Every store is run by our Howdy Heroes, amazing teammates with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Our executive team supports our Heroes every day to grow the mission and deliver scoops of joy nationwide.
Founder & President
Co-Founder & Principal
CEO
Executive Vice President
Operations
Marketing
Business Development
Tom Landis spent the first chapter of his career running restaurants in Texas, including the cheesesteak chain Texadelphia and a string of pizza shops. Even as a successful owner, Tom felt that something in the industry was lacking when his amazing teammates with special needs were being left on the sidelines rather than given a chance to play in the big game.
The breakthrough came from his hero, the legendary Texas A&M and Alabama football coach Gene Stallings, and Stallings’ son, Johnny, who was born with Down syndrome. Tom read Coach Stallings’ book Another Season and visualized a playbook that almost no one in the industry was running.
In 2015, Tom mortgaged his home and opened the first Howdy Homemade in Dallas. The name came from the Texas A&M tradition of saying “Howdy” to everyone you encounter. “It’s hard to say the word with a frown on your face,” he likes to say.
From its onset, the mission of Howdy was that all Heroes running the store would be adults with special needs, and that has continued ever since. The Howdy Heroes are the heartbeat of the brand.
Howdy is not just a feel-good story. It is a feel-good scoop (or many). Howdy Homemade is a super-premium brand, meaning our milk base is of the highest quality possible, at 14% butterfat. Our flavors are made with real ingredients and a generous hand. The texture is rich. The flavors are bold. The standard is uncompromising.
We make the kind of ice cream people drive across town to enjoy. And it is served with the kind of joy people remember long after the last bite. People always come back. Is it because of the ice cream or the employees? Trick question. The answer is both.
"It's more than just the super-premium ice cream that makes Howdy so special. It's every person involved in our work, from the Heroes and their families, to our raving fans and community partners."
Tom Landis, Founder & President
Our Heroes run the scoop shops. They make the ice cream and train new hires. The whole company would cease to exist without them. This is not a token hire. It is not a charity case. The Howdy Heroes are a critical component, not a nice to have.
Howdy has always been a Landis family undertaking. Margaret co-founded the company with Tom and has been a steady force inside it from day one. Their children, Kate and Jake, grew up around the shops and the team members who shaped them as much as the other way around.
Tom Landis proved that the Howdy Homemade model worked. With seven shops, more than 100 team members with intellectual and developmental disabilities, a national platform, and a long list of awards, including the National Down Syndrome Congress 2025 Employer of the Year, the time had come for rapid expansion.
When it came time for rapid expansion, Howdy needed a mission-aligned growth partner. Operating since 2023, Undivided Life is a team of strategists and culture-builders with a passion for making the world a better place.
In 2025, Undivided Life became the growth and operating partner for Howdy Homemade and a major owner of the company. Jeff Schiefelbein, Nick Bezner, and the Undivided team are in the weeds every day alongside Tom, Margaret, and the Heroes, building catering, opening new company-owned stores, deepening partnerships, and creating jobs at scale.
Howdy Homemade built the mission, the product, the story, and the soul. Undivided Life brought the growth engine, the business architecture, the leadership bench, and the strategic execution. Now as one unified company, Howdy Homemade is multiplying the impact of the organization and expanding the mission.
“Together we are building a national brand with our sights on hundreds of store openings and thousands and thousands of new jobs for adults with special needs. Come be a part of the Howdy team.”
The next five years are the biggest in Howdy's history. Here is what we are building, together.
The National Down Syndrome Congress named Howdy its 2025 Employer of the Year. The TODAY Show, ABC World News Tonight, and a long list of community leaders have shared our story. Hoda and Jenna handed us a $50,000 grant on national television.
We are grateful for every spotlight. The recognition we care about most, though, is quieter. It is the parent who watches their adult child walk into work for the first time. It is the regular who comes back every Friday because of who is behind the counter. That is the win.
We are hiring. As we open new shops across the country, we are looking for extraordinary people, adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, managers, coaches, and culture carriers, who want to be part of building something that matters.
When you walk into a Howdy shop, you are not just buying ice cream. You are funding a movement that is rewriting the rules of who gets to work, who gets to lead, and who gets to be seen.
