Today we’d like to introduce you to Stacey Jackson.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I began my alternative dietary lifestyle in High School. I had two friends who were vegetarian. The idea of 2 people choosing not to eat meat fascinated me, as I was still a child and did what my parents told me, and did not realize until then that I could make lifestyle decisions on my own. I had already steered away from meat intuitively. I would remove the deli slices from my sandwiches, and would request burgers without the patty, and was excited to learn I could live this way too
I was enrolled in a public speaking course, and when the class received an assignment to create a speech to persuade the audience to change their view point on a topic, I naturally chose Vegetarianism. After all my research in the library I was convinced I would no longer eat factory raised animals.
From there I learned of Veganism and gave it a go in college. Mind you I did not know much about health, thus ate a vegan diet primarily consisting of processed foods. But as I delved further I began to make more and more healthful decisions.
It was not until I had a friend who worked at a Raw Food restaurant in Silver Lake Los Angeles that my true health journey began.
You see I was a fashion designer working in downtown Los aneles, which happened to be a food desert at the time. I was launching a women’s contemporary line, and was on very strict deadlines. To save on costs I acted as the fit model (an industry term for a person who tries on the clothes to make sure they fit correctly, meaning you must stay the same size for each sample fitting). My pattern maker came in to the studio for a fitting of the samples that just arrived from the sample sewer. Each fitting always begins with a measuring tape and the fit models dimensions. Due to DTLA being the food desert that it was, my healthy vegan options were slim. I gained weight and was no longer the correct size to fit the samples. Due to the tight timelines, as fashion waits for no one, I needed to drop inches fast!
I was complaining of my issue to my friend who worked at the aforementioned Raw Food restaurant and she suggested I purchase their daily meal plans. I was desperate and willing to try anything!
After a week’s worth of raw food I lost the inches necessary and better yet felt amazing and full of energy. I was convinced this was the new dietary lifestyle for me.
I delved in head first, bought every book on the topic, started a blog about my journey, and created youtube recipe videos. I was hooked.
I began freelance fashion designing, working as a server at the raw food restaurant, and then interned under doctors at alternative healthcare wellness retreats.
I saw the transformations people’s health and spirit made just by changing one simple factor, their diet. I saw people transform from sickly to vibrant. I knew it was now my mission to tell the world what I had learned, by simply removing the cause of dis-ease, we can thrive, not just survive!
I’ve never looked back!
Has it been a smooth road?
No, it has not been a smooth road. I have been underfunded from the start. Starting something controversial on your own with little funds is not the easy route.
My struggles have been endless, but I choose to persevere! I loose sight of my mission, and then somehow find a way back to inspiration.
NUDA Juice & Wellness Shop just turned 5 years old in October of 2018!!!
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the NUDA story. Tell us more about the business.
NUDA: derived from the Cherokee word NV-DA, meaning the sun & the moon. One word two meanings~illustrating how we, time, space & everything are connected.
The Cherokee believe in 7 directions, North, South, East, West, Above, Below & Within. We at NUDA like to think there is an 8th. The final direction connecting us all.
I wanted to be the change I see for the world, and that is a purevoyor of healing.
NUDA is a SoCal based 100% Organic, Plant Based, and Conscious Lifestyle Brand est. in 2010 w/ 6 business segments: the brick & mortar – NUDA Juice and Wellness Shop in the historic waterfront artist’s district of downtown San Pedro, Wholesale Distribution, Meal Delivery, E-commerce, Education & Catering. The foundation of NUDA is living consciously via beyond organic practices & a plant-based diet is modern, chic, healing & world saving. The Company is built on the premise that there is no magic bullet for beauty, health, vitality or longevity, thus NUDA provides the dream, education, products & services necessary to live out this lifestyle.
What sets NUDA apart from others is my commitment to purity & quality of ingredients. I am not just in this line of work for the bottom line, and thus my passion to heal shines through!
My mission is to demonstrate how we can live dis-ease free with pristine lifestyle choices. Our bodies are miraculous healing mechanisms, every bite we take can either fuel dis-ease or fight it.
I am known for & specialize in raw-vegan cuisine meal delivery/coaching, which is actually how NUDA began. I took on clients that requested coaching due to health issues, where I helped their bodies heal themselves by removing the cause, and replenishing the deficiencies with 100% organic, whole, seasonal, raw, plant cuisine & truly raw (unpasteurized + nonhpp) cold pressed juice!
When the cottage law passed in California, I then created my Transcendent Treat collection to sell at Farmers’ Markets throughout LA. From there I sold to like minded retailers such as Erewhon, Rainbow Acres, & Santa Monica Coop, etc. Next came my shop in San Pedro, and here we are.
NUDA’s most popular menu item is our Body Clock Juice Cleanse. Our bodies have an internal digestive clock connected with the earth’s rotation around the sun each day, when followed allow our bodies to obtain optimal balance. When cleansing it is vital to have nutritional combinations in accordance with what is best suited for our digestive system during that particular solar position, thus NUDA’s Body Clock Cleansing Rituals are created in an order which best suits our bodies needs from solar rise to solar set. This Cleanse consists of 7 truly raw, unpasteurized, non-hpp cold pressed juices, and 1 digestive tea.
As well as our Acai-Free-Berry Bowls made with our North West wild super berry blend, which are pureed in house without added sugars or preservatives, unlike acai. Acai tastes like cranberry so much added sugars are necessary to make them palatable. Due to the berries being pureed in Brazil preservatives are added. Acai became popular because of the amount of antioxidants they have, and NUDA’s super berry blend actually contains a much higher amount.
All of NUDA’s menu items are also gluten free, dairy free, animal product free, soy free, refined sugar free, as well as free of any preservatives, addititives or fillers! 100% All Natural!!!
My goals for 2019 are to find investors interested in opening several more NUDA locations throughout LA & OC. If the Voyage community knows of any health minded investors interested in growing a successful plant based café chain, please send them my way!
NUDA recently turned 5 years old this past October of 2018, a very hard benchmark for a restaurant to achieve. I think possibly even harder for a strict niche like Organic, Plant –based, Health Food in downtown San Pedro. If I can make NUDA work in downtown San Pedro, I can make it thrive everywhere!!!
Other goals are to create a raw box subscription that is delivered/shipped on weekly basis, as well as Cater more events. Lately I have been working with Free People the clothing brand quite a bit, with future catering events at Yogaworks El Segundo in the making. I love creating healthy beautiful soirees where people are shocked it’s organic, plant based & gluten free!
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I see whole + plant based living becoming more and more popular by the day and am so grateful for this! I also see people forever seeking that magic bullet that doesn’t exist. Fad diets and supplements will always plague this industy.
However a lot of people are taking their health into their own hands, owning responsibility and accountability for their well-being. I only see this truth becoming more wide-spread with the continued documentaries on the topics such as @thefoodcurefilm @forksoverknives, etc.
I believe this gives me the opportunity to open a NUDA next to every Starbucks, my dream, to provide health as accessible & conveinent!
Pricing:
- $199 3 day body clock juice cleanse
- $1199 14 day detox meal delivery sale (delivery throughout LA & OC) check out our instagram stories for a glimpse of how it works!
- $249 raw box shipping (subject to change based on shipping address)
- Catering packaging prices available upon request
Contact Info:
- Address: 407 W 6th St., San Pedro CA 90731
- Website: www.nudajuiceshop.com
- Phone: 323-769-9713
- Email: nudajuiceshop@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nudajuiceshop
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nudajuiceshop
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/nudajuiceshop
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/nuda-juice-and-wellness-shop-san-pedro-2
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
