Rallying the Gluten Free Community — Support gfJules (formerly Jules Gluten Free)

I recently attended the Gluten Free Living Conference in Orlando — and as much as I want to share all of the fun photos from that weekend, there’s something else we have to talk about first.

If there is one thing I know about the gluten-free community is that when we need each other for support, people come together like I have never seen before. We rally behind those in need, give them a voice, or just allow their voice to be heard loud and clear.

So that’s why we’re here today. To clear the air. To let you know what’s been going with my friend Jules from Jules Gluten Free, now gfJules.

I know some of you are already big fans of her flour mix — it was one of the first flour mixes I experimented with when going gluten free in 2008. She is also one of the founders of the 1 in 133 campaign. Because of her hard work, the gluten-free labeling standard has passed and will go into effect in August! (She has helped everyone who is GF!)   I have had the chance to get to know Jules through her annual GF Cookie Contest and finally got to meet face to face in Orlando just weeks ago.

Here’s a brief history of how Jules started and how we got to where we are today:

• She started her company in 2006 after publishing her first book, set out to learn all things related to running a GF business and started selling her products in 2007.

• Her business was booming and as we all know, “it takes a village” to get things done, so she took on business partners (investors) in 2008 to help run the daily operations — unfortunately in recent years it became quite clear that her vision (as a member of the GF community that she advocates for, educates, and holds near and dear to her heart)  and the vision her business partners had for the company were not the same.

• Things went downhill from there with her partners behaving in a way that makes my blood boil and would take an entire blog post to discuss, (not paying her for her work, preventing her from communicating with OUR community through her business, and canceling the order for flours for her own wedding cake in just a few weeks) but instead of focusing on all of the negative (Jules wouldn’t want that!) I am here to rally our community to focus on the positive…

 

Jules is starting over…

• She has resigned from her old company and is starting a new company, gfJules. 

• Plans are in the works to bring her products back (and much more!) as quickly as possible, but as you know, this will take time and money. (I cannot even imagine the funds she has already put into this legal battle.

• She’s a FIGHTER and is NOT giving up! See that smile on her face in the photo? That’s the one she wears every single day, even when times get tough, even when people she trusted turned into something they should be embarrassed of themselves for, even when it would have been easier to just call it a day and give up — not Jules, she’s more dedicated than ever to the gluten-free community!

• The community was confused as to what exactly happened, which is why we need to rally together and get the word out about her new company, gfJules — and we need to come together to support our friend when she needs it most!

 

How we can help:

• Go check out her new site: www.gfjules.com

• Sign up for email list HERE. 

• While you’re there, read the amazing comments of support and love from our community!

• If you can, give a gift to Jules to help her rebuild her business and continue to do what she does best — GIVE to our community. There are gifts for giving  or maybe something more creative. I’m giving and hope you can too, any amount helps!

• If you are interested in giving as a group, I for one would LOVE to see a recipe for our GF Get Together Group, something Milwaukee-style — I’ve raised over $4,000 in the last four years for the Celiac Disease Foundation, so I KNOW we could get together the $300 for this gift… if you’d like to join in the fun for this gift, let me know!
• SHARE this post. Even if you are unable to give at this time, please considering passing this post along to others who may be able to help.

• Send Jules some gluten-free-style love — your kinds words of support are what is keeping her going!

Not only will I be giving to her fundraising efforts, but I’ll be shouting about it from the rooftops — I can honestly tell you that she is a kind person with the most generous heart. After being on the expert panel at the conference, she made time for each and every person who waited in line to talk with her. I snuck in for a quick hug goodbye before I hopped on my plane, and there she stood, holding the delicate hands of an elderly woman, listening to her tell her stories of learning to bake gluten-free. It was the most touching moment. She’s the real deal, my friends. She loves this community and would do the same for each and every one of us.

Let’s rally!

Honored to be part of this gluten-free world! From left to right: Andrea from Rockin’ Gluten Free, Anna from Gluten Free Jet Set, Chrissy from Glam Without Gluten, (me!) Amie from The Healthy Apple ,(in front) Johnna from In Johnna’s Kitchen, THE lovely Jules from gfJules, Linda from The Gluten-Free Homemaker , and Shirley from gluten free easily.