Just over a decade ago, Hope Peshlakai and her husband, Aaron, saw a neighbor in need and wanted to know what they could do to help.
“We had a family of friends that needed help paying some bills, so I had the idea to throw a Navajo taco sale for them,” said Peshlakai when she spoke to What Now Phoenix on Friday. “We just put up some signs to sell Navajo tacos, and all the proceeds went to that family.”
Peshlakai, born and raised on a reservation, took what she had learned from her upbringing and poured her love into the food.
“After our first popup, we raised some interest and people kept asking about when we were going to do it again,” she said.
Fortunately, they had a friend who owned a property on Power Road who offered them a spot should they decide to do another popup. After trying it out once, they decided to do weekend popup sales and started growing the business from there.
“Within the 10-year time frame we’ve been doing this, we’ve done popups, weddings, fundraisers, and just built everything from there. It wasn’t until about two years ago when we decided this could be an actual thing.”
As of now, the couple is looking for a home to build their first brick-and-mortar store, with the hopes of it being open by November, if not October.
“The post-COVID building costs have been astronomical, but we’re looking at a Downtown Mesa location,” Peshlakai confirmed.
In the meantime, the couple has a GoFundMe set up to help them raise some of the funds necessary to bring their dream to life. You can follow their Facebook and Instagram for updates as they work toward their grand opening.
