Steve Prussack
And welcome to another edition of Juice Guru Radio. I’m your host, Steve. It’s so great to be here. We’ve got Florence Onafuwa coming up in just a minute here. And she’s going to be sharing her journey to using juicing as a modality, building out her business and so much more on this edition of Juice Guru Radio. So sit back. Relax. Have some juice, some water or tea. We’ll be back right after this with Florence.
Florence Onafuwa
Thank you.
Steve Prussack
And we’re back. Hello, it’s so great to be here, ladies and gentlemen. We’ve got Florence. Florence Onafuwa who is coming to us. Where are we coming from, Florence? Welcome to the show right now.
Florence Onafuwa
Hello, everyone. I’m coming from Maryland. Burtonsville, Maryland.
Steve Prussack
And you are amazing. We know you’re doing incredible work in the holistic health world and all the things you do. We’re going to hear about your journey. What got you to where you are now, the stumbling blocks, things we can learn. So, take us back what really got you into- well, first we’ll talk about health and juicing. And also about wanting to build your own business.
Florence Onafuwa
Yeah, but the juicy thing- actually, I’ve been doing it on and off just for health reasons. And I noticed, like, I have an autistic child and I was reading about it, about juicing and how juice can help. Then I have a lot of family that have diabetes. My dad died of diabetes. I wish I knew about this before he passed away a long time ago. And we have a lot of truths about diabetes in our family, so I’m working on the healthy side of it. So when I read about it, then I came across Juice Guru on the Facebook, actually.
Florence Onafuwa
And I went into your introduction, and it just triggered me. I said, “That’s what I was looking for.” And I was trying to do a lot of wellness eating and drinks. And I’m trying to go into the school industry to kind of work with children with special needs. So, when I heard about it and I went to the class and I noticed there’s a lot of advantage and a lot of stuff that’s going to help me into my juicing stuff.
Steve Prussack
So you had a vision. Were you using juicing with your child? It’s funny. My background is occupational therapy, and I worked with autistic children for ten years. And we did work with juicing for many years, so that really speaks to my heart. And thank you, I want to say, for this incredible mission of really wanting to help the kids get nutrition in their body.
Florence Onafuwa
He likes that in vegetables. So he doesn’t eat a lot of fruit, but he likes vegetables. I just a little bit of vegetables for him, the ones that he likes, and they try to get him to drink it. And sometimes, I just like dehydrate them so he can eat it as snacks.
Steve Prussack
No, let me ask. Did you have a business, like what sparked in your head? You saw Juice Guru Institute and you said, “I’m going to get certified.” Was it to learn more about juicing or was it to actually build a business?
Florence Onafuwa
It was to build a business and learn more about juicing. Because I already have a business. I just started a business. It’s a food business. But it’s more lunch and catering but I’m doing more organic stuff. So when I saw this one, I just said, “Oh, it’s going to marry into my business. I’m going to marry the two into my business. Doing the healthy version of the food and teaching people how to eat healthy. And then with the juice, they’re going to marry together.”
Steve Prussack
I love it. Did I talk to you on the discovery call or was it somebody else?
Florence Onafuwa
You spoke on the discovery call that I watched. The first day that you had to discover-
Steve Prussack
The Open House.
Florence Onafuwa
Yeah, the Open House. And that’s what just took me. I was like, I have to right away I signed up after listening to you. After that I just signed up right away.
Steve Prussack
So, you went through. You became enriched with knowledge, obviously, getting your credentials.
Florence Onafuwa
There’s a lot, there’s a lot.
Steve Prussack
There’s a lot there. Coming out the other end, I mean there’s two things. You enriched as a practitioner and someone that can teach. But also about ideas to build the business. So did you get some ideas in there?
Florence Onafuwa
I did because I was listening to some of the other therapists and how they started their business. And that kind of gave me a little bit of the ideas that I’m going to. I know I want to work more with going into schools for the nutritional value. That’s my aim. And I’m trying to get that done for 2023.
Steve Prussack
Okay. And by the way, that’s great. Because we call like, the blue ocean-red ocean strategy. I don’t know if I’ve talked to you about that. I talked about it on one of the Juicing Labs. And I don’t know if you’ve had time to go back and listen to those but I went off on that. And the whole idea is, how do you carve out your own special niche in this and what a great rewarding thing that will be?
Florence Onafuwa
Well, we’re coming from African base. We have different types of vegetables and seeds and stuff. So I’m now thinking of different ones that I can incorporate into the juicing. And seed like, we have like the moringa from where I came from. And we have like, the avocado. And I’m going to try to see if we can use just the seed. I have so much ideas. I listen to you and I see what you do. And I see all your recipes, and I’m just like, “Okay. Well, can I try this into this recipe? Can I try this into this recipe and see what’s going to come out of it?”
Steve Prussack
You become an herbalistic formulator, actually.
Florence Onafuwa
That’s another class, right?
Steve Prussack
No.
Florence Onafuwa
That’s another class.
Steve Prussack
No, you have Mastery program. Did you look at that module with Ally where she teaches about the herbs and all that and the juices?
Florence Onafuwa
Yes, I did. That’s what triggered me to like, we have a lot of herbs. We have a lot of different types of herbs that you can use just for medicine purpose, for high blood pressure. There’s this thing called the betel leaves.
Steve Prussack
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right, right.
Florence Onafuwa
So, I mean I can add it to a little bit of fruits and just juice it and see how it works. I’m just trying a lot of different stuff, as of now. I haven’t like pushed it out yet. I’m just doing a lot of testing.
Steve Prussack
Yeah, you’re getting very creative, it sounds. It’s great.
Florence Onafuwa
Just doing a lot of testing.
Steve Prussack
And I find that exciting. You’ve got a few ideas. And I don’t know that I know this. I mean, the one idea is that you can actually make juices for the clients you serve. Or the other thing is to be an educator. Which path did you really think about in your journey? On what you’d like to be in the Juicing Revolution, if we can?
Florence Onafuwa
The education one, it sounds good but I’m not a talker, like outspoken person. So I can work into that doing that. I do talk to people like sometimes and say, “Healthwise, you can do this and do that and do that.” But I haven’t like really gone in to say it’s going to be a business. So that now seeing how people do it. I said, “Well, instead of doing it for free, I can make a buck out of that.” Instead of making it, I can get a buck out of being free.
Florence Onafuwa
And then, I wanted to add the juice into my meal because I do meal prep. So doing the meal prep, I wanted them to have a lot of juice. Because I tried to do a lot of breakfast stuff. So when I’m thinking of the kids, I’m looking at the breakfast meal. I can do the juice with them and then have the breakfast and then, the juice is there. So take the juice first thing in the morning. Or do the juice in the morning with breakfast, instead of milk and other stuff. The juice will help them nutritional and it’ll make them more, I mean, healthy. Give them a strength, alert in the morning than drinking milk or something like that. So that’s the way I’m looking at it.
Steve Prussack
But we know that to be true. And we know that to be true with autistic children. And especially, the study that I did with Karen Ramsay, the speech pathologist. And we did a study on autistic children. And we incorporated a juice a day, and we saw better eye contact. It was a lot of decrease in the sensory issues that we came out. So, are you looking at working with autistic children or are you looking at more global children population?
Florence Onafuwa
Well, I would love to work with autistic children because of my kid. And then, I can expand globally to different schools.
Steve Prussack
And there’s a lot of, you know with the sensory to get them to drink the juice.
Florence Onafuwa
Oh my god. Oh my god.
Steve Prussack
I don’t have to say anything more about that. You know what I mean on that? Is your son more open to like, will he try some of your moringa juice or any avocado seed juice?
Florence Onafuwa
He would try and he would look at it. Well, with one- he’s a vision person. He looks at stuff. And if it doesn’t look good to him, forget it. If it looks appetizing to him and he sees everybody trying it, he’s going to try it and then go for it. That’s the type of person he is. And if he likes it, nonstop.
Steve Prussack
So what’s his favorite juice?
Florence Onafuwa
He likes the orange with an avocado.
Steve Prussack
Nice. Now you’re able to get that avocado seed through the juicer, or are you making into a smoothie?
Florence Onafuwa
I make it like a smoothie-type.
Steve Prussack
Nice.
Florence Onafuwa
The juicer I got from you is the one, I think is the trend. I think it was on sale. It was like a $99.
Steve Prussack
Oh, you got the Shine juicer. Well, just so the listeners know when you’re in the program, you do get discounts on all equipment. So you got the Shine juicer on discount.
Florence Onafuwa
Yes, I did get that one. And it’s pretty good. It’s pretty good, I like it.
Steve Prussack
For $99. I’ll tell you, for $99.
Florence Onafuwa
And it’s cold press. It’s better.
Steve Prussack
And it’s the only that low-cost juicer that will make cold-pressed juice. Juice that still has the enzymes and all.
Florence Onafuwa
Yeah. Because I said, “I’m going to get the cold press because I want all the enzyme. I don’t want to lose the enzyme and everything out of it.” So I did get the cold press. And I said, “When I get bigger, I’m going to get the other types.”
Steve Prussack
The Greenstar Pro. You get a discount too. You save a couple of $100 there.
Florence Onafuwa
Okay.
Steve Prussack
That would be a good one for your business, because it’s a commercial juicer.
Florence Onafuwa
Okay. It’s one step at a time.
Steve Prussack
That’s right. One step at a time. But what is the vision? Let’s look down the road of where Florence wants to go as a Certified Juice Therapist and Formulator of Health. Where do you see it all going? If you could put it out there in the universe and say, “Let’s tell God, this is where I want to go.” If it was all mapped out. What’s the dream?
Florence Onafuwa
My dream is to make more juice for people. Get people interested in getting more healthier and drinking more juice and live a healthy life. And I want just to build it up and just have my brand out there. And then teach them about the healthiness and wellness about juice and the product that we’re doing. And then about plant-based. And it was funny, I wasn’t like a vegetarian type of person. Then I started eating more vegetables. Oh, I couldn’t stand vegetables. Then I got into eating vegetables and drinking.
Florence Onafuwa
I had a friend that used to tell me, “You have to try this. You have to try this.” And I finally got into doing it. And now she couldn’t even believe I’m doing the juicing program. She couldn’t believe I went off and just took over and started doing a lot of stuff with vegetables. And I went to a program, and I tried a lot of plant-based stuff. And to my surprise, I loved every one of them. And I’ve incorporated plant-based into my menu.
Steve Prussack
Awesome. I could relate because in college, I remember my friend Veronica said, “Steve, do you ever eat a vegetable?” I hated vegetables. So if we could do it-, that’s really what ignited the passion. Not to mention the food is medicinal. It’s given to us for a reason, isn’t it?
Florence Onafuwa
Yes, it is. And everything from the earth is medicine. So we got to live with it.
Steve Prussack
The natural medicine.
Florence Onafuwa
And I hate medicine, I hate medicine. So, I prefer taking something natural, than taking- popping pills or something.
Steve Prussack
Yeah. That’s why as a certified juice therapist, you’re a natural pharmacist. You’re a natural pharmacist.
Florence Onafuwa
Yes.
Steve Prussack
The name of the business is We Yone Kontri Kitchen. Is that right?
Florence Onafuwa
Yes, it’s We Yone Kontri Kitchen. But the juice is going to go under Flochee Wellness. That’s how I want to name the juicing.
Steve Prussack
Flochee Wellness. I love it. Is the vision to have the juices in the stores, too? Or are you looking-?
Florence Onafuwa
Yes. I’m looking to get it in the stores. I wanted to start- my first thing is, I wanted to start off in like next year, I want to start off in the farmer’s market.
Steve Prussack
Great.
Florence Onafuwa
That’s 2023. That’s my goal.
Steve Prussack
Did you listen to the- I hate to bring it back, but did you hear the module in Mastery with Jill on how to get started that way?
Florence Onafuwa
Yes, I did. That’s why I said, “Okay, that’s the best way to start.” In the farmers market and then keep going. And by the time I realize it, I might be blowing up.
Steve Prussack
Yeah. And well, did you get the marketing tool and the labels for your juice, all that stuff?
Florence Onafuwa
I haven’t got the labels yet. But I read the marketing tools from her and everything. But I’ll go back to her and see how I can get the labels and the bottles.
Steve Prussack
Yeah. There are major shortcuts in there for you.
Florence Onafuwa
Okay, I’ll go back there and see how I can get it from her.
Steve Prussack
Yeah. I’m excited about where you’re going with it and that you’re on a mission. What is the mission?
Florence Onafuwa
My mission is like, well because I have a family- I have family that has diabetes. I have friends that suffer from thyroids. I have friends that suffer from high blood pressure. And I’ve been talking to them just to be healthy. I mean, life is short and stop taking medication. And I just like, talk to them to be more healthier, eat better, drink less alcohol and all the stuff. And just do a lot of juice. Because I do the hibiscus, too. I do hibiscus and ginger. So you know, I incorporate those stuff. And I use a lot of turmeric when I’m cooking and cumic.
Florence Onafuwa
So I kind of tell them what to do and how to live healthy. And that have just like, got me into cooking more and doing more prep meals for them. So they can get into eating healthy and be a better person. And have a better life and live longer. So that was the goal. And that’s what started me going into all those things. And because of my son, I just have to do more research to see what I can do to help him better.
Steve Prussack
Yeah. You’re on the right path with that. And what can you say or what will you say when you’re speaking to people? Because by the way, I do think you speak about this really well. At the beginning, you said, “I don’t know if I talk well about it.” But no, I think you do. I think our audience would agree.
Florence Onafuwa
Thank you, thank you.
Steve Prussack
What will you say it did for you? When you’re up on the stage and you say, “You know, look. Before I started the juicing and eating better…” Where were you and then where did it take you?
Florence Onafuwa
Oh, my god. I was terrible. I was a junkie.
Steve Prussack
Guilty.
Florence Onafuwa
I didn’t put the weight but I was a junk eater.
Steve Prussack
Yeah, I was a sugar and junk food eater.
Florence Onafuwa
I was sugar addict. But I’ve cut down on all my sugar.
Steve Prussack
Yes.
Florence Onafuwa
I love sugar. I cut that. I don’t even eat that much chocolate anymore. I stay away from all those stuff. So, healthwise it has helped me. Because I got conscious of- because when my mom passed away, again five years ago. We found at the end, she went into diabetic, which she never had. Well, that was one of the reason. She went to diabetic coma. So right there this gave me, “Okay, take a back seat. Think about what you want. And start living better and then start eating better. And all those junk has to go away and all that, so.”
Steve Prussack
Because you didn’t want to continue down the same path, right?
Florence Onafuwa
No, no.
Steve Prussack
You saw that that would be your future, too?
Florence Onafuwa
Yes, yes.
Steve Prussack
Because I had the same thing. My mom died of cancer when I was four.
Florence Onafuwa
Yeah. And then my sister, she’s a borderline diabetic. So I’ve been like, teaching her, really. “You can live on insulin. You have to do this. You have to do that. You have to do that.” So I’ve been working on her. She’s my client. I’ve been working on.
Steve Prussack
I always say, “You could put the magic out, but you’re not going to reach- only the ears that are open will hear.” We can’t get frustrated.
Florence Onafuwa
It’s true. That’s true.
Steve Prussack
She may never change, but there might be thousands of others that will.
Florence Onafuwa
Oh, yeah. It’s true, because a lot of people now are getting healthy. A lot of people are getting healthy. Like my oldest son, he’s a lawyer. But he’s a prosecutor and a younger prosecutor working, just started. So the stress level is so high. And then he actually was like, “Okay, I’m going to go into plant-based and all that.” So that encouraged me to do more research. And he’s very healthy now. Very healthy. The pressure has gone down. He doesn’t have to have pressure tablets or anything. So he do more juice and all that. So he kind of actually encouraged me in this path. So when I was doing the research and I said, I said, “Oh, that’s good.”
Steve Prussack
Wow. But you saw Juice Guru Institute. Did you have reservations about signing up? What were the things that concerned you before jumping in?
Florence Onafuwa
When I saw it, I looked at it. I was like, “Oh well, do I want to do it?” And I read about it. I read a little bit portion of what you had out there. Then I was thinking about it, and I run it by my husband and my niece. And I thought, they thought I was just joking. So they looked to me like, “Okay, here she goes again. She’s going to pick up another stuff.” So I started getting like, because I know you did something like smoothie. And you were talking between the smoothie and the juices, so I started testing both. Because I had this old type of juicer. It’s not worth what I just got. And I was like, “Yeah, that’s true. You can see the difference.”
Steve Prussack
Nice.
Florence Onafuwa
I took the juice first thing in the morning. And I was like, “I can see the difference.” Because when I take the juice first thing in the morning, it kind of quench your appetite. And I was like, “Wow, that’s what I’m looking for.”
Steve Prussack
That’s when, you know. Because when you’re on that empty stomach, if not, if we just drink a juice with a meal or a smoothie with a meal, we can’t tell the difference.
Florence Onafuwa
No, you can’t. That’s when I kind of like, okay. And someone just like, “You keep losing weight.” I was like, “Yeah, I have a secret. But you if come, I’ll let you know.
Steve Prussack
I see that. That’s how you can go up on stage. That’s the first thing you say, “I was losing weight. And my friends were saying, what’s going on? I have a secret. And then you tell them, but I’m going to let you know.” That’s really captivating, you know? Well, it’s like okay. Well, what is that secret?”
Florence Onafuwa
What’s the secret? I told my sister, though. I told her and I said, “First thing in the morning…” I mean, it’s very good and it’s very healthy. And it makes you alert in the morning. When you do that, first thing juice in the morning, it keeps you alert all day. It quench your appetite, all the junk eating and everything. It kind of take that away from you. And I notice with the green juice, it’s better.
Steve Prussack
Yeah. You sound like a Certified Juice Therapist. You must have studied before you came on.
Florence Onafuwa
Actually, I wish I did. I was so nervous. I didn’t even do nothing. It’s just been a crazy day for me today.
Steve Prussack
No, you’re doing great.
Florence Onafuwa
Today has been a rough day for me. I haven’t even looked at the paper. Yesterday I was like, “Let me look at some stuff. Let me look at some…” Then, I had so much stuff to do. I never even got around because I know you said, “Just take a look at the syllabus and everything.” I never got around to doing that. I’m confessing now.
Steve Prussack
Oh but obviously- here’s the good news. Well, when did you graduate?
Florence Onafuwa
I just graduated a couple of month, a month ago or so.
Steve Prussack
Did the certificate get there yet? I know we shipped it.
Florence Onafuwa
I just got my certificate, like over the weekend.
Steve Prussack
Oh, okay.
Florence Onafuwa
I got the one from the email.
Steve Prussack
Yes.
Florence Onafuwa
Yes, I got that one. That’s the one I printed out and took the pictures. But I just got that. You said, “Wait till you-”
Steve Prussack
Well, yeah. Because you got that gold seal on it.
Florence Onafuwa
Yes. I said, “Okay, I’ll wait.” I just got that. And I’m going to take a picture with that.
Steve Prussack
Yes. We want to post that and share it. And are you also going to become a Holistic Health Practitioner through the AADP? Which you know, it’s a two-in- one certification, and you can do that now.
Florence Onafuwa
I can go in and look at it.
Steve Prussack
It’s worth it. I mean, then it gives you more credentials. So, just so people know, the program allows that.
Florence Onafuwa
I saw somebody did that. She’s a holistic- because I have a cousin that’s a holistic practitioner or doctor. But she does it, she’s studying cancer. She deals with cancer patients in there. So she does that and I never even knew she was a holistic doctor.
Steve Prussack
Well, your degree- so, you’re a Certified Juice Therapist. Now, because the program is so comprehensive and you learned a lot about nutrition and coaching and working with people and formulation, you do already have a qualification. You don’t have to take any more schooling or tests. You can be known as a Certified Juice Therapist and Holistic Health Practitioner through the AADP, the American Association of Drugless Practitioners.
Florence Onafuwa
Okay.
Steve Prussack
But that’s optional but a lot of people do like having both distinctions.
Florence Onafuwa
I think that sounds good. Because if I’m going to be talking to, I mean like parents and giving them advice. They might want to say, “Well, are you a holistic person or-?
Steve Prussack
Yeah. And you could say, “I’m both. I’m a Certified Juice Therapist and I’m a Holistic Health Practitioner.”
Florence Onafuwa
Yeah. I think that sounds good. I might go back in and look into that.
Steve Prussack
When you took the final exam, you’ll find right under there how to apply for that. So just go back in.
Florence Onafuwa
Okay.
Steve Prussack
And anyway. So, well we’re glad you took the journey with us and shared where you are with your health and the entrepreneur- with building the business, any other stumbling blocks or challenges? And we know the entrepreneurial road isn’t always the easiest.
Florence Onafuwa
Oh my god. Oh my god.
Steve Prussack
What’s the best lesson you’ve learned?
Florence Onafuwa
Be patient and you’re going to make it. Don’t rush. Just have patience and you’re going to make it. And my other thing is like, I learn from my mistakes and make sure I don’t do it anymore. And another thing I do, when I do serve people, I want to get feedback and I love feedback. So I can know where I can do better. And I always do a call back with my product. After a day or two, I’ll give them a call. My client to call and just say, “Oh, just checking on you. I just want to know how you found it?”
Florence Onafuwa
Some people are actually like, “Wow. Are you calling to check?” I just want to get a feel of the person. I just want to get a feedback. And I want to know where I can improve myself, so. Some people are like really surprised, and some people, you know they’re good with it. Well, that’s one practice I have.
Steve Prussack
Yeah, it’s sort of like, like a survey. We want to survey our audience to find out where we can improve. And that always is the best way to go.
Florence Onafuwa
Yeah. I do that.
Steve Prussack
And those are some great tips. Thank you for that. What’s the best way for our listeners to follow you, watch your journey? Are you on any of the social media?
Florence Onafuwa
Actually, I’m on Facebook and I’m on Instagram. It’s under Florence Onafuwa on Facebook and @florenceonafuwa on Instagram. And then, we do have @weyonekontrikitchen on Instagram, so that can go in there as well.
Steve Prussack
What is it? Oh, the kitchen.
Florence Onafuwa
Yeah, the We Yone Kontri Kitchen.
Steve Prussack
We Yone Kontri Kitchen. Okay, it’s up at the show notes at juicegururadio.com under this episode. You guys will find the links to directly check all that out. Florence Onafuwa so much to share. Thank you for being here. Anything to share in closing or something that we didn’t touch on before we close out today?
Florence Onafuwa
I just want to say thank you very much for getting me into this. Into a new life, a new world. And I know, it’s going to be a little challenge. But we’re going to do good. I’m going to make sure I continue my journey.
Steve Prussack
Thank you for being a leader in the Juice Revolution. Florence Onafuwa right here on Juice Guru Radio. I’m your host, Steve Prussack and we’ll see you next time.
