Meet Cherie | Creator, owner of Live! Juice Bar

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cherie and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cherie, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
Wow! In every. Single. Way!

I’m from St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, but have lived in a couple different parishes through my childhood.

I was raised by my mom and my aunts, my mom was a single mother who was always, very much herself. I saw her do so many different things that it ingrained in me that I could do whatever I wanted,

And, I grew up with a lot of space, and freedom. I was walking myself to and from home/school by the time I was 5, and at 8 I was living in, and exploring Jamaica’s second city on my own. I spent my summers at, and at 11 moved to my grandfathers farm, where there was just a ton of space. I could disappear for hours to my favourite spots on the farm. And I spent a lot of time with just myself. It’s a level of freedom I’m petrified of ever giving my children, but being by myself a lot, having the autonomy to make such big decisions about what to do with my time, without being challenged (as long as I made it home in time), was incredible for my sense of self sufficiency, independence, and confidence. No one had to tell me I am free to be myself and do what I want, because they’ve always let me in ways that were really important. (I still had plenty of rules).

Both my parents are farmers children. I am only 2 generations removed from living fully from the land – food, medicine, skin care, tools etc. And it’s a way of life my mother and her sister who raised me still very much believed in. I grew up shopping fresh at the market every week, eating straight from trees, planning meals based on what was available to harvest outside, using what grew around us for skin care, first aid. And my aunt would point out plants and trees around the yard, and tell me what they used them for when she was a child, and would occasionally show me how to make something. A tonne of packaged and processed food/products were not a big feature in my life. And as I grew into adulthood, I began to learn that way of life is not actually the norm, but is so much healthier.

Both of those things are 1000000% the reasons Live! Juice Bar exists, in the way it does. The way I grew up is the way I have continued to live, it gives me peace of mind about what I consume, use in my home, and on my body, and it directs my business. At Live! Juice Bar I make every single thing, from scratch, using fresh and mostly local ingredients, because it’s a heritage that’s so deeply ingrained, and beyond my sentiment, it’s something of value I can offer to people who need, and yearn for it, but either have neither skill set/nor time to do it for themselves.

I started my business accidentally. I did a couple of events for friends, offering 100% juices made on the spot, and the demand was so strong I started accepting orders, and it grew so quickly, boom. It was a business. It was never in my plan, and I grappled with the expectation that a “proper” successful business should look a particular way. And that an arc of growth should manifest in a particular way. I should have a shop front, my products should be in stores, I should be “visible”. Otherwise people would judge my business for not following the accepted model. I had to work past that, to arrive at I am allowed to be who I am, to do what I want/love, using a model that works for me. That allows me the freedom to work on my schedule, to work alone as I prefer, balance my time so I can do all the different things I like to do, and to define growth and success according to my terms.

My business created its own niche, where I get to create what I want, and I serve people who find value in those things. Growth for me has been expanding the range of products I create in service of the community I have found. And it has made me happy, and satisfied.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I love that you’ve asked this question! It resonates so deeply with me. *heart hands

When I first started Live! Juice Bar, I didn’t think of it as a creative career, it was something I fell into doing, that gave me so much joy! There were mornings I went to work and was filled with euphoria. It sounds over the top I know, especially since in the early days I was only making juice. But its so true, I was getting that excited about making juice! I just loved being able to do what I do. And building Live! Juice Bar was happening in tandem with something else significant, which ultimately helped me to understand why I loved it so much, as well as to understand that Live! Juice Bar IS a creative career. Because being a creator is to the core of who I am, and anything I do will always be an expression of that.

Defining myself as a creator is something I struggled with. In high school I discovered that I could draw and paint, and felt that an “artist” is what I’d be when I grew up. But going to art school, I struggled to find myself in any of the versions of an “artist” that were presented to me. I could draw, paint, sculpt, but none of that felt like IT. So I decided I wasn’t an artist after all, just someone who could draw, it was a traumatic and disappointing experience for me, and I did not pick up a pencil for years after.

But, all the while, even before I discovered I could draw, I’ve always enjoyed imagining and creating solutions. I LOVE using my hands! It took me a decade and a half beyond art school to realize, I had always been creating, since childhood, and that I had continued to create after leaving art school. Almost every single thing I do, bears my impetus to create. My business, Live! Juice Bar gives me joy because every day it allows me to think, and manifest in so many different ways what I imagine. Some of the things I make at work are so simple, and I make them again and again, but it never fails to excite me, because I am creating and I love it! All around my home, are things I have imagined, either as solutions, or just as some pretty I wanted to add. Even my love of gardening, I have discovered is about the fact that with a seed, I can create something.

I don’t define myself as an artist, because it’s a term that stifled me, I’ve come to define myself as a creator, because that’s where I found myself, in my love of just creating things. When I thought I would be an artist, I struggled to understand and to believe in myself within that definition, I worried about how my art would be received and understood. Understanding that that was not for me is an incredible freedom. I’m not worried about creating what will make me an artist, I do whatever I want, and it gives me so much joy, because being a creator is the lens through which I view my world, so pretty much everything I do is an expression of that.

It’s what sets me apart from other people in my line of business – yes I am also the only person doing what I do, creating from scratch food that is focused on local ingredients – but beyond that, I am also the only me. I am the one who can see ingredients the way I do. I am the only one with this combination of my history, my senses, my palate and MY particular desire to create.

It’s actually been really easy to get to where I am today, because I love what I do, and have always had so much support both in my personal life, as well as from people who support my business. I think it’s also felt really easy for me because of my perspective, I’m an overwhelmingly positive person, so when I’ve had challenging times, I’ve always focused beyond the challenges.

A really important lesson I’ve learned is to accept and work with myself. The self that I’d like to be, and the one I actually currently am (and perhaps will always be), are not the same person. And a big one is that I’m a slow mover. It’s not a bad thing, in fact it has a ton of benefits I can recognize, but I am also a very busy person with a million ideas and things I’d like to get done, and I get very frustrated with and disappointed in myself for not moving at a pace I’d like. I’ve even gone through phases on beating myself up for underachieving. Wow. So heavy to say this. But over the years, I figured out I’m just a slow mover on some things. And no matter how I push and force and beat up myself, I cannot do something until it’s the right time for me, and I feel ready and prepared. It’s been good to recognize this, so that when I have a big goal, I can be gentle with myself, and explore why I’m moving slowly, and what I can do help slow me move at a pace that’s less frustrating to impatient me. I can’t see that I’ll ever be a person that rushes headlong into big decisions, but recognizing and reconciling the difference between these two parts of me has helped me to develop planning and goal setting skills so that both elements can feel settled and satisfied.

Likewise with outside advice, I’ve gotten a lot of advice that has ultimately turned out to be gold, and in hindsight I think I would have been so much better had I implemented at the time, but it just couldn’t make sense until it made sense if you know what I mean. And that’s taught me to be broader in my consideration.

I think the most important lesson I’ve learned is get help. I’ve always been very solitary and self sufficient. And it’s so so so comfortable. I love living in my own world, on my own terms, so it’s taken me a really long time to be realistic about the limitations that has placed on my life. And now I wish I’d listened when everyone was saying so! Because I’ve built my entire business on being a one woman show, and now that I have different goals for myself, it means understanding a recreating my business in a whole different way! So now I tell everyone I know starting a business, imagine the business you’d like/need ultimately, and build that now.

Y’know, I don’t really know what I’d like the world to know about my brand and story. In terms of letting people know who I am and what I’m doing, the two most important things I try to convey is, in equal parts, 1. in a world where I’ve felt a lot of mistrust and insecurity about my food (there’s a lot of dishonesty in food), I create the comfort I’d like to experience, by making every single thing I provide from scratch with plant based, whole food, unprocessed ingredients. That means almost nothing I use comes from a packet (except natural salts, and the high quality oils I use). I take fresh, whole ingredients and figure out how to use those to create the culinary experiences I imagine. It can be limiting, but honestly, also not. That’s one, and 2. is eating healthy absolutely doesn’t have to be a compromise on pleasure. Not even a little bit. So my goal has also always been to create food that goes beyond people’s expectations of what plant based/vegan/healthy is.

So I think I’d like people to know they can trust me. Yes, that’s it. I’ve had a hard time trusting, and I know what a relief it is to eat and not worry, even more so when the food is incredibly pleasurable. And I go, and will always go the extra mile and beyond to maintain the integrity of that promise.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The market. Always the market! I love going to Coronation market! There’s such an incredible diversity of things to experience. and to learn. And it delights me how you can find absolutely every and anything at the market. There’s also the weekly Ujima Natural Farmers market that I love to go to.

To my kitchen for sure! I love to cook and feed my friends! And I love sharing my discoveries. I’ve been dying for my sister to come home so I can make her my coconut yoghurt because it blows even my mind how good it is.

Street food for sure! Every Friday night a food village pops up at the Harbour View Roundabout. Defintely that.

And artisan markets, A regular one is Kingston Night Market, it’s on every week so we’d probably go to that. And Conu’co Market if it’s on. I love all the plant shows and fairs, most have been suspended due to covid so now I can’t even remember my favourite ones. Denbigh Agricultural show, and to the Independence Village during our Emancipation and Independence celebrations. If there’s a good concert on, the last I really enjoyed before the lockdowns started was Jamaica Rumfest.

And for country drives… doesn’t matter where to. All roads lead to awesome, and there’s always so much to see and to eat along the way. But among them would probably be Bath mineral Spring. It’s incredible and I try to take everyone there. The spring is beautiful, and incredible, and its therapeutic benefits are real. And Holywell National Park makes a really nice day out.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Oh my goodness! I’m so happy you asked! I have a wonderful community! I’d like to shoutout my mom for being the first person to show me I can define myself, and for giving me freedom and support, that I even though I couldn’t appreciate as a child, I now recognize as an adult… was EVERYTHING! And to my aunts who helped her raise me, especially my Aunt Nella who provided so much love,
acceptance, affirmation, stability, and such a beautiful example for an important chunk of my childhood, there isn’t a better thing that has happened to me than having you for a mom. Thank you.

My awesome sister Thamar for being my number one supporter and source of unconditional love and acceptance. So glad we’re here together!

And I have been blessed with good friends and partners who have always supported and affirmed me. Thank you. And to my clients at Live! Juice Bar, I am always so grateful for you guys! Your support means that I get to do what I love every day!

And can I thank the ancestors? I have never felt a need to define what may be the source beyond us, but I know I feel it, and I am always grateful for that presence and guidance. I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone! If I have it’s only on paper. There are so many people who have supported me in different and important ways, and I don’t take any of them for granted.

Website: www.livejuicebarja.com

Instagram: livejuicebarja

Facebook: www.facebook.com/livejuicebar

Image Credits
Personal Photo credit to Erika O’Sullivan