Today we’d like to introduce you to Jen Maness
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Hello Juice opened its first location in St. Louis – in the Grove in August 2018. Our goals was that we wanted to have more locations! So in May 2022, we did just that! Hello Juice specialties include, smoothies, smoothie bowls and cold pressed juice. We launched our 2nd location in Kirkwood, MO. It hasn’t been an easy journey as my husband and I have put everything we have into Hello Juice. Lots of blood, sweat, tears and money! But, we love it and couldn’t image doing anything else. Our mission at Hello Juice is make healthy food accessible to the communities we serve. Eating healthy doesn’t have to be difficult. Our goal is to make you comfortable upon entering our locations to ask questions about the products and how we can be helpful.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not. When we opened in 2018, I had to continue to work a full time job so that my husband, Jon and I could continue to pay our bills at home. When you open a business (especially a restaurant!) pulling a profit can sometimes take time. Luckily, Jon was able to run operations at Hello while I continued to pursue my career in real estate. I would help out nights and weekends when I could to help push the business forward. Some years have been great! Some years not so much, (hello 2020!) I was able to quit my full time corporate job in February 2024 to work at Hello full time! It has been the most rewarding and the hardest job I have ever had! Gosh, I love it! Even though there have been years where we thought we would lose everything – we preserved!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Hello Juice & Smoothie?
Hello Juice opened in 2018 in the Grove. We launched our 2nd location in Kirkwood, MO in May 2022.
In 2023 we launched a line of fully prepped meals. We have a rotating menu of 10 items and all the meals are dietician backed and approved! High in protein, clean ingredients and macros that are on point.
We specialize in smoothies, smoothie bowls, avocado toast and cold pressed juice! Hello Juice does not had any sugars or fillers to any of our products. We serve straight fruit and vegetables in everything we do. And of course, make it look pretty while doing it!
We want our customers to come in and feel comfortable asking questions. We want healthy food to be accessible to the communities we serve. We are a friendly, supportive FUN community!
How do you think about luck?
Luck has played a huge part in business. Unfortunately, for us we have had some bad luck with our business. But, also had some great opportunities come our way!
When we opened our Kirkwood, MO location 2022, we completely dropped the ball on marketing and getting the word out that we were in the Kirkwood community. It has been a bit of a struggle getting people in our doors at Kirkwood. We honestly, weren’t sure at one point if we would make it. But, here we are almost 3 years later still building community and letting the community know we are there. Yes, it has been a challenge – but so fun along the way getting to meet people in the Kirkwood community!
Pricing:
- Our prices vary
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hellojuiceandsmoothie.com
- Instagram: @hellojuicestl
- Facebook: hellojuicestl
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermaness/
