From health scare to a business: How juice changed life for Miami entrepreneur

Business admin July 31, 2026 0 Comments

From health scare to a business: How juice changed life for Miami entrepreneur

Carol City painter Michael Wilcher walked into JuiceDefined, an Opa-locka juice bar, as if he grew up there. In his hands were two jars for fresh juices that were being made.

Fathiyyah “Tia” Doster, JuiceDefined’s owner, spoke to her customer as a friend. She caught up with him and asked how he was doing.

“It’s like you are coming to someone’s house,” said Doster, 42. “Nobody’s a stranger here.”

JuiceDefined has grown from Doster’s quest for wellness into a full-scale business.

Drinks that were served in mason jars for $8 in 2013 from her home are now $14, and her business boasts fresh fruits and vegetables as ingredients. Doster also offers a membership package for $100 a month that gives customers either 12 juices in 16-ounce bottles, or four half gallons of juice.

Customers will also get a 20% discount towards a smoothie. Doster estimates that her business completes about 100 juice orders a week.

Working for wellness

Doster’s aunt, Mae Mike, works with her at JuiceDefined and four interns help the two run the business. Doster is a Carol City native who transferred from Miami Carol City Senior High School to the School For Advanced Studies’ joint enrollment program with Miami-Dade College at the college’s Wolfson campus in downtown Miami.

In 2002, Doster graduated with her high school diploma from the School For Advanced Studies. She moved to Tampa to get her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of South Florida in 2005 and earned her master’s degree in mental health counseling from Springfield College in Massachusetts.

With two degrees, Doster began a career in social services as a case manager for people dealing with mental illnesses. She pivoted into working with people fighting substance abuse.

As Doster’s career progressed, she managed programs throughout South Florida, from Palm Beach to Liberty City. The experience taught her about management, organization and budgeting. While her life seemed to be in a good place, nothing could prepare her for what happened next.

In 2010, Doster was pregnant with her daughter, Ayah, and experienced the biggest health scare of her life.

“I was 37 weeks pregnant, when I had this severe, acute onset of preeclampsia,” she said. “My blood pressure just skyrocketed one day out of the blue.”

Doster had a seizure and multi-organ failure that kept her in the hospital four months after her daughter was born. Doster considers the experience to be the catalyst for her physical health and wellness journey.

Moving back home near family members in Miami made it easier for Doster to help take care of her daughter and showed Doster how few healthy food options were available in the community in which she grew up.

“If I wanted to go and buy cold-pressed juices, I had to go to downtown Miami at that time,” she said.

Taking a chance

By 2011, Doster was on dialysis and dealing with depression. Searching for solutions to her health problems introduced her to juicing and eating healthier foods.

Doster posted about her dialysis sessions and the juices she made to Facebook. Family and friends quickly responded. People on Facebook began asking Doster questions about juicing and if she could make bottles of juice for them to drink.

She began packaging some of the juices she made in mason jars and sold each jar for $8 from her home business.

“I was at a turning point where either you really engage the people and you sell it because people want it, or you continue on with it as a hobby and just keep sharing your story,” she said.

To cover the costs of starting her business, Doster used all of her savings, sold an investment property and got money from family members.

By 2020, the demand for Doster’s juices grew so much that she had to find a storefront.

She leased her current Opa-locka storefront at 854 Ali Baba Ave. and opened her business a year later in 2021. She waited to open her business because she got a long-awaited call for a kidney transplant.

The pandemic marked a shift in business because the new storefront was busy with customers looking for natural remedies to fight COVID-19. Drinks were available in sizes as large as half gallons.

“People would order five and six of them just to keep in their house,” she said.

Setting the bar

One former Carol City High classmate loved Doster’s products and didn’t realize that she was the person behind them.

Former University of Miami football player and NFL champion Sinorice Moss became familiar with Doster’s juices during the pandemic. He is an actor and spends time going back and forth from Miami to California. During one trip home to Miami, he tried a JuiceDefined blend — and was an instant fan.

“Juicing has benefited so many people,” said Moss, 42. “I think people are starting to care about how they feel, look and the longevity of life.”

Boosting Opa-locka business

Doster considers her business to be a part of Opa-locka’s resurgence, and she has become a community advocate for increased commerce.

“She’s the only Black-owned juice store in the city of Opa-locka,” said Mayor John Taylor. “She helps to promote health and wellness in Opa-locka. It’s not something that is pushed in our community.”

Taylor, 37, is a big supporter of Doster’s business because she exemplifies what a private-public partnership can look like.

“She set the bar,” he said. “You have small businesses in communities, and she’s not only in the community but gives back. She’s the ideal community partner. When you call her, she’s there.”