We met over kale…Our friendship began over “green juice”. Jason had a small cafe inside PEAK Sports Center offering a kale and spinach concoction. I was struggling to find foods that were nutrient rich because I had received a diagnosis of a lifelong chronic illness that made eating less enjoyable. Foods were no longer palatable, and my desire to eat the same foods I’d been eating was decreased as medications were making me ill. I knew that the diet I had been consuming was likely a contributor to my current state of health.

I completely started my dietary and nutrition journey over. I began consuming a plant-based diet. I eliminated refined sugar, dairy, gluten, and animal protein. I quickly embraced kale. Kale became the “little darling” in the nutrition world and I started cooking, pressing, and consuming it to feel better. I was surprised to discover how much better I felt. Documented medical science is full of “diets” that can help change the course of illness, even to the point of reversing it. I began to unravel how it could help change the course of mine. I educated myself while simultaneously consuming more kale juice along the way.

As a personal trainer for over 15 years, Jason Rager was frustrated with knowing there were no places his clients could go to find food options that were quick, nutritious, and truly good for them.  So in 2015, he began Thrive Café inside the fitness gym he had trained at for years. He started out making protein smoothies, grab and go meals, and small batches of cold pressed juice.

Sharing in his enthusiasm for the nutritional properties of organic, cold pressed, raw juice, Nancy stepped in.   Jason was driven to provide healthy, fast casual nutrition to busy Americans and she wanted to understand how we could grow, Thrive, and offer it to more people outside the gym.  Making better food choices is difficult in the world we live in with fast-food places at every corner.  Our mission is to prove how eating to “Thrive” is so much better than eating to survive!