Jamba Juice announced that tennis star Venus Williams has joined the company as a franchise partner and will help the brand enter the Washington, D.C., market. James White [9], chairman, president, and CEO of Jamba Juice [10], told QSR in an exclusive interview that the Williams family had been fans of the brand in their native California, and that Jamba has been in discussion with the camp for the last year about a partnership. “The D.C. marketplace was a high priority for us because of the makeup of the consumer opportunity that we saw there,” White says. “We thought that Venus would be the ideal partner; she epitomizes, from our vantage point, a person that leads a healthy, active lifestyle. She’s one of the most recognized athletes on the planet, so we couldn’t think of a better partner to enter the D.C. marketplace with.” The deal with Williams calls for five stores in the next two years in the D.C.-Maryland market. The first store is slated to open in the summer. White says the D.C. marketplace will be used as a launch pad for further East Coast growth, and that the brand has plans to grow in Connecticut and Boston. In the meantime, Jamba Juice plans to promote health and wellness activities through Williams’ D.C. stores, White says. Williams, who has won 41 Women’s Tennis Association titles and seven Grand Slams in her career—and whose sister, Serena, is also a tennis star—was looking for entrepreneurial opportunities, White says. A mutual acquaintance of Jamba Juice and the Williams camp introduced the two parties.“I have been a long-time fan of Jamba Juice and its mission to help inspire and simplify healthy living,” Williams said in a statement from the company. “Regardless of the venue—whether I am on the tennis court or on an interior design project—keeping fit and eating healthy are critical to ensuring I maintain peak performance. “Jamba offers a fantastic line-up of tasty, better-for-you products that I can feel good about eating. I am excited to be a part of Jamba and, through that partnership, to be bringing a healthy lifestyle brand to the D.C. metro area that can offer others an easy way to maintain their focus on staying active and eating right.” White says Jamba Juice is a good fit for athlete partnerships because of its healthy, active brand image. Former National Basketball Association star LaPhonso Ellis is a franchisee in South Bend, Indiana, and the brand has a partnership with the Women’s National Basketball Association, as well. “It’s a business [athletes] understand, it’s a product they love and use, so it’s a natural fit for us to have this kind of relationship with an athlete like Venus Williams,” White says. There are no plans for Williams to act as a spokeswoman for Jamba Juice, White says, but he expects the relationship with the tennis star to grow in the coming years.
By Sam Oches
So often we live our lives according to someone else's plan. I did The Ms. Boss Show this morning and the topic that came to me was designing your perfect life. I started to wonder why was it so hard for people to do that, then I looked at some of the reasons that I wasn't fully living my life by design and I wanted to share my thoughts with you. The first thing you must do in designing your perfect life is to become clear about what that life looks like. what does it entail. What do you do for a living? Where do you live? What do you drive? Where do you dine? Where do you vacation? Where does your children go to school? What are your hobbies? What are your dreams? I think you get the picture. The next thing you is to put all of these things on paper and get them out of your head. The next thing you must do is identify the problems in your life and find a solution for them. Stop complaining and whining. This one is a biggie. Don't be afraid of change. Change is emminent. It is going to happen anyway. So just embrace the idea of change and move on. I know that this is easier said than done, but it is a must if you want to live your life by your own personal design.