2011 Reflection

With the end of the year quickly approaching, I am taking some time to reflect on all that 2011 entailed. Overall, it was a great year. Trying and confusing at times, but a chance to grow and trust. These past four months of being open have been absolutely incredible! We are so thrilled with our progress thus far. Thank you to all of our customers for such a warm welcome and kind words. We feel truly blessed and fortunate to be living our dream. We have some very exciting plans in store for the upcoming months and year. You can look forward to seminars, special guests, product demos, new products, promotional offers, an informative newsletter, a personalized coaching program and so much more. We want to help make Ocala a healthier place and we are going to work hard to make that opportunity available to our customers. More than anything, we want to hear from you. What would you like to see from us? What do you love? What would you like to see more of? Please feel free to provide your suggestions and encouragement. Thanks!

Almost a Month Old :D

We are almost there! Just a few more days and we will have been open for an entire month. We want to take a minute to thank all of our supporters. Once again, we can't thank you enough! We have big plans for the next few months, so please stay posted. Now that we have most of our kinks  worked out (we hope!), we will be focusing on growing our business so we can showcase great things at our grand opening celebration. Dustin and I kid around and say that opening our store was the easy part! ha We are entering into a busy season for our industry and we are looking forward to experiencing continual growth. The first new program we are implementing is our Deal of the Week and Brand of the Month. These are going to be special savings in addition to our low prices! Don't worry, we aren't going to be broke; we are passing along savings given to us by our suppliers! I just planned out our first month and we will be showcasing Solgar, a great brand, that has been providing quality supplements since 1947. The entire line will be on sale for the whole month and we will be showcasing one of their best-selling products each week for an additional percentage off! This month, we will showcase a Whole Food Multi-Vitamin, a CO-Q 10 supplement, an Omega 3 Fish Oil and a Red Yeast Rice product. Each week I will work to educate our consumers on how these products are beneficial to us.

On a more personal note, last Sunday we welcomed our nephew, Parker Ryan Owens, into the world. He is such a sweet boy and a great baby! Watching Addison (almost 2), interact with her new brother, completely melts my heart. She is such a cutie. Congratulations to Ryan, Ashley & Addison. We love you guys!

Now remember, there is no time like the present to gain health. At Vitalize, we are committed to helping make that a possibility for you. Make a decision for health every day; you won't regret it!

Thanks for reading and be sure to leave a comment,

Cara :)

Soft Opening

So, we did it! Our doors are now open. Our first day in business was August 29 and we had a great showing from family, friends and some passersby. Thanks to all who have come out and shown their support thus far. It means so incredibly much to us. We are now into our third week and things are picking up. It is great to be meeting our customer base and learning about their wants and needs. The thing that amazes me the most is hearing how many people say they patiently waited for us to open and how they are so glad that they did! We have had a very positive response so far and we hope to continue to get the word out.

I feel like I am already fulfilling my mission of educating people to better health! It brings me so much joy to know that I am helping people make healthier lifestyle choices. I can't wait to get our weight management support group underway. I have so many other exciting ideas in my mind that I can't wait to implement. I just have to make sure I don't get ahead of myself. :) Master one thing at a time!

Stay tuned for more information about our grand opening. I will be sure to check in more often and use this platform to share healthy tips and strategies for improving your life!


Thanks again for everything,

Cara

Good News...YEP!

It was a year ago this week that I said goodbye to my full time job in search of a dream to open and run my very first business venture. Little did I know, at the time, that this journey would provide ample life lessons in patience and perseverance. There were days filled with confusion and frustration; times that we questioned our decisions. Through it all, Dustin and I remained a team and leaned on God and one another for support. We have been able to grow into a deeper understanding of God's faithfulness. We have been doing a lot of work getting things ready with the hope that we can turn around the space in minimal time once we are handed the keys. Well, today is that day. Wait, did you read that right? YES!!! We got our keys this morning and we have already started moving our shelving units in. We are beyond excited and thankful for all of the love and support that we have received along the way. Thank you to all of our future customers, family and friends who have been patient along with us. We can't wait to provide you with the highest quality supplements that are available. Here's to the second phase of the journey as we all reach higher levels of health and wellness together. :) We are anticipating that our opening day will be August 15. Please stay tuned to our facebook page and blog for more updates! Please leave me a comment so I know how many people see this. You can select anonymous and just type your name. Thanks!

Organic Morning.....

We started the day early and decided to visit two of our local, organic farmers that we will stock at Vitalize. Our first stop was Rosas Farms where we bought several items for our house. We bought farm fresh chicken eggs, feta chicken sausage, and grass fed ground beef. We also stocked up on another bottle of Al's homemade Organic BBQ sauce! After we pulled away from Rosas, we continued the drive north to Bay Lake U-Pick Organic Blueberry Farm. We were met by several nice people who equipped us with buckets and guided us to where we would be picking. They have over 4 acres of organic blueberries and the trees are stocked FULL! My favorite part was picking them straight of the tree and not worrying about the nasty pesticides you find on store bought blueberries. The only thing they use here is water! Oh yea, when you go, make sure to treat yourself to some organic blueberry ice cream that they make fresh at the farm! YUM! We are so fortunate to have such great local, organic farmers here in our county. Let's make sure to support these families and buy their amazing products. The drive is worth the peace of mind knowing that the food you put in your bodies is free of the nasty antibiotics, weed killers, and pesticides commonly found in conventional groceries. If you can't make it to these farms, don't worry! We will always stock their products so we can bring their farm to you! I can't wait for dinner tonight and whole grain, blueberry pancakes in the morning! - Dustin

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rosas-Farms-Organic-Grass-Fed-Beef/127247317297504
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bay-Lake-U-Pick-Organic-Blueberry-Farm/117654664940292

More Progress!

Things are moving! The contractor told us that we should have the keys next Wednesday - as in less than one week! We are really excited. I spent some time yesterday thinking about ways to grow Vitalize and making it everything that I hope it will be. I have big goals and dreams for this company. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us. We have had the chance to meet with some great reps lately. It is always great to hear presentations on various companies and their products. I am so excited to be able to offer you all such high quality products that I truly believe in. It is so encouraging to know that there are great companies out there who are truly concerned about their customer’s health and the earth we live on. Side note: Make sure that if you have any special requests or favorite products, you let us know. We are getting our orders together this week. For some more exciting news, we picked up our brand new business cards from a great local company called Heritage Advertising Agency. They did a fantastic job and I LOVE the cards. Check out a picture of them on our facebook page Vitalize Nutrition Company. I must admit that I am going to be business card happy for the next couple of weeks so please don’t be offended if I offer them to your more than once! ;) Other updates: yesterday there were guys measuring the floor and today they started painting the ceiling!! The painters told me that they should have it all completed tomorrow. Eeek! Stay tuned for a more informative post about a great new product that I recently tried! Let’s just say I am a believer and I am hooked!

Fixtures and Flooring

I can't begin to tell you how good it feels to finally see progress in our space (you have to understand that we signed our lease a year ago and this is the most progress we have seen). So far, in the last three weeks, the builder has completed the electrical work, installed the hvac unit, completed the plumbing, poured the concrete and passed inspections along the way. Today, we saw sheet rock and beams on the ground. They told us today that the only things that they have left to do are to build the storage room, complete the bathroom, hang the light fixtures, paint the walls and install the floor. Today, we met with the leasing agent and selected our floor and light fixtures. So many details! Another huge accomplishment that happened yesterday is that we purchased about 80% of our fixtures (shelving, sitting area, cash wrap, and the children play area). I will admit that I felt like a bit of a nerd carrying around my 3 foot scaled version of our store. Hopefully Dustin made all of the drawings of the fixtures to scale so that everything can fit! I know it is going to look amazing in there. We are going for a very different look than most other vitamin/natural food stores. We want our store to be a much more inviting experience. We feel that we selected an excellent assortment of furniture to achieve just that. We also selected paint colors last week with the help of Amy Lee over at Hearth and Home located at Market Street across from Barnes and Nobel. She does an excellent job and you should definitely check out her store. Gorgeous!! We can't wait for the big reveal and we are still shooting to open during the month of June. Please keep us in your prayers as we have many long days and nights ahead of us!

All I can say is that I am incredibly thankful for amazing family and friends. A special shout out to Casey Denman who worked tirelessly, helping us with our purchases. You are a great friend and we hope to soon return the favor (or at least I will since Dustin decided to conveniently leave on a week long trip, just in time)! Also, Dustin's dad David, our wonderful neighbor Edgar Vergara and Brittney Denman all helped us unload the truck-full once we got back to Ocala. You are all wonderful and we love you guys!

About the Writer

My name is Cara Owens and I am a 24 year old business owner located in Ocala, FL. My husband and I started Vitalize Nutrition Company in the Spring of 2011. I am passionate about all things that promote health and well-being. I have a Master's Degree in Clinical Social Work and I have spent the last 6 years of my life learning about how to help people help themselves by acquiring their highest level of functioning in all areas of their life. The more that I have worked with people, the more I realize how important it is for people to take control of their physical bodies. Many people go through life with compromised health and never realize or take advantage of the power that they have make changes for themselves and their families. I want to empower Ocala by promoting healthy living so that, as a community, we achieve health and vitality. I am a passionate person who loves business and people. I believe that I have found my purpose by combining the two. I hope to bring Ocala an affordable source for high quality nutrition and wellness products. I am excited to share my journey with you through this blog. I have questioned how personal I should make this blog and I have decided that it is a great avenue for you, our customers, to get to know us. I hope that this blog is both informative and entertaining (as there are sure to be some interesting times as first time business owners!!). Thanks for following and please feel free to leave your comments and questions. Check out our daily updates on Facebook! I couldn't be any more excited to share in this journey with you. Here's to success and good times! It is time to revitalize our lives!!!