The Quality Makers: Amanda Chantal Bacon of Moon Juice

Founder & CEO of Moon Juice, Amanda Chantal Bacon, says the Los Angeles based brand was born out of a need. Her experience of putting an autoimmune condition into remission – after being told it was impossible – left her wanting to know more. Amanda sought out experts and educated herself on diet, lifestyle, spirit, and traditional wisdom. It was through simple daily practices that big changes were made. She chose to share this knowledge and success with the rest of the world through the creation of her own. On a mission to help you get active in your journey, Amanda aims to connect you to the most effective things you can do daily for your one vessel, so that you can show up and do exactly what you came to do. Read her story below.

Introduce me to Moon Juice.

Moon Juice is something I created over 15 years ago. It started as a juice shop in Venice, California back in 2011. We were serving green juice. We were pressing our own almond milk. We were putting ashwagandha in chocolate milk and making Reishi smoothies. 2011 was such a different time. There was no social media, and there wasn't a wellness industry like today. What we were doing back then was considered pretty weird. We've now grown to become a supplement and skin care brand that is sold on several different continents. We've had a lot of innovation in what we know as the wellness industry today, over the last decade and a half, and we're still going.

What sparked your interest to start your brand?

I struggled with all types of health issues growing up. Some of that is just my constitution, some of that was stress and my environment, and some of it was misdiagnosis as a child - an over usage of allopathic medicine. 

In my early 20s, I discovered that I have an autoimmune condition. There are several types of autoimmune conditions, and they all have their own idiosyncrasies, but really at the heart of all of them, is stress. I began doing a deep dive into not only healing and soothing my body in order to put my autoimmune condition into remission, but also really getting into the why and how. What is stress? What are different stressors in our life? How do they affect the body? 

I came across some pretty pleasurable, simple, daily things I could do to mitigate stress, to build resilience and adaptability in my body, and to get myself out of the weeds I was in. I still need and value allopathic medicine. I think there's absolutely a time and a place, but I really dove into Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, Russian medicine, Tibetan Medicine - all different lineages that have more of a holistic approach, not an allopathic one. I was able to put that autoimmune condition into remission fairly quickly, in a way that was surprisingly pleasurable, and felt more like lifestyle medicine. Moon Juice was really born out of those mushrooms, herbs, adaptogens, minerals, lifestyle practices and education that helped me so much.

You say ‘everything we make is inspired by a need.’ I'm curious about that need, not only for yourself, but for a greater community.

I found that what felt like it was particular to me, some weird health problem I had 15 years ago, is actually an issue that thousands, if not millions, of women are experiencing. There is a commonality with women that are living in similar environments, who have similar demands upon us - we have similar hormonal profiles in different life stages. I'm typically formulating with chemists, scientists, doctors, experts and herbalists, for me first, knowing that there's an army of people experiencing the same things I am.

If you look at the rates of autoimmunity in women, as well as the rates of anxiety, depression and sleep trouble, you’ll see we’re all affected similarly. A lot of this just isn’t talked about - how many mothers and daughters talk about their birth stories, their periods, what age they went into menopause, whether or not they experience pain during sex. With social media came a network, this web of women that are now able to find each other, talk to each other, educate each other. We have a long history of doctors not believing us, not advocating for us, so it does feel like there’s a new frontier of women connecting to women, getting their own information, doing their own deep dives into education and advocating for themselves. 

Who is your audience? As a space for people with various kinds of health issues, how does someone who is unfamiliar with your kinds of products, navigate your space?

I’ve always thought of Moon Juice as a place for education and inspiration. We have so many community members that have never purchased anything from us, and don't actually need to ever purchase anything from us to be part of us. Our community is just about having curiosity and being able to tune into things that grab your interest. We try to really put out pieces of bite-sized factoids and content that make engaging with us entertaining and pleasurable. I believe not understanding everything is actually a great place to start. 

Tell me about the products you offer.