If you’re a little of a health freak, you may have heard of Boost Juice, the international chain of juice bars with over 6000 employees and $160million in global sales that started from a humble little store in Adelaide, Australia. Founded by Janine Allis, Boost Juice was inspired by the juice bar fad that was sweeping across United States in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The entrepreneur pens down her personal journey – from a housewife with no business training to successful entrepreneur – in setting up Boost Juice in the book “The Secrets of My Success: The Story of Boost Juice, Juicy Bits and All“, where she not only records her personal trials but also distills that experience into 30 business and leadership tips she calls her ‘recipes for success’.
Today Allis is considered as one of Australia’s most well-regarded women entrepreneurs; reading the book you’ll know why. Be prepared to be amazed by her practical business and leadership wisdom as well as philosophy, much of it garnered from her slightly misspent youth and travel adventures, but also her attitudes towards family and people in general.
What’s also unusual about the book – but in a good way – are little snippets written by Allis’ husband Jeff, who gives great insight and personal perspective into his wife’s thoughts and why she does things the way she does. She also gets input from staff and friends to contribute little snippets, and whose inputs help piece together the jigsaw that is Janine Allis and Boost Juice.
And for all you mompreneurs, Allis is a fine example of how you can have it all – a thriving business, and with enough time to spend with her growing family. As she says, “I wanted it all – kids and a career. I made sure I got it, but had to work hard for it.”
One of the reasons Allis wrote this book was because she’s often stopped by young men and women telling her they’re starting out on their businesses because of her entrepreneurial example. Maybe like them, you may be inspired to do the same and start your own journey after reading Allis’ “The Secrets of My Success“.
As an aside, I was studying in Melbourne, Australia when Allis and some partners opened SeJuice – an ill-fated precursor to Boost Juice outlet (read the book to find out more about SeJuice and surviving bad partnerships) – in Melbourne’s Chapel Street those many years back. I’ve even walked by, although I’ve never stepped into the store. It would have been an interesting to have seen the concept that birthed Boost Juice.
