Archives for January 2017

Friends Who Juice: Shannon McBeath

January 8, 2017 By Jen Chase

Want two words to sum up Shannon McBeath, owner of Las Vegas’s new The Ride Premium Indoor Cycling studio (and not-so-closet fan of TJS nut milks?) “Smart” and with “heart” come to mind (…with a side of great arms, a strong Mommy Gene, admiration for her husband, and a near-insatiable bent toward giving of all kinds). Yeah, we know that’s more than a couple accolades, but while McBeath’s driven by her pretty head and kind ticker, the other wholehearted things about her fall into place…making her the picture of well-roundedness.

Schooled in the fine art of hospitality (and it is an art, dontchaknow), for nearly three decades as a Las Vegan, McBeath has balanced family and health while maintaining a rewarding career she’s now stepping back into. And she’s doing it in a way that honors her crazy commitment to her WHealth™ and wellness, and her dedication to helping others achieve their own goals. That she loves The Juice Standard juice is just a bonus.

Shannon On Shannon

I’ve lived in Las Vegas since…1989.

I can remember when I decided I wanted to start my adult life here. It was…1986. Growing up in Dallas, Texas, I decided I wanted to follow in my father’s footsteps and pursue a career in the hotel industry. I attended SMU for my first 2 years of college, always with the intention of transferring to University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) to complete my bachelor’s degree in hotel administration.

…and what appealed to me about living in Vegas was…one of the best hotel schools in the country!

In my experience, the biggest misconception about living in Las Vegas is…People that aren’t familiar think there is no life outside of the strip. I am insulted while traveling with people’s negative reaction when I mention I live in Las Vegas. I often find myself defending our wonderful community of over 2 million residents!

The thing I secretly (or not-so-secretly) love most about living here is…the weather (minus summer) ☺

If I had to pick a daily mantra or a quote I try to live by, it would be…Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire.

A favorite Vegas spot that never gets old is…The Cosmopolitan!

If I had to pick a theme song for my life it would be…Happy by Pharrell Williams.

A person who inspires me every day is…my husband (The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas CEO Bill McBeath).

…and the way they inspire me is…he’s the most balanced and intelligent person I know.

Something people would be surprised to know about me is…I used to teach Catechism.

Shannon On Work

In my work world this past year...my partners and I founded The Ride Premium Indoor Cycling Studio, but before that I spent 21 years as a stay at home mom and philanthropist.

Let me tell you a little about my background: After earning a degree in hotel administration from UNLV in 1991, I was hired into the Management Associate’s Program at The Mirage. After an extensive 18 months of training in every department, I was offered a position as Leisure Sales Manager. After spending 5 years in the hotel industry, I decided to take on the most rewarding job there is…stay-home mom to two amazing daughters.

What prompted me to open The Ride was…a desire to bring quality upscale boutique fitness to Las Vegas (and to keep busy as a soon-to-be empty nester!).

Multiple choice:

A) “I am a kickass bike rider”
B) “Training wheels are my friend.”

…A!

My first business mentor was…my father.

…and this is what I learned from him: Do what you love and it will never be work.

The most surprising thing I’ve learned about being my own boss is…being my own boss!

…and, the thing I’m most proud of is…never giving up on my dreams!

The advice I’d give my younger work self is…you can do anything you set your mind to!

Philanthropy and volunteering are a huge part of my life. Here’s why: For the last 21 years, I have volunteered in various capacities for numerous charitable causes in the community. I have served on the Foundation Board for Opportunity Village for the past 7 years including the executive and nominating committees. Also, I opened the Las Vegas chapter of Shoes That Fit and operated it for 5 years, providing new shoes for needy school children.

The most life changing and rewarding volunteer work I have ever done was…going to Guatemala last year on a mission trip to build a house for a homeless family.

My favorite way to give back to my community is…supporting as many causes as possible with my time and/or financial support. I’m excited to launch The Ride Cares this year: we will be supporting various causes in the community by hosting charity rides throughout the year.

My favorite Las Vegas charities are…Opportunity Village, Stillpoint, Make A Wish, Three Square, Communities in Schools, and Keep Memory Alive.

My advice to someone who feels they don’t have time to donate but they want to do something is…the smallest contribution of time or money can make a huge difference in someone’s life.

Shannon On Health

In my opinion, the biggest change in Las Vegas’ healthy-living scene in the last few years has been…healthier choices for groceries and dining. (But still not enough!)

No matter how busy I get at work, this is what I do to make sure I eat well during the week: Make a healthy shake every morning and cook healthy Paleo dinners as much as possible. Also, I highly recommend Sun Basket organic food delivery.

The fruit(s) or vegetable(s) you’ll always find in my kitchen are…apples, bananas, mangoes, kale, spinach, and peppers.

My don’t-even-think-about-judging-me-guilty-pleasure food is…red wine (it’s a grape right?).

The health habit that gets me teased the most is…my religious 6-day-a-week workout regimen.

The new years’ words of encouragement I’d give someone who is looking to get into cycling (or any other health regimen) are these: Never let intimidation prevent you from trying something new. Get into a routine and stick with it…you WILL see results! Just remember: DIET is 80 percent!

Shannon On Juice

The person who introduced me to cold-pressed juice was…my 21-year-old daughter!

The first time I drank green juice, I thought it was…interesting!

The reason I drink cold-pressed juice today is…for its energy and vitality.

Yes or No: “I love juice so much I make it at home.” YES

True or false: “Making juice at home is a royal pain in the tail.” FALSE

The reason I like TJS’s cold-pressed juice is because…it is so delicious! LOVE the cold-pressed cocktails at The Cosmopolitan….

The funniest thing that ever happened to me while drinking juice OR when one of us was doing a juice fast, was… I have done TJS’s 3- day cleanse twice. I’m not sure there is anything funny about going three days without eating, but all I can say is the nut milks got me through it! (BTW…I highly recommend the cleanses and felt great after!)
My advice to a newbee juicer is…try nutmilks first and you will be hooked!

5 From The Hive: Nate Roybal

January 8, 2017 By Jen Chase

Five questions. Five answers. One topic.

From time to time we run a feature we think is tip-top relevant to your health or your well being (or, something we think is solid humor you just shouldn’t live without). Called “5 From The Hive,” the hope is to deliver the skinny on stuff you’ll find more than moderately rad.

Since it’s the start of a new year and we’ve got all the warm feels about the internal team that helps us do what we do, this featurette shines a light on Nate Roybal, a front-of-house supervisor who’s worked with us for just shy of 2 years. In what feels like no time at all, he earned himself a hallowed rung on the TJS ladder for his golden palate: he helped develop our Honey Nātado bevvie that launched last year to the delight of mouths across Las Vegas as well as other recipes across the brand. (Plus, like many of his TJS colleagues, Roybal’s positive Yelp reviews shows his passion for TJS products come with a healthy dose of personality, warmth and that guiding hand our bees have become known for).

We love highlighting our colleagues beehind our counters, beecause our bees make their work more than a j-o-b. Below, Roybal shares his knowledge and personal journey toward WHealth™ and glowing self with the kind of friendliness we all want to see out there in retaildom. And we’re glad he’s on our team.

Here are Nate’s “5 From The Hive.”

TJS: Tell us a little about your background. What brought you to TJS; what in your past history—personal or professional—made you think you’d be a good fit for our juicy lifestyle; and what do you do day-to-day at TJS?

Nate: Well, I was at a point in my life where I was smoking a pack a day, had terrible sleep cycles and horrendous eating habits. I felt I looked like shit, and felt worse then I looked.

Now: I had heard about The Juice Standard before and thought it was a cool idea for a business…especially in this city where health is not something that is taken into consideration very often. So when I happened upon an ad on Craigslist one day saying the company was looking for employees, I just had to go for it. It wasn’t just because I loved the idea of working for new, budding, local company, it was a way out of my then-current health nightmare. (It didn’t hurt that I had 10-plus years in customer service.)

TJS: You’ve been such an integral person here at TJS that a drink was named after you (the Honey Nātado…and it’s delicious). What was the impetus for the drink and the others you’ve helped concoct? What in your personal background led you down your own path toward recipe development and, as you probs know we like to say, “WHealth™ and glowing self?”

Nate: “Hi, I’m Nate, and I’m a coffee addict.”

I’ve always worked around coffee, and I’ve always drunk coffee, so when it mixed with my constant need to be making something or creating something, I just went nuts. Luckily the drinks I’ve developed have been met with some pretty positive reviews. I wouldn’t say that I had set inspirations for the drinks that I have made, but I guess it’s moreso that I can’t shut my brain off, so my head is constantly going through different ideas and combinations that can prove to be awesome…or really bad. Thankfully none of the horrible ones snuck through.

TJS: In your opinion, what’s something you wish people thought of more/did more to help their own health? And what’s the thing in your own life that you rely on most to keep yourself balanced?

Nate: I wish people would be more open minded—more willing to reach outside their foodie comfort zones (and the nonsense that many pill-pushing pseudo doctors tell them) and realize that the best doctor/pharmacist is good ol’ Mother Earth.

I am not balanced in the least—it’s a Looney Tunes cartoon on speed, 24/7 in this head—but what keeps the voices at bay is doing anything creative… drawing, sculpting, writing, making new recipes, etc. I love making and creating things. Am I good at it? That’s not the point. The point is to do it for myself. That makes it much more rewarding.

TJS: What do you think it takes to proverbially “bring it to the counter” at TJS, so to speak? What seems to make customers so comfortable in our stores? You mentioned your customer service experience: Think it helped shape you into the salesperson/educator you are today? Basically…what’s your secret to connecting with our Bees?

Nate: I just like being real with people and for people to be real with me. I like joking with people, and usually it opens them up to have a better time…which makes me have a better time. Life is too short to be serious. Plus, I love passing on the knowledge of nature’s awesome benefits and what it gives our bodies and our souls.

TJS: When you’re talking about TJS, what do you like to tout the most? What does the company do that makes you most proud to be a part of it? What do you think sets TJS from the rest?

Nate: I’m proud that we have an unwavering commitment to our customers’ health, and I’m proud of the quality of our products. We put those first, always and forever.

(And we know this is number six, but inquiring minds wanna know: What’s your fave juice?)

WHealthy™, all the way.

TJS News: Our Year In Review

January 8, 2017 By Jen Chase

Haters gonna hate, Bees, but if you know The Juice Standard, you know that’s not our jam.

Peaks and valleys prevailed in 2016, for sure…but in these early new-year’s days of self reflection, we’re unabashedly proud of what we accomplished last year, and most of it had to do with your support.

How? Think about it: Like plants, puppies and our BFF’s endless obsesh with Wentworth, things grow when they’re fed. And as with those three awesome things, thanks to your passion and pride for TJS products made from 100 percent organic produce (and our team’s dedication to ensuring everything you sip and chew is as delish and delish can be), when you’ve wanted more, we’ve given more.

Simba. Mufasa. It’s the circle of life, Bees.

In the opening of one of the articles in December’s newsletter we hinted at our inception story. And because we can be suckers for those TV retrospectives that kick off a new year, here’s a glimpse of what went down the TJS way last year in hopes it’ll tantalize you to stick with us as we bloom and blossom in 2017.

January

In the first clip of the year, the Las Vegas Review Journal included TJS in its roundup of juiceries to celebrate Fresh Squeezed Juice Week (which this year falls on Jan. 23, so get ready). Also in January, we lifted the cone of silence on what had been worked on for months: the makings of a new TJS at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. February was shaping up to be a stellar month….

February

Yep: February brought the opening of The Buzz—what we affectionately call our location at The Cosmopolitan. Seemed like a fantasy—bringing cold-pressed juice to the Strip that was pressed that very morning at 5 a.m.—and in short order we were totally welcomed by the morning crowd, pool crowd and Marquee crowd looking to imbibe a little differently.

In February we also got a little shout out from Al Mancini at Vegas Seven for something we hold near and dear: TJS’s shots and how amazeballs they are at fighting the cold and the flu. (I mean we know this stuff, but having it promoted by others is bomb.) And for something totally fun and different, our co-founder and CEO Jamie Stephenson was a guest on this rockin episode of the Downtown Podcast (which you can enjoy on YouTube).

Proud? The way she commanded that stage? You bet. Look at her.

March

March marked a few shifts for TJS, especially in the kind of info we decided we wanted to bring to you, our bees.

For starters, we used our newsletter space “From The Humble Bee” to explain our shift toward calling our juice cleanses juice fasts, instead. (Don’t remember? Read about it here.) And March marked our first time delving into what at the time seemed like a relatively quiet convo that was mostly taking place behind closed doors.

Bathroom doors.

In Poo and You, through great graphics and straight talk we edged toward making our gut-health—and the ever-present notion that what goes in must come out and it shouldn’t be embarrassing when it does—seem not so taboo.

TJS also got its first national press hit (thank you MasterCard™) when we were recognized as a notable juicery in the increasingly WHealthy™ city of Las Vegas (#ItTakesAHive) along with friend Shane Stuart, now the owner and founder of Panacea.

It was a good month.

April

April was big for one delicious reason: TJS started hyping the cold-pressed cocktails launched and served at The Buzz at The Cosmopolitan (and only at The Cosmopolitan). In the piece Less Is More, we announced that from April on, bees looking to marry taste and WHealth™ could do it with cocktails made from the most luscious mixers on the Strip: our made-fresh-daily juices and nut milks pressed from 100 percent organic produce.

May

May brought us a chance for members of the TJS Team—founders Marcella Williams and Jamie Stephenson; TJS’s Creative Director Mallory Dawn; and Content Director Jen Chase—to shine a light of mother-lovin’ love on the women who helped shape us in this, the first, first-person narrative feature in our newsletter. We used the feature We Are Motherlovers to also salute the Las Vegas mums who choose to make TJS a part of their parenting prowess.

June-July-August

Despite its rich pool life, summer in Las Vegas is the slowest of the seasons beecause it’s so damn hottt, so our focus was on maintaining calm, coolness and getting the hell outta dodge. The calm was introducing you all to maca, one of our fave adaptogens; Juicing Across The Map showed off where we like to go for juice when the going gets steamy in the city; and our Summertime Slimdown gave you the skinny on how to stay just that by chewing and sipping your way through our menu.

And beecause Vegas is nothing if not built on the ol’ “and-not-or” concept, to create a little party-esque buzz of our own, August brought us our first ever Customer Appreciation Night, where we served sips and bites and had Daniel Park play for all to enjoy.

September

Two words were the highlight of September: Robin Leach. (Okay, five: Robin Leach and Marcella Williams.)

Every summer, Mr. Leach travels to faraway lands leaving his column space in the Las Vegas Review-Journal open for hand-picked space fillers. Last year it was Jamie. This summer, Marcella revealed her touching come-to-juicing story by way of motherhood in this first-person narrative all about her.

We also got our first Thrillist hit thanks to prolific Vegas writer Rob Kachelriess, and we were thrilled that the beeautiful-in-and-out Ms. Andrea Bennett at Vegas magazine sought TJS fit to add to her list of ways to #DetoxBeforeRetox in Las Vegas. #Proud.

Even more pride-worthy was the massive overhaul to the TJS chewable menu which now features avo-breads, updated chia seed puddings and more plant-based sweet treats that help balance your desires for food that tastes good while it’s doing good.

It was a super-good summer.

October-November-December

Fall is one of the most amazing food-and-drink times in Las Vegas, beecause creative culinarians and mixologists like Marcella and her Bee Team have to balance our near-intrinsic humanoid bent toward fall’s root veggies, warm spices and pumpkin-all-the-time ‘tude no matter how temperate the weather stays.

This fall marked the return of last year’s Harvest Spice Bee Invincible; a host of delicious hot cacao drinks that blow the tops off conventional hot chocolate; and with the legalization of marijuana, we juice-u-cated you bees about the benefits of CBD oil…our most recent superfood upgrade that can now be added to juices, nut milks, cacaos, and espresso drinks, at both of our neighborhood stores.

The end of December brought other clips, too. Jamie and Marcella were invited to be interviewed for the venerable business e-newsie published by Crain’s where they shared an experience in small-business ownership (a BFD for women in a predominantly male-oriented pub). And Women’s Health magazine highlighted TJS as a great tool to have in your toolbox for staying fit in Las Vegas.

So, yes: It was an amazing year of firsts…new stores, new menu items, new courage to lean into the hard discussions, new partnerships, and new friends.

Honestly, sitting down with a calendar and reflecting like this, month by month, is something we all can do when we need a gut check about our accomplishments…and it doesn’t always have to be in January. Large companies do it all the time to evaluate, but a personal check-in—or one for a growing business like TJS—is sometimes exactly what you need for a little self-soothing gratitude, as well as for planning your company (or life’s) next steps.

One thing’s for certain: It would be zero fun to do all this without the support, feedback and juicy love all the bees that visit us at The Rose (St. Rose Parkway), The Hive (on Ft. Apache) and The Buzz (at The Cosmopolitan). We only exist beecause of you, and we’re thrilled to see what 2017 will bring.