Breathless Raw Live Juice Bar and Cafe was founded by Nicholas Dillon, or his preferred name to those close to him, Menilik, and his wife Dawn Marie Dillon. This duo has achieved and still achieve so much success not only inside of their brick and mortar store in Milford, Pennsylvania, but through communities that stretch beyond the state border lines. Community, not competition is one of the philosophies they live by — a philosophy that should be contagious.

For starters, they are parents to beautiful children ranging from preschool to college age, who are the driving force behind everything that they do. Nick and Dawn organically incorporate their business as a means for the children to learn and experience life lessons to prepare them for their future. All of the girls joined together to create Sister’s Pops, the youngest entrepreneur business in Pennsylvania that sells organic vegan ice pops with no sugar or preservatives. Nick and Dawn work for them to deliver products and help establish partnerships with the companies that host Sister’s Pops. The couple do this work through face to face interactions in keeping with their ideas of community. Together, they are the back office for their children’s company. Sister’s Pops is in high demand in the local community. Their biggest account is Nature’s Pantry in Windsor, New York. If this isn’t enough, wait until you read the other ways Nick and Dawn are helping to leave their mark in the world.

Breathless Raw Live Juice Bar and Cafe is a grass-roots, family run business. When we first walked in, we saw little ones playing in a corner of the store specifically set up as a play area for children and Dawn Marie talking to a customer who was asking her how to cure her joint pain. Nick and Dawn were both so welcoming and happy, even with non-stop come and go traffic of new customers, friends of their children coming in to say hi, loyal customers coming back for more and children running around. The family business structure was in part influenced by a previous job Nick had in Trinidad and Tobago, his home country. Nick worked for a family who owned owned a home improvement/construction service company. Part of what he noticed was that his boss taught his children business principles through making them responsible for what they wanted, no matter if it was in the trading company inventory. They needed to understand the value of things and not to take things for granted. He also learned how to manage trades, which is one part that makes up the foundation of his New York business, Nick-Knacks Creative Interiors, which was initiated by a nudge from Dawn Marie and a $10 father’s day gift almost 20 years ago. For Breathless Beauty, Nick is Dawn’s back office and for Nick Knacks, Dawn Marie is his back office and when they are together, they are a dynamic duo.

Breathless Raw Live Juice Bar and Cafe is a haven for all things of the Earth. When you first walk in, to the left is the juice bar surrounded with plant life and fruit to maintain the philosophy they built the store on. To the right are a combination of products from companies they believe in that range from supplements, to essential oils to snacks and beauty products handmade by artisans and Dawn Marie herself. They are always on the lookout for handmade, artisanal products to include in their inventory. Wherever they are, if they see someone selling brownies and it looks like it fits their moral, they will try to offer a platform at the shop. “When we were in the [New York] city, we wished we could have a platform, but no one gave you the opportunity.” Because of this they continue to offer this opportunity to others. Sometimes it’s consignment based and sometimes it’s just to give artisans or artists that platform. “You paint, sew, write a book — anything that’s handmade.” In fact, their store is a collection of pieces they have from their journey as struggling street artisans to opening up shop today. There is a glass case Nick bought Dawn Marie to sell her beauty products out of their Manhattan apartment rather than on the streets to the infamous Dream Cookies that are only available to the public on certain occasions created with certain emotional ingredients.

For our first visit, we tried the Positive Vibes smoothie. The ingredients are banana, almond, strawberry, kale and spices. We fell in love with the consistency and the spices!! I am not sure what spices they use, but the combination really was a unique surprise for our taste buds. Each visit after, we tried something different — the acai bowl, the dark rose smoothie, the homemade soap by Dawn Marie, and the Swapples (I like these better than regular waffles). Everything has been great– and new. That’s a hard achievement for a small Pennsylvania company, even in trendy Milford. To make healthy new to a health conscious New Yorker is near impossible.

So how did Dawn and Nick get here?

Nick and Dawn met when Dawn was working as a pastry chef in a bakery, her second trade after being a licensed cosmetologist and one of many other trades she is an expert in. He kept coming in to the bakery, but didn’t talk to her until she stopped working there because she “didn’t mix business with pleasure.” It was when she started working in the financial industry on Wall Street that they started dreaming about future endeavors over a single donut from Dunkin’ Donuts because that was all their budgets allowed for. They talked about how one day they would love to have a shop and what kind of music they would play—reggae music— and people will come in “feeling it.”  They would be so happy to offer a space and share it with people. They also talked about how Nick came to America, the career he had then and why he walked away. 

What makes Breathless Raw Live Juice Bar and Cafe so unique and makes their company successful is what is put into it, and the varied background and experience Dawn Marie and Nick grow upon to create a new world is evident in everything from decor to dish. Dawn Marie as an herbalist, aromatherapist, cosmetologist and a pastry chef and Nick having experience in salesmanship, managing trades and an expert in generating creative ideas, Breathless Beauty has evolved in a way where people can come in and ask them about anything. “We [Nick and Dawn] know about everything we provide because this is how we live. We’ve been living with homemade soaps and lotions for years.” They don’t go out and buy Oreos for instance– they make them. They also make their own drinks. In regards to how they eat and what they offer, Dawn and Nick have tried everything in the store, except for the cricket bites that were a request from several of their loyal customers who are active hikers and wanted a high protein, healthy snack food. The couple is vegan and offer a variety of plant based food options. They also make sure that what they sell is kid friendly, testing all of the recipes they make on their children. Their children further inspired their recipes — especially their younger son who at 3 years old was diagnosed with 89 food allergies that apparently got passed down to him from generation to generation. His food sensitivities have made them more conscious about what they put in their bodies and in turn what they are providing their customers to put in their bodies. They are able to relate to a lot of parents who come into the store looking for alternatives to foods kids love, but can’t have due to food allergies or intolerances.

“To tell people when they come in and say my son has Celiac Disease, ‘Don’t worry. I know what to do’” is fulfilling and challenging Dawn’s passion to promote and create better products.  

Customers will respond, “You don’t know; he can’t have waffles!”

“Yes, he can. I can give you a waffle we have here and I can tell you how to make your own.”

That’s what it’s about for Dawn and Nick. Their passion is educating the community that natural is better.

“When I can change someone a little bit, I feel so good because I’m helping them and not changing their mind. Just to help them understand that if you try something new, it might help you if you get away from chemicals.” (Quote centered and italicized that breaks up the article)

You may even compare the shop to an old time apothecary. When visiting the store a second time, we overheard Dawn giving a customer a recipe for golden milk that helps with inflammation. She later told us a story about another customer she recommended golden milk to who called her two days later telling her she could bend her knee. She had a 75 year old women call her in disbelief and telling her that after using the recommended CBD oil, her pain was alleviated after three minutes. “That’s why we like to come in for people. I always say it’s not about people spending a dollar. We will need a dollar eventually, yes. But it’s more about educating the community of what is going on in the body.”

Do you think eating healthy is affordable for the average person?

“No. Healthy eating is not cost effective because in our opinion, they don’t want it to be. The more medication you take, the better it is for the world or so they think. If you don’t go to a doctor, they are not making money off anyone. So that’s why we try to keep our prices reasonable for juices, smoothies, açaí bowls and food because we want you to eat healthy and not spend a fortune. We don’t want to serve a vegan patty for $16 because a person might really want it and not be able to afford it and we know what’s it’s like to feel that.”

What companies do you strive to affiliate yourself with?

The health food company we work with depends on the people. Right now the biggest company they have aligned themselves with is Now Foods — and they have not had any complaints with the company. This partnership was a major turning point for Breathless Beauty Raw Live Juice Bar.

Dawn grew up on wonder bread — white wonder bread. “Coming from a Polish family, everything is potatoes and starches and it was a different composition the bread was made from. It was actually bread. Now, it’s made with stuff they use in yoga mats.” There is a chemical compound that makes it stretchy and there was a company that they figured out were using it and had to change their recipes.

They are definitely aware that eating healthy is not affordable, unfortunately. That is why it is important for Dawn and Nick to share with the community what they have learned from food recipes to skincare recipes. While some of their products compete with Manhattan prices, most everything else I believe is competitively priced. The quality is immeasurable and products such as the Swapples, we cannot seem to find anywhere else. The smoothie and the Swapples are worth the two hour drive from our home.

Dawn and Nick also stay on top of the trends. They were telling us that they notice people are associating how to eat with awareness and being healthy with a more vegan diet. They associate less inflammation with fruit and vegetables, a more plant- based diet. “People want to eat less and less flesh and intake less and less eggs and less and less dairy. They won’t necessarily become a vegan, but they want to be on the healthier side. They want to be able to eat something and not feel like they’re full and bloated or lethargic or anything like that. A Lot of people, believe it or not, especially around [Milford], the older people are starting to come to us and say you know, I don’t want to eat that or that and I feel bad. They say they want to reduce our greenhouse emissions and things like that and that’s how you do it.”

Other concerns arise out of the common vice people have— sweets.  They want to have something sweet and don’t necessarily mind the calories, but want it healthier. These types of challenges drive Breathless Beauty to keep creating products that are in demand and unique.

“I can’t stay without doing a new craft, a new this, a new that. I can’t. It’s just not my way.” – Dawn Marie

Entrepreneur or Someone Changing the World?

They both feel that the two ideas accompanied each other. Dawn thinks that, “ . . . being a self-employed person and being able to take it to a level of being with the community at the same time [is important] and not necessarily being an entrepreneur solely for financial reasons.” Although they are entrepreneurs for financial reasons to make a living, they use that title and the platform that comes with as a means to help people. Both Dawn and Nick are very empathetic and because of that and because of the energy that they feel with the people that walk into the shop, they are able to use it as fuel and organically grow with the people they provide for.

Their reviews speak volumes about the type of business that they foster. They have not one negative review. The consistent description customers give is that it feels like home. Others say, “It smells so nice. I feel so relaxed.” They truly believe that you get paid forward. They said, “If we don’t reap the benefits of our heart, our children will.”