How grief and soul food catalyzed a national health brand with Chris Goode of Ruby Jean's Juicery

Chris Goode founded, owns, and has expanded Ruby Jean’s Juicery from a store in Kansas City to distribution partners across the country including Whole Foods and other food retailers. He’s an inspiring entrepreneur who joined me in The Leadership Room to talk about everything from faith, community and servant leadership, as well as running a successful business and managing people. Above all, he’s on a mission to do good, to help others find health, and to change the world he’s living in for good.  Sign up for our newsletter at https://kardiamedia.beehiiv.com/ Quotes: “And so, you know, I tell a story of heartbreak essentially in a way that hopefully prevents it for somebody else.” -Chris Goode on his mission to prevent the pain and suffering in his own family’s story “The thing that I'm proud of is that you are a white guy and I'm a black man. And we're sitting here in tandem, sharing a love for Jesus, sharing a love for people…That's what our business is. We're not this black-owned business in a historically black community that said, hey, this is just for black people. Now, that's the impetus. I wanna make the black community healthier, more aware, more conscious. But my arms are not closed off to you. My arms are very much open to you and anybody else. Because I think that health is the opportunity for us to realize how much alike we actually are.” Timestamps: 1:00  — Opening Prayer 2:00 — The story behind Ruby Jean’s Juicery and how his grandma impacted the story of the brand 5:00 — How having little can change your perspective on gratitude 6:50 — Trip to LA that changed his perspective on health 11:25 — Value of fasting  12:37 — Difference between juice cleanse and fast 14:45 — How his grandma’s story is interwoven into his brand 17:28 — Soul food and how it catalyzed Ruby Jean’s start 19:22 — Would Chris like to see how his grandma would react to RJJ? 22:05 — Living your mission, not just skating by 23:11 — There’s something bigger than us 26:10 — Health in underserved communities 28:00 — Breaking down barriers 30:00 — Fighting for Kansas City 31:50 — Serving others shows how alike we truly are 32:48 — The transcendence of humanity  33:40 — Reacting to hard situations with grace 35:19 — Building a business requires a lot of help 36:50 — It’s ok to not give a rosy picture to the question, “How you doing?” 37:25 — When NBC News calls, you do the story 38:10 — Celebrating wins 39:26 — Mom cleans toilets, the work isn’t done 41:00 — What does he want his son to see as he builds RJJ 42:55 — Building RJJ as a regional and national brand, pivoting, partnering with Whole Foods 49:20 — Value of a good team 53:05 — One lesson from leading and managing people 54:35 — We are made to be connected LINKS:  https://www.rubyjeansjuicery.com https://twitter.com/RubyJeansJuice https://www.instagram.com/genuinejuiceguy https://www.instagram.com/rubyjeansjuicery/ https://www.instagram.com/travisfitzwater https://www.instagram.com/kardia_media Sign up for our newsletter at https://kardiamedia.beehiiv.com/