Article originally published to the Hannibal Courier Post. Written by Mary Lou Montgomery on March 16, 2024.

HANNIBAL — Among Hannibal’s youngest entrepreneurs, Kendel Locke, 20, already has a business season under her belt.

Her business is Hula Bowls, which she operated during the spring and summer of 2023.

Now, the marketing and entrepreneurship major is looking forward to May. That month, she will not only earn her bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, but will also reopen her business, Hula Bowls, for a second season. The business is located between U.S. 36 and West Ely Road, on Veterans Road.

This year’s business presence will look much different than in the past, she said.
When she reopens the business on May 18, it will be in a new building. “I designed the building with the help of Mr. Schellenberger’s drafting class at the HCTC. The five student-architects met with me a few times to discuss a plan for the building, and in the end provided me with a CAD floor plan that all of the building’s contractors have since followed,” she said.

Instead of the shed-type building that housed Hula Bowls last season, this year the building will be 30x40 square feet, with indoor seating and outside decks on two sides, to allow for sun and shade seating, plus a drive through. There will be ample kitchen space, which will allow more menu items to be introduced.

“Honestly, I started Hula Bowls because I wanted something to put on my resume. I was looking to get into a pretty competitive graduate school program, and I needed more business experience to list,” she said. “I started experimenting with different ideas, businesses I could do for the summer” that would make her resume stand out from other applicants.

When she graduated from Hannibal High School in 2022, she already had amassed college credit hours via dual enrollment. “HHS is fantastic with giving students opportunities to get credits and experience. In college you do 120 hours, I transferred in 54 hours and took placement tests for other credits.

She took advantage of summer school and mid-term courses, thus is completing her bachelor’s degree program in two years, rather than four.

During her coursework, “I did a lot of market research. I’m in school for marketing and entrepreneurship. I’ve used different projects and assignments I’ve been given to learn about my business in real life.”

“I settled on acai bowls,” she said. “Hannibal doesn’t have many healthy drive-through options, and nothing that is allergy friendly. Since Hula Bowls is all of those things, I thought that this would be something that the people wanted.

“I was way more right than I was planning on being,” she said. She started last summer off with herself and three friends. “I had my pre-summer schedule already made up; but after our opening weekend I realized I needed more people. We rapidly grew, finishing the season with 25 employees on the cycle.”

A second Hula Bowls is in the works

First, beginning May 18, Hula Bowls in Hannibal will be open year-around; and second, beginning in June, there will be a second location, at 3000 N. Broadway in Quincy, Ill., right next to Papa Murphy’s.

A healthy product

Hula Bowls are an adaptation of acai bowls, “which were already a thing,” Kendel said. In addition to the bases made from acai fruit from the Amazon Rain Forrest, she also offers dragon fruit, mango and coconut bases.

On top of the bases “you put on toppings: granola, fresh fruit, peanut butter, honey, coconut flakes and more to build up a combo. We have a menu, or we can customize to make everything the customer wants.

“We hand-cut all the fruit that we sell, and we’ve definitely gotten really fast at it,” she says, “our customers always compliment how fresh our products are. People crave fresh fruit, and we have it.”

Kendel and staff make it a point to listen to their customers. If a certain topping or change is requested, they do their best to provide it. “We have the best customers, and we respect their input. Afterall, they are the ones in line buying the bowls every day.”

A good thing

This year, “we’re going to keep a lot of things the same,” she said. “We got into a rhythm that worked really well last year. A lot of things are still trial and error. I try to be open and flexible with the feedback I get from my employees and customers.

“I love my staff. The people that work with me care about the success of Hula Bowls as much as I do. I couldn’t ask for better people behind me. My customers love them too. I have some of the best!”

Kendel strives to make a difference in her community.

In order to encourage other young people to establish businesses in Hannibal, she has created a scholarship for entrepreneurial-minded students. She is offering $1,000 for startup capital to a Hannibal High School student who is interested in starting a business. “I’m excited to see who applies. Hannibal is growing with so many new businesses coming in. There is a lot of potential, and I want to encourage more growth as much as I can.”