North Texas Daily

Ginger, lemon and pineapple.

Those three simple ingredients do not make an after-workout snack — it makes a juice. Along with those ingredients, the words “100 percent natural juice” stand out on the bottle, and it even has its own name — Sunflower. Simple inside and outside, DoseofSemaj Juice has nothing to hide.

Launched two months ago, this business venture is just the beginning, and it all started with a juicer.

So today I launched my juice business
It’s 100% Natural, Healthy, and Good as Hell?#UNT #DFW #Houston #DoseoofSemajJuice pic.twitter.com/NBoCcL5rZZ

— Zariah ?? (@ZeeSemaj) February 3, 2018

“My mom stays on her feet for a living, so she has really bad back problems,” said Zariah Hunter, the founder of DoseofSemaj. “The doctors would put her on a lot of medication, and we tried to figure out a natural way to heal her pain. I went and bought a juicer over winter break, and we started to look up different ingredients for inflammation. It helped so that after I got back from winter break, I bought myself a juicer.”

Having already bought the name before, Hunter decided to settle her juice business under the umbrella DoseofSemaj Juice.

“DoseofSemaj is my brand as a whole, but DoseofSemaj Juice is something I branched off and did,” Hunter said. “My niche is really fashion, but [DoseofSemaj Juice] is just something that flourished.”

DoseofSemaj itself is an extension of Hunter’s own personality and persona. As a free-spirited merchandising and digital retailing student, Hunter does not want to corner herself into one niche — rather, she embraces all sides of herself.

“DoseofSemaj means you get a dose of things that I like,” Hunter said.

Zariah Hunter’s company DoseofSemaj Juice has four different juices: Sunflower, Enthusiasm, AppleZee and Greenie. Each bottle sells for $8.

The juice side of her brand launched on Feb. 3 with a single tweet that has now already reached 23,430 people. Hunter’s mom said the success is due to her daughter’s passion and the Denton student community.

“It is all by word of mouth,” Hunter’s mom Khalilah Hunter said. “That word reaches Twitter and Instagram.”

Balancing work, school and her business can be a hassle, but having people around to aide her is Hunter’s recipe for success. Along with her mother, her friend Tasha Battle, an accounting student, has been DoseofSemaj Juice’s brand ambassador since it began.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, Battle will sell the juices on campus, introduce students to the juice life and promote DoseofSemaj Juice, helping Hunter move products faster.

“I truly am proud to call Zariah a friend and to be there to see her create and cultivate her brand,” Battle said. “She is more than a juice brand — she has so many talents that will make her very successful. I plan on seeing her go far, and I’m glad I’m there to see it happen. It’s also an amazing brand made by a college student to help other students.”

The success of the business, which was initially a side endeavor, has Hunter contemplating on expansion. DoseofSemaj already serves the Houston, Denton and Dallas areas, but Hunter’s end goal is to get the product in stores.

Partnering with local businesses, such as Scrumpdiliumptious to cater at their Scrump Day, has also given Hunter the opportunity to meet new faces and discover the student body.

“I knew this would be a success when she sold out on the first day,” Khalilah said. “This is her baby, and I can’t wait when it’s in H.E.B and grocery stores.”

This natural juice made with simple ingredients is meant to entice customers and perhaps help the UNT student body eat healthier.

“I’ve loved the response,” Hunter said. “I can cater to the students. If I can provide a juice for them versus them eating hot chips and Gatorade, why not?”

Battle agrees with Hunter.

“It’s made by a beautiful black woman who is passionate about people and their health,” Battle said. “She takes the time to make healthy juices that not only taste good, but will impact her customers’ health in a positive way.”

From initially ordering 30 bottles to fill to now ordering 300 bottles, Hunter hopes the juice continues to grow. Although it was a steep learning curve at first, Hunter has used the advice of close relatives and friends to learn and grow with the business itself.

Her Sunflower, Applezee, Greenie and Enthusiasm juices are just the start as Hunter plans to expand in the future while still continuing her goal to provide deliciously healthy food alternatives. Each bottle of juice is made with less than five ingredients and is 100 percent natural with no additives or flavors.

“When it says cucumber, that’s a real cucumber,” Hunter said. “When it says apple, it’s a real apple — not apple puree.”

Featured Image: Zariah Semaj, a UNT student, operates her own local, 100 percent natural juice business in Denton. Semaj also markets herself on various social media as DoseofSemaj. Omar Gonzalez