It’s All About Balance - How Classic Juice Co. Founder Tamara Shelly is Helping People Lead Healthy Lifestyles While Maintaining Her Own

As Tamara Shelly, Founder, Classic Juice Co. explains, “My company was founded because of my personal health issues. My life experience included many of my grandmother's natural remedies that come from the island of Jamaica, where there isn’t the luxury of a large medical system; so food is medicine. These roots and a negative experience with medication and my doctor inspired me to begin studying the health benefits of food. I learned that the best way to digest food was to consume it in juice form and was inspired to launch Classic Juice Co.” 

The company has since celebrated five years of operations in brick and mortar and is growing its team to meet the rising demand for its delicious, nutrient-rich juices.

Facing challenges

Having bootstrapped her business, Tamara has found it difficult to maintain a positive cash flow while growing.

Given all that’s required for food-based businesses: from production equipment, facilities, and ingredient costs, to staffing, branding, and marketing–it hasn’t been easy for Tamara to fund the business herself. 

As she puts it, “Having a food-based business is capital intensive. I’ve had to be creative with ways to market our business and grow our operations.” 

What success looks like

Maintaining a work-life balance is notoriously difficult for entrepreneurs who’ve poured their passion, financial capital, and time into their businesses. But that doesn’t mean striking a balance between the two is any less important.

It’s a necessity for your physical and mental wellbeing, and also for the sustainability of your business. 

For Tamara, it’s also a hallmark of success:

“I define success as having balance in my personal and professional life. A win for me is having Classic Juice Co. operate efficiently and effectively without me being present. I want my business to successfully operate without being dependent on my time.”

What’s next

Classic Juice Co. currently offers 48 juice flavours that are made in Toronto, and is proud to supply them to a growing consumer base that wants to lead a healthier lifestyle. With so much to choose from, it helps people build the habits that are needed to enact long-longing change and reap the benefits that come from it.

Looking ahead, Tamara’s goals are to expand the company further by opening multiple locations and to introduce shipping all across Canada. 

Her advice

“The advice I have for women entrepreneurs is to eliminate the goal of perfection and to embrace the concept of continual improvement–with yourself and then with your business.”