Antony Donico, 24 Founder, general manager Stellar Juice Soiree Agoura Hills Organic juice and salad bar Founded: July Employees: 12 Financials: Expects to break even this month on sales of $12,000 While some 20-somethings ask their parents to loan them cash for a month’s rent or an unexpected car repair, Antony Donico asked his mother for a much larger investment – a sum that eventually totaled $50,000. Donico, 24, used the money to open an Agoura Hills organic juice business, Stellar Juice Soiree, in July. And so far, he’s making his mother, Denise Antico-Donlon, proud. He worked 20-hour days to get the business going the first couple of weeks, but now has enough customers to support 10 to 12 employees, including four who work full-time. The business sells cold-pressed juices using all-natural, seasonal ingredients. Even the almond milk is homemade. Prices range between $5.95 and $6.95 for a 16 oz. smoothie to $9.00 for fresh juices, such as Star Gazer, which features carrot, apple and turmeric. The shop also sells salads. “The basic foundation comes from personal health – what food products felt good inside my body,” said Donico, who wears his hair shoulder-length and favors T-shirts and skinny jeans as a work uniform. “I worked at Jamba Juice for two years in Thousand Oaks (and saw) the inner workings of how to run a successful juice bar.” But running a business had much more to do than coming up with new flavors, Donico soon learned. “The most difficult (obstacle) is to find employees to create the Stellar culture,” said Donico, who added that he also had to learn business basics, such as wholesale accounts and making an employee handbook. Donico first thought he would need $20,000 but realized it would be substantially more. His mother and her business partner, Wil Wardle, 35, who own event planning company Lobo Castle Productions, kicked in $50,000. “The question was: ‘Would it work in suburbia?’ The idea is to be a hangout place – like a juice-version of Starbucks,” said Antico-Dolon, 55, who has an equity stake with Wardle and helps out at the business. The shop made $10,000 in October and should break even this month, but Donico still has to pay back the $50,000 loan, even as he dreams about an expansion to the Santa Monica and Venice area, and adding online orders and juice cleansers. “Follow your heart. Find what can make the world a better place and bring that to the world,” he said, offering advice to other budding entrepreneurs. – Jacquelinne Mejia
Antony Donico
