Facing Des Moines: Meet Bomi Mistry

When you meet Bomi Mistry, you will enjoy the encounter. He is very smart, quick, engaging, and genuinely funny. If you meet his mother Mehroo, who goes by Mary, or his wife Louise, or either of his sons, Cyrus or Eric, you will understand that those wonderful qualities run in the family. What a great family!

Bomi’s newest adventure is FUEL – For Body and Mind, a juice bar; it’s located in Suite 210 of the West Glen Town Center across from the Fountain Plaza and close to the Aspen Athletic Club. (map) With the focus on health their yogurt, fruit smoothies, boosts, and supplements appeal to those in training and fitness programs as well as those just looking for healthy snacks (no added sugar, no artificial sweeteners, no HFCS, and no additives). I had a Mango Tango, and I am definitely going back for more.

Bomi was born in Bombay (now Mumbai), a beautiful and wealthy city, the financial heart of India, a coastal city on the Arabian Sea, a sister city to Los Angeles, and at more than 13 million citizens one of the most populous cities in the world. Being born in Bombay gave Bomi a running start at life: outstanding schools; highly competitive environment; expectation of success. In his sophomore year in high school he was chosen for a very competitive Rotary International Scholarship for study abroad. It put him in Williams Lake, British Columbia – from a tropical city of 8 million to a town of 8 thousand near the Rockies, and he said it was a welcome, perhaps even prophetic culture shock.

Later he earned a B.A. in economics from Grinnell College and an M.B.A. from Washington University after which he invested 20 very successful years in the mortgage divisions of Principal, Nationwide, and Citibank. The current mortgage turmoil prompted his new venture at FUEL, in which he is the sole proprietor.

Noting that sometimes parental mistakes have wonderful outcomes, Bomi recalled promising his older son (then in middle school and now in college) that if he made all A’s, a vacation and surfing lessons in California would be the reward. You can guess the outcome of that offer. Every year since, the family has visited beaches in Southern California and Hawaii. It was on those vacations that the Mistry family encountered the great juice bars that provided the inspiration for their current endeavor. Thanks to hard working teenagers, we have Midwesterners surfing on the West Coast and a West Coast juice bar in the Metro. It’s a good exchange!

Bomi continues to be an avid reader. Recent favorites include

• Small Giants by Bo Burlingham
• Sway by Zachary Lazar
• If Today Be Sweet by Thrity Umrigar
• Hindi Bindi Club by Monica Pradhan
• and a continuing reread of The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman.

Treat yourself. Get to know Bomi Mistry, and visit FUEL – For Body and Mind for something healthy. You’ll be glad twice.

photos by Luther Erickson and Jim Lindberg

James is James G. Lindberg (Jim) is the Purple Wren’s sweetie and is a visiting chemistry professor at Grinnell College and retired from Drake University.
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