Doug Evans On Food Inequality, The Power of Sprouts & Lessons Learned from Failure

A recurring theme of this show is deconstructing peak performance. Over the years, I’ve shared the success equations of Olympic champions, entrepreneurs, actors, artists and spiritual masters — all roadmaps to better guide our collective trajectories.

But failure is the crucible for wisdom. And the litmus test of character.

What happens when you give every ounce of yourself to a creation, only to see it crumble? 

Destruction can be our greatest teacher. How we move forward tells us who we are.

After an epic public defeat, Doug Evans was confronted with this challenge. Not only did he survive, he emerged better for it.

A serial health food entrepreneur, you may recall Doug as the Silicon Valley, juice-slinging mogul behind Juicero — the infamous and futuristic wifi-connected, cold-press juicer start-up that raised $120 million from technology’s most high-powered VC’s before famously imploding in 2017.

What you may not know is that Doug has always been a natural food industry pioneer. He co-founded O.G. New York City juice bar chain Organic Avenue, one of the first exclusively plant-based retail chains in the country. Now writing his next chapter, Doug recently released The Sprout Book*, a primer on the power of sprouts as an ultra-food for health, weight loss, and optimum nutrition.

Four years from our first conversation (RRP 221), today Doug returns to the podcast to share the valuable lessons learned from his Juicero experience — and his new focus on getting people excited about the planet’s most nutritious foods.

Admittedly somewhat asynchronous with the current news cycle, this is nonetheless a conversation about a root cause of socio-economic disparity — and how to redress systemic food insecurity across impoverished food deserts nationwide.

It’s about the importance of taking your health and nutrition to the next level — critical in the age of coronavirus.

It’s a show-and-tell on the unheralded, superfood benefits of sprouts. The ease and affordability of growing your own at home. And the power of this practice to economically revolutionize your relationship with nutrition.

In addition, we of course discuss all things Juicero. What happened. What can be gleaned from its demise. And the lessons Doug learned to better inform the decisions faced by every entrepreneur and business owner.

Note: My first in-person interview since the start of the pandemic, this conversation (recorded on June 1 after conducting on site antibody tests) preceded my ability to timely schedule African American community leaders to directly converse on the historic events of the current moment. That said, I can assure you that I will be conducting several conversations with such leaders over the coming weeks.

The visually inclined can watch our conversation on YouTube. And as always, the audio version streams wild and free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

If your familiarity with Doug is limited to hyperbolic Juicero headlines, I ask that you set aside whatever pre-conceived notions you may harbor — and prepare to be delighted.

A dear friend for many years, Doug is a beautiful man. A wonderful character unlike any human I have ever met. And a true example of selfless service to others.

May you be equal parts entertained and enlightened by our exchange.

Peace + Plants,