We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amber Alexander. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amber below.

Amber, appreciate you joining us today. Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?

My parents taught me the value of hard work from childhood. Being only 16 and 18 years older than me, I was able to observe my parents’ hustle to make a better life for us from my earliest memories. They worked for nearly 10 years, both full-time and part-time jobs to get us out of our first home, which was a trailer in a mobile home park in Gary, Indiana, into a single-story ranch home on one acre of land in Valparaiso, Indiana. My parents never gave up. They always spoke of their dreams and worked hard to save extra to get us there. Once we were in our house, my dad started talking about owning his own business. Soon enough, he did. I watched my parents, again, struggle and learn through trial and error, how to run a business, handle a work-life balance, bring on and provide for employees, and hold the responsibility of other families relying on them.
My parents are childhood sweethearts. They have worked hard to provide for their kids their entire lives. They have buried parents and siblings, started businesses, and raised three kids all while being transparent about their struggles and triumphs. They have always been open to help others, and they’ve been a great example of what it’s like to be a good human, learn from your mistakes, and help others through your transparency.

Amber, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Amber Alexander, and I’m a wife, mother, small business owner, and wellness coach. My husband, Jeff, and I have two boys – Elijah, 9; and Oliver, 7. I have been working in Health & Wellness since 2008, starting out at the YMCA. I was formerly an executive in the YMCA both in Indiana and Arizona. My oldest son survived brain cancer at age 2. He was 2 years out of treatment and stable when we moved to Arizona, and unfortunately, he relapsed again at age 5. By the grace of God, he was able to recover a second time, and is currently three years out of treatment and stable.

We decided to open our own nutrition shop in Surprise, Arizona after my son recovered from his surgery and treatment in 2018. We moved to Surprise to be closer to my cousin and her four girls, so we decided to set up shop in Surprise, AZ. We have been blessed to be open in our original location in the Shops at Surprise on the southeast corner of Bell and Litchfield since December 2018. We have so many friends and loyal customers that it just warms our hearts to know that they have stuck with us through a pandemic and some of the craziest times our world has seen recently.

We chose to open our nutrition shop because during my son’s first treatment I had gained 40 pounds just eating my feelings and taking care of everyone but myself. I was introduced to the shakes, teas, and supplements that I sell just before my son’s relapse, and had begun taking them daily along with working out at the Y. I had a coach who helped to keep me accountable to my nutrition during my son’s radiation treatment, and even though I couldn’t work out, I had lost 3 pounds in the 6 weeks we were driving 120 miles round trip per day just with good nutrition. I knew then that if this could work for me, it could work for anyone.

Our shop offers protein shakes, herbal teas, vitamins, protein coffee, supplements and snacks as well. We make peanut butter energy bites, protein donuts, protein waffles, acai & smoothie bowls in house. We also offer monthly body transformation challenges, free workouts, and accountability coaching as well. My husband and I started this shop alone three years ago, but we now have a small team of amazing coaches who help out behind the bar, lead workouts, and bring amazing, positive energy to our clients and community.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

My son is a two-time cancer survivor with a less-than-perfect immune system. In March 2020, when the local gyms and other businesses were closing, I was terrified. I closed my shop, even though food service was considered essential, and the healthy foods we offered were even in more of a demand. I wanted to ensure my son’s well-being. It took about 2 weeks to consult with his oncology team and decided, that with a few precautions, we could re-open our business to the public. When we came back in April 2020, we had our best month of business ever. We were able to serve out community (at a socially acceptable distance) offering curbside pickup, passing products through the doors, helping people get started on nutrition plans at home, and even delivering our products to their doorsteps. Like many other business owners that year, we learned the importance of making priorities and thinking outside the box. We learned to pivot well and we’ve been able to do so evert since.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When my son was first diagnosed with cancer, I was 10 days into my role as CEO. I had worked for the organization for 6 years in a variety of roles. I had literally just come back from maternity leave from having my yongest son. He was only 13 weeks old. In an instant, I had to absorb horrific information about my child and how crucial our next decisions for his care would be, make a decision about where we would go and what specialists we would see within the next 4 hours, and then pivot in my brain to iron out the next 24 hours for my business.

As the new executive leader, I needed to trust my team with certain tasks entirely for the next several days while I concentrated on my family. I clearly remember standing in the hospital hallway on my cell phone talking to one of our most senior employees and telling her the news I just received, comforting her for her reaction, and then refocusing her on the task I was asking her to handle for me. And then the next call, with the next leader, to do the same. The next set of calls were to executive board members to do the same – inform them, comfort them, and redirect them to necessary oversights for the next 72 hours. I think that was probably the quickest pivot that I’ve ever made. And when other things came my way, it made it easier for me to see the priorities, set the path, and guides others whom I required for help in the future.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @112nutritionllc
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/112nutrition
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/1-12-nutrition-surprise