Mother and son Debbie and Zach Schleien have been baking together for as long as Zach can remember. Now the duo is turning that family bonding time into a business.

The Schleiens created LIFT Protein Muffins, a small startup that sells protein-packed muffins. Zach, a Syracuse University graduate student, started a Kickstarter campaign to help fund their business. With 13 days left, the duo has raised $4,101 as of Wednesday night. In only five days, they reached their goal of $2,500.

With hopes of becoming a nationwide brand, the Schleiens have signed a deal with Whole Foods to supply LIFT in their New England stores and an e-commerce site will be opening around October, Zach said.

“It’s so unique to see a mother-son team and I think people are drawn to that,” Zach said.

Zach and Debbie felt they had a great idea and wanted to gauge if their product was going to be well-received, so they turned to the popular crowd-funding site, Kickstarter. The response was overwhelmingly positive.

“While it felt great to see the project being funded, the Kickstarter was never the end goal,” Schleien said.

Zach said that he is very close to his mother and they call each other one to three times a day, whether it be discussing a route for the business, or just talking to one another about life.

Debbie said that working with her son on this project has been “one of the most fantastically rewarding experiences I’ve ever had, after marriage and childbirth.”

Zach attended Syracuse for his undergraduate degree, earning his B.A. in history and minoring in marketing. After graduating in 2012 and taking a few years off, he has returned to Syracuse after receiving a grant to work on startups like LIFT.

LIFT Protein Muffins are gluten-free, 100 percent paleo (a diet based on the types of foods presumed to have been eaten by early humans) and come in three flavors: banana chocolate, chocolate zucchini and apple cinnamon.

Sixteen to 19 grams of protein are packed into each muffin, depending on the flavor. The muffins come in packs of six and are frozen, requiring only a short amount of time in the microwave before they are ready to eat.

Zach said he wanted to create a product for people who don’t know how to eat healthily. As a certified health coach, he knew that many people turn to protein shakes or pseudo superfoods to try and live healthier.

“There is a certain sense of nostalgia that is attributed with food,” Zach said. “I had a friend tell me our zucchini muffin reminded him of his mother’s cooking and that is exactly what my mom and I were aiming for.”

Published on September 16, 2015 at 10:55 pm

Contact Andy: amendes@syr.edu