A little juice, a lot of heart: Meet Lucy, BlackBrick’s youngest entrepreneur
“I just wanted to try,” Lucy says matter-of-factly. “You don’t know if something will work unless you do it.” That early curiosity turned into a string of pop-ups – first in the reception of BlackBrick Foreshore, and later at a kids’ entrepreneur market where she outsold her competition with pure enthusiasm. “I shouted for hours,” she laughs. “People bought from me first because they could hear me!”
At just five years old, Lucy Liebmann decided to open a business. Not a lemonade stand. Not a bake sale. A full-blown orange juice operation – folding table, handmade signs and all.
She stood outside her house shouting, “Orange juice! Get your orange juice!” until every bottle was gone. Fast forward two years, and Lucy – daughter of BlackBrick Hotels co-founder Jonathan Liebmann – now has a juice bar inside BlackBrick Gardens, the group’s soon-to-launch Cape Town flagship, fittingly called Lucy’s Juice Bar.
From driveway to design hotel
“I just wanted to try,” Lucy says matter-of-factly. “You don’t know if something will work unless you do it.” That early curiosity turned into a string of pop-ups – first in the reception of BlackBrick Foreshore, and later at a kids’ entrepreneur market where she outsold her competition with pure enthusiasm. “I shouted for hours,” she laughs. “People bought from me first because they could hear me!”
Today, Lucy’s Juice Bar will open its doors every morning from 07h00 to 12h00, serving fresh orange juice and six smoothie flavours – think mango, berry, coconut and a few secret experiments still in development. “We’re doing tastings all the time,” she says proudly. “The recipe is mine, but I’ve got a team who help me because I have to go to school.” Diego, culinary partner and Kim, visiting entrepreneur in residence, work closely with her fine-tuning the formulas.
What makes a good entrepreneur?
When asked that, Lucy doesn’t hesitate. “Courage, faith, and determination,” she says. “And if you make money, help a friend first – then you can save for something fun.”
Her dad calls that her “life philosophy in a juice cup.” “Lucy reminds me why we built BlackBrick in the first place,” says Jonathan. “It’s about purpose, community and believing you can make something that matters – no matter your age.”
Love is the secret ingredient
So, what makes her orange juice so special? “It’s not the ingredients,” she says seriously. “It’s the love that you put into it.” Guests at BlackBrick Gardens will get a complimentary mini juice on arrival – a bright, happy welcome that Lucy hopes “makes people thankful for life.”
Lucy may be young, but her perspective is pure old soul. She believes people and juice can change moods. “A great way to start your day is with some hope,” she says, quoting one of the cards she’s creating to give out with her juices – ‘Every day may not be good, but there’s something good in every day.’
Her favourite thing about being part of BlackBrick? “I just love coming here. Everyone’s smiling. I get to be part of something good and I get to spend extra time with my dad.”
She’s already dreaming of expanding Lucy’s to other BlackBrick locations. “If Dad goes to another country to build a hotel, he has to take me,” she insists. “Otherwise, he can’t go!”
A legacy, freshly squeezed
For Jonathan, Lucy’s represents something much bigger than juice. “It’s seeing that spark – that moment where an idea turns into action,” he says. “That’s entrepreneurship in its purest form.”
Lucy agrees, though she puts it in simpler terms. “I want to follow in my dad’s footsteps,” she says. “He builds places to make people happy. I want to do that too – just with juice, for now.”
And just like that, a new legacy is bottled.
At Lucy’s Juice Bar, purpose is poured, love is stirred in and the future tastes a lot like orange juice – bright, hopeful, healthy and full of heart.
