{"id":1503,"date":"2015-02-05T18:14:02","date_gmt":"2015-02-05T22:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/ebuckhor\/?page_id=1503"},"modified":"2015-02-05T18:14:02","modified_gmt":"2015-02-05T22:14:02","slug":"great-granola","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-winter2015\/features\/great-granola\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Granola!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alumni brothers and their mom enjoy sweet taste of success<\/em>
\nby Mary Howard
\nPhotos by Don Hamerman
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Nate<\/a>
Nate \u201910 and Will \u201911 Kelly in the South Norwalk, Connecticut, kitchen of Kelly\u2019s Four Plus Granola<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With the same determination they showed on Trinity\u2019s rowing team, Nate \u201910 and Will \u201911 Kelly are getting their all-natural granola on the shelves of major retailers, such as Whole Foods and ShopRite. \u201cWe want to be a local company that can compete nationally,\u201d says Nate.<\/p>\n

It seems they are on the right path. Kelly\u2019s Four Plus Granola can be found at locations throughout Fairfield and Westchester counties, Manhattan, and the Hamptons.<\/p>\n

Nate and Will run the company with their mother, Cordy, who has a knack for baking amazing granola. \u201cIf people try it, they will like it,\u201d says Will.<\/p>\n

The company grew out of Cordy\u2019s desire to produce a healthy snack for her four active children. \u201cWe were going through a lot<\/i> of granola,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve always been a baker, and I thought, \u2018I can make this.\u2019 \u201d From the first batches, it was apparent she was onto something special. \u201cMy kids kept telling me I should sell it,\u201d but starting a business wasn\u2019t on her radar. Finally, she relented, at least a bit. \u201cI told them I\u2019d consider it, but only if people outside our family liked it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Cordy<\/a>
Cordy Kelly P\u201910, \u201911<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the fall of 2011, Nate brought bins of his mom\u2019s granola to regattas and training sessions at the Maritime Rowing Club in South Norwalk, Connecticut, where he and Will learned to row and where they both trained and coached. \u201cIt was like watching vultures over a carcass,\u201d says Nate. The rowers devoured Cordy\u2019s granola and wanted to know where they could buy more. \u201cSo we started putting our homemade granola in bags and selling it at the boathouse,\u201d says Cordy.<\/p>\n

In the spring of 2012, the family decided to test the waters further by selling their granola as part of the New Canaan High School crew team\u2019s spring fundraiser. They sold 800 bags. \u201cWe were shocked,\u201d says Will. They scrambled to fill the order, transforming their kitchen into a production line. Buoyed by their success, the Kellys turned their attention to selling Four Plus to Fairfield County farmers\u2019 markets and Peter B\u2019s Espresso, a coffeehouse in Trinity\u2019s Raether Library and Information Technology Center. \u201cThe manager of Peter B\u2019s ordered 12 bags, and they were gone the next day,\u201d says Nate. The caf\u00e9 is now a regular seller.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the secret behind Four Plus? \u201cIt\u2019s just four simple, honest, healthy ingredients,\u201d says Nate. All six flavors start with rolled oats, canola oil, honey, and maple syrup. To that, Cordy adds raw nuts, dried fruit, or dark chocolate. \u201cFour ingredients, plus the add-ins,\u201d says Will. \u201cThat\u2019s how we came up with the name.\u201d There are also four children in the Kelly family, \u201cplus my husband,\u201d adds Cordy.<\/p>\n

\"Cordy<\/a>
Cordy and Jim Kelly, uncle to Nate and Will,
who are in the background<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cFour plus is also a rowing term\u2013four rowers, plus a coxswain,\u201d says Will.<\/p>\n

Working in the family business was a perfect fit for Nate and Will, both political science majors at Trinity. Nate, a \u201cnatural-born salesman\u201d according to his family, focuses on marketing and sales for the company and enjoys face-to-face interactions with grocers and customers. He admits to blundering through his first few sales pitches, but, through trial and error, he learned to target his audience. His experience at Trinity helped. \u201cI broke out of my shell and became more comfortable in my own skin, not afraid to try new things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Will handles the day-to-day business, managing relationships with vendors and keeping the books and records. He also has a reputation as the family problem solver. When Four Plus outgrew the Kellys\u2019 kitchen, Will set up the company\u2019s commercial kitchen in South Norwalk.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe knew nothing about commercial kitchens,\u201d says Cordy. \u201cBut he took it on single-handedly and did a beautiful job.\u201d She credits Trinity\u2019s focus on critical thinking and problem solving for giving her sons the ability to succeed in tasks outside their comfort zones.<\/p>\n

Nate fell in love with Trinity when he first stepped on campus as a high school junior in the fall of 2004. \u201cI was really excited to be there. The guys on the [rowing] team reflected well on the student body,\u201d he says. It was the first school he looked at and the only one to which he applied, early decision.<\/p>\n

\"Will<\/a>
Will ’11, mom Cordy, and Nate \u201910 Kelly<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Will had no intention of following in his brother\u2019s footsteps. \u201cI was excited to go out on my own,\u201d he says. But his search for a small liberal arts school with solid academics and a strong rowing team led him to Trinity. A meeting with the men\u2019s crew coaches and an overnight with his brother solidified his decision.<\/p>\n

Dedicated alumni, Will and Nate try to visit Trinity as often as possible for alumni events, \u201cespecially the spring rowing banquets and championship regattas,\u201d says Nate.<\/p>\n

From the beginning of their Trinity careers, the Kelly brothers distinguished themselves as hardworking, talented, and ambitious leaders. \u201cThey are personable, charismatic young men with incredible work ethics,\u201d says Kevin MacDermott, head men\u2019s rowing coach at Trinity, who coached the Kellys through multiple New England and Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) championships. Both brothers were elected captain of the men\u2019s rowing team, Nate in 2009-2010 and Will in 2010-2011. MacDermott is not surprised by the brothers\u2019 success. \u201cTheir competitiveness in rowing crossed over into their business,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Now in their third year of running Four Plus, Nate and Will are looking to expand their markets in New York and Connecticut and move into northern New Jersey. And they still have a competitive spirit in athletics. Though a hip injury sidelined Will\u2019s rowing career, he connected with some of his crew friends to run the Hartford Half Marathon this past October. Nate still gets to the Norwalk River at 5:30 on most mornings, \u201cready to throw down,\u201d he says. He has aspirations for the national rowing team regattas \u201cas long as my body holds up.\u201d<\/p>\n

And how do they fuel their busy lives? Kelly\u2019s Four Plus Granola, of course. Will eats a bowl of vanilla almond every morning, while Nate goes through three bowls of the nutty flavor a day, \u201cwith extra chocolate chips.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alumni brothers and their mom enjoy sweet taste of success by Mary Howard Photos by Don Hamerman With the same<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"parent":1464,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-full-width.php","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-winter2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1503"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-winter2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-winter2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-winter2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-winter2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-winter2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1503\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-winter2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-winter2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}