Daily Newsletters
Account
Washington Evening Journal
111 North Marion Avenue
Washington, IA 52353
319-653-2191
Blooming from within
Food truck spends winter in tropical paradise
WILLIAMSBURG — Iowa native Joslyn Hawkins brought the diet of Hawaii to her home state in the form of a food truck, and expanded the business with a cozy indoor space last winter.
Bloom emerged from Hawkins’ love of acai and a lifestyle that promotes health and happiness.
Hawkins graduated from West Burlington High School in 2013 and spent six years at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls earning a master’s degree in speech language pathology.
During her college years, Hawkins took part in the Camp Adventure program which sends students to American military bases, embassies and British military installations to run day camps for children of military personnel.
The program took Hawkins to Japan and Hawaii; the latter is where she had her first acai — a berry that comes from a South American palm.
Hawkins spent an additional semester in Hawaii while in graduate school as an intern at Tripler Army Medical Center.
Hawkins had planned to work in hospitals but found a job with Grant Wood Area Education Agency, working in Iowa City and Cedar Rapids.
She met her husband, Kyle, who was working as a physician assistant in rural family medicine in Brooklyn, Iowa.
The couple settled in Williamsburg.
During COVID, Hawkins worked virtually. A year later, 2021, things weren’t getting better. She wanted something different.
Because she worked in education, Hawkins had summers off, so she created a part-time job for herself around the healthy diet of Hawaii and the acai that she loved.
The result was Bloom.
“Our mission is to increase access to fresh food in rural Iowa,” Hawkins said.
Hawkins spent her savings on a 1960s-era P10 step van half the size of the truck she uses now. Known as Little Bessie, the van topped out at about 40 miles per hour, Hawkins said. Sometimes she wondered if it would start.
“But we made do.”
Little Bessie made her rounds to Marengo, Williamsburg, Grinnell, Brooklyn and Montezuma during the first summer. Last year Bloom added Iowa City to schedule.
“They have Science Thursday outside the research building,” said Hawkins.
The weekly event series in the courtyard between the Medical Education Research Facility, Eckstein Medial Research Building, Bowen Science Building and the Pappajohn Biomedical Discovery Building features science activities, food trucks and live music and is open to the public.
Bloom parks in the same spots during weekdays through the summer so customers know where to find it. The truck is in Marengo Wednesday, in Iowa City Thursday and at the Williamsburg Farmers Market Friday.
Weekends are usually spent at special events throughout the region. Last year, Bloom served bicyclists traversing the state during the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa.
Bloom keeps its menu simple: acai bowls, smoothies and fresh snacks. “We use local eggs. We try to use local produce in the summertime,” Hawkins said.
“We make all our own food. It’s not ordered in a box.”
During the first summer, Bloom experienced 30 minute wait times, which Hawkins knew was not sustainable. People don’t want to wait that long for a snack.
When Hawkins parked Little Bessie at the end of the summer of 2022, she started selling freezer bowls to get through the winter.
For her second summer season, Hawkins bought a 1960 Wonderbread truck that had been turned into a waffle food truck. Hawkins bought the truck from a professional basketball player in Minnesota, she said.
Big Bessie is larger and can handle the additional bodies needed to serve customers in less time.
“It’s really quite an operation to watch,” said Hawkins. Two people work on toppings, two on blending, two take orders and one person fills in where needed. Usually that’s Hawkins dealing with safety issues and stocking supplies, she said.
The environment is noisy, but it has to work like a well-oiled machine. “We say communication is key.”
“It’s really been cool to watch the girls [grow],” said Hawkins. They practice so as to become faster, but they also have to top things correctly.
Summer Hilligas is Hawkins’ business partner. They split a lot of the management duties. “We couldn’t have done this store front without her,” Hawkins said.
As the summer of 2023 came to a close, Hawkins needed to find a place to store Big Bessie.
“I knew about this space last year,” said Hawkins from Bloom’s winter quarters under 1890 Lofts on West State Street in Williamsburg. The building, owned by Mackenzie Galli, has a tall garage door in the back, but it also has space for a sitting area.
Hawkins realized that Bloom could be open during the winter. “It just kind of fell together,” Hawkins said.
The food is still served out of the truck, but customers can sit beneath a canopy in outdoor chairs surrounded by bamboo.
“We always tell people to come sit on the Bloom lagoon.”
And they do. They arrive in winter coats and snow boots to consume fresh food in a tropical paradise.
“It’s always sunny at Bloom,” said Hawkins.
Bloom is “so much more than a food truck,” said Hawkins. It’s a philosophy. A sign on the wall encourages guests to “Bloom from Within.”
“You can get all the exterior fixes,” said Hawkins, but people won’t see a transformation and find happiness unless they bloom from within with good thoughts and good nutrition.
The food truck gives people the nutrition part of the equation. Yoga promotes the good thoughts.
While Hawkins operates Bloom in the back of the building, she has a yoga studio in the front. It’s not a revenue builder, said Hawkins, but it benefits the community.
With temperatures on the rise, Big Bessie is itching to leave the barn. Bloom will breakdown the inside space the end of April, though it will still be Bloom’s home base.
The yoga studio will be open all summer, and grab-and-go snacks will be available.
But Bessie will be on the road Tuesday through Saturday. People can start watching the streets for Bloom in June.
