Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Amanda Sosa Stone, Co-Founder of Grounding Roots, located in Winter Park, FL, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Grounding Roots was founded by Jedidiah and me. Born from a passion for a healthy family, Jedidiah started formulating recipes that his family and friends would benefit from. We have turned this passion into helping others live a healthier lifestyle by serving nutrient-rich juices, food, and healthy local products. Our customers range from the young 20s to late '70s and everyone in between. The mission of Grounding Roots is to help people live a healthier lifestyle by giving their bodies the best possible nutrition and to educate and motivate our customers to become their own health advocates.
Tell us about yourself
We started juicing (like many others) to find relief from an unknown autoimmune disease attacking our family. Two years after opening the juice bar, my daughter Lily and I were diagnosed with Lyme disease. Our doctors believe that our juice has been foundational to our success in healing. We feel we are unique compared to other juice bars for Two reasons. One, we are medically driven. That's what 100% separates us from the crowd. We have doctors referring customers to us daily. When creating a juice, we focus on the benefits first. We ask, why do you need this in our body? How will it help the person drinking it? Once we get the formula right for benefits, we then dial in the taste. The taste is crucial for us. We do not want anyone puckering up when they drink our juice. We want it to be enjoyed. We believe that our body communicates to us and also knows what it needs. If a juice does not taste good to you, listen to that. We offer free juice flights to sample our juices, to ensure they are buying the right juice for their body. We want to see our customers thriving in their health. We have so many health testimonials; we believe that is our true success.
Second, we ensure our customers have easy access to our juice through our weekly delivery subscriptions. We compare this service to the old-fashioned milkman service, just cooler and hipper (and female)! We deliver to a 25-mile radius from our shop currently and have just expanded into Celebration. We are thankful to keep this momentum growing.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
The love and passion put into each juice by my husband to help me and my daughter thrive is sometimes incomprehensible. It's his immense love that inspires me to push that love forward and help more people. As the company's current CEO, I am reminded daily why we do what we do, and I feel blessed to serve this community. I started this business as a "sick" woman often stuck in bed, and now I serve our community as the CEO. This is never lost on me, and each day I feel thankful for the work we do.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
The unknown challenges. For us, produce has always been one of our biggest challenges. Waking up in the middle of the night worrying about tomorrow's produce delivery is real.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Know your why.
- Don't take no for an answer.
- Know your numbers.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://groundingroots.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groundingroots
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/groundingroots/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/groundingroots
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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