If you’re looking for a great little spot that serves up tasty smoothies and energizing teas, look no further than SOL Chicago, a new Chicago nutrition cafe and lounge. SOL cafe is the brainchild of an energetic team of people committed to supporting and growing the Chicago community.
We sat down with Laura Holloway, one of the SOL squad members, to better understand what community is and to find out what SOL is doing that people can get involved in.
What does the word “community” mean to you?
Laura:
A group of people coming together to support one another. And to have each other’s back and take care of each other and usually coming together over some common cause, you know, we have some common overlapping core values and interests that why we’re attracted to each other. So in our case, it would be health and wellness, looking good and feeling good, having great energy, taking care our ourselves, taking care of each other.
Would that be the goal of your SOL community?
Laura:
Yes, the goal of our SOL is to create an environment where people can have access to great nutrition, could have access to good energy, could have access to good people, and have a support system to have them grow and elevate their lives.
What do you look for when hiring employees?
Laura:
I’m looking for somebody who wants more for their life, who doesn’t necessarily want something inside the box, who wants something where they can look for themselves, who can be a part be something bigger than themselves, who loves health and wellness, who loves good people, who’s happy and healthy and who’s on a path for personal growth.
How do you keep your “SOL community” close?
Laura:
I would say by getting to know each other, so it’s not just surface-level conversations, but like what’s important to you? What are your goals what are your dreams and supporting people’s lives and their life and having each other’s’ backs.
What are you doing in the SOL community now that people can get involved with?
Laura:
We have a few upcoming community events. One will be a run with Lululemon. Where you start at Lululemon and lululemon will give a gift card and then you end at SOL, where you’ll get a free smoothie and tea on the house. We will be doing a few community events where we’re doing popups. We’re sponsoring two non-profit events and we’re sponsoring a Chicago executive personal development seminar type of fitness event that we’re putting on.
Laura:
We’ll have at some point in September a one-year anniversary event that everyone will be invited to with live music, food, and fun. And we always have things for our community in terms of like punch cards, two punch Tuesdays, and trying things from every category taste of the rainbow and getting something on the house. Also looking out for our monthly customer appreciation days and we have specials, people can win something every time that they check out. There’s a lot for people to look forward to.