In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Chelann Gienger, a millennial entrepreneur, author, and podcast host. Chelann shares a pivotal story from writing her book Dear Millennial, emphasizing the challenge of honoring other people's narratives while staying authentic. She recounts launching New You Juice Bar at 18, quickly becoming a majority owner, and the lessons learned about seizing aligned opportunities. Chelann offers industry‑specific advice on maintaining healthy cost‑of‑goods‑sold (COGS) margins and ensuring owners and leadership understand financials and key performance indicators (KPIs). She expands to broader business wisdom, stressing that people and relationships are the core of leadership, and that aligning vision with daily actions—especially through culture‑focused meetings—drives success. When asked for personal guidance, she tells her younger self to have unwavering faith and confidence. Her definition of happiness centers on prioritizing relationships, health, and a personal definition of success. Chelann recommends the book Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, highlighting the principle of taking full responsibility for one’s outcomes. She shares a favorite quote about unique purpose and urges others to define and pursue it relentlessly. The episode concludes with Chelann’s online presence: ChelanGinger.com and the @ChelanGinger handle on all social platforms.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode. Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Shalane Ginger with us. She is a millennial thought leader and young entrepreneur movement creator. At 21 years old, she's the owner of New You Juice Bar, the founder and host of the Entrepreneur Before 25 podcast, and the author of Dear Millennial. So welcome to the show.
Tyler, thank you so much for having me on today. I'm honored.
Of course, we're honored to have you here. I'm really excited for this one. We'll dive into the first one. First question. The first question I have for you is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Okay, pick a category. Do you want with the juice bar, the book, or the podcast?
Oh, I mean, I'll go— let's go with Book. Let's go with book.
Okay, the book. I would say I did this so that I would be thrown off a little bit, which I love. Just joking, I don't love it. But with the book, I would say a story that really stands out to me is kind of one of the hardest aspects that the book had for me, which was the stories within the book that I had that involved other people. And I know there's a lot of authors listening to this right now, and anyone who's written a book that probably most likely involved other people in it knows what I'm going to be referring to. But it was kind of the concept of writing stories and still honoring other people's stories within that. And that was a really big struggle for me because I have a lot of stories in my book that do involve other people and some really hard stories with those other people. And so to to make sure that I was doing that in a way that still honored them, giving myself several self-checks as far as making sure I wasn't writing it from a place of bitterness or revenge, had a much deeper meaning for me. And that is we get to write our own story in life and tell our own story and to really walk in that and be confident in that. So that was kind of the underlying valuable message that I got from that little story.
Yes. And actually, just because I'm curious, can you tell us about the juice bar too? I want to hear about this juice bar.
Oh, best story. I mean, I was 18 when we opened our doors and started out with 25% ownership and then over 5 months became majority owner at 18. And so that was extremely hard for me to step into in all different aspects especially since that was my first job technically. And here I am employing people, serving people, and running a brick-and-mortar business with all of the above. And so do you want the full story of that or just—
Yeah, I was just curious. I'm like, at 21, how did you open a juice bar? That is badass. So I was just curious.
Oh, thank you. I've had a lot of opportunities, but I always say we're all given a lot of opportunities in life, but rarely do we actually make something of them. And I think that for me, the— I've obviously not chosen to take every opportunity I've been given, but if they align with my mission statement and purpose in life, then I will figure out a way to take that opportunity sooner than later. And that's kind of the story with the juice bar. My brother, And his business partner came up to me one day after a business class and were like, yo, Shalane, do you want to help us start a juice bar? And I was like, well, you know me, I'm a ganger. I would definitely want some ownership in it. And over 7 months later, we opened the doors. And like I said, I was 18 at the time. And fast forward to now, we just celebrated 3 years a month ago. I always tell people that if you want to grow in absolutely every single area of your life and be stretched and empowered as an individual, then start a business because that'll do it.
Yes, I love it. And the next one is, is what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that is within your expertise or industry?
I don't know if we have a lot of brick-and-mortar business owners listening right now. But if you do own a brick and mortar, and honestly with any aspect of, of business that you're selling, make sure your COGS or your cost of goods sold are at good margins. And for a juice bar, that's especially hard because our cost per unit is really high because we're almost all organic and we're fresh food. We don't have really much of a shelf life. And so a valuable piece of information I would have is really know the financials of your business and make sure that your entire team, it's up to owners, you know, to decide, but for sure the ownership team and the top level people in your company know the financials because that literally dictates every decision and everyone needs to know for their specific areas of management where you're at financially and especially what your KPIs look like.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.
I would say that at the end of the day, people are what matter the most and relationships are what matter the most. And a lot of our listeners are leading their business or their podcast or their industry in some way, shape, or form. And remember, that the most important aspect of leadership is the people. And this is something that has really been on the forefront of my mind, especially lately, that I can get so stuck and dumbed down into the details and the action goals, action-oriented type stuff, that it's a lot, it's easy for me to forget the people and the leadership and relationship aspect. So even, but like, is your relation, Is your vision aligning with your actions? So with the Juice Bar, a huge aspect of our vision is people and culture. And am I living that out in every single aspect of the business? I need to be starting my meetings with my management asking, how are you guys doing? And taking care of them first before telling them what I need from them. Like just making these little tweaks to your business that really take your actions and align them towards your vision is something that I would say is a big piece of advice that I wish I would have been in the know of a little bit earlier.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
She was pretty young.
Oh, yeah, true, true. How young we talking here?
Well, I started my first business when I was 15. I would say have faith in yourself. And I know you don't know really what you're doing, but that's never gonna change. And have more faith and confidence in your actions. Like once you decide to do something, don't do it hesitant— hesitantly, but do it all in.
And in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
Making sure that you are doing everything you do to live a fulfilled life, which for me means always putting my priority spheres above everything else. And that's the relationships in my life, and my health, but really define what success looks like for you and shift everything in your life towards pouring into that overall goal and picture.
And what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
I say this in almost every interview, and I'm waiting for the day where there's a book that trumps this one, just the impact it had in my life, but it's Extreme Ownership. Have you read that book?
I have not.
Okay, you really need to read it. It's called Extreme Ownership. It's by two former Navy SEALs, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. And the number one thing I learned about that book and from that book that has transformed my life is taking ownership of myself, where I'm at, and the people closest to me. And meaning And this is also my favorite quote. You are where you are because of the decisions you've made or let other people make for you. And that's my favorite quote because it really puts the power and control back in your field. Meaning if I'm not where I want to be, I have no one to look to except for myself. And that's also super empowering because we can change, we can grow, and we can ultimately get where we want to in life.
Yes. And what's your favorite quote and why?
Can I just use that one? I feel like it's so good. It's up to you. Yeah. I'm trying to think of my next, my next favorite quote. It's not really a quote, but it's something I try to drive across to people. And it's, you have a unique purpose. And I know that sounds cliché and cheesy, but at the same time, like your purpose and your why drives so much in your life. And if you know that and you're given the tools, which I help people with to make that happen, you're absolutely unstoppable. And so that was, that's what I would, would tell people is, you know, you have a unique purpose. Define that, figure out what that is, and run in it like your life depends on it.
Yes. Thank you so much for coming on. The last question that I have for you before we let you go is where is the best place for people to find you online?
ChelanGinger.com. ChelanGinger hosts pretty much everything. And I'm also @ChelanGinger on all social media platforms. And I would love to connect with you guys.
Perfect. Thanks again for coming on. We appreciate it.
Thank you so much, Tyler Wagner. The podcast you just heard was published with Anchor. Got something you want to say to the creator of this show? Send them a voice message using the Anchor app, free for iOS and Android.
