Alton Weekes sits proudly at his desk, recounting his life story and describing his successful business. It would be hard to tell that Weekes previously struggled with his health and experienced a heart attack in 2014, making him realize that he needed to turn his life around.
After visiting a cardiologist, Weekes was prescribed seven different medications to treat his health conditions. Not satisfied with the idea of being confined to seven different medications for life, he turned to a more holistic approach to his recovery.
“I went to the supermarket and picked up everything that was green,” said Weekes.
Over the course of the next year, Weekes continued to juice and eventually reversed his diabetes and weaned himself off all seven prescription medications. When he visited that same cardiologist, Weekes was shocked to find out he was the only patient in 30 years to have been able to reverse his diagnosis.
“I thought to myself: Why am I the only person that’s been able to reverse it?” said Weekes.
In this time, Weekes also lost more than 100 pounds after struggling with obesity. He continued to juice and maintain the new lifestyle that he worked hard to obtain.
“It was over a year of hard work,” said Weekes.
Weekes began to consider the idea of creating his business, citing the pandemic as his main motivation to expand his juicing and turn it into something bigger than himself. Throughout the pandemic, Weekes began to post on social media and share his journey. This soon garnered the attention of people, and he decided to open his juicing business, calling it Cellful.
“You wanna be where everybody is,” said Weekes when asked about the importance of social media to his business growth. “I wanted to show everyone, ‘I’m just like you; you can do this too.’ ”
It wasn’t until Weekes had his own segment on WPIX that he saw his business really take off. Although local to Harlem, Cellful ships its juices nationwide. As Cellful gained popularity, Weekes began to seek out more information about juicing, gaining a certificate in juicing and using the credentials to further his potential.
Along with selling his juices, Weekes also hosts a multitude of programs, such as juice labs, an interactive program where he teaches people how to juice for their own needs.
The transition to juicer is a stark contrast from Weekes’s previous experience. He served in the U.S. Navy during Operation Desert Storm. He earned an undergraduate degree in visual presentation and a graduate degree in arts administration, and “juice guru” falls far from what he originally chose to do in life.
“I was talented in it, but I’m passionate about this,” he said.
Weekes expressed an interest in pursuing a Ph.D. in lifestyle medicine, moved by the ability to help people with their health through the use of techniques similar to those he used to better his own life.
Thinking about the serious health conditions he faced brought Weekes to reflect on the importance of being able to better oneself. As Cellful continues to grow, so does Weekes’s hope that the health disparity in his own community will lessen and that he can be part of this impact.
“This is not a dress rehearsal,” said Weekes. “I’m interested in transitioning [people’s] lives.”