After relocating to Texas, Sean and Ashley Green eventually decided it was time for a business that tapped into their passion for health and fitness. They opened their first Clean Juice location in Frisco, Texas in January 2020 and more recently, their second Frisco location in March 2021.
In this episode, we hear from the Frisco business owners about their many, delicious, organic offerings! From cold-pressed juice cleanses to protein smoothies, wraps, and bowls, Clean Juice has healthy options packed with the nutrition your body needs!
The atmosphere and customer service are worth a nod, as well… Enjoy this episode.
SHOW NOTES:
[00:37] Meet Ashley and Sean Green
[0:00] What is Clean Juice?
[11:29] Menu items
[15:34] Clean Juice Cleanses
LINKS & RESOURCES:
- Clean Juice on Lifestyle Frisco | Website | Facebook: West Frisco and Starwood | Instagram West Frisco and Starwood
Connect with Lifestyle Frisco on:
Transcript
Machine-generated.
Welcome to the Frisco Podcast. I’m your host Kelly Walker. We’re sitting with Frisco business owners, Ashley and Sean Green today. Welcome, Ashley and Sean, how are you? Hey, doing great. How are you? I’m good. I am excited to talk to you. I’ve talked to you before, usually in your store. So, this is fun, to get to kind of tell your story to our audience and learn even more about what’s going on with you guys. So before we get into the business side, can you just tell me a little about yourselves? And I mentioned your business owners. So, tell us about you guys.
Yeah, sure. Well, um, Ashley and I are both from upstate New York, Rochester, New York. You know, grew up there, uh, went to school there. And we actually started dating when we were, uh, 19 years old. And, uh- just a couple of years ago. Just a couple of years ago. And, you know, if you’ve ever been to Rochester, beautiful place in the summertime, beautiful place. The winter time, yeah, not so much. Right. So we always wanted to live somewhere warm weather and a place that had a lot of opportunity. And we, we really fell in love with the idea of moving to Texas at a young age. And, uh, we, at 23 years old, we, we packed up our Penske truck. We drove from New York to Texas and we moved like somewhat on a whim.
I was going to say, were there, were there career plans in at this time that, that brought you here at all, or you kind of got here and figure the rest out?
We found jobs beforehand. And so we were able to get jobs beforehand. Uh, so we weren’t just, you know, living off the streets or anything, but we, we did find jobs. And we drove down here. In fact, uh, we originally tried to buy a house and it fell through. So we were set to move and we literally had no place to live. So I drove down with a friend and, uh, we found a place. And, uh, I remember looking at places, sending pictures to Ashley saying, “Hey, uh, you know, I found a place.” And she wasn’t even here. That’s hard.
Yeah. So keep in mind, we’d been married for six months and now we’re about to purchase a home that I’ve never even seen before in a state that’s 1400 miles away.
That’s trust and faith that it’s all gonna work out. And now that looking back, you also know: those things aren’t permanent either. You know, I mean, sometimes getting in the wrong place at the beginning helps, you know, where you do want to be. In different, you know, section of town or different town completely or whatever, you know? So while it feels like getting into your first homes are really, really, really major, they’re not permanent, you know.
And that was kind of our whole mindset on the whole move, too. Is, “Hey, what’s the worst that’s going to happen? If we get there. And we don’t like it, we move again.” But like Sean mentioned, we both had job opportunities. I had been working in senior living and I was able to transfer. So it was just, everything kind of fell into place and, and we did buy the house and it was great. And so it all, it all kind of worked out perfectly for us to settle here and eventually, you know, build a home and have a family. Yeah. Okay. So fast forward to, um, what I want to talk to you guys about: your business side of life, um, which is Clean Juice. So how did you get, how did you take that step? You mentioned you were in senior living. Like your career path was that which is, does not sound like the Clean Juice, uh, path. So how did this get into your life?
Well, uh, it started, I just left my corporate job a couple of months ago, actually. Um, I was working as a senior vice president of sales for a technology company. And I had been with that company for over 11 years and really enjoyed it. But I also saw that in the business world, there was so much change, right? So much change. And, and we really desired an opportunity to like take control of our own destiny and start our own business. And we’ve always felt like we’re a great team. We compliment each other really well. And we wanted to do something that we were passionate about, which led us down to like, uh, something around health and nutrition.
Yeah we’re looking at, um, businesses that we could tag team on that would also give us some flexibility because we do have kids. And as, as we were gearing up for our youngest and our kindergarten, we wanted to kind of preplan and look at something that, like Sean said, whether it was fitness or health and nutrition. And at the time, um, I had really gotten us into doing more juicing, and we were doing it at home. And anyone who’s ever made juice at home knows it’s not only a very time-consuming process, but it’s messy. And, um, and it can be costly to o, especially when you’re trying to source organically. Um, it’s intimidating. It’s a lot, it’s a huge commitment, honestly. Um, and, and so I, you know, I have to give credit to Sean really, you know, when we started talking, well, what about, what about juice? Like, that’s something that we both are really passionate about and, and it would have a broader impact too. I think that’s something that, you know, is really important to us was to have a broader impact on the community from a nutrition standpoint, like how can we help other families to be healthy and to help their kids be healthy. Um, and so, um, thus began the search of a franchise opportunity, uh, that, that would kind of fit what we were looking for.
And we were actually, weren’t sure we were going to do a franchise at first. We actually thought about starting up our own concept, but then we came across Clean Juice and it was like, literally, everything that we would have done in our own concept. We’re like, “wow, this concept already exists.”
When things are vetted out for you as a, as somebody in that space that like, obviously it sounds like you don’t both just naturally have, you know, restaurant experience or food and beverage experience. So not having to jump those hurdles alone is a huge thing. I love the franchising concept in general. I worked in franchising for a long time, so I’m actually really love it because there are so many mistakes that new business owners make, regardless of if you have a franchise behind you or not, but to have so many of those things laid out for you is just a really nice stepping stone.
Absolutely. And like Sean said, it was like, Oh, it’s certified organic. That was something that was important to us. Um, faith-based, I mean, as soon as we saw the core values were based on Bible verses, it honestly just felt like this, this was meant to be; this was what we were supposed to be doing.
So that was what I’m curious. Um, I know it as a customer, but yeah. What is the, you know, the, the basics of Clean Juice? Definitely. I would say what we’re most passionate about is living organic, clean-eating, um, because it matters. Um, I think, I think that there’s a lot of people who understand that there’s pesticides and foods and that there’s chemicals or whatever. Um, but they don’t truly understand the long-term, um, problems and impacts that are associated with that. And, and as we look at what we’re feeding our kids, um, you know, the, everything that we’re now learning about food, um, food matters. I, this is my personal opinion. I think that food can make, uh, uh, the biggest impact on our lives than anything else. You know, uh, fitness is, is totally important too. Don’t get me wrong, but I think that food can be a much more powerful- um, and we hear this from customers too, which is why I think I go back to that, that, that it’s organic, that it’s choosing to eat clean. Um, and we know, you know, there’s no one’s going to be perfect in that. Um, but, but in overall, just making that a priority in your life, the stories that we hear from customers are just simply incredible. Like how just small changes with nutrition can, can make a big difference.
I firmly believe it too, because you can be the most fit as far as workout. You can move all day long, but if you’re still putting junk into your body or the wrong type of even, even healthy food, but processed or cooked wrong or fried those kinds of things, that’s always going to outweigh those fitness benefits. You’re getting like you, you can’t work out a bad diet, I guess is- whatever is, there’s the cliche, you know what I’m talking about. Your insides, be good.
Exactly. You may still get muscles and everything else, but you may get sick more often, you know? And so what you put into your body really matters. And, you know, I think a lot of people, the juicing became popular when that documentary came out: Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead. Uh it’s on Netflix. So if you’ve, if you’ve never seen it, it’s a great one.
And my eyes lit up because I love like health documentaries. Oh yeah. It changed my life a few years ago when I watched one. So, okay. Say the name of it again.
It’s called Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead. You know, a lot of people, you know, that’s what kind of brought juicing out to the main stage a little bit. And so people started to really gain awareness around the benefits of juicing and fruits and vegetables and organic foods. And, you know, we fell in love. And when we saw benefits firsthand at our, our health, I mean, we, we are a very, very healthy family. And trust me, we were we’re in like kid’s locker rooms. We travel a lot, like we’re in areas where, you know, we, we could be at risk to get sick, but we, we take such good care of our bodies. And we really believe that eating right exercising and getting sunlight are-
It’s medicine. Right. I feel like it’s medicine. I was just saying the other day to my daughter, how I feel like, um, there’s something in this earth, like that grows from the ground, typically, that can solve most of our issues, problems like health-wise. Um, I mean, I guess it’s obvious when people, I don’t eat meat and things like that, but I really do think that you’re way better off trying to solve some of your aches with natural and food type of, you know, solutions rather than just go into a medicine. Absolutely.
We wholeheartedly agree. And I think, you know, going back to, you know, what’s most important to Clean Juice, too. Clean Juice. Um, the founders, Kat & Landon have a podcast. It’s called Be Organic. And there’s a general theme. For anyone, a listener who follows the podcast, um, just about anything can be treated, if you want to use that word, with food.
Um, and so they talk a lot about in different, in different aspects about how gut health is tied to your brain function and your, your mental state, your mental health, physical health, like, and it all goes back to food.
To what gets in your body, food and environmental type of things. Even like lotions and products and things that you just products that you buy every day on top of the food that- the food is the biggest way that you ingest, I guess, too. But, um, yeah. I mean, everything from depression and anxiety to the actual health of your gut, it all affects like your everyday life, your whole life. Absolutely. And I think when you care about it, it’s almost mind blowing and can be life-changing I dare say. Um, I read the book, How Not To Die, which is really heavy when you think, “Oh, how not to die.” Like, okay, it’s like a super big book, but it’s all about food and products. And, and, you know, I think just as powerful as the documentary is. When you, when you start ingesting that type of information and then you truly care and you start learning about how these things impact you, you know, if, if you really want to take good care of yourself, these are things that are important to you. Okay. So let’s talk about, I’m trying to decide, should we talk about the menu items first or like the, juicing, the cleanses because they’re, they’re different to me. Um, but I guess so like give me a menu rundown. So when we go into a Clean Juice, um, and we’re there to eat, what are we going to see on the menu?
So when a customer, first time customers come in, um, we generally try to walk them through the menu by, um, letting them know that when you read our menu boards left-to-right, it’s least hungry to most hungry, in a sense. We have fresh juices that we make to order that are made on the centrifugal juicer. They’re meant be consumed right away within 30 minutes or so, 45 max. And then, um, we move into smoothies as well as then protein smoothies then acai bowls. We have wraps. We have greenoa wobbles, which are our salads that have quinoa in them. So, or a little bit hardier. Uh, we have toasts. And then of course we’re always going to have some type of a seasonal, um, menu that highlights something special that we’re just doing for a short period of time. Um, all of that’s overwhelming in and of itself to look at all of those choices. And then, like you mentioned on the cleanses and the cold-pressed juice, which is kind of the star of the show, um-
Okay, wait. Before we talk about the star of the show though, I’m curious because you guys are in the business and you live it and you love this food. I want to know your favorites on the menu. I love the left-to-right thing. I didn’t realize that; kind of the, “how hungry are you?” So that’s good to know. But, um, like, like Sean, what say you’re, you’re hungry, right? So what are you, what are you going for?
Man, I have, I have favorites in every category. Okay. So, yeah, but my go-to is The Youthful One, protein smoothie.
I just heard about that from Megan, our- the writer who focuses on you guys. And blueberries. I’m going to have to try that one. It’s called The Youthful?
Yep. Youthful One. And, uh, I add hemp protein. So all of our protein smoothies, you can either pick between whey protein and hemp. And I like both proteins. I really do. Certain smoothies I prefer whey. And certain I like hemp. Youthful One is one that I actually prefer hemp protein. Okay.
That’s what I would go with. It makes it more of a vegan-friendly option. Yeah.
And then there’s like little hacks, you know, little add-ons you can add to things.
What do you add in?
A handful of spinach and spirulina. Oh yeah. So spirulina. Good for you. And really good for you. In fact, blue spirulina is considered gram for gram the most powerful and best, uh, superfood for you.
Does it change the flavor or consistency?
Not really. It, it, it does have a protein to it, so it adds a little bit more protein to the protein smoothie and, uh, it actually changes the color slightly. So it just makes it like a little- It makes everything prettier. Yeah. Nature’s, like, own dye. Yeah. It’s a detoxifying algae. That’s awesome. Okay. And so what about food item then? Food item? I love the Cali wrap. Yeah. Cali wrap. If I want something like, you know, food, food, but I typically eat an acai bowl every day for lunch. Like literally every day.
It’s like a dessert. You guys, um, introduced me to the Nutty bowl there and it is like a lunch that’s really like a cheat. I feel like it’s a cheat dessert because it’s ice cream. I tell myself it’s ice cream. Right. Um, I know it’s not really ice cream, but it just, it’s so light and sweet and flavorful, which is my stuff. That’s what I am into. So I love acai bowls. So Ashley, what are some of your go-to’s on the menu?
That’s totally mine. I mean, the acai bowls are probably my most favorite. I eat them all. The Nutty Bowl is probably my absolute favorite. I’m always adding hemp protein. And then you’re going to notice a common theme here. Sean and I both, I think, add spinach whenever possible. Um, and I, and I tell people this all the time, like spinach doesn’t change the flavor. It’s gonna change the color a little bit. Um, but especially for kids, um, you can add spinach to just about anything and give them some added vegetable. Um, and they won’t even necessarily know. So that’s something for me. I’m just like Sean. I mean, I, I eat one almost everyday, too, I think.
I would too, if I were you guys. Okay. Then the cleanses. So, um, these are fascinating. So people listening, if you haven’t done a juice cleanse there, isn’t just like, you know, you show up and there’s one catch-all, and it’s not some intense week-long thing you have to do with you guys. So kind of tell me what, like a beginner would see when they, when they come in and check out a cleanse option.
Yeah. They get- it’s good that you say that because some times people are really intimidated by the idea of cleansing and they think that they’re not going to be able to eat. So, um, we, we truly start with what we call it, The Beginner, um, it’s four juices and that you drink throughout the day. And then you end your day with a light healthy meal. We typically would recommend heavy on the vegetables, a lean protein. Um, it’s just going to get you all the nutrition you need without also giving your body a little bit of that break from digesting food. But not, not full force to where you aren’t able to actually eat something that, that day. Exactly. So that’s what you wanted. It’s great for people who have never cleansed before aren’t used to drinking juices. Um, I think that that’s something else that, you know, you can’t just jump into a 5-day cleanse and think that you’re going to solve all of your health and nutrition problems. Um, especially if your body isn’t used to the juice too. I think that that’s something that’s a common misconception that all of a sudden I’m going to start juicing, well, your body might be like, “Whoa, what’s going on here?” So- You do anything that harsh to your body, even if it’s harsh in a good way to change, you might not like the way it feels. Yeah, exactly. Or, you know, and, and I think that that’s something that, you know, we, we like to say, “okay, well, don’t, don’t jump in quite so heavy.” Like, let’s start with The Beginner. Start incorporating the juices into your nutrition regularly and build up to a full day. Um, we even have customers who do The Beginner cleanse for multiple days in a row. Um, so that they’re, they’re drinking juice, but then still eating. Um, it’s so individual, which is why I think it’s so great that we have the different options and the different, um, the different cleanses in and of itself, because you can truly customize in a sense to what your goal is.
Which I didn’t know that. So I tried a one-day cleanse. Is that the real name for it or is it they’re real? Is there, yeah, I think you’d done The Original. Original. Okay. I was like, I knew there was a name for it, but it was, it was one day’s worth of juice. Six juices, right? Yes. Well, six pack, took home, went through the drive-through, which is another favorite thing, um, I want to mention. But I loved that afterwards. I thought, “okay, well, one of them, wasn’t my favorite flavor.” And then I found out that you can actually switch that out. If it wasn’t something that was right for you. And so knowing that was huge. I was like, “Oh, okay. I won’t dread this again, because of that one hour, I sipped that one that I didn’t love. Like, I’ll swap that out for a different flavor or something. That’s still like, you know, meets my goals. And so loving that it’s customizable. Which one was it? That I didn’t like? Yeah. You want me to say? Yeah. Um, whatever pink and yellow, like spicy lemonade. Okay. Yeah. It didn’t, you know, I just, I got through it, but it would just not be something I go out and seek out to do. Like, I would like swap that out. I could get through it again, but-
And that’s one that if you have, you know, if you don’t like spicy foods, cause it has cayenne pepper in it, then we have people swap that out for the pink. But-
Wait, what did I say? Pink? Yeah. It was the yellow that you didn’t, and then I was like, “Oh, well, we got it. Next time let’s do the pink.” I meant yellow that I didn’t like, and I’m going to swap it out for the pink. Okay. Yep.
And that’s, and that’s common. You know, if, if someone doesn’t like the yellow, we put the pink, but the yellow does have a lot of health benefits it’s based off of the master cleanse. And so it’s meant to really raise your metabolism act as a detox and flush your body.
See, it’s so good for me. I probably should just stick with it another time, but it just like was kind of one of those things. Like, it’s kind of like hard on my throat at that day. And so I don’t know, but I do love that they’re customizable and that, like you said, for everybody’s goals, I can work up to more, you know, I feel like, “okay, that one actually, wasn’t hard to do a day where I didn’t eat chomp on food.” That, that wasn’t that big of a deal to me once I got into it. So then I immediately said, “can we do, can I do it today? Can I do it three days?” So I, I want to work up to that. So I’m sure that, um, that’s part of your, what you want for your customers, right? Absolutely. I think it’s, it’s, you know, I use the analogy of exercise a lot when I talk to people about cleansing, because I think it’s very mental and that when you learn and you gain the confidence, “Hey, like I can do this, like I can make it through another day.”
And you sort of like, you build that like muscle memory, so to speak. You’re getting stronger. Then you’re more willing to try a second day and then you may be build to a third if you want. But, but again, it’s so individual, like what your health goals are. Some people like to cleanse once a month and they do three days or maybe even five days. Some people, um, for me, like one day, once in a month is great. It’s a nice little reset. I’ve learned what my body can tolerate throughout that. Um, and because juice is a regular part of my diet, too, it’s, it’s not something that I feel that my system needs that full, um, detox of five days. It’s, it’s like cleaning your house, right? This is one of the analogies that we use, too. Is, you know, what are you looking to do? Are we dusting, doing some light dusting or are we doing like a deep clean? And you may need to build up to that deep clean, like we talked about with your body and how it’s going to react, but for your own like mental toughness to get through it and to be able to, um, you know, know that we all, you know, we all have families and friends and we’re not going to be able to shut ourselves in a room for three to five days and not have people eat around us. You know? Like you’ve gotta be disciplined enough, um, to be able to, to carry through that commitment.
And how clean is your house currently, right? Like, is it, are we watching hoarders here? Or, or is it already clean? Right. So that’s why I actually, I eat pretty clean. She eats more cleaner than I do.
I’m sure you guys do. I mean, this is, this is your, you know, your business, so you’re into it and you’ve yeah.
I, I still eat the occasional pizza and burgers, but, uh, I’d say about 80% of the time. I’m really, really good. Yeah. Ashley’s closer to probably 95%. Yeah.
I mean, it’s lifestyle. Everybody has to, you have to have balance, make yourself, yeah, get through it. Because if you are too strict on yourself, it’s a recipe for failure and giving up on it. So you gotta be able to give yourself grace and sometimes eat the thing you want to eat that day.
It’s all in moderation. Right. And on one day, cleanse for me still is mentally tough. You know, you get six o’clock and it’s like, “I want food. I’m hangry. Give me some food.” She’s laughing; I love it. But it’s, but it’s so beneficial. And I, you know, I’m, I’m always so glad when, when we get through it.
I love that analogy of cleaning the house. Okay. So for those listening, who haven’t been to a Clean Juice yet, you guys now have two Frisco locations. Right. So, and tell us about those.
So we opened our first location in West Frisco and Main Marketplace at 423 Maine. Okay. At the end of January, 2020, so a little over a year ago. Um, and you know, that’s been an adventure in and of itself, um, because obviously the world sort of shifted and things changed, but we were truly blessed to be able to, um, serve the community a really healthy product through a time where, you know, trying to maintain a strong immune system was really point of mind for everyone. Um, and so then when this opportunity came up here for, um, our second location on the shops of Starwood at Lebanon and the toll way, and, um, what’s extra cool about this location is like you mentioned a little while ago. It’s not only bigger on the inside, but it has a drive-thru. Drive-thru is just something, I don’t know why it’s so exciting for me. I’m I guess I’m sometimes just too lazy to actually park and get out. Whether I’m on a call or have kids in the car, whatever the reason, or just, just being lazy, being able to swing through a drive-thru is a big deal for me. And on top of that, if I can, pre-order it on my phone, on an app to where I don’t even have to sit and think about the menu I’m just driving through and you hand me something and I go, I’m sold. That’s a big deal. So I love that that, so the Starwood location is, has the drive-thru, but the West Frisco location is, um, Main and 423 Main. I mean, you can still do-
Or you mentioned that, you know, we can order ahead through the Clean Juice app. Um, we have tons of customers who still take advantage of that. When you do that, you can come in to pick up your order at West Frisco. You can do curbside where you call us when you pull up and we’ll walk right out to you. Lazy people like me don’t need the drive-thru. You can walk it out too. We always walk it out. And are you open morning, noon and night, or are you just lunch/breakfast? So Monday through Friday, we are open 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM, Saturdays, 8 to 8, and then Sundays, 9 to 6. Okay. So I’ve only had during the day, so that’s why I thought “are you even there for dinner?” So you are. So, good.
Yeah. And we have tons of combos, too. Um, and you can see it in the app. I think that’s, you know, for anyone who’s curious about the menu, the easiest way for you to view it would be to go ahead and download the Clean Juice app or go on the Clean Juice website. But you can, you’ll also notice that we have Create-Your-Own combos, which are pretty popular for lunch and dinner, where you can pair a cold-pressed with a greenoa, or a smoothie with a wrap, or, you know. You can put together a couple of things, um, and truly be able to give yourself a great nutritious meal on-the-go, which is, which is something that, you know, we think is such a great opportunity for us with, with the drive-thru, especially. Because we are so busy and we’re juggling so many things, you know, a lot of, a lot of people are families and kids are just your own commitments. Um, so being able to offer something that’s healthy and relatively quick and easy, you know, is such a blessing, um, for us to be able to provide to the community.
It is I love it. Well, Ashley and Sean, thank you. Thanks for sitting down with me and hopefully, uh, teaching our, our audience something they didn’t know about Clean Juice before. And thanks for being local for school business owners. We appreciate it. Thanks for having us. And thank you for listening to this episode of the Frisco Podcast. We’ll see you next time.
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