Reprinted in part from a previous Blog post (revised)

Dear Cherished Customers,

Some of you are newer customers, and others have been with us for decades, but I want to thank all of you for your support of our small business and to tell you a little bit about our story…

HealthForce began as just an idea of mine several decades ago when I was very young, still in school, had just learned about health and nutrition, and wanted to help others achieve the absolute best of health and happiness possible. I worked on my first mail order catalog of health products after school and on weekends. Then, a couple years later, I met a special guy who became my boyfriend (and eventually my husband, Jameth), and we joined forces in growing this small company. We also became naturopaths and health researchers, applying our research to the products we formulated.

Back then the internet was nothing like it is today, and we were broke students who couldn't afford a computer, so we used the library computer at first, and we built our company the old fashioned way, from the ground up, with nothing but nonstop hard work and sacrifice, including lots of sleep-deprivation and all-nighters, working seven days a week, including weekends and holidays, for years on end. We had to take side jobs just to pay the bills, and for a time we even lived in our car so that we could pour all of our earnings into the business. We never sold out to investors, which made things very difficult at times, but it was important to us to maintain the integrity of the products, and to put our customers first. Today that has become more important than ever as more and more companies in our industry are being bought out by Big Pharma and the junk food industry.

At first, a handful of our products were packaged in plastic bottles, but as soon as we were able to bottle those products in amber glass, we switched over right away, as amber glass is superior in many ways (much better preservation of products, protection from UV light rays, non-toxic, and more). To this day, despite increasing costs, all of our products are packaged in amber glass, other than the huge containers of Warrior Food, as our former management was unable to obtain amber glass bottles in that size; so they used the best and healthiest huge plastic containers they could find. We are now using up the remaining large quantity of those containers they stocked up on, while we are actively in the process of switching that size over to more ideal packaging as well. More and more companies are doing the opposite nowadays, switching over to plastic in order to save money; but we feel that would be going backward, and we have made a commitment to never do that.

We originally sold our products direct to consumers through our mail order catalog and our popular Uncooking with Jameth and Kim classes. Later, we built our first website and began selling our products online. Eventually, through hard work and determination, we managed to get them onto health food store shelves, making weekly deliveries out of the trunk of our beat up old car. Our very first employee was my mom, who worked for us for free. (My beloved mom actually still works for HealthForce to this day, working well beyond retirement age, fueled by HealthForce products!)

One of our first products was a human-grade green superfood blend for animals (beginning with our own rescues), called Green Mush. We created a similar product for humans, which became the first green superfood supplement of its kind on health food store shelves. It was originally called The Ultimate Nutritional Supplement, later changed to Ultra Green, and ultimately came to be known as Vitamineral Green.

Eventually I stepped down from HealthForce, as I had many other pursuits on my plate; and Jameth took charge as HealthForce’s benevolent leader, passionate spokesperson, and gifted formulator for many, many years. Later, he stepped down also and turned the management over to others so that he could focus on new projects of his own, until his totally unexpected and very untimely passing. I plan to write a book to tell his whole story, which I hope will help and inspire all who read it. He was a true hero who helped many others, often at his own expense, and he definitely left his mark on this world. Losing him was the most difficult thing I’ve ever experienced, and it broke me in ways I could never have imagined. After he passed, HealthForce landed back on my plate, amidst an avalanche of other responsibilities, and I’ve done my very best to keep it going under unimaginable circumstances because I believe in the products and I’ve seen how they have changed many lives. Having said that, there came a point when I almost shut it down, as I just couldn't do it anymore. However, your testimonials are a HUGE part of what has kept me going, and I'm here to assure you, HealthForce is here to stay!

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for supporting our small business, and for helping to keep the HealthForce mission alive! We couldn't do it without you!

With my very deepest gratitude, now and always,

Kim Sheridan, Founder