THE PRIDE START

Spending time on farms, running in and out of harvest fields with my dad was a prerequisite to being a kid raised in a small town in Southeast, Texas. My dad was a truck driver back then. I grew up visiting some of these same fields where the Rice ’N Grinds products are being sourced today. I didn’t realize that until I had my first visit to tour the rice mill facility. Driving up gave me nostalgic memories of my childhood. Sure enough, I was back where it all started for me. Out of high school, I had asked my dad to teach me how to drive a truck. So that I could start looking for jobs and get out on my own. But he insisted on not teaching me because he wanted me to peruse a different career path. It seems ironic that I would still find a way to make it back to those fields one way or another. 

Fast forward a few years, I found my self proudly serving in the United States Army. I spent 4 years with the 101st Airborne Division in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. It was here that I realized my affinity for fitness and I became a foodie. Once I finished my time with the 101st and headed back to the great state of Texas.

While pursuing a Bachelors Degree in Health Education, I decided to embark down the journey of my first bodybuilding competition. It was easily one of the most challenging tasks that I’ve ever embarked upon. But nonetheless, it became extremely rewarding to be committed and disciplined enough to transform my body and to compete in a competition. I competed for over 6 years, before earning an IFBB Pro Card after winning the Heavyweight and Overall at the 2016 NPC Nationals.

Throughout this process, I would always find myself enamored with all things about food. It all started from cooking my own meals, watching cooking shows during cardio (not weird at all), going out to eat, watching my wife eat while I was dieting (definitely not weird) and the list goes on. I even get emails to this day for various culinary schools that I reached out to with the intentions of attending after a previous bodybuilding competition. Safe to say that food has always been on my mind. 

It was here that a seed was planted and started to cultivate. Along this journey, I have learned to respect and love food and food quality. Unfortunately, in today's society, I feel food quality with the respect to the nourishment it can bring someone is an afterthought. I understand that having quality food helps people from a performance standpoint as well. I feel extremely confident in my ability to bring these two aspects closer together. This is why I have decided to launch Pride Foods.

With Pride Foods, we aim to be innovative, provide the highest quality of ingredients and always keep in mind the basis of performance and food quality. We feel this is very important in today’s society. Rice’N Grinds 100% natural hot cereal is our first product. With U.S. Grown Certified Organic Long Grain White Rice, Organic Cane sugar, Monk Fruit, Non GMO Flavoring and Pink Himalayan Sea Salt in each bite, we take Personal Responsibility In Delivering Excellence. 

In order for you to perform at your best, we understand the sacrifices you make. This is why we feel you should never have to sacrifice when it comes to what fuels you. LIVE WITH PRIDE!