Today we’d like to introduce you to Gretchen Todd.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
The story is I worked at a juice bar in my 20’s and just got really into juicing. I saw people using juicing to cure ailments like lupus and cancer, but also saw athletes juicing. Not naming names, but a famous Olympic athlete that you’ve definitely heard of would get wheatgrass and a 4oz. carrot juice. After talking to all these folks, I started reading and understanding all the benefits of juicing; how you could cure and prevent sickness with food, juicing, and herbs. I became an avid reader and decided I would open my own juice bar one day. Never could figure out how it would happen, but one weekend, a friend took me to a farmer’s market to buy cheese, and I realized I could open my own little juice bar at the market. I applied, and they approved me about two months later. We’ve been there for eight years.
After that, I borrowed money for a food truck, and eventually built off that into opening our first brick & mortar store on 19th St, in the Heights. It’s been an absolutely wonderful experience. We’ve helped customers with weight loss, diabetes, auto-immune disorders, cancer, weaning off pain medication and caffeine. We’ve helped people cleanse their blood, liver, and kidneys. It’s incredibly rewarding to work, and people have responded. Juice Girl is the only made-to-order, all-organic juice bar anywhere this side of Dallas. I started to realize we were doing something special when people started coming in from the Woodlands, Katy, Kingwood; from other counties! I really believe organic produce is so important. We’re starting to see a lot of people coming in with auto-immune disorders, which I suspect may be from all the pesticides we consume. It’s so bad for you and I want to do my part to combat it.
The same principle is why I opened Over the Moon. I developed lactose intolerance and started making nut-based ice cream. I just never imagined so many people have experienced the same thing. But you never really stop learning. Almost immediately, we started getting customers who not only can’t do dairy but also have nut allergies. So, we have started making a line of ice creams that don’t have dairy OR nuts, and the response has been great. It’s wonderful waking up every day and knowing I’m doing my part to help people eat better and get healthier.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Of course not. Nobody running a small business has it easy. We work really long hours and don’t sleep a whole lot. We eat really well, though! Our employees work really hard. It’s difficult sometimes to convince a teenager the world won’t end if they don’t check their phone every three minutes, but that’s something every business has to deal with now. One of the biggest issue for us has been organic produce. When we opened our first store, we were using an unnamed produce wholesaler, and they were constantly bringing us non-organic produce, often marked “organic” which is both deceptive and completely illegal, so I was always refusing it and sending it back. The wholesaler sent over this account rep straight out of Mad Men. He put his arm around me (!?!?) and said “Little Lady, I’ve been in this business for a long time. Believe me, nobody cares about organic in this town.” I threw him out of my store and told the owner of the company I’d file charges if he ever stepped foot here again.
Please tell us about Juice Girl & Over the Moon.
We are the only all-organic juice bar in Houston, and as the market has changed, we’re one of the last stores doing capable of making juice to order. Our customers know their stuff is always fresh, and they appreciate being able to watch it being made.
Being organic is such an important part of our identity. I read a story last week that said a toxic chemical associated with Round-Up was just identified in EVERY major retail provider of orange juice at dangerously high levels. EVERY BRAND!!! The only way to prevent this is to go organic. About 12 years ago or so, the FDA approved using Round Up on wheat; now you have so many people with gluten allergies. Think this is a coincidence? I think our Grandkids are going to look back on our relationship with pesticide and ask what we were thinking. Kind of like how we ask our parents why we were eating Jello every night.
When you taste an organic juice side-by-side with a non-organic juice, it’s night and day. The difference is dramatic, and you’ll immediately notice the pesticide haze. Something our new customers always say is “I can taste all the different ingredients.” That’s what organic will do for you. Organic produce is hard to find, and it’s really expensive when you do find it, but it’s totally worth it to our customers.
Even basic stuff like a strawberry banana smoothie. People just can’t believe when we tell them we haven’t added any sweetener. It’s also the secret to our acai bowls. I’ll just put it out there; we have the best acai bowls you’ve ever tasted. We’ve had a bunch of other juice bars in town come in and try to copy it, but they all miss out on the obvious. It’s so good because everything in it is organic. That’s the big secret; use better ingredients.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I’m really cautious by nature. Seen some really good food concepts go down because they were too aggressive. My regrets are things I’ve let pass by. I’ve had some opportunities I wish I hadn’t passed up.
Contact Info:
- Address: Heights: 238 W. 19th St. Houston, 77008
Downtown: 1200 McKinney #371, Houston, 77010 (In the Park Shoppes)Over the Moon Non-Dairy Ice Cream: 238 W. 19th St, Houston, TX 77008 - Website: www.txjuicegirl.com
- Phone: (713) 478-7486 (19th St) (832) 834-0191 (Downtown)
- Email: contact@txjuicegirl.com contact@overthemoonvegan.com
- Instagram: @txjuicegirl @overthemoonvegan
- Facebook: juice girl
- Twitter: @txjuicegirl
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