BEST OF 2020 - Own a grown Mission

We were in LA for the 2008 NBA Finals (Lakers/Celtics). This was the moment we had all prayed for, and the thing my husband Ray dreamed of and worked for his entire life- the Championships. Everything seemed perfect- except for one thing- our 17 month old son, Walker was suddenly not himself. He was lethargic, peeing thru his diaper, he taught himself how to say “Juice Mommy” between Monday & Friday because he was excessively thirsty and then, he started vomiting.

I remember Ray saying to me the night before Game 5, “Shan, something’s wrong with Walker.” The next morning, I took Walker to the hospital (and thanks to great advice from the hotel physician), I demanded a blood test. Twenty minutes later the doctor came into the room- she was white as a ghost and tears were streaming down her face. “Oh my God”, I said, “You have bad news for me.” She said, “Your blood sugar is supposed to be between 70-120; Walkers is 639. He has Type 1 Diabetes and has entered a phase of Diabetes called ketoacidosis which means his blood sugar is poisoning him to death; if he doesn’t get insulin soon, you are going to lose him.”

It was as if the rug had been pulled out from underneath me and I was hurdling thru space. In an instant, I became a warrior for my son- an activist, an advocate. It changed the course of our lives forever; but, what happened next was the thing I never could’ve prepared myself for.

I was on my way to buy groceries for dinner and Walker, who was in his car seat, was suddenly suffering from extremely low blood sugar. My plan of the casual schlepp to the grocery store was out the window- I needed real food and I needed it NOW. I frantically scanned the highway in search of what I wanted- a delicious, freshly prepared meal made with organic ingredients and the convenience of a drive-thru- for Walker and my other boys who were all in tow.

What I quickly discovered was that what I was looking for did not exist and that simple realization left me feeling powerless, defeated and broken.

After racing down RT.9, leaving my kids in a running car (not a proud moment), hurriedly grabbing take out from a mom & pop restaurant then dashing quickly home to feed my boys- sure Walker was safe and his blood sugar was at a stable number; I found myself sobbing on my shower floor. I was exhausted. I was depleted and defeated and resigned to the fact that no one was going to fix this for me.

I got up, dried off, looked in the mirror and thought, “no one is coming to save you Shannon. And, if this is a problem for you, it’s just a problem period, and you’ve got to solve it.

I called my husband Ray and told him that if no one has big enough balls to reinvent fast food, we had to do it. It took eight years to get our doors open and 18 months to successfully complete our organic certification process...but, we did it...we created the thing we wished existed and it’s growing! I can’t tell you how many people told us “no” or that this was “impossible”, that fast food could never be better or that if it could, someone a lot smarter than us would’ve already done it.
Thankfully, we don’t believe in the words “no” or “impossible” and we recognize that if someone smarter than us was more capable; they would’ve done it already-but, they didn’t, we did and we continue to grow and evolve because the words we believe in are GRATITUDE, THANK YOU, DEDICATION, TEAMWORK, FAITH, GRIT, FAMILY, TOGETHERNESS, DREAMING and YES!

We are so grateful to every single person that helped and supported us, encouraged us and even for the naysayers (you may not know it, but your lack of imagination and disbelief inspired us to push on, go harder and to persevere).

We are thankful for our amazing #grownteam that continues to invest in this collective dream to franchise grown all over the country and the world, but most importantly to our grown guests that overwhelmingly and religiously support us with your patronage, loyalty and by championing grown every single day. Your faith in our mission to change the world one USDA organic certified fast food meal at a time is the thing that sustains us.

I never dreamed of being a foodtrepreneur or restaurateur; the truth is, grown was born from pure frustration and desperation.

Grown is the future of fast food and we won’t stop until we are accessible and affordable to every family – regardless of mean income or zip code.

Walker is 13 years old now and he is the most resilient, brilliant, loving, athletic, happy, joyful, kindhearted & talented person I know- he makes everything look easy- because life with T1D, frankly, is hard. He has never complained, or asked “why me” and he doesn’t allow it to slow him down or to limit his dreams.

November was World Diabetes Month, but every day for Walker is spent living with diabetes. Ten finger pricks, 7-10 insulin injections each day, carb counting, highs and lows- it’s always there- he never gets a break from this serious medical condition- not on Christmas, or during exams, for his basketball tournaments or even on his birthday.
To the world, Ray may be the 2x NBA Champ and Hall of Famer, but, in our house, Walker will always be the real MVP whose daily battle with diabetes gave birth to our grown mission and this extraordinary movement!