This month exactly 3 years ago, in October 2014, I opened the first cold pressed juice and raw food to go location in The Netherlands.

I say, I, because I am the sole founder, but The Cold Pressed Juicery would not exist if it wasn’t for a whole bunch of talented, hard working, inspiring and loyal individuals that have helped me to be able to open one Juicery and to be able to be where we are now within 3 years time.

I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you. To you. As well as inspire others on how to realize your own dream. To share with you what it is that I have learned while also letting you in on the real truth of entrepreneurship that often people don’t tell you.

First of all. Thank YOU. Thank you reader. Thank you friend. Thank you customer. Thank you team. Thank you farmer.  Thank you family. Thank you. Thank all of you that are connected in one way or another to The Cold Pressed Juicery. Without you there would be no The Cold Pressed Juicery.

Let’s shortly reflect back on how it started. One intern and me working from home. We had one big to do list and I had one big dream: To give birth to a conscious, fair, sustainable, transparent, fun and modern brand. A brand that would give back and would do human kind as well as the planet good, at least no harm. My dream was to open a spot in Amsterdam where you would be sure that everything you would get from there is the best thing that you could possibly put in your body. The service, guidance and help you would get would inspire you to be even healthier and the atmosphere and products had to feel contemporary and nice. There was no way I wanted to compromise design or quality. The mommies, lawyers, students, yogis, creatives, dreamers, realists – everyone had to feel at ease, welcome and inspired.

From the intern and me working from home with no products, no store, no customers but only a dream and a plan to 3 years later we’re now here:

- We have 4 physical Juicery locations in Amsterdam

- We have 2 shop in shops. One at Hudson Bay and one at Rocycle Zuidas

- On average 45 employees.

- We hand make and sell 71 different fresh organic, glutenfree, sugarfree vegan products 7 days a week. No we take no breaks. ;-)

- To name a few, we press per year on average:

- 32.000kg of pineapples

- 27.000kg of oranges

- 25.000kg of cucumbers

- 20.000kg of spinach

- 19.000kg of kale

- 15.000kg of apples

And many more. Accumulating to hundreds of thousands of raw organic fruits, veggies and herbs. Countless football size fields full.

- We work with around 40/50 different farmers and suppliers
- We make thousands of children, men and woman healthier, happier and more energized every week

This list looks like we might know what we were or are doing, but here are some facts for you of very unsuccessful, hilarious and stupid mistakes I or we also made:

- Imported the very first original Cold Press machine from the USA without ever even having used it. We had no idea how to use it (no this is not your cute little slow juicer you can put on a kitchen counter, this cold press is bigger than my entire kitchen). The first couple of weeks we pressed without certain press plates meaning that we got half the amount of juice out of our produce than the company advertised we would get from it. After weeks on end pressing way too many kilos of raw produce for our own good, our then sous chef, Suzanne had a light bulb moment and wondered what these white plates were that came with the cold press. One hour later…double the amount of juice from the same amount of kilos.

- On the night before opening we tried to make The Reset, now one of our bestselling juices. Everything went wrong when we tried to press kilos of grapefruits in our cold press. What came out was not juice but a gooey substance that looked like a mummy. It was 2AM, we had a mummy in the kitchen and we had already announced we would open our doors at 7.30AM the next morning. We pressed apples till 5AM. I went home to shower and was back at 6AM to open a store, with apple juice only.

These 2 incidents are only to name a few. I can list a whole lot more. Entrepreneurship might look all fun and games but everyone make mistakes. For what it is worth, I hope I can help you to try and avoid some, therefore here are some tips I found out along the way. May they be of help to you or inspire you in your personal or work life:

Tips:

- Assemble people in your life that will give you honest feedback. Keep those close to you that will tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. This will make you better, stronger and braver.

- Manage costs. Control costs. Get someone on board that breathes finance so you can create and focus what you are great at.

- Listen to your gut, always. Believe in yourself. Sink into your heart. The heart already knows. Don’t let anybody influence you to go a different direction when this does not feel right.

- Be different. Be you.

- Don’t settle for anything other than the best. Yes regular produce cost a lot less to buy and we can sell our products for sure for 30% less but I knew I would not consume my own products if we didn’t choose for organic. And people will and do taste the difference as well as feel better.

- LOVE what you are about to start. Love what you do. When this thing you want to do, keeps pulling you and no matter how many opportunities are coming your way and you still cannot stop thinking about (in my case quitting my job in New York to come to Amsterdam and sell juice) then that is the moment you jump into the deep and go full throttle.

- Realize time is not on your side. Live now. Do what you need and want to do now.

- There will always be people that will want something from you. Set your goals. Stick to your plan. Do not let yourself get distracted with the stuff that for you don’t really matter.

- Be prepared to not or have less of a social life for the first years for sure, at least if you are a perfectionist and working with perishable foods and people. As every day something will go wrong, you will be hit by hundreds of set backs so do not stop. Ever. Persevere.

- Never hire people because you need them, wait until you find those rare, raw diamonds then hire and keep them.

- Trust your instinct when hiring staff and anything else you do. Always call former employers and ask for feedback on the person you wish to hire. If no matter how qualified they are, and you are in doubt then do not hire them.

- Get yourself insurance from day one. People won’t be able to handle or move at your pace and might get sick. You need to be covered for that.

- The moment you have the right people in the right place. Go travel the world and open your mind and create new connection and space in your brain. You will come back stronger, wiser and re-energized.

- DRINK juice. Every day. Eat well. The food you put in your body is like the gasoline you put in your car. Don’t put the wrong stuff in, it will break down. Running a business is a like being a top athlete, you need to stay and be healthy.

- Be grateful. Appreciate and let others know how much they mean to you and acknowledge those sooner than later.

- Do not try to change people into something you want them to be. This will never happen. This will go wrong. Everyone has their own unique strength, recognize them for it, put them in the right place or let them go.

- Don’t be afraid to let go. For every window that closes, a new door will open. Someone will step into that place. Embrace change.

- Lead by questioning. Not by answering.

- Find out what you are really good at and what you enjoy. And do just that!

- Have fun. Laugh a lot. Life on this planet is short. Make the most of it. Live your dream life.

Last but not least. In our 3 year history we have never ever given a discount on anything. For our birthday this month we are going to make a one off exception. Our gift to you: 10% off on all cleanses for the last 2 weeks of October. Book your cleanse now for the 15th - 31st of October and enjoy! Bookings can be made by coming to any of our stores, by phone or email and we will have it ready for you when you come in.

Thank you for juicing with us and up to many more years to come!

With gratitude,

Nathalie Alica Streng

Founder of The Cold Pressed Juicery