We recently connected with Shelley Quadros and have shared our conversation below.

Shelley, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I love candy! AND knew I wasn’t going to stop eating it! However, I recognized they all had weird ingredients in them & wondered why they had such a long shelf life? As I’ve gotten older, I needed more protein in my daily intake. So… why not marry the two?

I’ve made white chocolate chunky bark for years. Stuff in the stores never compared because I use plain mixed nuts, roast em w/olive oil & sea salt. Then mix into white chocolate. Soooo good!!

I was encouraged to try and sell my bark. So I used the girls at the gym as my guinea pigs (never a shortage). They liked it. Then I thought, lets see what happens if I add protein powder to it. WOW, it was a hit!!

I came across sweet treat recipes I thought I could tweak to include more protein & taste better. So the experimenting began. With few ingredients involved plus protein powder, Protein Peanut Butter Balls were born. Just using Oatmeal, Protein Powder, Maple Syrup & Peanut Butter, I found my substitute for Reese’s!! Plus each one had 4 grams protein! They made great snacks, filling, healthier and fit in just about any lifestyle!

Shortly thereafter, I signed up for the Phoenix Women’s Expo in Oct 2024, a weekend-long event at the Phoenix Convention Ctr. LOL, I thought that was a good idea! To prepare, I made 200 lbs of candy and lots of Protein Balls. Well, the Protein Balls were a huge hit!! Sold out, made more that night & sold out again the next day.

People loved em! They werent seen as just candy, but a sweet treat with a little payoff. Protein takes away the guilt!

So I shifted my focus to protein built sweet treats that serve as a good substitute for regular candy.
I discovered that using Corn flakes instead of oatmeal and a little cooking process resulted in Peanut Butter Crunchies, that has the texture & taste like Butterfingers. Plus 4 grams of protein in each one! And another hit with others!

People like sweet treats, candy etc but they also want something positive out of it. They loved the samples given out. They’re surprised at how few ingredients are used. They loved the fact it all can be refrigerated and/or frozen for long periods of time. And they can pronounce every ingredient in each product!

I recently started making Big AZZ Cookies with protein powder that weigh about 3/4 lb & contain 26 grams protein! I use my chunky bark (semi-sweet & white chocolate) in the cookies – White or Reg Chocolate or M&M’s. People are loving em!

By far, THE best part of this endeavor has been interacting with a whole range of people, making great connections & new friends! There are some AMAZING people out there!! I’ve been very lucky to meet awesome folks that love sweet treats as much as I do!

THE most satisfying part of my business has been watching others enjoying my products. Whether its their reaction to samples given, comments or messages afterwards, it literally makes my heart smile.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I moved to AZ 5 yrs ago and absolutely love it here! I retired from Santa Clara County Sheriffs Office in San Jose after 24 yrs of working in the county jails. I’m pretty much a homebody, and love putzing around the kitchen. I’ve made homemade candy for yrs but found that by adding protein powder in it, the candy tastes creamier, better and is just a little healthier than what’s out there on the market.

I started by business, My Kinda Chunky! in October 2024. I make hand-dipped chocolates with Whey Protein Powder and use few ingredients. For those that want something different, I also use Almond butter in place of peanut butter. The Protein Balls come in a variety of flavors: Almond Butter, Peanut Butter, Cookies & Creme, Cinnamon, Coffee, and the latest, Mango Coconut.
Big AZZ Cookies with Protein Powder were recently added to the menu, with LOTS of chunky chocolate bark. I’m all for every bite contains chocolate.

Some customers commented that it’d be easier to eat the chocolates in social settings, if they were smaller. So, as a result, “Business Bites” were created. It’s just smaller versions of my products, which makes eating them at parties, meetings, BBQs, in one bite instead of several.

There’s lots of different candies and protein products out there, commercially or privately made. However, the personal touch is missing.
Hand-made candies, etc serve well as gifts for clients, employees, deal closings, special occasions or for that special someone. It’s not mass produced, so more attention and care is given to each and every item and packaged attractively.

It’s so important to me that others feel good about my products, it’s an investment they could take elsewhere. They can choose whatever combination and amount they want. I deliver locally; but if distance is an issue, we usually agree on a meeting place.

My Kinda Chunky! products are well priced. I don’t believe in being greedy, it doesn’t sit well in my heart. So when others tell me I could charge more, my response is ‘what I could do doesn’t mean I should do’.

For what really started as a “self-serving” project to eat better candy turned into a business I’m proud of. It makes others happy; it shows others you can have the best of both worlds – healthier treats without sacrifice; and it doesn’t have to cost a lot. I’m licensed, insured and have a trademark application pending. I feel this adds credibility to my name, my product and what I offer.

There are some amazingly generous & incredible people out there & I’ve been lucky enough to meet them! My protein packed treats & cookies make ’em smile, so guess I’ll have to keep making em!

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

I have an Instagram site, @mykindachunky where I post my products, it provides all my contact information, and an avenue for direct messages.

Most of my clients have become friends or stay in touch because they love the sweet treats & cookies. They’re usually thrilled that I deliver to them. Some are my biggest cheerleaders! As a result, their friends reach out to me, and so on and so on. Thank god!!!

They know whatever they ask for/order, they get. So they can get creative, change things around, get a nice selection without a lot of trouble or expense.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Ok, to preface this answer, I suck at social media! I took couple IG classes for my age group (thank you Sybil Imel – Content Ready Sessions, and Tami Butcher). Its so hard to operate on social media after having a career that encouraged one to stay in the background, invisible and not draw attention to one’s self (law enforcement). Its definitely been a work-in-progress.

So with encouragement, I started posting my coffee cup (lol). Little by little, I posted more and more. The more movement (cooking in action, dipping chocolates), the more attention. I find as long as I focus on the product, I’m merely a side note. This helps tremendously with my uncomfortableness. Someone told me if you’re going to succeed, you have to step into the “uncomfortable” areas until it becomes comfortable. So with each posting, reel or announcement, i share a little more of myself.

Plus, I’m upfront with others about my weakness with social media. They’re more than happy to help and probably feel a little sorry for me (lolololol)

Contact Info:

• Instagram: mykindachunky
• Facebook: Shelley Rene
• Linkedin: Shelley Quadros