They made a healthy pre-workout gel in their TCU dorm. Now pro athletes use it

While studying at TCU, roommates Ross Cooley, Liam Brogan and Luke Smialowicz loved to stay active, but felt as though they couldn’t find a pre-workout supplement that gave them long-term endurance.

Cooley told the Star-Telegram he felt like he was reading gibberish when reading pre-workout ingredients — chemicals that he couldn’t fathom and were hard to pronounce. He couldn’t help but think: “Is what I’m putting in my body to fuel myself, truly good for me?”

So after some research, he and his roommates found that a spoonful of honey and a sprinkle of sea salt is a great, long-lasting source of carbohydrates and electrolytes. They called their supplement HNY+.

Their homemade pre-workout worked so well during their endurance workouts, they started passing around packets of their concoction to students at the TCU Rec Center, and to TCU athletes during practice.

But once graduation came around, they said they all planned to go their separate ways to pursue steady, corporate careers. They thought their college business was fun while it lasted.

Until they decided to go into business together in the real world.

“We all just ended up looking at each other and were like, ‘We have a cool thing going here with HNY+,” Cooley told the Star-Telegram. “So we declined our corporate job offers, which freaked out our parents.”

What is HNY+?

Cooley, Brogan and Smialowicz launched their first product run of HNY+ in July 2024, shortly after graduating from TCU that May. Now in July 2025, the co-founders have completed their eighth production run.

The three all contributed about $1,000 each in the beginning. Then through networking in Fort Worth, they gained additional money, enough for their first run, from four angel investors.

“We don’t pay ourselves a dime from the business and never have,” Cooley said. “We are completely independent from our parents. We are scraping by from our savings working previous jobs, and to this day live off eating protein bars to survive.”

Since HNY+ only has a few ingredients, Cooley said they were able to focus on the highest-quality ingredients.

“It’s really hard to find organic honey in the U.S. You have to go to extremely remote places in the world to find truly organic honey,” says Cooley. “We source our honey from this family-owned regenerative farm down in the Yucatan peninsula, which retains all of the antimicrobial, antibacterial benefits like propolis and pollen and things that are super good for your immune system.”

The honey is pure and organic and is the most expensive ingredient in HNY+’s product. And the salt HNY+ uses is from the Redmond family-owned mine in Utah.

The ingredients are shipped in from Mexico, Utah and an organic supplier, up to Chicago, where the honey is infused and packaged. Then, from Chicago, the pouches are shipped down to a distribution center in Dallas, where the pouches are shipped to buyers. Cooley said HNY+ has an eventual goal of manufacturing in Dallas, too.

What makes HNY+ different from other pre-workout gels?

To Cooley, Brogan and Smialowicz, this isn’t just about selling a clean product. This business is a part of a bigger passion of changing the health food landscape in the U.S. The TCU alumni founders of Realsy, a healthy packaged snack company, have been both mentors and inspiration to Cooley. Both Realsy and HNY+ are brands with the focus on ingredients that you can imagine holding in your hand.

“In an ingredient list, the order of the ingredients are by the quantity of that ingredient in the product,” Cooley said. He pointed out a product made by HNY+’s main competitor (Cooley declined to say which company). “The first ingredient, you think it would be honey— it’s actually tapioca syrup. So what they’re doing is sacrificing their customers’ health and well-being for profit.”

Now, Cooley, Brogan and Smialowicz are focusing on two HNY+ products: Classic Honey Gel and the Buzz 50 Honey Gel.

The classic has only four ingredients— pure, organic honey; Redmond sea salt; potassium; and magnesium. The potassium and magnesium are elements that contribute to the electrolyte factor of the product.

The Buzz 50 is the same four ingredients, plus green tea extract for a boost of 50 milligrams of caffeine.

HNY+ growth

A year after getting started, HNY+’s biggest sales come from its website. However, the three co-founders are passing around their product to run clubs and any athlete they meet.

And word has spread.

Cincinnati Reds pitchers Brady Singer told the HNY+ co-founders he doesn’t take the mound without the energy gel.

Olympian speed skater Viktor Thorup also uses HNY+. He told Cooley the product is a part of his daily training routine as he gets ready for the 2026 Olympics.

“We always have in the back of our minds, whenever things get hard in the business, that we’re not doing this for us or to make money,” Cooley said. “We’re doing this because it’s genuinely providing a healthier option for people and it will lead to us having the influence and knowledge to make changes on a mass scale.”

Where to find HNY+ in Fort Worth

HNY+ is making its North Texas debut this summer at both Luke’s Lockers locations in the Metroplex: One at the Shops at Clearfork at 5255 Monahans Ave. in Fort Worth and another at Park Cities Plaza in Dallas Dallas at 3046 Mockingbird Lane.

HNY+ is also available at all 20 Sunlife Organic’s smoothie shop locations across the U.S.

You can also buy HNY+ on its website. Soon, HNY+ will be on Amazon.

Packs of 12 sell for $36 on the HNY+ website. HNY+ subscribers can save with a 20 percent off discount. If you spot an individual pouch in a smoothie shop or fitness store, you can buy the gel packs for $3 apiece.

“I am so tired of horrible ingredients,” said Cooley. “HNY+ is for something bigger than ourselves. It’s to help people’s health and reform the food system.”

This story was originally published July 18, 2025 at 9:50 AM.

Ella Gonzales

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Ella Gonzales is a service journalism reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She is part of a team of local journalists who answer reader questions and write about life in North Texas. Ella mainly writes about local restaurants and where to find good deals around town.