Dispatches: Albertville Business Owner Finds His Calling Through Nutrition

Sometimes, to find your version of the American Dream, you have to hit rock bottom first.

Perhaps no man epitomizes that better than Bob Lyons, who sunk, hit rock bottom, bounced, then hit it again, all in the last two years.

Now, he's clawed his way back up–one shake at a time.

Lyons was working as a traveling salesman for Industrial Technologies in St. Cloud, living in Monticello, when he was called into his manager’s office.

He was being laid off.

“I had a company car, a company cell phone, a company laptop and was wearing a company shirt. I got dropped off at my townhome in Monticello and had no way to call anyone to tell them what happened,” Lyons said. “But they let me keep the shirt.”

Lyons took some time, found some renters and moved home, to Mankato, to live with his parents.

“My mom’s been in rough shape for a while, so I was glad to be there to help her out,” he said.

With a career change already decided for him, Lyons was about to make a life change. At an annual checkup, he was informed by his doctor he had high cholesterol, bad triglycerides and his blood pressure had skyrocketed.

“He was set to put me on a statin drug. I refused and set out to change my diet,” Lyons said.

He was introduced to meal-replacement shakes, using popular powders and proteins to replace the non-healthy breakfasts and lunches he’d gotten accustomed to while on the road. He quickly dropped 20 pounds, his blood pressure came back to normal levels, and through biking and diet, he avoided any medications.

“I have to give a lot of credit to the shakes,” he said. “They kept me out of the doctor’s office.”

Soon, they would lead to a new career. He discovered, through friends, he was pretty good at making new flavors and recipes, adding coconut here or almond extract there to make a very appetizing meal. So he opened a store in Mankato.

It became the first Energy Zone.

“It took off. People wanted something like that. Everyone can make the things at home, but if you can stop in and grab a shake on your way to work, or on your lunch break, you don’t have to. I had a good network of people I knew in Mankato, and they would tell there friends, and the thing just grew,” Lyons said.

He teamed with a local chiropractor and a small SNAP Fitness outlet to get even more exposure.

Enjoying his new business, Lyons was feeling great about life. But his health started failing him again. He went back to the doctor, who was surprised to see Lyons. They ran some tests, and the news wasn’t good.

“I had lymphoma. The tests came back right away that we had caught it in the early stages, and so I started chemo right away,” Lyons said.

Fortunately, even through treatments, he was able to keep his shakes down. That gave him an advantage, doctors said, over patients who could keep food down during round after round of chemotherapy.

“There’s no way I could have recovered as quickly as I did after each treatment without them,” he said. “There were days I’d go in, they’d hook me up, I’d get done and be back at the store in time for lunches. It was great. It was like I was never sick.”

In November 2010, he was declared cancer free.

About that same time, his renters in Monticello told Lyons they couldn’t make their arrangement work, and he was going to have to take back the home.

“It actually worked out perfectly, because my mother was doing better and I needed a place. I moved back up here.”

That’s when he found the storefront in Albertville, and by fall 2011, made plans to open a second Energy Zone spot.

The reaction here, like in Mankato, has been great.

“They’re really good,” said Mary, a customer who asked not to give her last name, about the shakes. “And I’m not hungry, so I’m losing weight.”

Lyons said Albertville has been the perfect place to make another new start.

“I’m familiar with the area. There’s nothing else like this here, and there are great people to work with.”

Lyons has already networked with Ashley Darkenwald, owner of InFit and Patch contributor, and with Dr. Kimberly Martin, a local chiropractor who is organizing a kids health fair in March.

“It’s a community that really is focused on health. All you have to do is look at the InFit parking lot every day. So I’m looking forward to getting this going, and then seeing where life takes me next.”