How Years of IBS Inspired This Woman to Go Into the Juice Business

“I became a vegetarian at age 12, then went vegan. I thought that meant I ate healthy. But in 2010, I started having major digestive issues. Everything I ate upset my stomach, and my skin was a mess.

For a year, I saw one doctor after another. I had a colonoscopy, endoscopy, and even swallowed a pill that went into my gut and took photos. The vague diagnosis I got: irritable bowel syndrome. And the treatment? I was told I’d just have to deal with it.

On a hike one day, a friend and I were chatting about doing a cleanse when a woman overheard us and chimed in. She was a holistic nutritionist, and I ended up making an appointment with her. By the end of our appointment, she’d traced my health issues to a yeast overgrowth in my gut.

On her recommendation, I cut out foods like grains and processed foods and bought a juicer online. ‘Man, that’s a lot of money,’ I thought. ‘I hope I like it.’

Within two days of drinking green juices, I was a different person. Bright eyes! Clear skin! My stomach issues disappeared. I started making my own juice recipes, adding in medicinal herbs. I gave them to friends so they could feel the same positive changes I did. At the time, I was working for a raw-food bar and had been dreaming of doing a start-up. Now I knew what it would be. Made with Love Wellness was born.

I began selling various fruit and vegetable juices at local farmers’ markets. Soon after came Goodmylk Co., homemade almond milk in flavors like matcha, lavender, and mint cacao.

Today, my products are sold in more than 150 cafés and restaurants. To keep up with demand, I’ve had to scale up my recipes. Goodmylk’s now made with really big blenders and press machines, but nothing else has changed or been added. It’s definitely harder to keep things pure. For instance, to ship Goodmylk across the country, we flash-freeze a concentrate, then ship it with dry ice. It’s expensive but important for me that customers still recognize every ingredient on the label.

So much of what I do stems from my experience of being sick and realizing everything we eat affects us. What keeps me going is hearing customers tell me that, too.”

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