Kelley Bird, 45, Keely Newman, 45 COMPANY NAME: Grabbagreen® YEAR FOUNDED: 2013 WHAT IT IS: Grabbagreen is a fast food and juice restaurant where great-tasting, healthy food meet the speed and convenience of traditional fast food. There are currently three Valley locations. And, the pipeline of committed franchise stores since Grabbagreen’s franchise announcement in April now contains more than 16 franchise deals signed, and more than 150 development agreements that are slated to open over the next several years around the U.S. INFO: www.grabbagreen.com What inspired you to found this? We were moms and childhood friends, and found it increasingly difficult to feed our growing families nutritious meals between sports and all of the other extracurricular activities. Cooking was not always an option, and we were fed up with unhealthy fast food options. With convenience and health consciousness in mind, we decided to create Grabbagreen, a place to quickly grab healthy, whole and organic food. What was the most difficult challenge you faced? Operations. Neither one of us had prior restaurant experience, so we were challenged in the beginning with the immense popularity and lines in the store, and executing our orders in a timely and accurate manner.
PHOTO BY CARL SCHULTZ
What was the biggest lesson you learned? That anything is possible if you put everything you have into it. It is incredible when your vision comes to life, and with the success of Grabbagreen in less than three years, we truly are leading the charge in making fast food healthy. What is one thing you wish people had told you? “No” will never come between you and your dream job.
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