May 26, 2011
Executive Insights | May 2011 | By John Morell
The Secrets to Avoiding Bad Partnerships
Business partnerships can help quick-serve entrepreneurs make big profits, but if everyone’s expectations aren’t clear, they can ruin relationships—and businesses.
Emerald City Smoothie was founded by a group of business partners.
Business partnerships, like marriages, start with a courtship, a honeymoon, and then either years of bliss or a torturous separation. Although most partnerships have their own form of prenuptial agreement with ownership arrangements and corporate papers, those can’t prevent turbulence and breakups from occurring.
Experts say that learning more about a potential business partner is a critical first step to any such partnership, but also one that many entrepreneurs don’t emphasize enough. “People are blinded by what they see as a great opportunity that’s going to go away if they don’t jump on it now, so they might make bad quick decisions,” says Pam Faber, a partner with the corporate law firm LeClairRyan who specializes in the restaurant industry. “You find partners coming together because one might have restaurant expertise and the other has access to capital, but that’s usually not enough. There are some key areas you have to discuss, because if you don’t, you may be in for trouble in the long run.”
“What’s made our group work is the fact that we’ve worked together and we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” says Al Schriber, vice president of administration for Emerald City Smoothie, which has 55 units.
Great partners tend to have complementary strengths, Faber says, and these strengths are critical to consider from the outset. For instance, one person might thrive at the day-to-day operational elements of a business, while the other might be better with financing and spending, she says.
However, even partners who are seemingly perfect for each other may have underlying issues. “I saw one partnership that on paper looked like a great success,” Faber says. “Both people had complementary personalities and skill sets. They were both very focused on the business and it looked like a slam dunk for them.”
The company began to do well, as expected, but the partners began to argue about where profits should go, which led to an irreconcilable breakup. “One of them was looking at the business for supplementary income and just wanted the profits in his pocket,” she says. “The other partner had a bigger vision, which included growing the company by pumping profits back into operations.”
The result? Faber helped them get rid of the business. “They couldn’t resolve their issues and sold the company over a question that should have been discussed the first day they met: What do you want from this business?”
For Chad Smith and Kurt Prestwich, the answer to that question was easy when they went into business together. Their families had known each other for years, and the two Las Vegas–based entrepreneurs had talked for a long time about leaving their jobs to do something together.
The friends had been watching the growth of Yogurtland, the frozen yogurt operation with locations in 13 states, and thought it was time to bring it to Las Vegas. “Kurt’s family was in the restaurant business, so he knew how to run the operations side, and I knew the financial end, which worked for us,” Smith says.
The two own and operate four Yogurtlands in the Las Vegas area and say that after three years, their partnership has survived the stresses of getting the business going. “It can be a challenge, but it works for us since he’s more reflective and doesn’t react to issues like I do,” Smith says. “If we were both type-A personalities, we might not get along as well.”
Having both partners understand the franchise they’re buying into and the functions of a business is critical to a successful partnership, says Kelcey Lehrich, franchise director for Fresh Planet, a fast-casual concept with four stores in the Cleveland, Ohio, area.
“Good partnerships aren’t made just because people have the money and they’re willing to work. They need to have some business sense,” Lehrich says. “I’ve seen people who come together and one is a businessperson and the other doesn’t have that same savvy. They’re enthusiastic and positive about buying a franchise, but I can tell that it’s not going to work for them. It’s like a marriage where one person thinks they can change the other. That doesn’t happen, and if you think you’re going to make your partner a good businessman, that’s not likely to happen either.”
When talking to potential franchisees, Lehrich says he asks them for proof that legal details have been agreed upon already. “If they’ve reached the point where they’ve had an attorney draw up agreements and contracts, that usually means they’re serious and they’ve passed an important milestone,” he says. “You can’t get into a business like this on just a handshake. It takes a commitment from all the partners involved.”
For her part, Faber says she usually gives a questionnaire to potential partners who are interested in co-ownership. “Besides the basics like, ‘What’s your business plan?’ and ‘Where do you see the franchise in five years?’, we look at the tougher questions: ‘What do you want your exit strategy to be?’ and ‘How will you handle the business if it fails?’”
Among the issues that Faber says need to be looked at are bad actions. “This is when you find that buddy you’ve known for a long time and whom you’ve been in business with for a few years is skimming money from the register,” she says. “Or he’s disgruntled with you and sabotaging the business.”
A succession plan is critical for a partnership because if the relationship gets shaky or unforeseen issues occur, it could destroy the business. “I’ve seen situations where one partner is in a coma and the other has to do two jobs or hire someone to fill in,” Faber says. “That’s where you may have to exercise a clause in your contract to buy the other person out.”
Another issue with forming a partnership is how to organize it. The trend of the past decade, Faber says, has been to create a limited liability company (llc) because of the flexibility it provides.
“You can more easily carve up everyone’s duties, specifying, for instance, that one person will spend 25 percent of his time on the business while another will spend 75 percent,” she says. “If you have a general partner who is running the business, you can set up how much oversight the other partners have in the day-to-day operations.”
“Good partnerships aren’t made just because people have the money and they’re willing to work. They need to have some business sense.”
But figuring out who does what and when can become the source of resentment over time. It’s not uncommon for someone with capital to team up with someone with operations experience as a partnership in a franchise, but divvying up profits can vary.
“With Kurt and I, we’re 50/50, but we may be the exception,” Smith says. “I know of other partnerships where it’s 75-25 or 85-15 in favor of the partner with the capital. I didn’t want that; Kurt and I are equals in this and we both need each other to make it a success.”
Despite the advantages, an LLC may not be for everyone. For instance, creating a corporation can be more beneficial for some tax considerations, but it limits the ability of dividing up business duties, Faber says.
While getting two people to agree on and succeed at a business partnership can be daunting, getting 10 people to do so can seem downright impossible. But that’s exactly how Schriber’s Seattle-based chain Emerald City Smoothie operates.
“Two of us are full time, three of us are available on an as-needed basis,” he says, “and we regularly update the other five on what’s happening in the company.”
Schriber says that element of communication is the key for any partnership to be successful. “You need each person to give an honest assessment of what’s going on so that no one is in the dark about what’s happening,” he says. “You don’t want any surprises since you’ve got money in the game and you want to see your operation succeed.”
Another potential minefield is a partnership made up of family members. “Many times people will bring the family issues into the business, where they’re not needed,” Faber says. “A parent who’s used to having the final say may not like his daughter having an equal voice in the business, so there’s some growing up that has to occur to make some of these successful.”
For brother and sister Tom and Cheryl Jones, owning four Cousins Subs shops together in the Milwaukee area has been a natural partnership. “We really took to our jobs with me handling marketing and back-office work and her doing the daily operations,” Tom says. “One advantage over any other partnership is that we know each other so well. I know she’s not going to steal from me, and she trusts me the same way.”
Still, spending holidays with your business partner can make it feel like you never get away from work.
“At family events, we don’t talk about business,” Tom says. “So hopefully we can keep it going that way.”
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
BATTLE OF THE ADS VIDEO CONTEST!
Put your creativity to test by sharing your love for Emerald City Smoothie. Create a 60 second or less video/commercial about anything Emerald City Smoothie. Depict the smoothies, benefits, lifestyle, etc. BE CREATIVE!
Fill out and submit the following form to battleoftheads@emeraldcitysmoothie.com with your video link on You Tube for your chance to win the iPad.
Put your creativity to test by sharing your love for Emerald City Smoothie. Create a 60 second or less video/commercial about anything Emerald City Smoothie. Depict the smoothies, benefits, lifestyle, etc. BE CREATIVE!
Fill out and submit the following form to battleoftheads@emeraldcitysmoothie.com with your video link on You Tube for your chance to win the iPad.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Smoothie operator: South Windsor man expanding West Coast smoothie chain in Connecticut
By Howard French Journal Inquirer
At 21, South Windsor’s Yannick Nicome is already a seasoned entrepreneur.
When he was only 19, he opened the first Emerald City Smoothie chain location in the eastern U.S. at the Evergreen Walk retail complex in South Windsor. By the end of 2010, Nicome opened his second shop in Bristol, and he’s already on the hunt for a third location in the state. The chain is based in Washington State. Nicome insists he isn’t a natural-born entrepreneur. He wasn’t, he says, the sort of child to set up a lemonade stand or make money mowing neighbors’ lawns. However, he says, “I was always good with people.”
Nicome does come by his business sense somewhat naturally. His stepfather, the late Charles E. Gooley, was CEO of Yankee Energy Services Co., known as Yankee Gas. And Nicome says he feels fortunate that as a child he was able to soak up some of his stepfather’s business acumen.
“I give him all the credit,” he says.
Some credit also goes to his mother, Jacqueline Gooley.
“My mom and I were in New York, in Times Square,” Nicome says, recalling a turning point in 2008. They were taking a break and enjoying a smoothie, Nicome says, when he offhandedly said he thought he could run a smoothie business. His mother’s response — “Do it” — threw down the challenge.
During a subsequent trip to Seattle to visit friends, Nicome discovered Emerald City Smoothies and learned that the West Coast chain was on the verge of going east. And a career was born.
By June 2009, Nicome had opened the Evergreen Walk location, at the LL Bean end of the shopping center. It soon attracted a core of regulars from among employees and patrons of several fitness centers in the area — especially LA Fitness, just north of the shopping plaza.
But Emerald City isn’t just for the fitness-conscious, he says. In addition to offerings aimed at body builders and other workout aficionados, Nicome says his shop has more than 40 distinct types of smoothies including selections designed to help bolster the immune system or control weight.
Still, the enthusiasm of the LA Fitness crowd for his shop led to his second store, something Nicome describes as a “boutique type” shop.
That operation opened in December inside the LA Fitness gym in Bristol.
Nicome says both of his smoothie shops are doing so well that he’s already looking for a third location in Connecticut, possibly in the eastern part of the state.
The smoothies range in price from $4.25 for an “Orange Twister” at the low-fat end of the menu to $6.25 for “The Builder,” which is listed under the category “Bulk Me Up.” There are even gluten-free options for those with allergies.
Nicome has goals beyond selling smoothies. One of them is to travel, possibly in connection with the Merge Missions program at the Church of the Living God in Manchester, which he attends. He traveled with the program to Chile in 2010 in the wake of that country’s 8.8 magnitude earthquake. Nicome, who attended middle school in South Windsor before switching to home schooling, also says he wants to finish college. He started by taking online courses from Oral Roberts University but put that on hold as his budding business began to demand most of his time.
“I will finish,” he says of his drive to earn a degree in “business entrepreneurship,” but then adds, “One thing at a time, for now.”
Emerald City Smoothie opened its shop in Bellevue, Wash., in 1996. It now has more than 60 shops and plans to add 25.
Nicome’s Connecticut locations so far are the only ones east of the Mississippi River, with the remaining shops in Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington.
At 21, South Windsor’s Yannick Nicome is already a seasoned entrepreneur.
When he was only 19, he opened the first Emerald City Smoothie chain location in the eastern U.S. at the Evergreen Walk retail complex in South Windsor. By the end of 2010, Nicome opened his second shop in Bristol, and he’s already on the hunt for a third location in the state. The chain is based in Washington State. Nicome insists he isn’t a natural-born entrepreneur. He wasn’t, he says, the sort of child to set up a lemonade stand or make money mowing neighbors’ lawns. However, he says, “I was always good with people.”
Nicome does come by his business sense somewhat naturally. His stepfather, the late Charles E. Gooley, was CEO of Yankee Energy Services Co., known as Yankee Gas. And Nicome says he feels fortunate that as a child he was able to soak up some of his stepfather’s business acumen.
“I give him all the credit,” he says.
Some credit also goes to his mother, Jacqueline Gooley.
“My mom and I were in New York, in Times Square,” Nicome says, recalling a turning point in 2008. They were taking a break and enjoying a smoothie, Nicome says, when he offhandedly said he thought he could run a smoothie business. His mother’s response — “Do it” — threw down the challenge.
During a subsequent trip to Seattle to visit friends, Nicome discovered Emerald City Smoothies and learned that the West Coast chain was on the verge of going east. And a career was born.
By June 2009, Nicome had opened the Evergreen Walk location, at the LL Bean end of the shopping center. It soon attracted a core of regulars from among employees and patrons of several fitness centers in the area — especially LA Fitness, just north of the shopping plaza.
But Emerald City isn’t just for the fitness-conscious, he says. In addition to offerings aimed at body builders and other workout aficionados, Nicome says his shop has more than 40 distinct types of smoothies including selections designed to help bolster the immune system or control weight.
Still, the enthusiasm of the LA Fitness crowd for his shop led to his second store, something Nicome describes as a “boutique type” shop.
That operation opened in December inside the LA Fitness gym in Bristol.
Nicome says both of his smoothie shops are doing so well that he’s already looking for a third location in Connecticut, possibly in the eastern part of the state.
The smoothies range in price from $4.25 for an “Orange Twister” at the low-fat end of the menu to $6.25 for “The Builder,” which is listed under the category “Bulk Me Up.” There are even gluten-free options for those with allergies.
Nicome has goals beyond selling smoothies. One of them is to travel, possibly in connection with the Merge Missions program at the Church of the Living God in Manchester, which he attends. He traveled with the program to Chile in 2010 in the wake of that country’s 8.8 magnitude earthquake. Nicome, who attended middle school in South Windsor before switching to home schooling, also says he wants to finish college. He started by taking online courses from Oral Roberts University but put that on hold as his budding business began to demand most of his time.
“I will finish,” he says of his drive to earn a degree in “business entrepreneurship,” but then adds, “One thing at a time, for now.”
Emerald City Smoothie opened its shop in Bellevue, Wash., in 1996. It now has more than 60 shops and plans to add 25.
Nicome’s Connecticut locations so far are the only ones east of the Mississippi River, with the remaining shops in Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
February 2011 Newsletter
Product Highlight: ALRI Chain'd Out - Brand Chain Amino Acids
It might be winter, but that is no excuse to neglect your body. Feed your muscles and stay in shape year round with ALRI's non-hormonal branch chain amino acids Chain'd Out in three delicious flavors including blue raspberry, berry banana and appletini.
From a company established in 2001, Author L. Rae has done it again with this cutting edge formula created for people like you. Whether you are a body builder looking to bulk up, an avid runner wanting to avoid muscle breakdown, or a new mom trying to get back into gear, this product is for you.
Some benefits of ALRI’s Chain’d Out include:
- Increased energy, stamina and focus
- Increased muscle mass
- Enhanced oxygen and nutrient utilization
- Faster recovery
- Anti-fatigue, anti-aging and anti-stress effects
- Non-hormonal amino acids
Check it out for yourself at an Emerald City Smoothie near you and find out more info about Chain’d Out and other ALRI products at http://www.alrindustries.com/ .
Health & Fitness
10 Easy Ways to Eat Right
Dr. David Katz, founding director of Yale University’s Prevention Research Center, says eating right is easy you just have to follow these ten simple guidelines:
1. Use smaller plates.
Whether you're already trim or trying to lose weight, one of the best things you can do for your waistline and your health is to downsize your dishware. Cornell University nutrition researcher Brian Wansink, PhD, has found that switching from a 12-inch to a ten-inch plate leads people to eat 22 percent fewer calories. If you downsized only your dinner plate, you'd be eliminating more than 5,000 calories a month from your diet. It really is that simple.
2. Make half of every meal fruits or vegetables.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends five to nine servings of produce a day, but if you follow Dr. Katz’ rule, you won't have to count. At breakfast, fill your bowl halfway with cereal, then top it off with berries or sliced banana. At lunch, eat a smaller—or half—sandwich, and add two pieces of fruit. At dinner, make sure your plate is at least 50 percent salad, broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, or whatever veggie you choose. This ensures that you get enough nutrients and automatically reduces the amount of fat and calories you consume (provided you don't go crazy with fatty dressings and toppings).
To make sure you get all of the fruits and veggies you need in your diet try any Emerald City Smoothie selection. We have several low calorie options, as well as the Beta Boost which is made with 100% all natural carrot juice.
3. Don't eat on the run.
The first problem with grabbing and gulping is that it usually means fast food. And even a smallish fast food lunch (small burger, medium fries, diet soda) delivers around 800 calories—more than the average woman would want to get at dinner. When we eat on the go, our brains tend to register the food as a snack—regardless of how many calories we consume—leading us to overeat at our next meal.
A simple solution if you are in a hurry is a smoothie. Emerald City offers quick service and healthy meal alternatives. In a real rush? No problem! Call ahead and we’ll have it ready when you walk in the door, or better yet use our curbside service and we’ll bring it out to you.
4. The shorter the ingredient list, the better.
Most of the healthiest foods have only one ingredient: Think broccoli, spinach, blueberries, etc. Try the Island Breeze with strawberry, banana, papaya or the Fruity Supreme with strawberry, banana, non fat milk and protein. These simple options are packed with the nutrients and vitamins you need to fuel your body.
5. Nutritious food doesn't have to be expensive.
Dr. Kratz and a few colleagues completed a study in Independence, Missouri, comparing prices between a diverse list of healthy grocery items and a list of less nutritious ones. With rare exception, they found that the smart choices cost no more. In fact, there was a potential small savings associated with the healthy selections. And that's without considering such economical options as occasionally substituting beans or lentils for meat, or making a sandwich at home rather than spending money at a restaurant.
Emerald City Smoothie offers numerous smoothies for under $5. This is much less than you would spend on lunch at a restaurant with much more nutritious ingredients for the price.
6. Take an extra ten minutes a day to prepare healthy meals.
By devoting a few minutes to planning for more nutritious eating, you invest in your own health and that of your family.
Preparing a smoothies at home will help your whole family eat healthy. Stop by any Emerald City Smoothie to pick up protein powder and vitamins to add to your smoothies.
7. Retrain your palate.
As any 5-year-old or picky eater can attest, familiarity is a powerful driver of dietary preference. But taste buds are malleable and can be taught to appreciate new and subtler flavors. When you swap processed, high-fat, sodium-packed, and over sweetened food for healthier fare, it can take one to two weeks before your taste buds acclimate. Don't expect to love new flavors right away (and certainly don't expect your kids to). Just keep serving the new dishes, and soon neither you nor your palate will recall what all the fuss was about.
8. Stop eating before you feel full.
Slow the pace of your meals. Pay attention to what you're eating. And call it quits when you're about 80 percent full. After a pause, you'll likely find that "mostly full" is full enough. Studies indicate that simply by eating at a leisurely pace, you could drop up to 20 pounds a year.
9. Sit down to dinner with the entire family.
Whether it's just you and your spouse or a family of 12, demand that everyone treat the dinner hour as holy. Kids who eat with their parents are less likely to consume junk, less likely to overeat, and less likely to be overweight. Parents who eat with their children report greater satisfaction with family life.
10. You really are what you eat.
You want radiant skin? Consider that your skin depends on the flow of blood for nutrients and oxygen—which, in turn, requires healthy blood vessels and a steady supply of red blood cells generated by your bone marrow.
The best way to keep your body humming is to eat a well-rounded, nutritious diet. Want to-die-for, salon-style hair? Then you need healthy hair follicles to build hair in the first place—and that, in turn, depends on having a healthy heart to pump nutrients to those follicles, and healthy lungs to give them oxygen.
Emerald City Smoothies offers an array of boosters you can add to your smoothie to keep you healthy. For shiny hair, glowing skin and healthy nails, along with many other benefits, add flax oil to your smoothie. This supplement is rich in omega fatty acids (good fats) which keeps you a well oiled, healthy machine. To find a location nearest you log onto our website at www.emeraldcitysmoothie.com and click on store locations.
Customer Feedback
Message:
Nadia from Virginia wrote:
I used to live in Bellingham, Wa for 5 years and went to your location there about
4-5 times a week. I moved back home to Richmond, Va and I want to say I really miss your smoothies. I have tried other smoothie places here and they just don't compare, nothing compares to the store the manager/owner, the people that worked there and most of all the smoothies. I often think maybe I can get one over-nighted but, unfortunately I do not have the money for it, Mango Mania was my favorite just talking about it makes my mouth water with delight the craving gets bad sometimes for the smoothie and the experience of watching them make it for me right there. There are times of where I think if I had the money to fly out there for a smoothie I would do it in a heartbeat. I have told everyone I know here about your smoothies and how if they had one they would never want one from anywhere else again.
Emerald City Smoothie is my favorite smoothie shop ever and nothing once again can compare to you. Thank you for reading my message and all I have to say is if it is possible for you to open a store here where I live, I can guarantee you would be the top smoothie/health store here.
Thank you,
Nadia
It might be winter, but that is no excuse to neglect your body. Feed your muscles and stay in shape year round with ALRI's non-hormonal branch chain amino acids Chain'd Out in three delicious flavors including blue raspberry, berry banana and appletini.
From a company established in 2001, Author L. Rae has done it again with this cutting edge formula created for people like you. Whether you are a body builder looking to bulk up, an avid runner wanting to avoid muscle breakdown, or a new mom trying to get back into gear, this product is for you.
Some benefits of ALRI’s Chain’d Out include:
- Increased energy, stamina and focus
- Increased muscle mass
- Enhanced oxygen and nutrient utilization
- Faster recovery
- Anti-fatigue, anti-aging and anti-stress effects
- Non-hormonal amino acids
Check it out for yourself at an Emerald City Smoothie near you and find out more info about Chain’d Out and other ALRI products at http://www.alrindustries.com/ .
Health & Fitness
10 Easy Ways to Eat Right
Dr. David Katz, founding director of Yale University’s Prevention Research Center, says eating right is easy you just have to follow these ten simple guidelines:
1. Use smaller plates.
Whether you're already trim or trying to lose weight, one of the best things you can do for your waistline and your health is to downsize your dishware. Cornell University nutrition researcher Brian Wansink, PhD, has found that switching from a 12-inch to a ten-inch plate leads people to eat 22 percent fewer calories. If you downsized only your dinner plate, you'd be eliminating more than 5,000 calories a month from your diet. It really is that simple.
2. Make half of every meal fruits or vegetables.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends five to nine servings of produce a day, but if you follow Dr. Katz’ rule, you won't have to count. At breakfast, fill your bowl halfway with cereal, then top it off with berries or sliced banana. At lunch, eat a smaller—or half—sandwich, and add two pieces of fruit. At dinner, make sure your plate is at least 50 percent salad, broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, or whatever veggie you choose. This ensures that you get enough nutrients and automatically reduces the amount of fat and calories you consume (provided you don't go crazy with fatty dressings and toppings).
To make sure you get all of the fruits and veggies you need in your diet try any Emerald City Smoothie selection. We have several low calorie options, as well as the Beta Boost which is made with 100% all natural carrot juice.
3. Don't eat on the run.
The first problem with grabbing and gulping is that it usually means fast food. And even a smallish fast food lunch (small burger, medium fries, diet soda) delivers around 800 calories—more than the average woman would want to get at dinner. When we eat on the go, our brains tend to register the food as a snack—regardless of how many calories we consume—leading us to overeat at our next meal.
A simple solution if you are in a hurry is a smoothie. Emerald City offers quick service and healthy meal alternatives. In a real rush? No problem! Call ahead and we’ll have it ready when you walk in the door, or better yet use our curbside service and we’ll bring it out to you.
4. The shorter the ingredient list, the better.
Most of the healthiest foods have only one ingredient: Think broccoli, spinach, blueberries, etc. Try the Island Breeze with strawberry, banana, papaya or the Fruity Supreme with strawberry, banana, non fat milk and protein. These simple options are packed with the nutrients and vitamins you need to fuel your body.
5. Nutritious food doesn't have to be expensive.
Dr. Kratz and a few colleagues completed a study in Independence, Missouri, comparing prices between a diverse list of healthy grocery items and a list of less nutritious ones. With rare exception, they found that the smart choices cost no more. In fact, there was a potential small savings associated with the healthy selections. And that's without considering such economical options as occasionally substituting beans or lentils for meat, or making a sandwich at home rather than spending money at a restaurant.
Emerald City Smoothie offers numerous smoothies for under $5. This is much less than you would spend on lunch at a restaurant with much more nutritious ingredients for the price.
6. Take an extra ten minutes a day to prepare healthy meals.
By devoting a few minutes to planning for more nutritious eating, you invest in your own health and that of your family.
Preparing a smoothies at home will help your whole family eat healthy. Stop by any Emerald City Smoothie to pick up protein powder and vitamins to add to your smoothies.
7. Retrain your palate.
As any 5-year-old or picky eater can attest, familiarity is a powerful driver of dietary preference. But taste buds are malleable and can be taught to appreciate new and subtler flavors. When you swap processed, high-fat, sodium-packed, and over sweetened food for healthier fare, it can take one to two weeks before your taste buds acclimate. Don't expect to love new flavors right away (and certainly don't expect your kids to). Just keep serving the new dishes, and soon neither you nor your palate will recall what all the fuss was about.
8. Stop eating before you feel full.
Slow the pace of your meals. Pay attention to what you're eating. And call it quits when you're about 80 percent full. After a pause, you'll likely find that "mostly full" is full enough. Studies indicate that simply by eating at a leisurely pace, you could drop up to 20 pounds a year.
9. Sit down to dinner with the entire family.
Whether it's just you and your spouse or a family of 12, demand that everyone treat the dinner hour as holy. Kids who eat with their parents are less likely to consume junk, less likely to overeat, and less likely to be overweight. Parents who eat with their children report greater satisfaction with family life.
10. You really are what you eat.
You want radiant skin? Consider that your skin depends on the flow of blood for nutrients and oxygen—which, in turn, requires healthy blood vessels and a steady supply of red blood cells generated by your bone marrow.
The best way to keep your body humming is to eat a well-rounded, nutritious diet. Want to-die-for, salon-style hair? Then you need healthy hair follicles to build hair in the first place—and that, in turn, depends on having a healthy heart to pump nutrients to those follicles, and healthy lungs to give them oxygen.
Emerald City Smoothies offers an array of boosters you can add to your smoothie to keep you healthy. For shiny hair, glowing skin and healthy nails, along with many other benefits, add flax oil to your smoothie. This supplement is rich in omega fatty acids (good fats) which keeps you a well oiled, healthy machine. To find a location nearest you log onto our website at www.emeraldcitysmoothie.com and click on store locations.
Customer Feedback
Message:
Nadia from Virginia wrote:
I used to live in Bellingham, Wa for 5 years and went to your location there about
4-5 times a week. I moved back home to Richmond, Va and I want to say I really miss your smoothies. I have tried other smoothie places here and they just don't compare, nothing compares to the store the manager/owner, the people that worked there and most of all the smoothies. I often think maybe I can get one over-nighted but, unfortunately I do not have the money for it, Mango Mania was my favorite just talking about it makes my mouth water with delight the craving gets bad sometimes for the smoothie and the experience of watching them make it for me right there. There are times of where I think if I had the money to fly out there for a smoothie I would do it in a heartbeat. I have told everyone I know here about your smoothies and how if they had one they would never want one from anywhere else again.
Emerald City Smoothie is my favorite smoothie shop ever and nothing once again can compare to you. Thank you for reading my message and all I have to say is if it is possible for you to open a store here where I live, I can guarantee you would be the top smoothie/health store here.
Thank you,
Nadia
You Tube Channel!
We have our very own You Tube Channel! Check us out at http://www.youtube.com/user/EmeraldCityHQ
January 2011 Newsletter
Health & Fitness
10 Healthy Snack Foods
When snacking you want to make sure you are both satisfying your belly and nourishing your body. Make sure to stick to high-protein, healthy carbs and fiber to keep you feeling fuller longer without the spike in blood sugar.
If you are craving something salty try these foods:
Food Should Taste Good Chips – made with all natural ingredients and available in 3 delicious flavors: Sweet Potato, Multi-Grain, Jalepeno
Ostrim Sticks are made with both ostrich and beef making them an extra lean snack for kids and adults
Snacktrition offers almonds, cashews and other healthy nuts mixed with sea salt or dry roasted
If you are craving something sweet:
Peeled Snacks offer the perfect satisfaction for any sweet craving – choose from an assortment of dried fruit, and dried fruit and nut mixes
Froose whole grain fruit snacks are a fiber rich, gluten free, low sugar alternative to candy and other fruit snacks – great for kids and adults
Any one of our Low Sugar smoothies including Fruity Supreme, Island Breeze, Pacific Splash and the Zip Zip.
Stop by a location nearest you to stock up on snacks for your kids’ lunch box or your office desk.
Did You Know
A healthy heart is the golden ticket to a longer, healthier life. Make sure to keep your heart in optimal health by keeping your cholesterol and blood pressure down.
Here are a few quick tips to help:
1) Cut out bad fats and eat good ones like omega 3’s, olive oil and canola oil instead. You can find essential oils in fish, nuts and lean cut meats.
2) Whole grains are essential to lowering your risk of cardiovascular disease. So, eat your oats!
3) Reduce your salt intake. Increase levels of sodium in the diet can lead to high blood pressure. Try reduced sodium options or add just a pinch yourself instead of heavily salting your food.
4) Exercise! Get up and get moving! The best way to strengthen your heart and contribute to your overall health is by exercise. Try to walk, run, hike or bike at least four times a week
Product Highlight: Bee Sure
Bee Sure is a drink mix you can put in smoothies or other liquids containing over 200 nutrients! Bee Sure is made up of whey protein concentrate, bee pollen, Hawaiian spirulina and Siberian Ginseng.
These ingredients combined, do a body good. Whey protein concentrate helps repair and build bones and tissue; building muscle and promoting fat loss. Bee pollen is rich in protein, amino acids, enzymes and co-enzymes and essential fatty acids. Spirulina is mostly known for its anti-ageing benefits. However, it is also an energy boost and helps detoxify the body. Last but not least Ginseng is associated with mental and physical health and assists in the absorption of vitamins and minerals in the body. It also aids the body in eliminating toxins and resist daily stress factors.
Bee Sure is an easy way to make sure you get healthy and stay healthy. Visit your local Emerald City Smoothie to check it out for yourself.
Bee Sure All Natural. (2009) True Organics USA Site. Retrieved from http://www.trueorganicsusa.com/beesure.html
Customer Chat
Linda writes:
“My nephew was in a car wreck around Thanksgiving and he went into Emerald City Smoothie and they bent over backwards to help him. They gave him suggestions on things to help him stay healthy and not lose weight while he had his jaw wired shut. Thank God for Emerald City Smoothie.”
10 Healthy Snack Foods
When snacking you want to make sure you are both satisfying your belly and nourishing your body. Make sure to stick to high-protein, healthy carbs and fiber to keep you feeling fuller longer without the spike in blood sugar.
If you are craving something salty try these foods:
Food Should Taste Good Chips – made with all natural ingredients and available in 3 delicious flavors: Sweet Potato, Multi-Grain, Jalepeno
Ostrim Sticks are made with both ostrich and beef making them an extra lean snack for kids and adults
Snacktrition offers almonds, cashews and other healthy nuts mixed with sea salt or dry roasted
If you are craving something sweet:
Peeled Snacks offer the perfect satisfaction for any sweet craving – choose from an assortment of dried fruit, and dried fruit and nut mixes
Froose whole grain fruit snacks are a fiber rich, gluten free, low sugar alternative to candy and other fruit snacks – great for kids and adults
Any one of our Low Sugar smoothies including Fruity Supreme, Island Breeze, Pacific Splash and the Zip Zip.
Stop by a location nearest you to stock up on snacks for your kids’ lunch box or your office desk.
Did You Know
A healthy heart is the golden ticket to a longer, healthier life. Make sure to keep your heart in optimal health by keeping your cholesterol and blood pressure down.
Here are a few quick tips to help:
1) Cut out bad fats and eat good ones like omega 3’s, olive oil and canola oil instead. You can find essential oils in fish, nuts and lean cut meats.
2) Whole grains are essential to lowering your risk of cardiovascular disease. So, eat your oats!
3) Reduce your salt intake. Increase levels of sodium in the diet can lead to high blood pressure. Try reduced sodium options or add just a pinch yourself instead of heavily salting your food.
4) Exercise! Get up and get moving! The best way to strengthen your heart and contribute to your overall health is by exercise. Try to walk, run, hike or bike at least four times a week
Product Highlight: Bee Sure
Bee Sure is a drink mix you can put in smoothies or other liquids containing over 200 nutrients! Bee Sure is made up of whey protein concentrate, bee pollen, Hawaiian spirulina and Siberian Ginseng.
These ingredients combined, do a body good. Whey protein concentrate helps repair and build bones and tissue; building muscle and promoting fat loss. Bee pollen is rich in protein, amino acids, enzymes and co-enzymes and essential fatty acids. Spirulina is mostly known for its anti-ageing benefits. However, it is also an energy boost and helps detoxify the body. Last but not least Ginseng is associated with mental and physical health and assists in the absorption of vitamins and minerals in the body. It also aids the body in eliminating toxins and resist daily stress factors.
Bee Sure is an easy way to make sure you get healthy and stay healthy. Visit your local Emerald City Smoothie to check it out for yourself.
Bee Sure All Natural. (2009) True Organics USA Site. Retrieved from http://www.trueorganicsusa.com/beesure.html
Customer Chat
Linda writes:
“My nephew was in a car wreck around Thanksgiving and he went into Emerald City Smoothie and they bent over backwards to help him. They gave him suggestions on things to help him stay healthy and not lose weight while he had his jaw wired shut. Thank God for Emerald City Smoothie.”
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