Today we’d like to introduce you to Kieran Roberts.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Kieran. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My youngest brother, Chad Roberts, our father, Linwood Roberts and myself, conceptualized Green Grotto Juice Bar. Together we launched Downtown’s LA’s juice lounge in 2015. We adopted the name Green Grotto from the historic caves in our mother’s native home, Montego Bay, Jamaica. It’s a family affair, Chad heads up the restaurant’s public relations, social media, and marketing while I oversee all business operations, and create the menu.
We’re not experienced restaurateurs. Before this, I was an actor and R&B artist opening up for Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne, Boyz II Men, Missy Elliot, and more. While on tour, I would always crave healthy options and started to experiment with juice cleanses, detoxing, and meals like acai bowls for the past 18 years and decided to turn my hobby into a business. While Chad was finishing his Master’s Degree at New York University in Public Relations, I decided to join forces with my younger brother to feed his thirst to be an entrepreneur and be a marketing and branding strategist. The rest is, as they say, history.[laughs].
Has it been a smooth road?
The road of small business is never smooth, and owners must prepare. That road becomes equally as tricky to navigate when you mix business with family. The shop has experienced growth year after year and we continue to ingratiate ourselves in the community with each day that passes. Communicating with family members is often done casually and can sometimes get a bit cheeky. In business, cheekiness isn’t exactly a recipe to smooth communication, but this family makes the difficult business decisions by rolling with the laughs and never taking anything too personal— Really, putting things in perspective life is never too bad when you’re surrounded by family and friends. Our employees aka: extended family and the Green Grotto community have made the entire experience rewarding.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Green Grotto Juice Bar story. Tell us more about the business.
Green Grotto specializes in fresh-pressed juice, we’ve been called the Starbucks of juicing. We craft everything in front of the customer and offer a welcoming atmosphere for studying, collaborative workshops, etc. Our unique offerings including Jamaican-style patties and Acai waffle cones which is an acai bowl served in a vegan waffle cone, specialty toasts, and sandwiches. We are the only juice bar offering Jamaican-style patties in veggies, chicken or beef flavors.
As a company, we are proud to have named corporate partners with Children’s Hospital LA and serving our DTLA community. Our customers come from many walks of life and experiences. Customers share their stories with us, and in return, we form a relationship – building relationships with our community has created a Grotto family, which we are very proud of.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
We plan on opening a second store in the Los Angeles area and focus on making our shop, even more, Instagram and community friendly than ever! We really want juicing to be a part of the culture, like water. We want to create that constant need for juice, for us to be in your life. We’re talking working on injecting Green Grotto into clothing, music, entertainment, television, etc.
Contact Info:
- Address: 541 S Spring Street, Los Angeles, California 90013
- Website: www.greengrottojuicebar.com
- Phone: (213) 265-7409
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/greengrottojuicebar
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/greengrottojuicebar
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/greengrottojb
- Yelp: https://biz.yelp.com/home/H5562pgp2Iuq9L4nIXkJ_A/
Image Credit:
Danni Johnson, Cloe Luu
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