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.