McAllen Student Entrepreneurs Succeed Rio Grande Valley Business Journal

McAllen ISD students turn ideas into startups through Shark Tank–style class

Boosties Chief Executive Officer Hannah Chavero (left) and Chief Marketing Officer Ashlie McDonald present the Boosties gummies in its official packaging. Courtesy of | Boosties

Four Nikki Rowe High School students turned a family health concern into a product that landed them among the top 10 student startups in the nation.

Hannah Chavero, Ashlie McDonald, Reyli Sarmiento, and Emilian Sosa created a natural-ingredient gummy bear after they realized several members of their families shared a common condition — diabetes. As students on the go, they also noticed their peers’ dependence on high-sugar energy drinks.

Seeing the link between the two, the group sought to create a solution for both, eventually developing sugar-free energy gummies called Boosties. Inspired by the culturally popular chilado gummy snacks, the team developed chamoy-coated gelatin bears infused with green tea and the slogan: “Boost your day the chamoy wey!”

Three students are mixing red gelatin in a commercial kitchen as an adult looks on. — The Boosties team prepares a batch of sugar-free energy gummy bears in an industrial kitchen secured through the INCubator program. Courtesy of | Boosties DBA

“This was a way of making a solution and targeting multiple people at once,” 18-year-old McDonald said. “So not only is it diabetic friendly because it’s sugar free, it’s energy boosting in a way that’s not as harmful as energy drinks…. Also, if you were just looking for a snack like a chilado, then this would also be good for you because it’s sugar-free.”