we can’t use regular ingredients or methods to make them. We have a lot of trial and errors to develop the recipes and sometimes it just doesn’t work. But we’ve made it this far because of our persistence and our belief that people with allergies deserve the same access to desserts as anyone else and our dream to make desserts more accessible. One of the greatest lessons we’ve learned is that business is not as easy as it looks! Our parents never owned a business so we couldn’t really go to them for advice. When we started this business we didn’t know what to expect, but it’s definitely harder than it looks on Shark Tank. Although it’s challenging, we love what we do and that’s what makes it worth it! Lastly, our business at its root is a progressive one. We care about sustainability, social justice, and accessibility. We are queer, BIPOC, Latine, trans, and women owned and that’s why we care so much about including other people, because we know what it’s like to be left on the outside. We strive to make this world a better place one dessert at a time.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We definitely recommend Planta Queen in Coconut Grove for a nice, fancy dinner. The Yellow Green Farmers market is also a nice place to go to get your fix with local businesses. We would hang out at Wilton Manors, a gay neighborhood, and shop at Out of the Closet which donates to HIV organizations. Finally we’d end the trip at the Historic Virginia Key Beach where we’d have a nice picnic.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The Reflect Collective deserves a HUGE shoutout for hosting us at their Queer Market for Pride Month and supporting our queer owned business. StartUp FIU has also supported us in our entrepreneurial journey. We also want to thank our parents for believing in us and supporting us on whatever way they can.

We will be at Dessert Wars on September 26th!

Website: Https://www.nonutvegansweets.com

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