The company making these cereals is San Francisco based Living Intentions

“At Living Intentions, we strive to produce fun and innovative raw food products that not only satiate your palette, but nourish your body too.  We take great care in each step of our production processes to ensure the best quality of flavor, texture and appearance.  We believe that making healthy food choices should be simple and effortless  without sacrificing the experiences  you love.  We invite you to enjoy the best, and with gratitude, thank you for your support.  ~ LI Team”

Redefining The Standard:

Wake up to something new… Superfood Cereal redefines the standard for healthy breakfast cereals.  Our innovative cereal creations are made from a combination of live sprouted ingredients, an optimal balance of complete proteins, healthy fats, antioxidants and fiber.  Each flavor is light and crunchy, super tasty and enhanced with a unique blend of the most fortified superfoods our planet offers.  We encourage you to energize, harmonize, and activate your morning… Wake Up Raw with Superfood Cereal.

Sprouted Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free and Raw

OUR INGREDIENTS:  Organic Buckwheat Sprouts, Organic Coconut, Organic Coconut Palm Sugar, Organic Sultana Raisins, Organic Banana, Organic Sunflower Sprouts, Raw Brown Rice Bran & Germ (grain-free),  Organic Sesame Seed, Green Protein Superfood Blend (Organic Hemp Protein, Organic Spinach Powder, Organic Spirulina, Chlorella, Organic Alfalfa Leaf and Organic Dandelion Leaf), Organic Vanilla Extract and Himalayan Crystal Salt.

<em>
I spoke with Living Intentions co-founder Joshua McHugh about his dream child that is now helping educate people about the benefits of raw foods with his line of high-quality products.</em>

NPD: What was the catalyst that got you into health and raw foods.

JM: At the age of 13, I was diagnosed and still live with diabetes and began researching how I could optimize my health. Later on in life, I became a vegetarian, then a vegan and in 2000, I began eating raw foods. At this point, I have found what works for me which is a balanced diet of highly mineralized foods and superfoods.

NPD: Tell me about the origins of Living Intentions

JM: After exploring health and the best foods I could find, I wanted to integrate these natural lifestyle choices with earning a living and started Joshua’sa Raw Cuisine a raw foods catering company that supplied gourmet raw dishes to events and private parties in the San Francisco Bay area. One of my initial inspirations was to take cooked foods and make ten times tastier raw food versions. Two years later, after I kept getting asked where people could buy my dishes, I began thinking about introducing a few products. I met the founder of Blessings Alive and Radiant Foods, the manufacturer of Raweo, a healthy version of Oreo cookies, who told me my products were great and encouraged me to go for it.

NPD: Did you have any experience in the food business?

JM: None. All I had was a degree in psychology and a deep passion for raw foods and that has carried me along on my journey. That and the belief that I could do it and learn what I needed to learn along the way and that’s been exactly what’s happened.

NPD: What was the source of the Living Intentions name?

JM: It actually came in a dream in which I opened a book and I saw the name Raw Intentions. Elizabeth, the other co-founder and myself sat down and looked at the name and wanted to find a word that would not only speak to a larger audience, but that embraced more of the feeling behind our intentions…. we finally chose Living.  Stating intentions and manifesting them was an integral part of my life and life in general when we direct our own energy rather than being pushed around by outer energies.

The name was really a statement about how important it is to listen to your heart no matter what and in food choices to listen to our bodies. What I learned as a diabetic is that no one can tell you better than yourself. No matter what type of food you choose, raw, cooked, vege or not…eating clean food is super important- food that vibrates and is in harmony with your being.

NPD: So what happened next?

JM: I started by going to Kinko’s, printing labels, putting two flavors of raw corn chips in bags and sealing them with my newly purchased sealer. Our first account was the Rainbow Co-op thanks to a very supportive buyer there. Erehwon in Los Angeles was our second account and we presently sell to about 300 stores and climbing. We branched into five and eventually 10 flavors of seasoned nuts under the Gone Nuts label, opened a manufacturing facility and focused on expanding our stores for the next five years. 2 1/2 years ago, we launched our raw cereals at Expo West

NPD: How do you currently distribute your products?

JM: We have a small distributor in Northern California who is user friendly and manages direct store delivery and a broker in California. We like that model which is simple and plan to grow region by region. We are in most of the Whole Foods on the west coast with other natural food retailers in Texas, Arizona and some southern states. We sell to Wegman’s and other independent natural foods stores in the east.

NPD: How were the early years of introducing raw foods?

JM: When I first heard about them in 2000, no one knew anything about raw foods. There was Living Intentions, Blessings, Lydias, and Go Raw and a few other small companies. We were the raw foods industry at that point. So we would go into stores on the west coast and no one had a clue what we were talking about. Slowly, the idea took off and at this point the movement is pretty much national and every 6 months the awareness grows. We have accounts across the U.S. now.

During the past 12 months we have grown 200% thanks to the great reception we have found for our cereals, trail mixes and salad toppings. We just doubled our manufacturing plant to meet the growing demand.

NPD: What values drive your business?

JM: Quality Ingredients,  Integrity, a Clean Pure Eco Friendly Space and Balance. These values support our mission to bring the average American into the awareness of how raw food can help them optimize their health.

NPD: What lessons have you learned that you would you like to share with our readers and the world?

JM: I believe its essential to honor what comes from your heart, tap into your intuition and creativity, love and live in the moment and have faith that you’ll get through the challenges and in the end, something bigger and better will appear that you might not have imagined.

NPD: How do you go about reaching people in the mainstream?

JM: We want to reach everyone we can so we’re developing super healthy transitional foods that are processed and dehydrated and help move people into a healthier lifestyle, making the transition to raw or vegetarian or vegan less severe.

NPD: How many members of your team are there?

JM: We have ten employees at the moment mostly production and a few that work in the office. I am committed to co-creating an employee friendly environment that everyone will enjoy and want to be part of.  Fun is a key piece of our team spirit. I’d like to see our work environment become a micro version of the Google’s campus.

NPD: How have you funded the business?

JM: Living Intentions was initially funded from pocket change and money from friends and family.my entire bank account at the time and we have continued to grow with internally generated funds. Friends and family have lent the company money along the way. In a year or so, we will look at bringing in a financial partner who can provide us with the wisdom of their experience to compliment my passion and strengthen any weak areas of the business.

NPD: Tell me about your website.

JM: I actually built our website with no experience and it will be getting a new look soon as part of our re-branding efforts.   It accounts for about 10% of our sales and traffic growth has mirrored our sales growth.

NPD: What’s your greatest challenge in growing Living Intentions?

JM: To keep our price points as low as possible while keeping quality at the highest level so we can reach the Safeway shopper.  As any industry grows, it attracts those who are in it to capitalize on the trend and to make as much money as possible and are willing to purchase lower quality ingredients and occasionally mislabel them. In each business decision I make, I always ask myself am I cutting corners and compromising our product  integrity and although it may be a harder and more costly way to go, ultimately I believe potential customers will respect what our brand stands for and continue purchasing our products whereas when they discover a competitor’s lack of ethics, they may choose to switch to Living Intentions because that’s exactly what we always strive to do: live our highest intentions.

NPD: Can you share your vision for Living Intentions?

JM:  We originally developed Living Intentions as a food company that delivers great new products with the vision of becoming a wellness and lifestyle company. That is still my vision and always will be. In the immediate future,  I see us getting into multiple food categories and expanding our distribution. We’re building a foundation in food and long term, we will expand into other products and services that are integral parts of the natural lifestyle our customers are living.  I am 100% committed to the realization of that vision.

NPD: Thank you for sharing your inspiring story with us JOSHUA.

JM: Thank you Jeff. I’ve enjoyed it.

Thoroughbred Ideas: 10 Winning Distinctions

A “thoroughbred” also known as a purebred, is a horse bred and trained specifically to race and of course, to win.

Can we also train and develop our ideas to be “thoroughbred ideas”—bred and nurtured to be winners? Consider that if you desire sustained success of your idea, it is not only possible; it’s essential.

There’s more to it than that.

You and I know that to have any chance at winning you have to get your horse into the race. In the realm of Big Ideas this translates as getting your idea into action.

Yet, there is a lot more to it than that. Horseracing is often used as a metaphor for accomplishments in life. I never realized how germane a metaphor this is until now.

As an owner of a champion racehorse I’ve learned that horseracing is not just throwing a bunch of beautiful thoroughbreds onto a track and seeing which one makes it over the finish line first. Not at all. To the uninitiated, horseracing seems like a gamble, a game of chance. Though it involves risk as any venture does, for professionals seriously engaged in the “sport of kings,” the idea of it as a gamble couldn’t be further from the truth. Thoroughbred horseracing is an intricate and highly refined and sophisticated sport and business requiring a great deal of thoughtful decisions and choices along the way to the purses and prizes and that coveted circle located at the finish line, reserved for winners only.

As you continue reading this, apply the metaphor. Bring to mind your “big idea.” You know the one. The idea that excites you, lights you, stirs your passion, makes you happy just imagining it being expressed in the world. How do you treat an idea as important as this? Like a prized racehorse, you don’t want it to be a gamble either, something you simply put “out there” and hope for the best. You don’t just want to get it onto to the track; you want your idea to be a winner. Consider developing your idea beyond the ordinary–as a thoroughbred.

There is much to think about

As in developing a new idea, in developing a racehorse there is much to think about. What is the strategy for the race itself – do you get out in front and stay there, keep behind the pace-setters, lay low and pounce later with a late run? Or do you stay behind and watch until you take your big strides to the finish à la the famously adored champion filly, Zenyatta?

You have to pick your spots, you have to know which racing conditions are the ideal ones for your particular horse. You have to know which race tracks, how the track is racing that particular day, what surfaces, dirt, turf (grass) or artificial; what other horses are in the field and the quality of how they have been running lately.

You have to know your own horse. What are his/her racing styles, emotional states, responses to food and therapeutic treatments, relationship to workouts and exercise riders, grooms, trainers, jockeys and owners? You have to tune in.

What can you do that is innovative? Our small group of owners, called Quantum Racing Team #1, uses some “quantum secrets” with our horses as well as traditional practices.

Okay, I know you get the picture. The variables are many. To have an equine athlete become a champion requires ongoing attention and awareness, analysis and intuition, conviction and strategy. What about the development of an idea? To have an idea become a stellar performing “thoroughbred idea” requires no less.

Develop your idea as a thoroughbred

A thoroughbred idea could be said to be an idea you have that is unique to you, a “purebred” idea that comes through you, that you and only you can vehicle onto the world scene, destined to develop as a champion.

If we want our ideas to succeed we must cultivate and nurture them, develop and train them, think for them and strategize, make discerning decisions and take consistent action. This may seem all too obvious as we say it here, yet how many of our ideas remain in our heads or in our conversations, and never make it onto the track? How many of our ideas maintain the status of “sleeping money” because they are not developed fully or lack the structure and strategy to sustain their success?

From a QuantumThink perspective ideas are not static, dry concepts. We relate to ideas as organic – vital, dynamic presences that shift and change and evolve according to our Intent and the way we interact with them.

Whatever your big idea is, consider that when you develop it as a thoroughbred idea you enter a rarefied realm – in what your idea means to you in your self expression, creatively, emotionally, and spiritually; in what it means to you in financial gains, stability, and security; and in what it means to you as your contribution to others and the world.

Contemplate the 10 Winning Distinctions:
What does it take for your idea to be a thoroughbred?

10 Distinctions of Thoroughbred Ideas Destined to Win

1 Thoroughbred ideas are treated as investments.
You hold your ideas as valuable from inception. You pay a lot of attention to them, making researched and carefully thought-through decisions. You leverage them. Thoroughbred ideas generate revenue and profit. You expect them to increase in value over time, and they do.

2 Thoroughbred ideas are treasured like gold.
You hold your ideas as precious and you look after them with protective care. You watch over them every step along their journey.

3 Thoroughbred ideas are held as champions.
You hold your ideas in the highest esteem with the unwavering Intent that they already are champions, even before they perform or “prove” themselves.

4 Thoroughbred ideas are related to as intelligent.
You hold your ideas as having their own intelligence and you listen to the guidance and wisdom that comes from them. Ideas will “tell” their owners what they require for their highest achievement.

5 Thoroughbred ideas make necessary adjustments.
You remain aware and proactively look for adjustments needed along the path of development to maintain the fitness and stamina, endurance and strength of the ideas. Thoroughbred ideas sustain themselves this way.

6 Thoroughbred ideas have a clear strategy.
You look from the whole and plan from the big picture for the long term life span of the idea and create a clear strategy for generating a pattern of success.

7 Thoroughbred ideas create the right conditions for peak performance.
You consciously construct the proper conditions for the expression of your ideas in environments that naturally generate peak performance.

8 Thoroughbred ideas express clear purpose.
Purpose derives from the owner’s passion and unique perspective and manifests as beneficial to others in their experience of the idea.

9 Thoroughbred ideas cultivate quality relationships.
You keep your ideas in the best company, a high quality resonant field of supporters, experts, associates and affiliates who nurture and inspire ever-greater and growing accomplishment.

10 Thoroughbred ideas evolve and expand.
You consciously evolve your ideas by opening to new thinking beyond your current vision. You welcome unexpected possibilities; awaken your own thinking beyond formulas and circumstances; you QuantumThink.

In horseracing to have your thoroughbred compete for a championship there are two steps. First, you have to nominate your horse for that particular stakes race, that is, you have to enter the race. Secondly, you have to run. In horseracing it is spoken this way: you have to start. To reach the finish line, you have to enter and you have to start.

© 2010 Dianne Collins
Photo credit: Jim Lisa Photos, Miami, Florida
Pictured is Graded Stakes Winner, Mambo Meister
victorious in the Miami Mile Handicap, Calder Race Course.
Proudly owned by Quantum Racing Team #1 LLC
Trainer, Phil Gleaves, Jockey, Manoel Cruz.

If you enjoyed this article and would like to share it with friends, please feel free to send it and/or post it to social media.

* * * * *

Are you ready to develop your big idea as a thoroughbred idea?

If so, please join us in our QuantumThink Mastery Intensive: Idea Into Action.

Join us for an experience of a lifetime.
QuantumThink Mastery Intensive
Idea Into Action – Enjoying the Fruits
Begins Monday, September 27th
8 weeks, twice weekly (16 sessions)
Interactive Teleconference, QuantumThink Coaching with a purpose
Mondays and Wednesdays, 5pm-6:15pm Eastern Time
Register by phone only. Call Alan Collins 305-354-8141

We’ll combine the 10 winning distinctions of thoroughbred ideas with our focus on Seven Quantum Keys to have it happen: 1-Clear Idea, 2- Clean Space, 3- Strategy, 4- Structure, 5- Support, 6- QuantumThink System, 7- Subtle Intelligence

The QuantumThink Mastery Intensive is 16 interactive coaching sessions with the specific and designed purpose and intent of you getting your “idea into action” and “enjoying the fruits” of it, using QuantumThink principles in unparalleled ways to have it happen easily and spontaneously. We’ll be reading and delving deeply into 12 selected chapters from Dianne Collins’ forthcoming book, Do You QuantumThink? New Thinking That Will Rock Your World, as a basis for new and expansive thinking. This unique teleconference program is led by Dianne Collins, Creator-Author of QuantumThink® and Alan K. Collins, Master QuantumThink Coach.

The program begins September 27th and runs twice weekly, Mondays and Wednesdays from 5pm-6:15pm Eastern Time. Full program details are attached in the .pdf document.

To Register call Alan Collins 305-354-8141