Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Makowski.
Hi Jennifer, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
Boochie Bar started as my little dream. I had the idea to create a Fresh and Funky little space where people would want to gather. A place where you would feel comfortable in your own skin, where you would want to talk about your health (or lack thereof). A Hyper-local health bar that focuses on YOU and YOUR needs. Not a Big Corp model, not a one-size-fits-all approach. Background:
I had a routine surgery go wrong in 2013, I ended up spending 40 nights in hospitals and ended up almost losing my life. I was prescribed a massive amount of prescription medications over the next several years. The medications I was taking were stripping my body of my “Good Bacteria,” and my Microbiome became unbalanced. I ended up developing 4 Auto Immune diseases over the last 10 years. Each of those a direct correlation to the medications I was taking for so long. I didn’t feel myself AT ALL, had lack of energy, Dry skin, Rashes on my hands, my hair was breaking off and falling out… My Joints would ache to the point where it was hard to lift my arms… I had massive Brain Fog, and most of all, I wasn’t “Showing up” for myself anymore!
I knew I needed a change and FAST! I read every book, every article and researched food as medicine for years. I ended up taking over my own health and began Raw juicing as well as implementing Clean Eating and Kombucha into my diet. After just a few weeks, I started to notice my energy coming back, my rashes started to fade, I started feeling less Brain Fog, my digestive system became “Normalized” for the first time in years. I was healing myself through my nutrition and what I was putting into my body! After Tons of trial and error, lots of tears, lots of research, and hard work I was able to take my life back over! Today, I am happy to say I am in remission of all of my AutoImmune diseases, and I take ZERO medications. I had set out to create a place where I could educate and promote that same wellness and Nutrition that helped me get my life back! Boochie was born!
Booch is a slang word used to describe Kombucha. Boochie Bar is my Funky little take on a Wellness Bar and a place I am proud to be the Owner of! We have BIG plans for Boochie (or The Booch) over the next few years, starting with our “Booch Wagon” for Events, and lots more Fun and Fresh Merch (which is coming soon!) We just launched our Savory food menu as well. The goal is to offer Superfoods in a fresh, new, and relatable way.
I aim to have the largest selection of On Tap health drinks in Michigan, and we are WELL on our way!
The space I created was created with almost 100% Upcycled, Recycled, Trash, and Flea Market finds! Our outside chairs were going into a dump, and we refurbed them back to life! The barstools don’t match, but each has their own story. The lighting is soft, essential oils fill the room and there are live plants everywhere.
Our Marketing approach has also been super Organic. Were haven’t spent one cent on it. We created Social Media pages, and we treated people well. They loved the space and quickly told their neighbors, Friends, and Family. Word spread Organically, person to person. Each coming in excited and somehow connected. It’s a super risky way to market in a world where paid advertising, AI, and Digital Marketing are all the rage, but yet it somehow fits us just perfectly. We have found success by being anti “Big Corp” We are the little fish in a big pond, but we are creating our story, and we are doing things the Boochie way! We invite you to come in and do a Wellness Shot; let us juice you a glass of our Raw juice (we juice to order and right in front of you always!), Grab an Acai bowl or an All-natural Smoothie or Protein shake. We have tons of Booch on tap, Kava seltzer, and Acai Lemonades. We have Fresh salads that are made to order, Wraps, and two soups crocking’ daily! We have fresh fruit cups and house-made Guac made fresh each morning!
Boochie – Kombucha and Wellness Bar -Aiming to Change the world, One glass of Kombucha at a time!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
We’ve been blessed to have a pretty smooth roads so far in our journey. We didn’t put any big expectations on things. We added things one thing at a time. We took the time to get to know people, and we found that by not putting pressure on ourselves to “hit” these big numbers, we were able to grow more sustainably.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Boochie Bar?
We specialize in Superfoods and Health drinks. We are All Natural. No food dyes, No-Preservatives, Plant-Based Milks, Organic, Local Kombucha. We are Allergy-friendly, Huge Vegan menu, Huge GF menu, everything is made to order. Juice is Juiced right in front of you and to order every day. We are most proud of how we treat our people and how we have grown sustainably. We are proud to be hyper-local.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up.
My favorite childhood memories were traveling in an old camper with my family. I have a brother and a sister, and my parents would bring us down to the Keys in Florida over Christmas every year. We would camp at the KOA for two weeks, and my dad would sing at local establishments. I now love to take my family down to the Keys at Christmastime! We have 4 girls.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.boochiebar.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/boochiebar
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/boochiebar?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@rockfordboochiebar?_t=8hewlRju7pu
