Eleven-year-old Maruxa fervently wishes she could blend into the wall of her living room. Her flushed face won’t allow it, and neither will her traitorous new boobs. Her shoulders slowly hunch forward as two older teenagers she admires tease her about her almost fully developed chest.
“They’re so perky!” They laugh as they make a cupping motion with their hands, referencing the scene in 16 candles where Samantha essentially gets felt up by her grandmother. It’s the early 90s, and though 16 Candles is almost a decade old, it’s their favorite movie. Outwardly, the girl laughs with them, but inside, the budding young woman feels the beginning of what most of us experience in life at one point or another. Body shame.
In school, she is one of few girls with a size C cup. She looks at her peers with their narrow hips and wishes she could take a magic shrinking pill. It takes the girl 20 years, an eating disorder overcome, and a degree in counseling to fully ripen into her womanhood, into the Maruxa (pronounced Muh-roo-shah) Murphy of today. In fact, it takes until she is a mother of three young girls for her to look in the mirror and feel truly beautiful. To not only accept but embrace the big Amber eyes, golden skin, deep brown hair, and yes, even the comfy, voluptuous curves.
The mirror reflects a body which provides comfort for her daughters as they rest against her. It holds the echo of passionate past-times with her husband, behind closed doors. She accepts and loves what she sees because life is too dang short not to. But the biggest reason is because of the three pairs of eager brown eyes which look up to her. Maruxa knows that if she engages in negative self-talk, their little ears will absorb it, and ever so slowly, self-doubt will take root within them.
“Calling our coffee company Perky Perky is a daily reminder that I’ve grown up from that time of my life where I had a lot of shame in my body. Now, when I hear Perky Perky, it’s empowering. It’s like yeah, I have these great boobs, look at that! It’s about celebrating the quirky parts, the great things about me, things I feel challenged by, and giving myself grace and love anyway.”
Five-year-old Maruxa sits up straight at the table with her father and his friends. He is an architect and they are foreign dignitaries. She wears her best dress, and inhales the warm aroma of coffee, envious of each sip the grown-ups get to take. Her father allows her to dip her pinky finger into the cup for just a taste on those days, but she yearns for more.
From this, a coffee connoisseur was born. When she turned 18, she went coffee crazy, cupping with the sophisticated crowd every chance she got (cupping is to coffee what wine tasting is to wine). All her coffee is small batch, craft roasted; meaning that unlike most of the coffee you buy online, they ensure that all beans are uniform and roasted to caramelized perfection.
For Maruxa, Perky Perky isn’t only about the coffee itself, it’s about the ethically sourced co-op farmers in Costa Rica she helps support, and who support her. It’s in the experience she seeks to create for her consumers, namely, women. From the empowering message on the back of her packaging, “You’re driven and you’re grounded. In short, you are incredible!” to her special pocket-sized messages hidden inside each bag of coffee. Her goal above all, is to help women start each day with intention, and to know that they are beautiful, just as they are.
Women have sent her letters, detailing some of the ways Perky Perky and Maruxa have touched their lives. Letters which say things like, “This daily practice has inspired me to become an entrepreneur”, and “By taking the time each morning to sit in quiet and read your messages, I was able to find the courage to leave an abusive relationship. Thank you.”
Through her facebook group, #AroundtheCup, she invites women to step into their power from the first cup of the day onward. Each week in this group, she hosts a coffee session with other women who are doing great things in the world, to serve as motivation.
“Life is too short to settle for mediocrity.” Maruxa says when asked what her message to women is, regardless of whether they choose to purchase their wake-up drink through her.
“Today, and always, we have the opportunity to be present, to be appreciative of all we have around us, and all we have within us. Let’s fully choose to live in the goodness of what life can offer…because there is so much good, if we allow ourselves to enjoy that and to accept it.”
If this story resonates with you, let’s show her some love! You can find her coffee at https://www.perkyperky.com/
*Disclaimer* we do not receive any kickbacks for coffee sold.
written by: Katie Girard
