Shortly after Iris Marie had her third child, she felt out of shape and lacked energy. “The more kids you pile on, the more energy you need to keep up with them,” she says. That changed when she was introduced to Herbalife, a worldwide nutritional and weight management company, and completed health challenges that motivated her to live a healthier lifestyle. “Not only did I get results physically, but I got results mentally. I got the energy I was looking for and it was something that felt doable as a mom.”
The more active Iris became, the more involved she wanted to help others improve their health and fitness goals. When she and her husband Fernando Ruiz moved to the Bryan College Station area shortly prior to the pandemic, they felt isolated from their new neighbors. Their solution was to start their own business that would incorporate health and wellness. “I felt that this would be an awesome way to get to know my community and bring something to the table as well,” Iris says.
This challenge birthed the idea for Howdy Nutrition, a home business that offers healthy meal replacement shakes, energizing refreshers, iced coffee, and protein donuts and waffles.
Howdy Nutrition combines healthy ingredients with different nutritional supplements and protein
powder to create housemade recipes. Customers have the option for curbside pick-up from her home or free delivery. Iris hopes to eventually expand to a storefront business.
Howdy Nutrition offers 10 flavors of their speciality protein donut, called a pronut. Similar to a classic donut shop, a single, double, half-dozen, or full-dozen pronuts can be purchased to satisfy one’s morning sweet tooth. Iris uses monk fruit sweetener, coconut flour, and almond flour in her recipes to make them healthy and guilt-free. “My kids actually prefer them now and think that regular donuts are too sweet. It's a nice thing as a parent to have the option to give your kids and yourself — something we want while not having to feel guilty about the ingredients,” Iris says.
The entrepreneur is in the process of perfecting and introducing baked goods, such as protein cookies and bites, to Howdy Nutrition’s menu to provide more of a snack option, in addition to the featured smoothies, which serve as meal replacements. Currently, anything on the menu can be prepared gluten-
free.
Iris has enjoyed establishing a business in a college town that swaps a guilt-filled snack for a healthy option and has also encountered a lot of mothers who feel the same way she did prior to making a lifestyle change. “Not only can I reach college students with the nutrition aspect of it, but I can help fellow moms who need this energy, who need this health boost, whose kids want to go to the local donut shop for breakfast,” she says.
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