Today we’d like to introduce you to Brad Greenjuice.
Brad, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
It was the fall of 2009, I was the typical southerner in the aspect of diet and eating. My choices had begun to take a toll on my weight as I averaged a whomping 285-290 pounds. One early Sunday morning I was awakened by a disturbing, everlasting series of coughs, fast forward to the following Friday a fluid filled lump had developed on my throat. Naturally, I went to see my doctor, who, to my surprise, wanted to drain the lump for examination. In comes, a “turkey-basting” sized needle in which the doc used to drain the mucus filled lump. As he emptied the contents on a petri dish, I noticed small pebble sized deposits which were calcification deposits. This alarmed the doc to send the sample for a biopsy as he was concerned about thyroid cancer. I was given a band-aid at the drainage location on my neck and told to look out for the results. Great, now I had all weekend to freak myself out of the potential of having thyroid cancer. I took to Google to research holistic healing, everything I discovered discouraged the intake of meat and dairy, to incorporate a plant based diet full of fresh juices, healing herbs, and teas. So over this weekend, I managed to drop meat, which wasn’t a daunting task as I had stopped pork and red meat years earlier, but there was still the poultry, dairy, seafood, and abundance of processed foods. The following Tuesday rolls around and my results are in, negative for cancer! Yes! Although great news, the scare alone had sparked an internal flame. The research into going plant based continued, furthermore, the terms juice therapy, detox, and fasting intrigued me more and more.
In my research of the various websites, blogs, articles, books, and documentary films; I stumbled upon the film “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead”. In this film, Joe Cross videos his journey back to health via juicing, particularly, fasting on juice and water alone for one month. An average guy, overweight, on several prescribed meds, in poor health, just getting by daily. This was an oh too familiar setting for myself. As I watched the film on Netflix I thought, “hmm maybe I can do the same, I’d need a juicer, where to start etc.”.
About a couple of weeks later, to much of my surprise, the film was going to be screened at a local theater. I had to attend! At the entrance to the theater, there was a free raffle entry for a month’s worth of free organic produce delivered to your home. I entered my name in the raffle, took my seat and waited for the film to start. Joe Cross was in the building, a tall guy, definitely much slimmer and healthier looking than the initial Joe at the beginning of the film. The hostess greets and thanks to everyone for attending, she states that the raffle drawing will be conducted now, she calls the winning number, no results…she announces again, this I look at my ticket, it’s me, I won! Ha! I never win anything. So I took this as a sign that I needed to make juice. By the time my first delivery of produce arrived, I had bought the same Breville juicer as Joe had in the film. Thus began my journey.
Thirty days of juice, after trying various recipes, using a mix of recipe and juice detoxing book… I lost 30 pounds, blood pressure corrected, cholesterol corrected, mood improvement, euphoric feeling, and accelerated energy levels. Now as you can imagine, I’m walking around with my juice at work, bringing my jars of juice to social functions, etc… Many friends and family were intrigued to taste. I begin getting rave reviews on the juice. Order requests soon followed,
Next, I begin hosting “juice parties” to bring awareness of the health benefits of juice and juice therapy. Followed by volunteering with organizations such as The Living Foods Institute with Brenda Cobb. I then stumbled upon a gem in the Castleberry Hill neighborhood at Boxcar Grocer. Here I met, owners, Alphonso and Allison Cross, in which they were open to the idea of having a juice counter in their grocery store. PURE (Promoting Unprocessed Raw Excellence) Elixirs is born as I began juicing there part time a few days per week.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road for PURE Elixirs has not been easy. After a few months of part time operations at Boxcar Grocer, the collective decision was made to end the operation at Boxcar. At this point, delivery operations continued for PURE Elixirs but, ultimately and due to personal issues PURE Elixirs ended operations in August of 2013. As I moved to California to pursue other obligations for my family. As I’ve recently returned to Atlanta in June of 2019, PURE Elixirs is back and revamping for a return to the Atlanta market.
Please tell us about your company.
PURE Elixirs is a mobile juice delivery company. We specialize in raw, fresh pressed, fruit and vegetable juice combinations in the effort to reach optimal health via juice therapy. Our juices are made fresh upon order, delivered to your doorstep anywhere in the Metro Atlanta area. Although we are small and just starting, I think that this makes us a more personable experience with our customers. The produce we use is always purchased fresh from the local farmers market. We work with our customers for juices best suited for their situation. Our juices are not just sitting on the shelf waiting to be purchased. Each juice is made specifically for that particular customer.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success, or the act of being successful is the end result of accomplishing a determined goal. Whether it be in business, family, or personal achievements, success is realized through a rationalized and intentional plan of action. In which the steps of the plan are completed via hard work and determination.
Pricing:
- Juices are delivered in packs of 6 (16 oz) bottles for $50.
- The PURE, 3 day, detox consists of 18 juices for $150, consultation and coaching included.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bradgreenjuice.com
- Phone: 4043082131
- Email: brad@pureelixirs.org
- Instagram: @pureelixirs
Image Credit:
Keenan Neel
Brad Clemons
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