We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Antonette Currie a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Antonette thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?

Oh wow! The craziest story I can think of that I had experienced with my business was during the pandemic. All though the pandemic really helped my business, it was such a struggle trying to get supplies in order to fulfill orders. The companies that I would get supplies from were either sold out or the shipping took forever. The team and I was really feeling bad because we weren’t able to fulfill orders in a timely manner due to this and we knew that customers were needing the products to help maintain their health during COVID.

Luckily I have some amazing customers that were very patient and understanding during that time but we were all over the place ( panic mode) looking for supplies even on Amazon lol.

This was a great experience that I will always remember because we were able to overcome it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a Lupus Warrior who was diagnosed in 2007. I decided in 2016 to visit Dr. Sebi’s USHA Village in Honduras, where I discovered all of the herbal supplements that I carry on the website and others that I learned about during my research.

I knew that I no longer wanted to be on medication so I had to find a regimen, products that would work for me and I did. Then I birthed Live. Love. Juice! I thought about how much these supplements helped me so why not help others. I’m a nurturer at heart so I’m always trying to help in some way. I’m going on 6yrs that I have not taking any medication, only the products I carry and a few others and my labs results still show Lupus not being active. I have endured a lot with Lupus to almost losing my life in 2018 from a PE ( pulmonary embolism) but I kept pushing and believing that nature always wins!

I am proud of building a brand that is helping people to create a healthier lifestyle with herbal supplements that will help align your mind, body and spirit. It’s not all about making money for me, God will always provide that when you are doing things from the heart, being of service and passionate about what you do.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

At the time that I was still birthing Live. Love. Juice, I was still a Store Manager in a high end retail boutique. I loved working in fashion and still do, hence why I started another business called The Byrd Brand which is a vegan leather handbag brand (@bagsbybyrd). As I was still managing the store, with every paycheck I would continue to set money aside to put towards Live. Love Juice.

I never understood why people say don’t have a 9-5 job but nothing is wrong with that. I say “ work your 9-5 to fund your dreams” and I did just that. Once my store closed in 2018 my employees were asking what would I do next. At the time, I really didn’t think about just focusing on Live. Love. Juice full time but that’s what I did and I’ve been self employed ever since.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think my authenticity definitely helped build my reputation with my market. Sharing my story living with Lupus and being resilient shows people how passionate I am about being a service to them and that you can keep going no matter the obstacles that may come your way. I don’t just sell my products, I use them lol and I emulate that.

I love building relationships with my customers. They are comfortable with telling me their “life” stories and in return I love keeping a smile on their face, encouraging them and inspiring them along the way.

Contact Info:

• Website: Livelovejuice.net and ByrdBrand.com
• Instagram: @live.love.juice_ and @bagsbybyrd
• Other: TikTok: @live.love.juice_ TikTok: @bagsbybyrd