From Kazan to West U: How Shared Values Connect a Tatar Visitor and a Houston Couple
A Tatar visitor finds familiar values in a Houston juice bar run by a retired engineer and optometrist.
From Ecuador to Houston’s West U, Fernando and Lorena Vizcaino have turned a juice bar into a second act rooted in service. Along the way, Pure Green has become a refuge during storms, a hub for wellness and a space where small routines inspire big change.
When retired Ecuadorian professionals Fernando and Lorena Vizcaino opened Pure Green in Houston’s West University, they weren’t just serving smoothies—they were modeling discipline, hospitality and purpose. From staying open during Hurricane Beryl to mentoring staff with daily consistency, they created a wellness space grounded in shared values. A visiting Tatar writer from Kazan found echoes of Turkic cultural ideals in the Vizcainos’ story, proving how small businesses can become bridges across cultures.
It’s mid-July, and I’ve driven half an hour during my lunch break from just outside Houston to meet Fernando and Lorena Vizcaino, the husband-and-wife team behind Pure Green West University. Nestled next to a flagship Kroger in a bright shopping strip, the juice and smoothie bar welcomes a steady trickle of customers even in the middle of a weekday. Inside, there are only two bar-height tables, but the space feels open, clean and calming.
Lorena Vizcaino, co-owner of Pure Green West U, brings warmth, discipline and years of healthcare experience to every smoothie served. For her and her husband, Fernando, their success comes from a commitment to enriching the lives of others.
Lorena moves briskly between the front counter and the kitchen behind a swing door. Fernando thanks a customer, flashes a quick smile and turns to greet me. “We want to make sure when customers come, they feel they are at home, that they feel very comfortable with the place, the staff, the menu,” he says, adding, “That’s hospitality to me.”
Back home in Kazan, where I grew up in a Tatar-Turkish family, the instinct to create ease and comfort feels familiar. What I found at Pure Green offered more than customer service — it was a second act rooted in purpose and values. That matters to me, especially as someone shaped by Turkic and Russian cultures, where serving others and working with integrity go hand in hand.
Before smoothies, Fernando managed budgets and engineering teams at Hewlett-Packard. Born in Ecuador, he studied engineering in Brazil before relocating to Houston for a job at Compaq. Lorena, originally from Ecuador as well, built a career as an optometrist.
After decades of working in systems and surgeries, they reached a turning point: retired but not finished. “We didn’t want to sit at home and do nothing,” Fernando says. “When you stop doing, you start aging fast.”
He and Lorena both believed in staying active — physically, mentally and spiritually. They began looking for a business model that reflected their values: wellness, discipline and connection. That search led them to Pure Green, a franchise committed to nutrient-dense smoothies, superfoods and health-oriented lifestyles.
Their grand opening landed on July 4th weekend, 2024, just as hurricane Beryl rolled into Houston. Roads flooded. Power went out across the city. But somehow, their store stayed lit.
They opened anyway.
Lorena poses with team member Stephanie. Fellow team member Lesley Espino speaks highly of Lorena and Fernando. “They’re very generous and caring people. … They kind of pass it onto us.”
People wandered in, phones in hand, looking for places to charge or simply to escape the tension outside. Fernando and Lorena greeted them with smoothies and conversation.
That weekend set the tone: Pure Green West U wasn’t just a juice bar. It became a shelter, a meeting space, and a model of calm in crisis. One of the bar’s most popular offerings is the Blue Banana smoothie, made with bananas and natural blue spirulina. Another favorite, the Pure Green, blends kale, spinach and fruit so well that even kids and self-proclaimed veggie-haters leave surprised.
“Even I had to learn what spirulina does,” Fernando jokes. “But now we guide people through what’s inside, and they leave knowing more than when they came in.”
For the Vizcainos, wellness starts with listening. Every conversation is an invitation to learn — not just about food, but about what someone needs to feel better walking out than they did walking in.
Fernando and Lorena lead by living it. They mentor their employees by example—not through slogans but through small acts done consistently.
“We always say, ‘Extraordinary goals can be achieved by doing ordinary tasks with discipline and consistency,’” Fernando notes. That motto shows up in how they clean, how they schedule, and how they interact with their team.
Lesley Espino, a team member at Pure Green, describes it in terms of the generosity and care they demonstrate with every customer. “They're very passionate about their stores. They kind of not push it onto us, but they pass it onto us,” she says.
She explains how the job taught her to be mindful of every shift: “Whatever I do in the morning affects the afternoon team, and whatever I do at night affects the next day. So, I try to think ahead.”
In an industry known for high turnover, that kind of awareness doesn’t happen by accident.
Fernando and Lorena lead by living out Pure Green’s mission statement. Every conversation is an invitation to learn—not just about food but about what someone needs to feel better walking out than they did walking in.
For Lorena, joy is the real metric of success. “If you come and leave a little bit happier,” she says, “then my job is done.”
She sees wellness as more than nutrition—it’s a chain reaction of kindness. “We need to help each other,” she adds. “We are able to change the lives of others. We don’t have to do all of it. At least pick one.”
In the end, what makes this story worth sharing isn’t the açaí bowls or the cold-pressed juices. It’s the quiet discipline and deep care behind them. Reinvention, for the Vizcainos, doesn’t mean abandoning the past. It means refining it—using what they’ve learned about structure, service and compassion to build something rooted, refreshing and real.