Daily Inspiration: Meet Anna Harouvis

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

Hi Anna , we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I always joke that being Greek – American I was cooking at birth. Traditionally I was being taught family recipes as early as I could see the counter. Countless weekends spent with my yiayia ( grandmother) teaching me the importance of quality and patience.

My degree was actually in finance but when I was making cold calls while getting me Series 7 I realized the career wasn’t for me. I didn’t feel comfortable selling an intangible product. I went back to my first love and started to manage the Mardi Gras Cafe in One Cleveland Center in 1994. After working a full year and many hours and raising sales to 10,000 a week I told the owner he could sell me the cafe or I would quit. I could not see working 80 hours for anyone else but myself. He agreed and I made payments and that is where I got my start. Breakfast and lunch and catering. I would be up at the cafe at 4:30 am to make the bakery and make sure to be open for the brokers coming in. I made homemade soups, big subs and salads and hot lunch specials. I also invested in a pizza oven and made homemade pizzas. The one great equalizer we all have is food. We all get hungry and when you are consistent and passionate, well word of mouth was always the best advertisement.

When my lease was up in 2000 IMG invited me to move across the street to open a cafe there. To this day people think I am some sort of mastermind to move into the largest sports agency but I had zero idea what they actually did. What people did for a living never impressed me, I always went by how they treated myself and my staff.

At this time I was wanting to make a change. I lost my father to a fatal heart attack and I always say, “ when his heart stopped a piece of mine died forever .” My dad was such a lover of donuts and coffee and everything sweet. With processed sugar being so bad for anyone I wanted to change the way I prepared food. I wanted to extend the lives of others loved ones so they never experienced the pain I felt. He was my best friend.

Good to Go Cafe was opened on his birthday October 1, 2001. It was a healthy stop for downtown a Cleveland . I was constantly trying to find the healthiest way to serve people delicious food! I remember going to New York and trying raw food and juices. I would always have fresh pressed organic juices and wheat grass shots for clients starting in 2001. To be surrounded by some of the best humans and best in their field, well you get better simply by osmosis. They pushed me to be the best I could be. I am beyond grateful to IMG for giving me the best opportunity to be my best. You definitely are like the people you are surrounded by. The confidence led me to being able to be the first cold pressed juice line in Ohio and the first Chef designed one in the nation. As people caught on I began to develop juices with pro teams Including Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Guardians and have been for the past 16 years bow. Also, Yankess, Redskins and many teams that I have NDA’s with. The backstage provider of healthy eats and juice for movies being filmed and touring acts. I began to specialize in non GMO and organic , gluten free , vegan and keto before there was even a trend. I was the first to offer these items downtown and most chefs and industry leaders thought I was crazy to try it. I said “ if I can’t make the food and juices that actually fight disease I will go back to finance “. I would say it was a good bet .

I have appeared on the foodnetwork “ Guys Grocery Games “ , “ Cutthroat Kitchen” and LEBRONS Cleveland Hustles. I have cooked for LeBron in his early years and was always impressed how he was interested in providing the best nutrition for his body. I have been able to provide juices at The Masters, cooked for Presidents and had a career beyond my own wildest dreams. I always would tear up thinking all this for ky father. Be loved sports and played football and he would have been over the moon. He also would have been making all my
Clients nuts with his feedback. I couldn’t be happier that his legacy involved what he loved most.

I had numerous locations before covid and even started again. When IMG loved out I moved, you won’t believe it , across the street again to the old Bond Court Building. It was short lived when I got the news I had lung cancer. For the first time I was not in a building with an owner willing to work with my health and operation of removing my lung. I had to close and actually fight to get my equipment back. The crazy thing is people would say sports agents were the sharks, could not be further from the reality I experienced. Though this past year has been without the hardest of my life I am here. Starting over at zero is not the worst thing to experience.

Img had taught me to always take care of the gatekeepers. I always treated everyone equal. I never asked for photos or comped celebrities. I also never charged more. I knew how much they made from endorsements and the families that money provided for. Also, I always wanted my cafes to be a place everyone felt the same. Never understood treating and taking pictures and calling the press for a celebrity while another client would save up for their juice or lunch. It would be saying “ hey you aren’t as important “. I see food as the great equalizer in that area too.

As I was scared and worried of what comes next for an old Chef that lost everything? I got a call from James Boland from the Compass group to open a cafe in the Cleveland Clinic. The ironic thing is j bid on a space 14 years ago and never fully recovered from not getting the bid. I was second place so I will take it.

Life is like that, you never know. The opportunities never are lost. If it is meant for you it just may not be the right time. After going through cancer and losing a lung I feel this is the perfect place to provide good food and juices. It is such a honor to be a part of one of the world’s top hospitals. For a girl who started with a dream and zero business experience I would say I am
The American Dream. The world is full of beautiful happy endings if we just keep going when it is the darkest. We never know who is watching and what tomorrow will bring!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Many struggles! When I opened Good to Go I took the money I made that day and each night went to get more product. If you want it bad enough you can do it. I sacrificed a lot and learned a lot. Failure is something most are scared of. If we could look forward to failing as a learning experience than we are better off to not repeat the same
Mistakes.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I also had the idea I could only make food and beverages I was passionate about. My first business was the most financially successful but I wasn’t happy. I wanted to create a healthy haven for those like myself. Trying to always help others reach their full bodies potential.

I suppose most know me as the juice pioneer. They were not even selling cold pressed juices in stores yet. I saw a vision and ran with it. Definitely the gluten free and vegan and keto pioneer in northeast Ohio. No one was even thinking of carrying an option n 2001 and now there are entire places dedicated to it. It was amazing being someone that others could feel inspired to follow their dreams too. I always believe we are stronger as a community. Not everyone plays that way. The hurt was from places
Coming up that were so competitive and cruel. I suppose we all get
Into this career for different reasons. My
Reason always put people over profit.

I am proudest of the classes I taught from my own pocket for inner city schools, the numerous charities and making Cleveland a healthy hub! We aren’t just meat and potatoes!

My generosity and giving back. I have given more than any other restaurant to charities and organizations. People asked if I regretted it after needing money during cancer. Never! If I couldn’t do the business the way I wanted I would of left the industry.

The thing is success is such a relative term: each individual has to decide what their idea of success is. I always need d a lot less to be happy. Moving forward I have come up
With some great ideas to improve the charity aspect and maintain a healthy business. I may of learned from this past year but I will never regret the decades I was able to help others. That is a beautiful legacy for anyone to be proud of.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Listen to people and your clients always. We all get hungry and sometimes it’s not feeding the stomach as much as the soul and heart.

Contact Info:

• Website: Annaintheraw.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annaintheraw
• Facebook: Anna in the raw