Inspiration for Leslie Verbryke’s side gig came to her the way a lot of today’s ideas strike: through TikTok. The Orcutt resident saw a content creator who had refurbished a horse trailer, turning it into a beverage stand.
“She started selling lemonade out of it to pay for pharmacy school, so I kind of took a deep dive into her story and everything like that and started thinking, ‘Maybe we can start doing this during the summer,’” Verbryke told the Sun.
Sweet ’n’ sour
Hop in line at The Lemonade Boss from Nov. 6 to 8 at the Buellton Fall Festival. Stay up to date on future events by following @thelemonadeboss805 on Instagram.
Over the rest of the year, she works as a behavior technician for the Orcutt Union School District. Having something extra to keep her busy on weekends and in summers was appealing, she thought.
Verbryke also wanted to get her sons involved in a classic family business, and after talking through the idea of The Lemonade Boss with her husband, she started buying supplies.
Their first appearance was three years ago in her hometown of Los Alamos for Old Days. Flash forward to today, and the next event on the books is the Buellton Fall Festival from Nov. 6 to 8.
“I recruited my whole family, and all of us pulled together,” Verbryke said. “It was such a success, and the kids really enjoyed it. So we continued to do it. We would do it for baseball games and just kind of little side things. It took off faster than what we were prepared for.”
Right away, Verbryke said she knew the idea would be a hit. She enjoyed handing over freshly squeezed lemonade to every smiling face. The feeling was “priceless,” she said, the reason why she’s kept up with the business.
The Lemonade Boss was a tented booth in its early days. Verbryke, along with her husband and their now 15- and 11-year-old sons, popped up at youth sports, community events, artisan fairs, and parties. Students from her district also volunteered with the business to earn community service hours. Verbryke’s good friend and colleague, Erica Chacon, offered another pair of hands if Verbryke’s husband had to work or got sick.
“There were a lot of learning curves, a lot of stressful days, but they were the ones that really pulled it together,” Verbryke said of her friends and family.
Original lemonade flavors included strawberry, watermelon, peach, mango, blue raspberry, cotton candy, hibiscus, and lavender. Customers could mix and match flavors, but there weren’t any specialty drinks on the menu yet.
Eventually, as demand kept growing, Verbryke and her husband purchased a cargo trailer to haul equipment across the county to events. Yet it was still difficult for Verbryke to set everything up if her husband couldn’t be there. Just unloading ice chests was a chore if she was solo.
So the couple pulled the trigger and bought a food trailer during Fourth of July weekend this year. It was up and running to make a debut at the September barbecue festival in Santa Maria, and they were so busy that Verbryke’s husband had to run to the store multiple times for more ice, lemons, and sugar. The Lemonade Boss’ tent had appeared at the event for the two years prior, and everyone was excited to see it return on wheels.
“I spent so much time looking online trying to find the right trailer that was used, but there weren’t a whole lot of options because a lot of them are for food, not a lot of just plain cold trailers,” Verbryke explained. “I ended up getting ahold of this one company on Facebook, and they were selling one. They talked me into just getting one that I can build myself.”
She and her husband picked up the trailer in Reno, where it had been transported from Texas. They designed everything in the interior to suit The Lemonade Boss’ needs.
The bright pink shell is retrofitted with coolers, a lemon slicer, rows of flavored syrups, a muddling station, and an automatic shaker waiting to be installed.
With the expanded business model also came a larger menu. Verbryke recently added boba—which usually sells out—and dirty sodas to the list.
“We’re still working on the dirty sodas, but it’s coming along. We have a raspberry one that has been really popular,” Verbryke said.
She and her crew make lattes, teas, energy drinks, and of course, lemonade. Now there are specialty “boss” flavors, like One in a Melon, Peach Please, and Boss Berry.
The founder’s favorite is the Boss Berry lemonade, a refreshing profile of raspberry and strawberry. On the dirty soda end, she enjoys the caramel apple blend topped with a caramel apple lollipop.
Presentation is very important at The Lemonade Boss. Drinks are served in 32-ounce plastic deli containers and often come with a fun topper, like a gummy candy.
“I’m a theme person,” Verbryke described. “I’m really interested to see what we have going on for Christmas and all of the holidays.”
During the Halloween season, Verbryke 3D printed little skeletons as finishing touches. Delivering sweet (and sometimes spooky) moments to customers is what keeps her going.
“Seeing the people’s faces when they receive their drinks and watching my kids kind of do it on their own too, … [I’m] so proud of them,” Verbryke added.
Her sons have gained confidence interacting with others and learned what it takes to manage an operation like The Lemonade Boss.
“My youngest son, he has ADHD and autism, so having him be able to be a part of something and get that exposure of talking with people, the responsibility, all that comes with owning a business, the behind-the-scenes stuff,” she said. “My oldest one has done such a great job taking that role on of helping our youngest son build the confidence and the new skills that come with all this.”
Her kids have also taken on bigger roles at home and help with inventory counts for the trailer. It’s a team effort that leaves the family with little downtime, Verbryke said, but she wouldn’t want it any other way.
In between event bookings and her job at the school district, Verbryke finds time to dream about The Lemonade Boss’ future. She still follows the TikTok influencer who originally inspired her concept. That creator now has three trailers and travels the country teaching others how to start a lemonade business.
“The thoughts are endless. I never stop thinking about what things could be,” Verbryke said. “Just hearing her story and thinking of where this could go, I’m very interested to see.”
Staff Writer Madison White quite likes a glass of lemonade on a warm day. Or even a cool one. Send sunshine and sugar to mwhite@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in November 5 – November 12, 2026.
