Annie Lawless, a co-founder of Suja Juice. She wanted to build a product that fit her dietary needs because she saw it as a need for others. She had found an awesome way to cope with the celiac disease using the cold press juicer to be able to juice fruits and vegetables in a way that captures nutrients. She was originally a struggling law student that knew she needed to be inspired. Annie was devoted to the idea of cold press juicer because it can make non-GMO juice but unfortunately it only had a shelf life of three days. This led Lawless to attack the problem head on. She was devoted to the idea of providing her consumers with this specific product and found a way when she was able to use high pressure processing. This essentially crushes the possibility of bacteria contaminating the juice. This story was especially inspiring to me for two reasons. First, is that she is a student. To know that students are the cutting edge of entrepreneurship today is encouraging and inspiring to me. To see that you don’t need very much to able to start-up your own company. The second part is that this is not a tech startup. To see a student my age, making a company that isn’t facebook or napster. Suja launched in Whole Foods and is now in more than 10,000 outlets and has an annual revenue estimated at 80 millions dollars.
I really admire Annie Lawless for her innovation. With just one idea she was able to refine the juice industry. Coming from someone who has dietary restrictions, suja sounds like the perfect alternative to foods I can’t eat.
It’s interesting how Annie saw a specific problem in her life and solved it, without carrying how much revenue it would bring. Annie needed to revolutionize an industry, and was not afraid to conquer it even being so young. We all ought to boldly change the problems around us, no matter how hard or challenging they can be.