Jacobus of ‘Gesundheit’ Answers ‘Three Questions’ [WATCH]
“Gesundheit! With Jacobus” star was on "Dominick In The Morning." He is a very interesting guy, but what is he really like when the microphone is off? In my new series "Three Questions," I try to get Montana celebrities to open up about themselves. We ask them question, some funny and some personal. It's kind of a look behind the mask.
From his biography:
Jacobus was born and raised in The Netherlands. After finishing college-prep high school, and attending university, he and his high school sweetheart got involved in the different health food movements of the time; this took them to Amsterdam...
They visited the United States in 1981-1982 and spent most of their time in California and Texas. They also got married during that time. This traveling experience affected them so much that they decided to move to this amazing country in 1985, with their almost two year old son. Two more daughters would be born to complete the family...
For a combination of reasons the family decided to move to Bozeman, MT in May of 1988, and has resided there ever since. The restaurant business was tougher financially than expected, and Jacobus tried his luck in painting, sales and window cleaning, before finally settling in the health foods retail industry in January 1994.
Because of his passion for teaching others, he started 1-minute radio infomercials that would change every week, in order to keep the info fresh. He called them Health Pearls (little Pearls of Wisdom). And even though they had been interrupted for several years, they’re playing on this radio station again today. Number 400 (weeks) has been reached.
In July of 2000, Jacobus got the opportunity to take these Health Pearls to a complete new level, by starting his own weekly health talk show on this radio station. He called it “Gesundheit! With Jacobus”; Gesundheit literally means “health” or “good health”...
In 2008 and 2009 it was voted Most Popular by regional listeners (among 14 radio stations)...
Its format is interview-style discussions with experts (both local and nationally known) in the field of health, healing and healthy lifestyles. Phone-lines are open for listeners to participate in the specific topic of that week. Once-a-month Jacobus will host an Open-Line format, highlighting different health aspects in the news, also allowing listeners to add-to or change the topic...
In April 2007, Jacobus and his wife Marielle were fortunate to open their own store, focusing primarily on nutritional supplements and expert advice. Continuing on the success of the radio program it is called Gesundheit! Nutrition Center. His goal was not to compete with other local health food stores, who offer a full range of (organic and wholesome) food and products, but rather focus on what people got to know him for, which was advice and dietary supplements.
The combination of store, radio show, and family is working very well these days, and is a far cry from the struggling start experienced back in 1985. Thanks to several key people in his life, Jacobus has discovered a passion he didn’t know he had, and now he is able to spend all his time focusing on it!
In this "Three Personal Questions" we see a funny man, a smart man and a loving man.