In honor of Living Juice's recent certification as a Women Owned business in New York City, we wanted to introduce you to our founder, Rosemary Devlin, and the history or O2 Living and Living Juice!
Background & Family
Rosemary Devlin, founder of Living Juice, is passionate about wellness and healthy living - but that hasn’t always been her focus. When she arrived in the U.S. on a visitors visa at age 18, she was eager to escape the bombings that rocked her home of Northern Ireland, then at the peak of the civil rights movement. “It was time to start a new life in the land of opportunity,” says Rosemary.
Two weeks after landing in New York City, she met the man who would become her husband. They started a construction business together, and as the business grew, so did their family – they now have 5 sons, ages 25 to 30. “It just happened,” Rosemary laughs. “We doubled up on the last birth hoping for a girl, but were blessed with identical twin boys. Hopefully there will be a few girls in the next generation!”
Journey to Wellness and Clean Eating
Between the games, practices and other activities throughout Westchester County of five rambunctious boys, healthy eating wasn’t a priority. While Rosemary took great pleasure in recreating the traditional recipes her beloved mother had taught her in Ireland, “Back in the 90s it was all fast food,” she recalls. “Once my boys got the flavor of a Big Mac and chicken nuggets with sweet and sour sauce, there was no turning back! There was no talk about the dangers of processed foods.”
But a near tragedy on a transatlantic flight changed everything. Her oldest son went into anaphylactic shock, a reaction to mislabeled airplane snacks. That terrifying experience inspired Rosemary’s clean, holistic health journey. “I became laser-focused on reading the label of every food and beverage my family was consuming, leading to my discovery that most foods weren’t as clean or healthy as I had thought,” she says. “I couldn’t believe the amount of food that was processed. Clean, fresh, healthy eating and living became my focus and passion.”
Rosemary decided to create a community dedicated to healthy living. “My mission is to help people attain a lifestyle that is healthy, enriched and vibrant,” she says. To that end, she took over yoga studios in Cross River, New York, adding a beautiful holistic treatment spa and health product boutique, as well as a raw, vegan café. A trained American culinary school chef helped create recipes, smoothies and cold-pressed juices that at first were sold only in the café. But the juices got so popular among yoga students and customers that Rosemary decided to start delivering and selling them all throughout the tri-state area and beyond.
Birth of Organic, Cold-Pressed Living Juices!
Now, the juices are her primary focus. “We’re available from Maryland to Connecticut,” says Rosemary, whose sons Ryan and Corey joined the Living Juice team after graduating from college. “Last year, we opened a new state of the art manufacturing facility in Connecticut that will greatly increase juice production and allow for expanded distribution.”
Developing the healthiest, best tasting juice took time, and lots of testing. “The problem with other juice brands is their use of high heat, where all the nutrients are removed and fortified with vitamins and minerals that are unnatural,” Rosemary explains. “We wanted to make sure all the nutrients were present in our juices. That’s why I decided on cold-pressed juices, never heated, where all the nutrients remain. We also never add water. Many competitors list water as their main ingredient! Living Juice is living nutrients from the organic fruits and vegetables.”
Of course, Living Juice is more than a business for Rosemary - juice cleanses four times a year have become an important part of her lifestyle. “The best way to cleanse is all greens, loaded with nutrients,” she advises. "There is a proper way to cleanse. It’s good to follow the Living Juice protocol. A lot of research went into determining the best approach.”
But cleanses aren’t the only way to enjoy the benefits of Living Juice. Organic juice with no sugar, water, or preservatives added offer an easy, effective way to add more fruits and vegetables to an everyday diet. “I’m extremely busy, but I make sure to get my daily fruits and vegetables through Living Juices,” says Rosemary. “It’s the perfect addition to my healthy lifestyle.”