Justin Anderson has been pretty busy the past decade.
The 26-year-old Houston native founded Anderson Trail Soft Granola as a 16-year-old student at Robert E. Lee High School. It came about one day as he was snacking on granola after school. The granola was so crunchy that it broke one of the brackets off his braces. Sorry, mom!
After testing several recipes and determined to enjoy granola his way, the high school junior founded Andeson Trail Soft Granola in his own kitchen. Justin’s final product was a bite-sized soft granola that is especially friendly for people with braces.
After his snack became a new favorite among friends, he then decided to take his business to the next level. With a $500 loan from his grandma, Justin set out on his entrepreneurial journey. Ten years later a second granola brand under Anderson was launched — Woats. Woats brand includes three flavors — Nuts About Berries, Cookies ‘n’ Dreams and Peanut Butter Graham Slam.
These days Anderson Trail, now based in Fort Worth, advocates education through scholarships for high school students and awards scholarships aimed at students who have “demonstrated the passion and ambition to succeed in doing what inspires them most.” The company also donates $1 of every bag of Woats it sells online to a different mission program; the chosen recipient program changes every three months. Justin’s entrepreneurial spirit and philanthropic work even attracted the attention of President Barack Obama, and he was able to visit with the President last year in Austin.
Naturally, Justin was the perfect person to get nosy with. What does a young-entrepreneur-philanthropist-education-builder do with his “spare” time, anyway?
Do you have any other products in the works?
I’m working on a new Woats flavor that we plan to launch in March 2014, and all I can say about it right now is that it’ll be a sweet-and-salty combination that you won’t be able put down. We launched Woats at Central Market stores across Texas in mid-April and have been focusing on getting word out about Woats through in-store demos and events where we can encourage sampling.
Besides making life-changing granola, what do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
I like to travel as much as I can, hang out with friends and find innovative things to cook up in my kitchen for friends and family. Earlier in the year I had a crazy thought to try Bikram Yoga with my best friend Betsy, and since then I have become addicted to the 90-minute classes in 105-degree humid heat. I think it reminds me of summers in Houston, and that’s why I love it so much. The heat is a luscious environment for all those stretches, and I get a rush of energy afterward.
I think that making a meal from scratch is the one of the nicest things that you can do for someone, and I love making dinner for a friend or two every now and then. I recently made a Hatch chile macaroni and cheese with a three-sausage marinara sauce that was ladled onto the middle of the mac. I used larger-than-normal pasta shells and American cheese to make the base for the mac, and the sauce was made with Rao’s marinara and fresh andouille, hot Italian and jalapeno pork sausages. I think that is some of the best comfort food I’ve had in a while.
What gave you the idea to start a scholarship program?
My ultimate role model is Ann Louden of Texas Christian University because she has a depth of wisdom and an entrepreneurial and philanthropic spirit that makes me believe the impossible is possible. I think it’s important to recognize kids who are doing good things in their community, whether it’s starting a business, participating in philanthropy, excelling in a sport or learning an instrument. The Harness Your Inner Oat Scholarship is one way that we’re activating our mission to inspire kids to find and pursue their passions. I’m planning my fall Humble Oats with Ambition speaking tour and will be making a couple of stops at HISD schools where I’ll tell my story and encourage students to apply for the scholarship.
Did President Obama have any words that really stuck with you during your visit with him?
I met President Obama when he was in Austin this past May and told him that it had always been a dream of mine to get one of my products on Air Force One. So I had a 2-oz. bag of Anderson Trail Blueberry Soft Granola* that I had made with the presidential seal and his signature – similar to the little boxes of presidential M&M’s that are given away at the White House and on Air Force One. I brought the little bag of presidential Anderson Trail with me to show him, and he leaned in and said, “Thank you, we’ll take a look at it!”
*Justin is also the founder of Anderson Trail Granola. What is the difference between Anderson Trail and Woats? Anderson Trail is marketed as “delicious and healthy” whereas Woats is an “indulgent oat snack.”
What is the most difficult part of being such a young entrepreneur?
The most difficult thing has always been managing my time effectively. Starting the business in high school and running it throughout college meant the need for keeping a very good calendar. I started in high school with one of those little black book folding calendars that I remembered my uncle using religiously when I was a kid, and eventually got turned on to the Outlook calendar. Now I use iCal and love how it syncs so easily with my laptop and phone. iCal has certainly saved a lot of paper. When I was using Outlook and couldn’t sync the calendar to my phone (back in high school), I had to print up a sheet every day that I marked through with the items that were completed.