Changing schedules, meeting classmates and buying textbooks consumes most UA students’ first two weeks of the semester.

Yet, that’s not the case for business sophomore Eddie Prchal.

As a 20-year-old business owner, Prchal’s days begin at 5:30 a.m. and consist of managing a staff of eight, promoting his supplement and smoothie store and planning events.

Prchal decided to take only one class this semester to focus entirely on running NRG Blends.
“Last semester I thought I could do the whole class load and, to be honest, with this much behind everything and this type of place … it’s kind of just too much,” Prchal said.

Prchal opened his business when he was 19, getting NRG Blends up and running in six months. The construction took a month and a half and the design process came together based on what Prchal thought would look most appealing.

Some of the challenges he dealt with were the recipes, figuring out what to put in the store and putting together an actual business plan.

“It went from a business plan of 10 pages, to returning with 120,” Prchal said. “Every single detail was mapped out, which once we got into the process we realized wasn’t even that much.”

The soft opening of the store, located on East Sixth Street, took place mid-October of last year, and the grand opening was Nov. 4, 2012. Prchal said business has been good since opening, although there was a decline due to students returning home for winter break.

His success thus far has not come easily. Prchal said it took losing everything to realize how much it was all worth.

A little more than three years ago, Prchal lost his mother to cancer and, on the same day, his family lost their home.

“I’ve heard it a million times, but until you actually lose it you don’t understand what it is,” Prchal said.

However, he said his personal struggles helped him gain the motivation to set up a plan and open his store.

“I think I would have been a lot less motivated … I figured out the things I want to do in life,” Prchal said. “If I grew up the same way I was before everything happened, I wouldn’t have been motivated at all.”

Prchal’s family can vouch for how driven and able to overcome challenges he is.

“Eddie is just a really great guy. He’s always motivated to do something new,” said Andrew Prchal, Eddie’s younger brother and a junior at Chaparral High School in Scottsdale. “He just cares so much about everyone around him.”

When thinking about his plans after graduation, Eddie Prchal said he wanted to stick with his current employment, or do something similar.

“You never know what’s going to happen with it. Just stick with it,” Prchal said. “A lot of people say they’re going to do things and never do … you usually have the most fun with the things you stick with.”