11 August 2011

Local Entrepreneur Meets The Food Network

My first food Entrepreneur! I was really excited to hear their story for two reasons: 
One, they have a cupcake business {yum!} and two they were on The Food Network's Cupcake Wars!

My favorite quote from this interview:
"What's wrong with a baker whose a man?"
Love it!


Mrs. Cup of Cake Entrepreneur
Stats
Married: 1 year
Company: http://www.heavencupcake.com/
Phase: Startup
Kids: 1 daughter
Started company 1 year ago

MTE: So tell me about your journey into the Entrepreneurial World and how you got on The Food Network? {ok, obviously I was a little excited to hear about Cupcake Wars. lol.}
He wanted to start a restaurant and I thought, "I don't know this doesn't sound like a very good idea." So I convinced him we needed to start on a smaller scale. We decided to go with a cupcake truck. So he learned how to bake, took some lessons from a chef, he doesn't even cook for me and here we were shooting for a gourmet cupcake store. So he starts baking and they started tasting, and looking, better and better.
I think being honest about my opinion helped him figure out what he needed to change and/or adjust. There is a fine line between crushing someones dreams/being brutally honest and telling them something that would help them to get better, you have to be careful.
MTE: True, true, so what next?
We got a truck, got it wrapped with our new logo, designed a website... I'm thinking, "We live in a rental house, I'm pregnant, we need to figure out a nursery and we need to figure out us." So at this point we are thinking about two different directions, but we had this truck. We decided a specific day that we were going to launch and we went out on the first day with 300 cupcakes. We spent the whole day baking and went out with ambition to sell all of them and we sold 10. This wass not how I saw this going. I kept thinking, hopefully we can figure this out. So we had to go back to the drawing board and that was hard.
MTE: Sounds discouraging, but you obviously didn't give up, right?
No, we didn't. There were times that I would come home and he would be really down about it. And finally we came to the decision that we had to sell the truck because that just wasn't the best way to go about it. We had to rip the wrap off of it...that was horrible. We weren't giving up though, this was just a change of direction. I think a lot of people thought he was quitting or failing, but we really just had to change the way we were working on things.
MTE: So...
So we got a little car and got the logo on that and then along came the food network and they said we are looking people to be on CupCake Wars so we submitted the video and within that week they called him. We were on vacation at the time and we were freaking out because we had to get all our stuff in and submitted. As soon as we did they immediately asked him if they would be a part of the upcoming episode. I said ok as long as it's not around when I was due.
The producers called and sure enough they bumped it to the week of my due date. Keep in mind this is our first kid, maybe a second I could handle him being away, but my friends and family were in another state and I just wasn't sure about this. My Entrepreneur actually offered to get someone else to go, but we knew this would make or break the business...I knew this was going to make or break the business. I couldn't believe he was willing to not go. To me I would have always regretted it if he didn't go.
The episode just aired and we've been getting orders and it was great and we've only been doing this for a year!
MTE: What has been the biggest hardships?
Obviously it would be great if we could have a 5 year plan, but you can't really have that because it changes so much. I like structure and reliability. With Entrepreneurship we don't know if we will be able to take money out or if we need to put more in. You have to learn how to let go sometimes. So I think that is hard, but I know that it makes them happy.
MTE: Would advice would you give to someone who is about to marry an Entrepreneur
There are going to be times when you wish you could have a steady paycheck and steady future. You have to almost not dwell on that and not think about those situations because the days that your Entrepreneur struggles you have to be in a good spot so it's important to keep a positive mind frame.
MTE: Is it worth it?
Yes. It is...has anyone ever said no? {laughing} Entrepreneurs have a spirit that you don't find in other people. Everyday they want to be better. They want to learn something new and create something great and that is invaluable.


This interview provided such a fresh perspective on how quickly Entrepreneurship can change the direction of your life. Once the spark is lit there's no telling which direction you will go.

P.S.) Here's the CupCake Wars episode:
http://myliveplayer.com/cupcake-wars/season/3/episode/7

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