It’s All in the Mix

Heather McDonough with business partner Kerry Brown

Heather McDonough with her children, Grace, Griffin and Brooke

It took the right ingredients for Heather McDonough to launch a successful business, but the Andover mom of three seems to have landed on the perfect recipe. It starts with McDonough’s baking background, and mixes in knowledge gained after a troubling health diagnosis. Add in lots of help from her husband and kids and a fortuitous meet-up with a friend-turned-business partner, then top it off with hard work, perseverance and faith. The result? A masterpiece that’s pure heart and soul. 

McDonough is founder and owner of Eat G.A.N.G.S.T.E.R., a food company that sells mixes for cakes, cookies, pancakes and other goodies for people who eat selectively. Or, as their tag line says, “We create foods that bring freedom and joy back to those on restorative diets.”

The “gangster” in the product name stands for “Grain-free, Almond- and peanut-free, Nightshade-free, Gluten-free, Soy- and seed-free, Tasteful, Egg- and dairy-free and Real food.” The mixes are available online at eatgangster.com, on Amazon, and at select grocers and health food stores in the U.S. The company started with three types of cookie mixes and has expanded to mixes for cake and muffins, banana bread, frosting, pancakes, and waffles. Launching soon are mixes for pizza crust, brownies and pumpkin bread.

“For the first year we produced our products here in Wichita in a certified kitchen and we fulfilled all the orders here,” McDonough said. “Since then we’ve gone to a co-manufacturer and it’s shipped from a fulfillment center.”

The products are designed to fit the AIP diet (autoimmune protocol), which is designed to reduce symptoms from autoimmune diseases like celiac, lupus, psoriasis, Hashimoto’s disease, Type 1 diabetes, PCOS and multiple sclerosis. Eat G.A.N.G.S.T.E.R. products are also appropriate for people following paleo, gluten-free, grain-free and other special diets. But the cherry on top is that the products are delicious, according to hundreds of customers who have left reviews online like “OMG sooooo good!” and “This cake was to die for!” 

A Great Start

McDonough grew up in Newton in a family of bakers. Rolled sugar cookies were a favorite of her mom and grandma at Christmastime, and McDonough’s first entrepreneurial adventure came in 2002 when she started a sugar cookie business out of her home, making elaborate designs for friends and family. A few years later she started another business making the gourmet cupcakes that were all the rage at the time. 

While her home businesses were thriving, McDonough was struggling with severe pain and inflammation that left doctors stumped. “I saw podiatrists, orthopedic surgeons, and I finally got diagnosed with an autoimmune disease,” she said. At age 30, McDonough was staring at a lifetime diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis, which causes joint pain, stiffness and swelling and can be disabling, causing long-term joint damage. 

“The rheumatologist was like, ‘You need to take this prescription the rest of your life,’ ” McDonough recalled. “I took matters into my own hands and started researching diet therapies and lifestyle changes. I did the full AIP diet and I got a ton of relief from it.”

The diet involves eliminating many of the foods and medications that cause gut inflammation, and encourages fresh, nutrient-dense foods. After a few months, foods are slowly added back in to see how the body responds. “It’s a really powerful tool,” she said. “Once I kind of figured out what my triggers were, I realized gluten was the big one for me. I’ve been gluten-free for 12 years now.”

“Obsessed” with healing the body through diet and lifestyle, McDonough began helping other people with the AIP diet. Because the diet is so restrictive, it can be challenging to find acceptable foods to eat, but McDonough gained a wealth of knowledge through her own research and experiences.

As food took on a healing element, McDonough wanted to get away from the sugary world of baking cookies and cupcakes. She found herself at Food for Thought near Central and Hillside, where she revived the former Dinky Deli inside, rebranding it as the Delish Deli and offering a menu full of healthy and diet-specific options. 

When Food for Thought closed, McDonough began another business, this one centered on juice. “I started doing custom juice cleanses for people,” she said. “I would make fresh juice for you three days in a row and deliver it to you each day. Eventually I included my own almond milk and bone broth. I did that for a long time.” She also got certified as a nutritional therapy practitioner in 2018.

Throughout all of McDonough’s business endeavors, she had the ideas, the know-how and the gumption — but she was missing the piece that would turn a local home business into a full-fledged, money-making venture. Enter Kerry Brown. 

The Perfect Addition

“Kerry — she’s a work horse. She’s a serial entrepreneur. She was also instrumental in building Lululemon when it was just a startup,” said McDonough. The two women became friends when Brown, a New Yorker, was dating McDonough’s cousin. Then, at age 31, Brown was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, another autoimmune disease. It was a shocking diagnosis given Brown had been a college athlete and lived a clean lifestyle. It was a feeling to which McDonough could relate. “We were both fit, healthy, we weren’t heavy drinkers. We were both totally sidelined by our diagnoses,” McDonough said. 

The two women reconnected when McDonough was staying in New York City for a month to help daughter Brooke get settled in the city. “Kerry said she was doing the AIP diet, and I told her, ‘I’m going to show you all of these products you can use to make yummy AIP things,’ ” McDonough said.

They spent many days over that month in Brown’s kitchen making AIP-compliant foods and trying out recipes. “Kerry’s entrepreneurial brain started going crazy,” McDonough said. “She said, ‘I have the marketing skills and you have the recipe skills and knowledge about this therapeutic diet.’ ”

The women hired a designer for the packaging and found a certified kitchen in which to package their mixes, and Eat G.A.N.G.S.T.E.R. was born. Now that they have a solid product and steady sales, they are working to get it into more grocery stores and recently hired a broker to help.

The two women also juggle family life alongside their business ventures. Brown is married and has a 4-year-old daughter. McDonough and husband Brendan have three children: Grace, 22, who lives and works in New York City; Brooke, 20, a commercial dance major at Pace University in New York City; and Griffin, 16, a sophomore at Andover High School. 

The two women have big plans, including offering AIP diet weekend retreats for those struggling with autoimmune disease. McDonough said no matter how the business grows and changes, she knows where she belongs. “Between the Delish Deli and personal consultations for people, I’ve been dabbling in the health and wellness industry for a long time,” she said, “but I always find myself back in the kitchen where I’m creating.”

How to Mompreneur Like a Pro

Eat G.A.N.G.S.T.E.R. founder Heather McDonough said following a dream while raising a family can be a tough balancing act, but it can be done! Here are some of her tips for other entrepreneur moms. 

• Focus with passion and joy. What you focus on expands in general, but when you put a lot of joy, gratitude and passion behind it, there’s no choice but for it to grow and expand. If you’re passionate about something, go for it. 
• Find the time. Carve out time to work on your idea every day. Make it a priority.
• Partner up. Find a business partner who you respect and who shares the same passion and work ethic you do. A partner means two heads in the game, two people brainstorming ideas, two sets of connections and resources. One picks up the slack when the other can’t. You can do amazing things when two people with joy, passion and work ethic join together. 
• Work together. It helps when your family’s on board with your plan, and can even help with tasks related to the business. “My husband, Brendan, has been super supportive of all my entrepreneurial endeavors. My family has always helped me — they were my employees making cookie and cake mix during the pandemic when they were home.”
• Get help. Seek out people who know more than you do. Get help for things around the house. Delegate when you can. You can’t do it all, so figure out how you’re going to divide your time so you feel balanced and your family doesn’t feel slighted. It’s hard to juggle it all but you can do it if you really want to.