Dawn Marvin decided to quit her job as a lab representative over ten years ago. Having struggled to maintain a healthy lifestyle and mindset, she decided she wanted to make a change.
“All the meals I was carrying in were high-carbohydrate meals,” Marvin said. “I was gaining weight left and right, tired and grumpy.”
When a friend inspired her to join a nutrition club, she discovered how much she enjoyed staying healthy and she dropped sixty pounds by altering her eating habits.
Blended Nutrition & Energy Smoothie and Juice Bar has opened its second store in the Elon area located on Timberline Station Road. Marvin decided to start her business in order to inspire others.
According to Marvin, the business aims to emphasize mental wellness and the health of its customers. Marvin’s love for healthy living pushed her to create the stores to change other peoples lifestyles.
Originally, Marvin started Burlington Nutrition Club over ten years ago.This was Marvin’s first smoothie business where she was able to build her menu and bring in new customers.
The club enabled people to transform their personal development and leaves “a happy and active mindset,” Marvin said.
“It’s been a lot of high-fiving and helping people get healthier,” Marvin said.
When Marvin originally quit her lab representative job, the nutrition club got her on the right track and gave her the idea to turn it into a business.
“The good feeling I got from the nutrition club fired me up to do the business,” Marvin said.
Marvin took her knowledge and started a smoothie business that would have healthy ingredients for her customers.
The Elon location March 6 and said everyday has been full of excitement.
“We’ve been having the time of our lives helping people get happier and healthier,” Marvin said.
On the Menu
The shop has a variety of items on their menu, including protein smoothies, energy drinks, protein-based coffees, protein bars and snacks. Customers are also able to add enhancers — such as collagen and probiotics — to boost digestive systems and bone health. They use ingredients that allow a smoothie or juice to replace a meal.
Michaela Reinhart, an employee at the Elon location, enjoys the variety of options and ingredients the shop offers.
“I love the mudslide coffee shake and red starburst energy drink,” Reinhart said.
The shop prides itself on having a positive work environment. Marvin said she believes in making sure her employees and customers get the best experience they possibly can, which she said rubs off on their clientele.
Reinhart said every shift is great and she loves working with the customers.
“I love working here because it’s a welcoming environment where people can try shakes and join our family,” Reinhart.
With masks and capacity limits, the owner still encourages people to come in and “be part of the community.” With the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been a struggle to be closely bonded as a nutritional community, but Marvin believes they can still find other ways to connect.
Marvin said she hopes to expand further someday. Her views on nutrition and health inspire a community of people, and growing her business is something she has been thinking about. However, she would love customers to give insight on where that should be.
Marvin said no matter what challenges the store faces, it will proceed. The store emphasizes keeping life upbeat and never getting too stressed over the small things.
“We go off a no problem attitude,” Marvin said. “Everything is no problem, it is all ‘figureoutable.’”