Landis said his employees also have patience and grace — something that also tends to be missing in the service industry.
About five years into Howdy Homemade, Landis said his one ice cream shop location was struggling before a shining light appeared.
Employees at Howdy Homemade are trained to lean into the positive impacts of their disability, such as using checklists and learning repetition in the business. (Tom Landis / Fox News)
“I said, ‘God, give me a sign, help me out a little bit,'” he recalled.
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Then the pandemic hit.
Howdy Homemade closed its doors during lockdown out of an abundance of caution for the employees’ health, said Landis.
Howdy Homemade has six different flavors of ice cream and is sold at select retailers. (Tom Landis / Fox News)
On the verge of losing his home, Landis recalled a GoFundMe page that was created by those in the community to help the company make it through the rough time.
Within two weeks, the effort had raised $120,000 for the company.
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Landis said the money and the media attention that came with the spreading word made a world of difference.
“We would get 1,100 franchise requests at one time,” he recalled.
Howdy Homemade now can be franchised out and is currently in seven different cities across the states of Texas, Louisiana, Indiana, Colorado and North Carolina.
Howdy Homemade is an ice cream business that employs people with IDDs across various locations in the country. (Tom Landis / Fox News)
The brand is also sold in H-E-B, Tom Thumb, Albertsons and Randalls across the country.
Ice cream flavors offered at Howdy Homemade include birthday cake, cinnamon roll, chocolate Dr. Pepper chocolate chip, cookie monster and strawberry milkshake.
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Landis said he is proud of Howdy Homemade.
He said he stands by his original mission to prove that employing people with disabilities is a better experience for the customer.
“I want to show a way that we can change business when we prove that they are better than the other employees,” he said.
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