Community Highlights: Meet Anna Harouvis of Anna in the Raw

Today we’d like to introduce you to Anna Harouvis.  

Hi Anna, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I always joke and say being raised Greek -American we begin cooking outside of the womb. One of my happiest memories was cooking with my yia yia (Greek grandma). She had a kitchen in the basement for baking and upstairs for cooking. She was so patient and we communicated through food and love. Her English was equally as bad as my Greek. 

I had been studying finance and taking series 7. I realized the only way I could connect to others and show love was through food. It’s the great equalizer, everyone eats. 

I started my career in the culinary world when I bought the Mardi Gras Cafe in One Cleveland Center in 1995. I was only 24 and had a staff of seven and was doing over 500,000 a year. I made homemade soups and Greek specials and big deli subs and salads. When I lost my father died from a massive heart attack in 1997, I decided I wanted to change the way I prepared food. My wish was to leave a healthy legacy in my father’s memory so no one lost a loved one too soon. I always say when his heart stopped beating a piece of mine died forever. 

When my lease was up IMG came over from across the street and asked me to move over there next. I didn’t even know who IMG was or Mark McCormack but he was the kindest and most generous individual I met. IMG truly changed my life and made me a better person. I never was a sports girl since my father played football and my two older brothers were very successful popular athletes. I opened Good to Go Cafe and Catering in 2001. I look back on life and the many twists and turns and realize our destiny usually is a series of steps and experiences that you don’t realize come together until you look back on it. Seeing my family’s sports injuries would eventually make me a better chef in how to help professional athletes avoid the pain and inflammation due to the sports they played in. 

I would see celebrities come in and realize everyone deserved the same respect as anyone else. The one thing people seemed to appreciate about me the most above my discretion was that I treated everyone the same and believe it or not most really appreciated that. Working in IMG building I learned smooch that how you treat anyone is how you see and respect yourself. I firmly believe if it wasn’t for mentors from IMG I would have never grown to the contracts I have today. I listened and they taught me well, not to be coy, but what Harvard business school doesn’t teach you. (to quote Mark Mc Cormack’s bestselling book). Mark Steinburg, Alister Johnston, Gavin Forbes, Allen Sheppard, Jay Burton, Tom Condon .so many top agents that showed me ” your word is gold and do the work. If you aren’t accountable every day to your own goals you won’t be good to anyone else.” They say you are the sum of the top five people who surround yourself with and being in that building was my secret weapon in my career. No one cheered louder than all of them when I succeeded and helped with counsel when I failed. I learned to fail forward and that is the only way to learn to succeed. 

I know most will say don’t take business personally but I found it to be my greatest strength. Having my own health issues, I was always learning and growing to become better. When I saw personally the benefits of raw food and cold-pressed juice, I began selling it in the cafe. The magic Cleveland has is its ability to accept and encourage new cuisines that other cities wouldn’t be inclined to do. I had been preparing cold-pressed juice since 2001 and one day one of my favorite clients asked if I could do a cleanse for him and his friends. David Sylvan worked at IMG and had moved on to his next career and basically, after I tested it on him, well it blew up. Cold-pressed allows the juice to maintain its full nutrients for 72 hours and gave each 16-ounce bottle six pounds of organic product. In 2010 I started Anna in the Raw juice line. There wasn’t even cold-pressed juice in grocery stores yet and everyone said I was insane. I never really watched ” competition” I always stayed in my own lane and focused on my own visions. The rest will only distract you and I believe we all have such creative magic in us if we tune out everything else. If you would have told me I would have spent 35,000 on the top-of-the-line juicer one day I would have never believed it. I always believed the best equipment and product will always produce the best product especially if it’s your passion. The hours are insane but the feeling of doing truly what you love for a community will always be worth it. 

Now as I opened a new location with a wholesale kitchen and finally, the fancy Instagram-worthy cafe I am amazed I made it through so much. Juicing for the Guardians, The Yankees, Cavs, The Masters, Presidents, and my favorite of being a Celebrity Chef for Rock Hall with my partnership with Aramark is a dream I would have never felt brave enough to dream for. I’ve been on the Food Network Guys Grocery Games, Cutthroat Kitchen, and LeBron’s show Cleveland Hustle. I acutely got to work and meet Le Bros while his office where in the IMG building, talk about being at the right place with the right team. I never asked for pictures or posted unless they did first. Kept whatever I heard to myself and the grave truly allowed people to trust me in their homes and lives. That is a git I don’t take lightly or used to promote my own agenda. I’m most proud of the fact my father would be tickled and proud I was working with sports, his greatest love next to his children. He would be talking their ears off. When I hear how Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio went into my father’s bar ” The London” and he never repeated what happened I know it was in our blood to have integrity where it matters most, in humanity and in our community. I have been a part of many charities locally and even went to Quantico to cook for the troops multiple times, taught culinary classes for free to inner-city schools, and when asked never declined to talk and inspire those who do not have the same advantages I have been given. Making Cleveland a healthier place with flavor has truly been an honor for over 26 years. 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I only realize how far I’ve come when I list the amazing opportunities I actually have accomplished. To speak at the Roots food conference at Culinary Vegetable Institute and to now call Farmer lee Jones one of my closest friends. It has been hard. I believe it’s always hard to be a trailblazer. People can learn from your mistakes and see the holes you left open to enter the market. At a certain point, you realize everyone can do what you do but we all have a special way we do it that makes us unique. If I inspired others that may have created more Juice businesses well, I still take it as a huge compliment. It also allows the Chef in me to become the best I can be. I’ve always had my vision, my non-negotiable that has kept my clients loyal, and word of mouth has had me screaming like a school girl when a band that I had on my wall going up asks for my services, well there is no better feeling. Having clients from Cleveland Clinic that id o pro bono for cancer patients fills my soul and though some say I am generous to a fault I find it is priceless for my soul You need a lot less to live off when you are living your dream. 

Covid was the hardest not just for me but everyone, well maybe not amazon. I am healthy and thought my sales were down80%, electricity at home being shut off, not being able to receive government assistance I had every reason to close as many better chefs had. I was found by my new landlord who came in from NYC to convince me to move to the Aecom building across the street. I clearly have a thing for the corner of East 9th and St. Clair downtown! Leaving IMG after 20 years was like leaving home for college but they encouraged me to grow. The wholesale kitchen has allowed me to grow more wholesale clients and even Amazon has reached out to me to become a seller. Crazy dreams that would have seemed unrealistic have me thinking the hardest of times to see who keeps getting up. It’s not how often you are knocked down, if you believe in your vision others will too. 

Three months into my new location and I’ve never been happier. Well, except it’s a lot harder the older you get. I still am the first one in and the last one out. What else did I work so hard for to just not be there? I love meeting new clients and seeing old ones that are now family, and that each day brings so many opportunities that everyone has in front of them each day. If you spend your time counting others’ blessings you only miss the ones waiting for you alone. 

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Anna in the Raw?
I specialize in Raw/ Vegan / Gluten-free cuisine and cold-pressed juices. I’m super proud and excited about my new line of no-sugar desserts. My father never met a donut he didn’t love and that inspires me daily to create treats for those who want to cut back on their sugar and that can’t have it anymore. 

it sounds corny but honestly my community work and as my father always said ” Don’t worry about changing the world but the viewpoint of one person who will go on to change the world”. I’ve always been inspired to encourage others, I’ve been there and no matter how dark it gets, even with electricity being shut off :), there is light around the corner. Keep going and be consistent others will see that and help. People truly want to help others when they are committed. 

I’m grateful to be a safe harbor for those who are sick and scared to try new food and juices. People from around the world even spoke at Cleveland Clinic with Dr. Mark Hyman from Functional medicine. To prepare for President I think how happily a father would be. Being raised by first-generation Americans we always were told to be better than the previous generation and my father left a high benchmark. 

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Cooking greek pastries and soups with my yiayia. Ikaria the island she was from is the Blue Zone. They are one of the healthiest places in the world and 75% of their diet is vegan, so it was in my blood from birth. 

Contact Info:

• Website: annaintheraw.com
• Instagram: annaintheraw /annaintherawcafe
• Facebook: annaintheraw
• Twitter: annaintheraw