I am really happy to be sitting across the table today with Ryan Blake from Purely Press Organic, which is a local juicery. I'm not sure what you call yourself.

Like a cafe, really? Cafe.

Yeah. You've expanded what you do, I think, over the years.

Yeah. When we first started, we were just doing, like, I think we had, like, three smoothies and, like, juices, and that was kind of like our thing is just like doing the cold pressed juice.

And.

And it just, you know, we kind of just kept chipping away at it, and then it's into what it is now.

Like any good entrepreneur, you've evolved, you've. You've probably pivoted based on market changes and what your customers are telling you.

All that. All that.

Yeah. So let's get into that. So you started this with your wife? Yes. Husband and wife team here.

Yes.

And tell me about you and Rachel.

Well, Rachel and I, we met the. Don't tell anybody, but we met at Ohio State. I didn't see that. We were on the track and field team together. And during undergrad, we really didn't cross paths much. I was a high jumper, she was a distance runner, and I always kind of noticed her and vice versa. But it wasn't until after we both graduated that we started dating and then got serious. We were playing volleyball in the summer and would go on dates.

Were you back here at that point? Where were you? Still in Columbus?

Yeah, we were in Columbus. I grew up in Columbus. And really, Rachel was like a very gifted, gifted athlete. She had her whole pick of the letter for any school, and she decided on Ohio State. And so. But she's originally from the area. That's why I say that she grew up about 45 minutes south of here in a town called Milford. But, yeah, so, you know, we started dating, fell in love, that whole song and dance. And we always knew we wanted to start our own business, but, like, you know, fresh out of college, you a. You have no idea what that means.

Right, right, right, right.

Just completely in the dark, and then you don't know what it is, like, what the form would be like, what you want to do. And so we kind of just floated trying to figure all that out.

Yeah. So I'm. I'm curious about that. It was just like you're on a date and. And it sort of comes up like, hey, let's start a business together, kind of. We don't know what it's going to be yet, kind of. We just love the idea of it.

Yeah. You know, I mean, I think you know, at that age, too, there's like, a mystique and an aura about entrepreneurs, too. So there, you know, it's probably a little bit of allure with that. And I had, at that time, kind of dabbled through the track team. I created, like, a T shirt design that was, like, arrogant apparel. And it was air. Kind of a play on the words, and then, like, the. I was like an arrow pointing up. So it was sort of like a focus on, like, the athletic mindset and how to kind of achieve your goals and that sort of thing. And the confidence it takes to sort of break through that. You know, nothing amounted of it. We wore it on the team my senior year and.

Yeah, but so it was an early example of you. It was kind of like doing. Engaging in some entrepreneurial activity. Right.

You know, and, like, that's when I first learned about, like, graphic design. And, you know, I had a friend who kind of helped me with the design of the logo and all that stuff. So that was kind of like the early seedings. And, you know, Rachel, she saw all that. And, you know, as we were dating, this is. We knew we wanted to not work for somebody, but work for ourselves. And she has, like, her background. They are, like, some of the greatest, like, in terms of work ethic. Their family is like. They're in a different level. Like, her father was a brick mason. And I mean, I don't know if you've ever, like, laid brick before, but in northern Indiana, it's physically demanding.

I'm sure it is. Bricks are heavy, right?

Heavy.

Working up a wall.

And he's done his whole career with that. And, I mean, you can really kind of. It's palpable within the family, like, you know, because it's not like you clock in, you kind of serve your time, and then, you know, you go home. It's like, you get done when you get done. So it's like, efficiency is paramount, all of these things, you know, and it's really kind of like, perfect. Permeated through their.

And then, of course, she's a distance runner, which. Which probably, like, ties right into that, right?

Absolutely.

Incredibly tough. Tough, hard. You know, work ethic. You're out there. Rain, snow, sleet, does not matter. You're out there putting the miles in.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, you know, dating during that time was. It was not fun for my ego, let's put it that way, because I would go on runs with her, and she just would, you know, actually.

And you said you were a high. You're a high Jumper.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Not. Not very good on the distance running side of things.

But I think it's great that the two of you were even while dating, were talking about starting a business. And the motivation, it sounds like the motivation was like, we want to do our own thing.

Exactly.

We want to be our own bosses, kind of that.

So then how we got the idea for purely press. My sister at the time was living in San Francisco and we took a trip out to go see her. And first of all, San Francisco is just such a cool area. She was living in Larkspur, I think is what the name of the town was. It was like Alcatraz was like down the road and the bay was right there.

So beautiful. Amazing location.

Yeah. And they had this little shopping center. It was like an outdoor shopping center. Rustic bakery was there, all these really cool shops. They had this three twins organic ice cream, this little parlor right there. That was phenomenal. Unfortunately, they. I think Covid did them in, but.

That was a tough time for restaurants.

Yeah. And then they had a press juicery kiosk right there. And so, you know, with our athletic background, we go. We try the press juicery and had never really kind of experienced anything like that before. And Rachel's family, to their credit, was well ahead of like the organic curve.

Okay.

They had been doing organic foods, like back when it was like the cereal was basically inedible.

Right, Right. Really early adopters.

Really early adopters. And so like, you know, we try this cold pressed juice. It's. It's organic. And like the whole sales pitch is like it's five pounds of produce condensed into a single bottle. So it's like a great way to supplement the nutrients that you need just in a quick little setting. You know, it's almost like a multivitamin, but just.

Yeah. Yeah. Impressive. Right. Because it's. I know all of us maybe athletes, less so. But it's hard to consume good food on a regular basis. Oh.

Especially in.

It's not convenient. Right. Yeah. In our society. Right. It's hard to make it work.

And it's. It's expensive, you know, especially. I mean, you think about it like 5 pounds produce in a single bottle. Like, you know, and it's organic too. So it's like that's. That really drives up your cost. But so, yeah, I mean, society and large, it doesn't really. It's not conducive to healthy living. You know, there's a cost for convenience and like fast food is. Is king in this, especially in the Midwest. But So we tried it and like immediately fell in love. And Rachel, she had a hospitality management background.

Okay.

She was, I think at the time managing a First Watch, which is a brunch, like a national brunch chain. And so, like, we immediately were like, well, a, no one is doing this back home. Like, we would be kind of first to market. And B, it's manageable. Like, you know, you get the press. You, you know.

Yeah, I know. I can see that. Right. You're thinking this is not. This does not involve a million dollars worth of infrastructure. Right. Like, we could do this.

Yeah, yeah. And then it was an added bonus that it was in alignment with our lifestyle.

Right.

You know, like, we. I always, like, in college, my friends would make fun of me. Cause I would, you know, be making. Not even making oatmeal. I was doing like instant oatmeal. And I was trying to be healthy, not really knowing what that was. But they will always tease me for like getting salads and things like that and whatnot. But yeah, so I mean, the alignment piece of it was you two look.

At each other and think like, this is it.

Yeah, yeah. Honestly. Yeah, yeah, we did. So. And at that time, I was with a craft beer wholesaler in sales, which was like amazing. First job out of college, like, I got to do so many cool things with that. I got to meet so many cool people. Get to do like a all expense paid European brewery tour.

Oh my gosh, like a week through.

Like Germany, France, Belgium. And we ended in England. Yeah, Heck yeah. But so I was able at that time to utilize connections through my, my customer base. And we were able to basically use like the kitchen of a local grocery market there. It was like a two store chain. And we got to like do like product development.

Okay.

And then we just like we set up a fridge in one of their store. Actually both of their.

No, I think this is still back in Ohio.

This is in Columbus.

This is in Columbus. Yeah, yeah.

So this is maybe a year after that trip, you know, and we just got the bug of like researching, figuring out how to do it and so.

The right way to do it. Fantastic. So you started research and development. Like, we love this idea. We want to make sure we can do it and make it work.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. So we, you know, we start using their kitchen. I would get done with work. We would go to. It was called the Hills Market. It's still there, but. And we would just get the recipes dialed in. And at that time we had a little counter. Countertop, like norwalk Nowhere near fit for commercial production. I mean, we were doing.

This is the press.

This is the press.

I was curious about the presses. So you had purchased this smaller piece of equipment.

Yeah, it was.

Yeah.

You know, I'm trying to think of what it. Like a, like a shipping box from Amazon, almost like inside like a small little thing. And I mean, if you've ever done like juicing at home before, it's super labor intensive. Like, that's another component.

Everybody has a juicer sitting in their basement that they never use because it's too much work.

Yeah, exactly, exactly. Like the cleanup, I mean, just doing like a, like a single batch is a 45 minute commitment. So I mean, you know, when you multiply that for multiple products, you know, for, you know, you try and scale it up, it's a lot. But we were doing it and we had like, I came up with like a logo, the carrot, you know, which is still on.

Is that the same one on your hat? Which is a great logo.

Thank you.

Very, very clean. Right. And very noticeable.

Yeah. And kind of captures what you're, you know, so at that. Still had that. And we were calling it Simply Pressed at the time.

Right.

And so that's what we were doing. I'd get home from work, Rachel would be done from work. We would drive downtown and we would just press and then set it up in a kiosk.

Yeah. I'm curious about the kiosk part of it. So you were doing basically product testing.

We were selling.

Right, you were selling. But then you were probably learning from that. Selling. Right. What do people want? What are they buying? Yeah, what are they not buying? I imagine you were testing different recipes.

Yeah, a little bit.

How did you find your recipes?

We just kind of came up with it ourselves.

We're like three carrots, two pineapples, pretty much kind of what tastes good.

Yeah. And Rachel's really great with it, that kind of stuff. Like, she's an excellent cook at home and she's got a good eye for, you know, kind of recipe development. She did a lot of our smoothies and our acai bowls and I mean we both, you know, we've co mingled with everything in the business, you know, but like she's, she's a rock star.

I love that you were doing the, the pop up thing, the kiosk thing, because a lot of, you know, when you're a young entrepreneur just starting, you have to get your foot in the.

Door somewhere and no one's going to loan.

You don't have a ton of money. No one's going to loan you money. Right. Nobody knows you.

Yeah.

They don't know your product.

Ye is like, you're not selling me on a dream. Like, I need, like, substantial information to invest, you know, so that was a challenge for us.

Right?

Yeah.

Right. And I suppose you saw success in that, which then gave you the confidence to keep moving forward with the idea, you know.

Yes and no. Okay.

I mean, tell me about that. Yeah.

So this was probably around 2012, 2013. And we never really gave up on the idea. We wanted to get a storefront.

Yeah.

But someone had beat us to it. It was this great little place called Native Juice Company. It's still. Still in business in Columbus. And they. I mean, just a beautiful store, like, beautiful. All this stuff. So took our. The wind out of our sails.

I can see that. Yeah.

And then Rachel had another location picked out. And, you know, we couldn't get any funding. Right. No one was going to give us money to do it. And so that same location that Rachel picked out, another juice bar concept, like, went right in there.

No kidding. Were you starting to feel like we're missing our opportunity here? Like other people are moving? Very much.

Very much that sinking feeling, you know, where you're just like.

Like, we had this idea and we were ahead of the curve, but now we're falling behind it.

Totally. Totally. 1,000%. 1,000%. And so, you know, we kind of. I would say we shelved it, you know, and just, you know, continued working. And along the road, Rachel got offered a position with her childhood best friend, and she took it, but it was in Indiana. It was in, like, basically Warsaw area. And I was still in the craft beer sales. And, you know, we had kind of known. Cause my family is kind of scattered all about, and her family, a lot of them at the time, were all living there, so. And I loved their family dynamic and everything. So, you know, we wanted to move there and kind of start our, you know, build our future from there.

The idea of moving back made sense for a lot of reasons.

Yeah. Yeah. And so. And from there, so Rachel moves. I'm still in Columbus, and we're kind of like, tying all the loose ends and whatnot. And then I got a position with a advertising company called National Cinema, and I did that for a little bit of time. And then Rachel was helping her friend out start a, like an online website, basically, that was a spin off from their main core business. Okay. And, you know, so we're doing that. And eventually I came into the fold and helped out with her family's business too, and then just kind of bid our time and, you know, we hadn't quite given up on the entrepreneurial dream. We looked at doing like, basically it would have been like a Blaze Pizza storefront for that. Her father has a pizza trailer. It's called Fire Kiss Pizza. Phenomenal. It's the same similar thing. It's a wood fired oven. It's, you know, he bakes in 90 seconds and he goes around, does all the different.

Oh, yeah. So you were definitely still surrounded by an entrepreneurial mindset.

Yes, very much, yeah. Yeah. So, you know, we were doing that, but it was still kind of the same challenges and, you know, so. And then I. This is so random, but I got to do a game show. It was called. Okay, it was called the Wall. I kid you not. It was like they never ended up airing our episode. But like, my friend and I, we had this crazy shared experience where he saw a lady getting mugged and intervened and like, basically saved the day. And then when I was with Premium, I saw a guy purse snatching. I think it was like Valentine's Day. And I ran him down and I got the purse back. And so the whole like, aspect of the Wall was like they wanted to get people on the show that you would cheer for. So, like on a whim, I applied and got a call back and then we went through this whole long.

You and your friends said that. Okay.

Yes. Yeah. And so, um, they fly us out. Long story short, we filmed the whole episode and, and this whole time, like, we wanted to do the Blaze concept. And I'm thinking like, we're going to get our funding, you know, because you can win. Up to like, they pitched it as like life changing amounts of money. Amounts of money.

So you're thinking like, this is our ticket.

This is our ticket. Yeah, I'm like full speed ahead. Like, I'm, I'm studying, I'm doing all this stuff, dedicating an insane amount of time to it. Super stressful. Like, I just like, the whole process was exhausted. I would never want to do it again. But it was a really cool thing. So we fly out there, do the thing, and we got up to like $800,000 in winnings. And then I don't know if you're familiar with the episode. It's basically like Plinko. So a ball drops and your partner wages. He sees the answer of the question. So it's like a clue. And then he basically wagers on like the likelihood that you're going to get right. So. So I get up to 800,000. We crash out, and, like, we find out that we crash out, we don't make any money off the whole thing. So it was really kind of like a.

So you thought you had $800,000.

I didn't know I was in a completely different building. I'm just getting. I'm answering all the questions. And, yeah, I still haven't even seen the episode, but okay.

So, yeah, anyway, did not work out. Did not become the magical funding source for the pizza concept.

It didn't. And so that was probably a really great thing because we pivoted back to the juice bar, and it was. At that point we had more resources where we could kind of get it going. And so we went full speed ahead with trying to get the juice bar going. And then through happenstance, we took a flyer on the Centennial Place shopping center and connected with the landlord and kind of told him what we were thinking and that sort of. Sort of bit. And the spot that I was originally looking at, he was like, well, hey, like, the take and bake pizza. We're going to not, like, renew their lease. And so they have a walk in cooler. Everything's ready to go. Like, why don't you take a look at that? Yeah, so we did and went through that whole process. And then a couple of weeks later, like, we signed the lease. Signed the lease. And, like, the rest was kind of.

Did you have the equipment at that point? And then.

No, no, we got some help.

The whole thing, like bottling, marketing equipment.

It was all just like, one foot in front of the other. Keep integrating, keep improving. And, you know, just after a bit of time, I always like to say, like, we went viral because the students found out about us, and it just, like, it felt like it just, like, jumped overnight. Like, it was really crazy. But, yeah, I mean, it wasn't like, anything sexy as far as, like, our growth and trajectory. It was literally one foot in front of the other. Keep.

So this was in 2016, right when you opened up that storefront for the first time. How did the students find out about you?

They were taking Ubers to us, and.

It was all, like, just word of mouth. Word of mouth?

Yeah, like they were taking photos of the bulls, and it would just kind of slowly catch on that way.

What do you think was driving that for the students? Like, why. Why would they be willing to take an Uber all the way out to your place?

Well, there was nothing like it in the area, you know, and acai bowls, that was kind of the big draw, you know, and like that age demographic, I mean, I think there's a perceptible shift in consumer mindsets from like older generations, this younger generation, because they're. It really checked a lot of boxes for that demographic.

Okay. So they were looking for.

It's organic, it's trendy, it's visually, it's a beautiful product. You know, it photos really well on Instagram.

Yep.

And so I think a lot of those factors, you know, they were just like, yeah, let's go. And I think the competition level for the product that we were offering was very kind of, I wouldn't say non existent, but like we stood out. You know, we were completely different than anything going on. And so that worked in our favor, which is fantastic.

So you had sort of that niche of the market.

Yeah.

To yourself to some degree.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I mean.

Yeah, your stuff is beautiful by the way. Your juices, you know, when you see them all lined up next to one another, they're just gorgeous colors.

Yeah.

You know, it looks like, yeah, it looks like a palette of paint.

Yeah.

Really, really beautiful.

Yeah, yeah. Oh, and that's, you know, I mean that's kind of, it's a natural product, you know, and nature is beautiful, beautiful, you know, and that's kind of what we're kind of going for is like natural beauty, you know, Ford. And it's just like the natural health, like it all kind of ties in together with like the branding and the product and you know, did you, I.

Mean, did you get help to do all that? I mean, I meant you buy this equipment, it's probably a fairly big upfront investment on your part. Capital investment to get the hydraulic presses.

Yeah, yeah.

Obviously the lease costs money. Yeah. You're gambling here at this point, right? Like we believe in this idea and we're going to go all in on it.

Yeah, pretty much.

Who was helping you like even, even figure out like how do we do the bottling, how do we do the marketing? Were you doing it all yourselves and working a full time job?

Yeah. So Rachel's brothers were helping at that time. Riley, he was just kind of working and you know, helping out. And then Reed, he eventually became a co owner with, with the company. And so they were instrumental. Like they did a great job and wonderful people. And then as far as funding, Rachel's uncles, they helped us out. They gave us a cash loan basically and then we were able to. I can't remember how long it took for us to pay it off, but it was relatively Pretty quick, like. And I was working at the time. I was doing sales, and I would be. There was an office up on the. On the second floor of the unit that we were renting. I'd be up there, like, making calls, and I'd hear the door chime, and I'd run down. Run downstairs and make the smoothies and then run right back up. And Rachel, she was. She was doing it pretty much full time from the. From the onset of it. So. But yeah, I mean, as far as help, like, it was completely us. I mean, you know, Rachel, she had sort of the organizational background. A lot of her inspiration came from her days at first watch.

Right. And she had that experience, which is probably pretty helpful.

Yeah, yeah. And then I was very much a graphic design tinkerer, you know, so we kind of blended those two together. And, I mean, as far as, like, the systems, I mean, it was literally, it was just us, you know, Rachel, myself, and then her brothers at the beginning, you know, and so we just. There's. It's very much like you throw your bag over the wall and you have this shift in your mind, you know, you have to figure it out. Like, there's no.

No, I love that analogy. Right. So, yeah, that's literally what it was. Like, you have no choice but to follow. Yeah, yeah.

And you. It's like, it's such a. A liberating feeling, too, because you're. You're really, like. Your hair is on edge. I remember I would get so nervous, like, until the first customer came in. Like, I would just be, like, full of anxiety and, you know, all that normal human emotion.

Sure, sure. Was it hard to even, like, source the material? How were you sourcing material at that point?

So we had Piazza Produce. They've been a great supplier. And then also at the time in South Bend, there was a strictly organic wholesaler called BNB Organics.

Okay.

So we utilized them a lot. Unfortunately, they were. They're no longer in business. But it was a very fortunate and convenient thing for what we were trying to do, because it was. The warehouse was, you know, 12 minutes down the road from us. So.

So that was you just picking up the phone and saying, like, hey, we've got this new.

Yeah.

Restaurant idea or juice cafe idea. Yeah. And you go down to their warehouse and.

Yeah, yeah. They would deliver to us.

We want.

Yeah.

X number of this and pineapple and blueberries and whatever else it was.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

The acai bowls. What are. What. What is actually in those? So I know you have a Bunch of different ones, but yeah, yeah.

Our core one is. It's frozen strawberry, mango, fresh banana, coconut milk, and then the acai packet. And so that's all blended together and then it's kind of like a yogurt or ice cream consistency and then you get toppings with it. So it's. It's a very healthy, like, snack.

You know, basically all fresh ingredients. All. All natural ingredients.

Yeah, yeah.

Fully natural ingredients. Yeah.

All organic, like USDA certified.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. So let's talk about that for a second, because you said Rachel's family were really early adopters when it came to organic.

Yeah, very much.

Why did that matter to you?

Well, you know, like I said, I always wanted to be healthy, but I didn't really know what that was at the time, you know, and so, like, why it matters is because, for one, like, there's no pesticide integration with organic products, you know, And I think, you know, history probably won't remember pesticide use in our food kindly if I were a betting man.

I mean, I think you're probably right about that.

Yeah. So, like, that in and of itself is, like, super important, you know, and then you. The more you research about it, like, I mean, the soil quality with organic versus conventional farming, like, the, The. The produce are more nutrient dense on a factor, a huge factor. I mean, you know, because like, with the conventional farming, they're tilling the. They're kind of really robbing the soil of its, like, nutrients. And so over time, you know, like, the famous thing was like, you know, kale today is nowhere near as strong as Kale 40 years ago. You know, like, the soil is very.

Because of soil quality just doesn't. It just doesn't give it the same.

Yeah, it's. It's not. Yeah. And they have to do a lot of, like, conventional methods to like, can I get it to grow?

And whatnot.

But like, that, that's. That's what you hear is like, it's not as nutrient dense. So that's two things. I mean, the lack of pesticides and then like your, I guess, pound for pound return when you're consuming organic is a lot better than just more nutrient rich, richer nutrients, you know? Yeah. And your body needs, like, the human body is truly amazing, you know, provided that you don't like, screw it up, you know, with what you eat or, you know, your lack of sleep or whatnot. So it's like if you give it adequate fuel, you know, you're. I'm not to say that your immune system is bulletproof or anything like that, but you're gonna be in most scenarios, fine.

Yeah.

That's my personal belief, you know. Yeah. And so, like, it's that. It's that, that. Sure, that's fantastic relationship, you know, between, like, the health of your food, the quality of your food, you know, void of the pesticide use, and like your overall health and well being.

That's been a core mission for you since the beginning for this business.

Completely authentic, too. Like, it's such a. I mean, it's my wife's passion project. It's my passion project. And it's like to have that alignment with what you do and like what you would consume at home is. It's. It's a privilege for sure.

Amazing. That's amazing.

Yeah.

So as you're going along, you had a couple things happen. You had one really awesome, cool thing happen. And then there's a little glitch with the name that happened.

Oh, yeah.

But let's talk about. I don't know which one came first. I think the Sports Illustrated article came first.

Yes, I think so. Shout out to Laken Lippman. She was covering Notre dame through the IndyStar prior to getting a job at Sports Illustrated. And she was a regular customer. She would go to Orange Theory Fitness, which again, shout out to Orange Theory Fitness and shout out to all the Workout Burn, Boot Camp, all the great synergistic businesses that support.

Yeah, sure, great synergy there. Like you're saying, great customers. And they benefit from the healthy eating.

There's such a vibrant local community. CrossFit, South Bend, like, all these great businesses that we've developed relationships over the years. So Lakin would come in and we just became friends with her. And I'm a huge, huge college football fan. So, like, she was like, if I weren't running my own business, like, I would love to be with college football in some capacity. So I would, like. I'm sure she would be super annoyed and I would, you know, I would just pepper her with questions like her. It's like, you know, just like a perspective of her experience covering college athletics and so. And then she took the job at Sports Illustrated and they were doing like, best college town eats. And that was her.

Did you know about it? I mean, you obviously knew. It was a surprise.

It was a surprise. Yeah, yeah, she told us. I can't remember if she just sent the article to us through a link or she told us about it ahead of time, but, I mean, that was me being a college football fan.

Yeah. You must have been pretty blown away.

I remember I had Sports Illustrated kids as a kid, you know, so it was like, all my family was super proud about it, and it was such a. An incredible thing for her to, like, think of us like that.

Yeah. So for our listeners, what happened was Sports Illustrated did a Best College Town Eats.

Yes.

Article.

Yeah.

And for South Bend, Notre Dame.

Yeah. Yeah.

Purely Pressed was. Was highlighted.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Did that lead to. Did that lead to more sales? It was just sort of a feather in your cap.

It didn't really matter. I didn't. Yeah. I mean, it's hard to say. Like, I'm sure some people probably saw it, but, you know, acai bowls, it's not really, like, a complimentary food to tailgating.

Right. It's not. Yeah. It's not top of mind when you're thinking of, like, what you're going to bring to your next tailgate.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But, you know, so that was pretty fantastic.

Oh, it was so cool. I smile every time I think about that.

Yeah, that's.

Thanks, Laken.

Yeah. So then. So that was great. And you were at that time called Simply Pressed.

Simply Pressed, yeah.

But as you expanded, you ran into a problem.

Yeah.

Tell us what happened.

So we went to file a trademark, and our lawyers at the time got back to us saying, like, hey, there's a bit of an issue with the name Simply. So what happened was Coca Cola owns the rights of the word simply in conjunction with juice. And so it didn't matter that we were simply pressed. It mattered that we were simply. And we were selling juice.

Wow.

And so, like, we were going to run into all sorts of legal. It was the Simply Lemonades.

Yes. Yeah. No, I am familiar with it. So it took me a minute to think about it, but I was like, okay, yeah, you're right. I see where the connection is.

Yeah. Yeah. So that's what it was.

So.

And that was like, oh, my gosh, what do we do? You know, because we're getting all this great feedback.

Right, right.

And, you know, we have ambitions. You know, we kind of wanted to be established as, like, Indiana's, you know, juice bar. And so that's.

And all of a sudden you're like, oh, shoot, our name isn't.

Yeah. So we had to. And, you know, I was coming up with all sorts of different names, and, you know, Hail Road was one like Halen Hardy, you know, and trying to. And, you know, at the time, the big B Coffee, I think, had just.

Opened up next to us over there in Centennial. Yep.

Yeah. And they used to be called beaner coffee. I think I'm remembering that correctly.

Right.

Yeah, yeah. And so I was researching about, like, how they, you know, sort of transformed from beaner to big B. And so I was trying to draw a bunch of inspiration and luckily my wife, she was the one who was like, why don't we just do purely. And so we went through the whole process with the lawyers and, you know, it all worked out great. And then it was a simple, you know, pivot.

Right. And you still got the word pressed in there. So. Yeah, I probably didn't see that. It was a great, great pivot, actually, because purely seems to capture the things that you care about as well as maybe even better than simply did.

In some ways, people are a fan of alliteration.

Yeah. So you got the PP there, you know. Yep. Alliteration always helps. Yeah, so it was great. So you navigated that and you came out ahead.

Yeah. And then we had another big challenge too, when we expanded to Notre Dame's campus. That was in February of 2020.

Oh, perfect timing.

Perfect timing. Perfect timing. And so, you know, March comes and the whole world turns upside down. And it was actually like, if something like that were to happen, we were really lucky because we had in our lease, like a six or seven month rent abatement.

Okay.

So. Yeah.

At Eddie Street.

At Eddie street, yeah. So we weren't paying for any rent at that time. Yeah, it was super fortunate. And then Reed was with us at the time and so he was manning that store and just working by himself, basically. And, you know, we had a lot of great customers at the. The time. Still. Still customers.

And I imagine you were still able to sell, you know, take out, right? And.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah, people would come in and go out and you know, we had our, our. Our first daughter was born at that time too. So, I mean, there was a lot of times she'd be in the store with us and we'd be, you know.

Just trying to figure it out. Baby on the. Baby on the hip.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It was great. Yeah, yeah. So.

So that was. Yeah. So you expanded to Eddy Street. That was in. You said 20, 20, 20. And then I think you then were able to expand at your original location to a higher profile part of that same complex.

That was another really fortunate circumstance for us because we wanted to do a production kitchen and we actually, like took a mortgage out on a building in the South Bend area and we were going to convert it to a production kitchen. And you Know, all this, you know, funding and everything was kind of focused on that. And then the space opened up and it had everything that we needed.

Okay.

And I'm like, to. To this day, that was a huge mistake that we made. Like, we should have never really, like, targeted the production kitchen that early.

Okay.

You know, and so maybe it was God's way of just helping us out. I don't really know. But, like, we were able to then just move into that bigger space. It was four doors down from our original 316 location. Twice the space. 1200 square foot to 2400 square foot. It was a walk in cooler. Like, it was perfect.

So you had room to do production there? Enough room to do production there, yeah.

And we wanted to integrate hot food. And so that was the thing. It was like, you know, our goal was to be kind of a cafe, you know, and how do we go about, like, and, you know, sustaining the winter months where it dips a little bit, and getting something that's going to be more like more of a pool for people.

That makes sense. And then coffee was part of the transition at Eddy street as well, I think.

Right.

You weren't selling coffee, but then you started selling coffee.

We were selling coffee, but it was kind of a basic thing. We actually had like a Mr. Coffee for the longest time, you know, and we would just do small batches on that. And then we were doing. It was a keto coffee. And so it was healthy fats blended in with your coffee. And what that does is, like, the caffeine binds to the fat and gives you kind of a more sustained, less intense, like, caffeine buzz throughout the day. A lot of people just do that for like breakfast. You know, it kind of fills you up a little bit too. So we were always doing that. And then what changed, though is we invested into an espresso machine.

Okay.

And so when we opened up the Eddy street store and we did a lot of research prior to that, like, we flew out to Portland and we got like, espresso training and just, I mean, coffee. I don't know how much you know about specialty coffee, but it's every bit as, like, complex.

And it's a whole world. It's a whole world. I know. It's a whole world.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's all sorts of different variables and factors that go into, like, the quality of your cup. So we just dove deep into all of that because, you know, it's like, how do you combat being a juice bar when you're trying to Pull in from like the coffee market, you know, and just get more, you know, all sorts of reasoning behind it too. You know, it's. We are an expensive product, so we wanted something a little more affordable. And everybody loves coffee, you know, so that was a, that was something that we took a lot of great pride in. We found a roaster that's in Fort Wayne, conjure coffee. Okay. They do great work. And so we have our own proprietary blend of like espresso beans and single origin coffees through them. And. But that was all in preparation for the expansion.

So in Eddy street, you're. So Starbucks is there.

Yeah.

I'm trying to think who else is selling coffee.

And you guys, I think, just, I mean, I'm sure some.

So first you took on Coca Cola, then you took on Starbucks.

Well, that was another kind of fortunate thing for us because that Starbucks is not part of the kite realty leasing. It's, it's, it's, I think, just like sublet through the bookstore, which is through Notre Dame. So there was no conflict of interest.

I see.

So we were able to really kind of pump the, like the coffee end of it. And, you know, and again, it's like if you're someone who's of the organic mindset, you know, there's no coffee options for you.

Right. Like, so you were again, serving that market that was not being served.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

He's not there.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So. And then after that, we integrated the espresso into our Granger store and, you know, just kept chipping away, you know. Yeah.

So, I mean, so obviously right from early on you were thinking, we want to grow. Yeah, right. You're. You were not going to be satisfied with just the one location in Granger.

Yeah, yeah.

Like you were thinking, what's next? What's next? Because I know now you also have an Elkhart location.

We do, yeah.

And I imagine you're thinking, what's next still.

Oh, yeah.

In terms of what you're offering. Coffee, hot food, juices, what is next?

It's a great question. You know, we have three kids at home right now, so it's a lot just with trying to balance, like work and family and all that stuff. But I still would love to be Indiana's juice bar, you know, so we've always talked about getting into Indy and, you know, it's kind of like, well, we have three stores in South Bend. What could we do in Indianapolis, you know, where, I mean, you know, four.

Times as many people.

Yeah, absolutely.

More than that.

Yeah, absolutely. So that would be what's next down the road. You know, we'll see. I mean, kind of plan it all out and kind of learn from, you know, our mistakes. And, you know, that's a whole different animal where we're going to be in South Bend, but having a business down two hours away.

Right. So is it a franchise? Is it. I imagine there's different options that you consider for that.

Do we have an operating partner? All sorts of different things.

But another huge learning curve for you.

Another huge learning curve along with the.

Coffee and the juices and everything else you've had to figure out.

Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. But the great thing about business is it is a communal effort. One of the great things I learned is the concept of a stakeholder, you know, and it's not like if you're a customer, you're a stakeholder in a company because you want it to do well. And it like, that was like a huge shift for me because it's like these people are paying not only for a product, but they're paying for the well being of your company, you know, and that's a great way. I think that's a great way to look at it, you know, and then it's like you, in return, you know, do your best and provide a good product.

I love that mindset. That's great. But it's a great way to think about it.

It's, everybody's rooting for each other, you know, and everybody wants success and everyone wants to do well. And so. And that's really, I think, core to what drives our society in America, you know, and it's a beautiful thing. Like, you know, I wish they kind of, you know, capitalism gets kind of a bad rap sometimes.

It does. Sometimes.

Yeah. And it doesn't have to be.

When it's done well, it can function like that. Right, Absolutely.

You know. You know, I read a book once from John Mackey, the founder of Whole Foods, called Conscious Capitalist.

Okay. Yeah.

You know, and it's, that's where I first learned about the stakeholder concept.

That makes sense. Yeah, I know. He was really a thought leader in that space.

Yeah, for sure. You know, so hopefully like in our country in a broader sense, like that comes to kind of the forefront of how we conduct business day to day. But you know, it is, it's a, it's a, it's a great thing, you know, when everybody is working together and providing and trading and what else have.

Been like you mentioned John Mackey's book, Conscious Capitalism, right?

Yep.

What else has inspired You. Along the way as you're doing this, I mean, have there been tools, resources?

Yeah, I mean, absolutely.

I mean, obviously, family has been a huge part of your success, it sounds like.

Yeah, yeah. There's been a lot. You know, Howard Schultz's book Onward, that's been a great one for me. I actually have some uncles who have done incredibly well in the businessscape business sphere. One of them, he literally started a, like, private island in the Bahamas, and he, like, they built houses on there. They function as, like, rental properties. And he's done incredibly well. And he was, like, growing up, like, it was. So it's just a cool thing to see from where they started to where they're at right now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Kamala, Miki, if anybody ever wants to, you know, go check it out. But, I mean, other businesses. Trader Joe's, that's another one.

Interesting.

Joe Colombo's book has been a really good one for me. Yeah. So, I mean, a lot of it, too, is you see a company and you know that they're doing a good thing, and so you try and emulate it and integrate it.

Find out.

Yeah.

How do they do it?

How do they do it?

What was the. What was the magic? Special sauce. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. So how have partnerships worked for you? Because I think you've done some stuff with Beacon. I don't know if you have any specific relationship with Notre Dame or athletics or local. Any other local schools or colleges.

Yeah, yeah. The Beacon thing, that was a great thing for us. I don't think at the time, we were really ready to take on something like that. And then when the pandemic hit, it just kind of. We mutually fizzled out from each other.

Okay.

And then with Notre Dame, I would love to claim that we're the unofficial juicer of Notre Dame football. We're not, but don't sue me. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just been great.

Maybe someday.

Maybe someday. Maybe someday. But, you know. You know, a lot of the coaches come into our store, so we've developed these great relationships over the years, and Notre Dame football has been one of them. You know, we'll do catering orders for them periodically.

That's great.

A lot of times, if they have an away game, you know, we'll get a big smoothie order for the whole team. You know, we do stuff like that, and it's just like kind of a catering outreach, so.

Yeah. Yeah. I was just curious because I knew you did something with Beacon at one point, and you really. It seems like ATH Athletes athletics would be tuned in to what you're trying to do. Right. Clean eating, health for sure. High energy, organic. Like you want to keep our bodies as.

As finely.

There you go. As finely tuned as possible. So.

Yeah.

Yeah. Well, you're definitely making me want to go out and get. We do sometimes Bethany Hartley, who's our president CEO will sometimes buy an order of juices and bring them to the staff.

Oh, very cool.

So it's really nice.

Yeah, yeah.

I want to ask you about the store in Elkhart for a half a second because I think that you have a slightly different lease model there.

We do, yeah.

Can you tell us like how did that work out and why did you.

Yeah, well, that way initially, Elkhart was never on our radar. You know, it's a great area and we impact. Dave Weaver, he has been a long time customer of ours and you know, he's spearheading all of that development down.

There, the river district. It's pretty amazing.

Yeah, yeah, it's incredible what he's been able to accomplish. But so he kind of brokered the whole thing and so we had a lot of back and forth meetings with him and you know, kind of expressed our concerns and you know, they have been phenomenal to work with. So it was his idea where we could do a like revenue sharing lease model. And so essentially all of our overhead is tire tied into our performance and so that was easier for us to consider a smaller market like Elkhart. And you know, we were very. Yeah, it's a certain type of profile that makes pure lupress work. And I wasn't entirely sure you are.

By the aquatic center there at least. So you got fitness connection there.

Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah. And they did a build out for us which was a cool experience because we've kind of inherited pre existing stores. So it was kind of us kind of for the first time being able to. This is what we want.

Yeah.

You know, so that was great. And then, yeah, we just, you know, kept going and we had our third child right around the time when we opened up the Elkhart store. So I always joke with people that, you know, we're three for three for three.

Three stores, three kids.

Yeah, yeah.

And you were saying earlier you have three kids under the age of five at this point.

Yeah, yeah.

So you've got your hands full to say the least.

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah, definitely. But yeah.

So what else do we need to know? I mean, what, what, what has worked for you here that didn't work in Columbus? I mean, I know there Was some competition moved in and Columbus got there sort of before you did.

Yeah.

Has there been anything about South Bend, Elkhart, this, this region that you think has opened doors for you?

Well, for starters, the people in this area are very incredible. I mean, it's such a family oriented area. You know, you have the Notre Dame influence, so it's just, it's a great community, you know, so that was, I would say, a big thing, just right out of the gate. Like, the people in this area are very nice. You know, they want success, all of these things. So that was, that was, that was big. And then I think, you know, personal maturation, that's a big thing. You know, as you continue with your business journey, you just learn more and more about yourself, about your product, you know, and you're just. As long as you're engaged, you know, you're going to be fine tuning and improving, and you're doing that over a course of months and years and, you know, it just sort of keeps building.

You know, what, what have you. I want to ask you about your wife. What have you learned about yourself over the last 10 years?

My wife is a lot smarter than me.

I suspect maybe you already knew that.

Yeah. Yeah.

I gu the feeling.

Yeah. And sometimes I have to be reminded. Well, yeah, I mean, that was a whole learning curve, too. That was kind of the first time where you want the same thing. But how do you go about doing it? So you asked the question about 2015 Ryan versus I did.

Right. What would 2025 Ryan tell? 2015 Ryan?

Yeah, I was.

You were just like, we've got this crazy idea. We think we can do it.

Yeah. I would tell people, if you're ever, I mean, working with family and working with friends, like, it takes a very special sort of arrangement to really make it work. And it's. It's hard. It's very hard because, you know, you have different personalities, different goals, you know, all these things. And so, you know, be very, very cognizant of that before ever getting into something with, you know, people close to you. And then also you have to keep in perspective, like a. The patience needed. Dealing with different people, that's. That's huge. You know, it's. And shielding yourself. It's, you know, if you have a different idea that's not well received, you know, it's not, don't take it personal. You know, it's not like, you know, everybody just, in a large sense, they want what's best for the company, you know, and so it's just, you have to navigate those waters on how to get there. And a lot of that is being patient and, you know, kind of removing maybe ego or anything like that from the equation, you know, which is. We're not really wired for that. You know, it's like something you have to be aware of and work on to achieve that.

So you've gotten better at that over the years.

Yeah, I'd say so. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

That's great. Yeah. You know, husband, wife teams are interesting. I suppose it can make a relationship or break a relationship, depending on the personalities involved. I'm glad to hear, in your case, it's. You've been the right match for that. It helps that right from the get go, you already both loved the idea of starting your own thing.

Yeah, definitely.

This was. This was sort of almost foundational, but it was like an early conversation in your relationship that you've made a reality.

Yeah, yeah.

So outside of work and taking care of three kids, it does not leave you much time, I imagine. But, like, what do you. What do you. What do you do around here? Like, what do you recommend to people? Pickleball. Okay. Okay.

Yeah. This past summer, we really caught the bug and. Have you ever played before?

I actually have never played pickleball, which is kind of embarrassing at this point.

Oh, no. I mean, I started playing like two months ago for the first time, but it's a lot of fun. I would always tell people, have you ever played tennis?

Yeah.

Yeah. So the skill level required to have a good game in pickleball is not the same as a good game in tennis. So it's. Yeah, you can. You don't have to be.

You know, I'm going to get out there. I. It sounds like the perfect sport for me at this point in my life. Yes.

It's just. It's a lot of fun and it's a great community of people who partake in it. You know, it's friendly, welcoming, and it's. It's fun. You start at your own risk because you may get addicted.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Fair enough. Fair enough.

Yeah.

So when you're not eating it. Purely pressed. Where are you going? Out in the region. You got some favorite places?

Oh, you know, we tried Cascade, my wife and I. That was. That was phenomenal. Like, you could put that in any city in the country and it would do just fine.

Like, it's pretty amazing experience.

Yeah.

Right there on the river.

Yeah, yeah. The whole thing. And I mean, that was the first time I ever had a steak that was like. You had the Little lemon squeeze on totally blew my mind. Like, it was just a completely different experience. So we don't go there too often. That would be, like, a special occasion. Sure. And some other areas. Uptown kitchen is great. I eat at Chipotle. Yeah, Chipotle is good, but locally. Oh, man. I don't get up.

Not to put you on spot. Yeah. I mean, you're. Like I said, you've got three kids and you're running three stores. So imagine you don't have, like, Jesus.

Is another great Jesus.

And Micheloco tacos. Yeah, yeah, that place is. I brought my kids there once a few years ago, and it was just too fancy for them.

Oh, yeah.

Just like, we just want Taco Bell tacos.

Yeah.

Buy these tacos. And it was just all too much for them, but I was like, oh, this is some new flavors. I'm not expecting this.

Yeah, well, my. My dad is a Jamaican, actually, so I love, like, that type of spicy cuisine.

Got it.

Yeah.

Oh, that's super cool.

Rain in my wheelhouse, but yeah.

Ryan, is there anything else we should know? Purely press. I mean, you're just midway. You're not even midway in your journey at this point, I think, but you've had a great run over the last 10 years now, and going strong.

Yeah.

Really excited to see where you go next.

Yeah. Yeah. You know, nothing in particular that we haven't covered, but just thankful for the community, thankful for our customers, and thankful for opportunities like this conversation that we've just had. Marty, this has been great.

I'd love to hear your story. We. We're. Like I said, we're. We're fans at the South Pen Elcott Regional Partnership.

Yeah.

And so to. To bring you in and hear your entrepreneurial story was perfect.

Oh, I appreciate it, man. This is great. Hopefully we can do it again sometime.

All right. Yeah, we'll get you another few years when you've expanded to Indianapolis and other places. Yeah.

Yeah.

All right, well, thank you. Thanks for being on the podcast.

Yeah. Appreciate you.