At the end of 2015, I found myself in Hawaii packing up my dad’s belongings and handling his last affairs. During his last two years, I had been his person – his caretaker every day during his battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). He was 58 when he was diagnosed, 20 years older than I was as I packed those boxes. He was 61 when he passed.
My dad was an adventurer and a risk taker. Nothing made him more proud than proving naysayers wrong, which he did quite often. He lived a big full life that I had the chance to see evidence of as I went through boxes of photos and memories.
It made me stop and think, what if I knew I only had 20 more years? What evidence of adventures would I want to have packed away in boxes? What are the photos I would want my son to look at that would make him smile, knowing his mom had lived a big, full life? What wild risks do I want to take and be remembered for?
I started 2016 with a heart and a mind that was open for what life had in store for me. I looked deep inside and started to see the things that make me – me. I set my intention on using all the talents, strengths, and interests that are uniquely mine to do something. I just didn’t know what. But I trusted that it would come to me if I just opened myself to it.
In that space of trusting, The Ripe Juicery came to me like a light bulb and a flash. A mobile juice bar. It made my heart and my head fill with excitement and the wild buzzing of potential. It all made sense. My passion for healthy eating and an organic lifestyle, my love of meeting people and making them feel good, my ability to talk to strangers, my crush on food trucks, my desire to put my energy into promoting something positive in the world, my support of local farming, my obsession with my Vitamix…
I knew I could somehow make this idea a reality. I just didn’t know how. My excitement was unbridled, but it would take more than that. I needed the foundations and methods to make this fruit-filled idea come to fruition. I looked online and immediately found The Edge. I was lucky
enough to contact them right before they were going to start the Plan for Profit course. Several days later, when I went to meet Jamie to tell her my idea, I knew I was in the right place. Everything The Edge was offering was what I needed. Mentoring, direction, planning – all in one place!
The three-month course was fantastic. I was able to really define my goals and vison for The Ripe Juicery. My class time was where I could come and totally focus on the business details that needed to be addressed instead of spending hours trying to google business plans, and market strategies. I had the chance to ask real questions to instructors who were seasoned industry professionals. Most of all, I had a team of people who wanted to see me succeed and were ready to help me do so.
Because of the support and education I got at the Edge, I purchased my food truck, set up my business as an LLC, obtained all my needed permits and licensing, set up a successful Kickstarter campaign, established a social media presence for my business, defined my market and how to best reach them, and connected and networked with local business owners. I am now ready to open and do this thing.
The Ripe Juicery offers fresh juices, smoothies, soups, and coffee in downtown Kennesaw. Our mission is to make it easy and delicious to do something healthy. We focus on local, organic, non-GMO ingredients and strongly support sustainable farming practices. We plan to open February 2017.
It’s been a long year to get to the point of opening this business. But I believe wholeheartedly that now is the perfect time, and I am ready. My dad’s passing was my why, and The Edge was definitely my how.
