We were lucky to catch up with Luis Contreras recently and have shared our conversation below.
Luis, appreciate you joining us today. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your business and how did you resolve those issues?
Covid the biggest. First year in business and already getting hit with a pandemic. We decided to push through and never close our doors. I truly believe this is what had us survive and flourish truly.
I had to send my family away and also let go of all my staff and mend the store on my own with help on one shift daily paying my staff under the table so they could benefit from unemployment and be able to pay their rent and expenses.
Luis, 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?
I started our journey 13 years ago while searching for a fix. I suffered from migraines, acne, digestion issues. I found a documentary on juicing and I felt inspired. Went out got a juicer and started juicing at home. I did a juice fast for 15 days and have had 3 migraines since in 13 years. I have no acne and truly all my issues went away for good. I became a believer in the power our nutrition and food has on us. This made me motivated and fueled my ambitions of owning a business that would cater to people. Perfect combo!. So i began my journey on how to pull this off. It took a long time to achieve it but here we are 5 years into this success of a brand and business. We have helped over 35k yearly people visiting our shop. We have assisted them in there journey of growth and change inside and out.
It is a dream come true being able to create a product that is positive and giving.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Well, I am an immigrant. Just that alone puts me in a box. I also have an accent and my name is not from here. This journey showed me that I am excluded from the rest and that the system is not fair to all. How ever as always I focus on my vantage points. I focus on my diferences and press forward onto them as my diferences give me an advantage. I have always pushed through any obsticles as I will not allow others to dictate my future or success. Only I can.
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
Well based on my comments in box #1 many bank doors closed based on who or where I am from. My name was enough to close the door.
How ever I called EVERY and I mean EVERYONE I know letting them know I needed to spread the word on me raising money to achieve this dream. SO much rejection but manage to meet the right persons that would help me with the funds and the rest were pulled from savings and we managed to pull this purchase off.
Raising money is dificult if you involve your ego. This is about you achieving the goal and the ask is simply a task that must be done in order to even perform.
Contact Info:
- Website: thelocaljuicery.com
- Instagram: @localjuice
- Facebook: @localjuice