Camila Alves arrived in the United States at 15, speaking just three sentences in English. Living with her aunt in Los Angeles, she worked in restaurants and as a cleaner while mastering the language and saving money. At 19, she headed to New York to find a modeling agent.
"I literally went to every agency in town, and they all said no until I was on the street with my wallet under my arm, crying, thinking it was all over," Alves, now 42, shared with Austin Woman magazine. "I thought maybe I should go back to Brazil." The last agency, Major Model Management, finally said yes.
In 2006, she met actor Matthew McConaughey at a bar. They soon moved in together, marrying in 2012. When not traveling, the family makes their home in Austin, Texas. Early on, they committed to a nomadic lifestyle—starting with McConaughey's cozy Airstream trailer in Malibu, California. Today, that sometimes includes piling into the same trailer with their three children: Levi, 15, Vida, 13, and Livingston, 11.
Raised in a Brazilian farming family, Alves loves cooking and experimenting with fresh ingredients. She prepares meals daily, no matter where they are. When Levi was born, she tried making his baby food from scratch, but the process proved tedious. That's when the idea struck: If she struggled to provide fresh, healthy food for her baby, so did other parents—and there was a market opportunity.
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"I have to work. I've worked all my life," Alves explains in Austin Woman. "Otherwise, I would go crazy. In my mind, I've always been a businesswoman. I love commercializing ideas, developing products, and hearing stories about how businesses start, grow, operate, and connect."
Focusing on fresh, healthy baby food, Alves sought advice on entering the food industry. She was told to partner with someone experienced. In 2014, a mutual friend introduced her to Agatha Achindu.
Mix it up
Also from a farming family—this time in Cameroon—Achindu connected instantly with Alves over their shared passion for cooking and organic baby foods. Achindu had started making homemade baby food for her son, JZ, craving the vibrant, fresh meals of her childhood.
"I saw organic baby food advertised as free of additives, fillers, hormones, pesticides, added sugar, or salt—slightly better than conventional options," Achindu recalls. "But something was wrong. It was all brown-gray mush, barely distinguishable. Even a jar labeled 'peas and water' had a long shelf life that screamed overprocessing."
"The food lacked vitality because it was cooked, heated, and processed multiple times," she adds. "Parents were feeding babies two-year-old jars."
As demand grew from friends and neighbors, Achindu launched Yummy Spoonfuls in 2006. It gained media buzz and celebrity fans, but scaling nationwide required a partner. Enter Alves—they talked for two hours and clicked immediately.
YUMMY SPOONFULS VIA BUSINESS WIRE
"She's from Africa, I'm from Brazil—we're daughters of farmers," Alves says. They bonded over farm life, harvesting produce, and a commitment to uncompromising quality.
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Their partnership propelled Yummy Spoonfuls to ship to Target stores nationwide, with plans for new products.
"Partnering with a friend I admire is a blessing," Achindu says. "We focus when needed, but our values and humor make it worthwhile."
Make a mess
Both find joy in making premium baby food accessible to all parents. Creating it, however, was trial-and-error, like perfecting a recipe.
Rejecting industry norms of overcooked purees, they were stunned by the lack of attention to infant nutrition compared to adult foods. Facilities fell short of their standards—no one else demanded such quality.
"There was no precedent," Alves notes.
A turning point came during a Dallas charity event with McConaughey. On a crucial call with a packing plant, they were told it couldn't meet their needs—despite prior assurances and site visits.
"I snuck down the fire escape for that call while Matthew was onstage," she recalls. Tears flowed in a golf cart afterward. Doubts crept in: "Maybe it's a sign to stop."
With experience from her handbag line Muxo (co-founded with her mother in 2008), Alves knew perseverance.
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In desperation, they approached an adult food packager: "If we buy the equipment, can you do it?" Yes. "That was our sign," Alves says.
They iterated endlessly, covered head-to-toe in peas after 20-hour days. Recalls hit, like sweet potatoes, testing resolve.
Ready to serve
"Entrepreneurship is scary," Alves admits, "but worth it. I'm a dreamer who rejects 'impossible.'"
She juggles Yummy Spoonfuls, her Women of Today site, and the Just Keep Living Foundation, offering after-school and fitness programs for underserved teens across four states and D.C.
A U.S. citizen since 2015, Alves mentors entrepreneurs: "Fear of the unknown holds people back. Surround yourself with believers in your vision. You'll hear 'no's'—find ways to make impossible possible. Failure isn't final."
Related: 12 Ways to Reinforce the Lessons of Failure
This article originally appeared in the December 2017 issue of SUCCESS magazine.
