Owner Jerri Evans decided to honor her mother’s legacy through her juice bar and cafe’, Turning Natural.
Evans is a native Washingtonian who grew up in Southeast D.C. She and her younger brother were raised by a single mom, Annette Turner, who founded and birthed Turning Natural.
The juice bar and cafe’ offers healthy food and drink options to customers. Its mission is to bring better choices to communities that are underserved by making healthy foods affordable, cool and ultimately taste like magic, according to its website.
Evans entire journey with Turning Natural started in 2001 when her mom was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer.
“Growing up in Southeast D.C. we didn't have a Whole Foods or a Trader Joe's or healthy options,” Evans said. “We were just surrounded by carryout and corner stores. For someone who is fighting with cancer, that's not the best option. My mom would have to travel outside of the community that we lived in just to get healthy options.”
In 2005, Evans said her mom started Turning Natural out of necessity and made a better lifestyle choice for herself. Her mom became well versed in a lot of holistic and alternative approaches.
“My mom transitioned to juicing while she was doing chemotherapy,” Evans said. “She wasn’t a big smoothie person but juicing was very essential because she was always nauseated. Juicing helped her not only maintain a nutritionally balanced lifestyle, but it helped her keep her immune system up and it helped her energy.”
“That is how Turning Natural started and why Turning Natural exists and why we continue to do what we do for people like my mom,” Evans added.
Evans was 14 years old when her mom was diagnosed with cancer and that’s when she also became more aware of healthier food options.
“She took everything out of the house,” Evans said. “So there were no more what we were used to. I’m so grateful that it became a lifestyle. Don't get me wrong, I still ate things like junk and stuff like that, but we cut out meat and started cutting out processed foods and understanding what processed foods were. It was like a whole new world.”
Evans' mom was cancer-free for almost 10 years, but her cancer returned in 2010. Within two weeks of her family finding out, her mom passed away. At that time, Evans was working at LockHeed Martin Corporation in Atlanta. A few months after her mom passed, she quit her job.
“I just wasn't in a good space,” Evans said. “You know losing your mom is like losing everything. It's like starting all over and so I quit my job and I kind of just sat around and did nothing for about two years. I just traveled and bought a whole bunch of stuff and then I decided that I wanted to pick myself back up and continue doing what mattered and that was helping people."
“I had information and I had knowledge of how to make people better and it was in the form of juicing,” she added.
With Turning Natural, the entrepreneur finds it important to provide healthy options in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia areas. Evans has store locations in Southeast D.C., Northeast D.C. and District Heights, Maryland. There are many options to choose from on the menu such as juices, smoothies, food and cleanses. The juices and smoothies have cool names such as Pi Apple, Reese Pleases, King Kong Kale, Swizz Beetz and her personal favorite, Mikale Jackson.
“I often think when my mom was my age or younger, if she had access in her community to healthy foods and healthier options or better choices, would cancer have been apart of her story,” Evans said. “She grew up in Northeast D.C. Not only was it drug stricken, it didn’t have a Whole Foods. Whole Foods didn’t even exist. The grocery store that is still there looks like it gets the last of whatever fresh fruits and vegetables come off of a truck.”
With her business, Evans also wanted to show the presence of black owners in the community.
“Growing up I didn't see a lot of black business owners,” Evans added. “I saw Asian, Middle Eastern and Ethiopian owners. I think that representation matters, especially in our communities, that we see people that look like us doing amazing things and not only look like us, but come from where we come from.”
Evans said that her career has had a huge impact on her life and it helps her to continue to cope with the loss of her mother.
“I will say that this helps me mourn,” Evans said. “It is a space where I know that I’m doing good and I know I'm doing the good that my mom wasn't able to continue to do and that feels good to be able to continue her legacy in that way,” Evans said.
This year, Evans is opening two new locations and expanding Turning Natural’s reach. The two new locations will be opening in the Shaw-Howard area in D.C. and the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
“I think personally what I would like my legacy to be is that I made a difference,” Evans said. “That I made sure that I loved in every way possible through my work, everything that I touch and everything that I say and that I can live a life that is worth knowing and potentially emulating.”
Sponsored by U.S. Bank.
