101 – The Story Behind Brownie Brittle™ with Sheila Mains
Sheila was laid off from her corporate job in 1992. So at the age of 42 she decided it was time to do what she loved – baking.
Sheila took a treasured family recipe for brownies and launched a little brownie business.
There were many ups and downs over the years, and it wasn’t until 2011 that all the hard work and sacrifices began to pay off.
That was when she created a product called Brownie Brittle.
By the end of that year, they had approximately 200,000 bags of Brownie Brittle on store shelves. Today they have over 30 million bags in stores nationwide as well as internationally.
The Brownie Brittle
Story
First … a brownie business after being laid off from her corporate job. [4:54]
The Brownie Brittle idea was realized. [5:43]
The decision to focus solely on Brownie Brittle [7:01]
Sheila shares some financial stats from her big growth year. [16:40]
The cookbook – Butter and Chocolate. [17:48]
Candle Flickering Moments
The struggles of business development and how one major pivot was the answer. [21:17]
Business Building Insights
How Sheila landed the Walt Disney account in her first brownie business. [8:09]
Accepting and working through fulfilling a gigantic order. The next level of production. [11:38]
Getting visibility in box stores and sampling. [15:09]
Advice on getting into box stores. [22:57]
The value of testing your product first in a few stores. [23:48]
Surprise! Sheila found a lot of support from her peers. [25:33]
Success Trait
Being tenacious has helped Sheila drive through all the business development challenges. [26:39]
Productivity/Lifestyle Tool
Sheila divides projects into categories so she can prioritize what’s the most important. [28:16]
Recommended Reading and Listening
The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
Sheila G’s Butter and Chocolate – 101 Creative Sweets and Treats Using Brownie Batter
Contact Links
If you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe and leave a review in Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. That helps us spread the word to more makers just like you. Thanks! Sue
Transcript
Hi there.
Speaker:You're listening to gift biz on rapt episode one Oh one.
Speaker:The good news is we've created a product that no one's
Speaker:ever heard of before.
Speaker:And the bad news is we've created a product that no
Speaker:one has ever heard of before.
Speaker:Hi, this is John Lee,
Speaker:Dumas of entrepreneur on fire,
Speaker:and you're listening to gift to biz unwrapped.
Speaker:And now it's time to Lights it up.
Speaker:Welcome to gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped your source for industry specific insights and advice to develop
Speaker:and grow your business.
Speaker:And now here's your host,
Speaker:Sue Mona height.
Speaker:Before we get into the show,
Speaker:I have a question for you.
Speaker:Do you know that you should be out networking,
Speaker:but you just can't get yourself to do it because it's
Speaker:scary. Are you afraid that you might walk into the room
Speaker:and not know anybody or that you're going to freeze?
Speaker:When you get up to do that infamous elevator speech,
Speaker:where you talk about yourself and your business?
Speaker:Well, I'm here to tell you that it doesn't need to
Speaker:be scary.
Speaker:If you know what to do to help you with this,
Speaker:I would like to offer you a coffee chat for the
Speaker:price of find me a cup of coffee.
Speaker:We can sit down through an online video and I'll tell
Speaker:you everything that I know about networking and how I have
Speaker:personally built two multi-six figure businesses,
Speaker:primarily through networking to learn more about this opportunity.
Speaker:Just go over to fiddly forward slash network Ninja.
Speaker:That's B I T dot L Y forward slash network Ninja.
Speaker:And now let's move on to the show.
Speaker:Hi, there it's Sue and welcome to the gift biz unwrapped
Speaker:podcast, whether you own a brick and mortar shop sell online
Speaker:or are just getting started,
Speaker:you'll discover new insight to gain traction and to grow your
Speaker:business. And today I am so pleased to bring to you
Speaker:Sheila mains of brownie,
Speaker:brittle, Sheila was laid off from a corporate job in 1992.
Speaker:So at the age of 42,
Speaker:she decided it was time to do something that she loved.
Speaker:And that was baking.
Speaker:Sheila took a treasured family recipe for brownies and launched a
Speaker:little brownie business.
Speaker:There were many ups and downs over the years,
Speaker:and it wasn't really until about 2011 that all the hard
Speaker:work and sacrifices began to pay off.
Speaker:That was when she created a product called brownie brittle.
Speaker:By the end of that year,
Speaker:they had approximately 200,000
Speaker:bags of brownie brittle on store shelves.
Speaker:And today they have over,
Speaker:are you ready for this 30 million bags in stores Also
Speaker:internationally. Sheila,
Speaker:welcome to the show.
Speaker:Well thank You for having me.
Speaker:So it's my pleasure.
Speaker:I am thrilled that you're joining me and I'm going to
Speaker:start off as we always do.
Speaker:It's kind of a tradition here by having you describe a
Speaker:motivational candle.
Speaker:If you were to create a candle that really speaks you,
Speaker:what color would it be and what would be the quote
Speaker:on your candle?
Speaker:Well, I think that color would be cream,
Speaker:a cream colored candle for a couple of reasons.
Speaker:One is cream is a very common color for me and
Speaker:perfect for my quote,
Speaker:but also because cream colored candles generally smell like vanilla.
Speaker:And of course,
Speaker:as a Baker,
Speaker:you have to know how I love the smell of vanilla
Speaker:and filling up my kitchen and my entire house with the
Speaker:smell of vanilla and baking.
Speaker:And then my quote that goes along with it is actually
Speaker:from the Talmud.
Speaker:And I have it on my desk next to a picture
Speaker:of my grandmother.
Speaker:And it goes like this.
Speaker:Every blade of grass has this angel that bends over it
Speaker:and whispers grow,
Speaker:grow. And I think when you're starting a business and working
Speaker:by yourself all alone,
Speaker:it's kind of nice to know that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:maybe you're not so alone and that you have someone out
Speaker:there that is just making sure that things go in your
Speaker:favor, work your way.
Speaker:Keep you encouraged.
Speaker:That is such a wonderful visual as you described it.
Speaker:I've never heard that before and I'm going to keep that
Speaker:and carry that with me.
Speaker:I really like that Pharaoh at any time.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Grow, grow,
Speaker:grow, grow,
Speaker:grow, grow.
Speaker:Yep. Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah. Let's talk about how brownie brittle got started.
Speaker:I just,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:it has become like a phenomenon.
Speaker:It seems like Sheila.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:everyone knows about it.
Speaker:People are baking with it.
Speaker:Your business has exploded,
Speaker:but let's walk it back to the beginning because I'm sure
Speaker:you didn't know that that was where you were going to
Speaker:be gone.
Speaker:No only hoped.
Speaker:So what you knew you were going to start baking,
Speaker:but what did you do?
Speaker:What were the first steps to start building this business?
Speaker:The first part of the business was a brownie business.
Speaker:I had been living in the corporate world.
Speaker:My background was finance and I was laid off from my
Speaker:corporate job.
Speaker:I had worked my way up to that coveted corner office
Speaker:with two windows.
Speaker:And on one Friday in 1992,
Speaker:I was told that was going to be my last day.
Speaker:The company had suffered some losses and,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I just wanted to do what I love and I love
Speaker:to bake.
Speaker:I knew I couldn't go back to the corporate world and
Speaker:give 150% again.
Speaker:And I couldn't go back and give any less.
Speaker:So I decided,
Speaker:you know what,
Speaker:I'm going to give this three months.
Speaker:I come from a long line of bakers.
Speaker:My mother and my grandmother were phenomenal bakers.
Speaker:And of course their love of baking was contagious.
Speaker:So that's how I got into the brownie business and the
Speaker:brownie brittle business stemmed from that.
Speaker:I always love the corner pieces and those drippings on the
Speaker:side of the pan.
Speaker:And I used to go back into the plant and snack
Speaker:on those drippings in the afternoon.
Speaker:Pretty soon the drippings were getting scarce and went back there
Speaker:a little bit earlier one day and everyone working on the
Speaker:line was there snacking on the drippings.
Speaker:And that was my light bulb moment.
Speaker:Maybe we've got something here.
Speaker:Interesting. And so before that,
Speaker:there were clearly drippings,
Speaker:but you just weren't seeing it or,
Speaker:Or, you know,
Speaker:well, they were,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:it was like the corner pieces,
Speaker:those drippings on the side of the pan,
Speaker:but I thought it was the only one that loves munching
Speaker:on those until yeah.
Speaker:I realized everybody working in the line was doing the same
Speaker:thing and they loved it and it was like,
Speaker:maybe we have something here.
Speaker:So it was taking the batter,
Speaker:spreading it thin in the pan,
Speaker:baking it off,
Speaker:testing different toppings and Ronnie brittle was born.
Speaker:Yeah. Okay.
Speaker:So this is a great example of how you can identify
Speaker:a new business.
Speaker:I'm kind of,
Speaker:well, it's a new product within your overall business.
Speaker:Is the original brownie business still up and around,
Speaker:or is it all transitioned at this point?
Speaker:It has all transitioned.
Speaker:I had a very nice account called Walt Disney world for
Speaker:22 years.
Speaker:And we maintain that up until may of last year.
Speaker:They decided to bring their brownie baking operation in house.
Speaker:So that was kind of the last of the brownie business.
Speaker:And we're actually running brownie brittle out of two plants,
Speaker:one in Florida and one in California and the brownies were
Speaker:in a third plant.
Speaker:So it really kind of worked out well.
Speaker:We really need to focus on our core item,
Speaker:right, For sure.
Speaker:For sure.
Speaker:Well, for this to be beneficial to our listeners,
Speaker:I do want to jump back because you can't say Disney
Speaker:and let me just pass over that,
Speaker:that just can't happen here.
Speaker:So just for a minute,
Speaker:let's go back,
Speaker:let's leave brownie brittle for a second and talk about the
Speaker:brownie business.
Speaker:That obviously was a huge account.
Speaker:It probably had you keeping the brownie business,
Speaker:the initial business open a little longer,
Speaker:because clearly you want to service a large company like that.
Speaker:How did that whole thing evolve in terms of identifying that
Speaker:Disney could possibly be a customer?
Speaker:Walk us through a little bit of how that happened.
Speaker:Well, you know,
Speaker:the brownie business initially was like tens and platters and we
Speaker:did get baskets as well with our brownies.
Speaker:And I had a customer was a real estate attorney.
Speaker:And at the holidays,
Speaker:he used to do a tremendous amount of business with me,
Speaker:sending out to realtors that had referred their clients to him.
Speaker:So one year he had gone on a fat-free diet and
Speaker:he said to me,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I don't know that I can send out your brownies this
Speaker:year because everybody is been commenting about how much weight I
Speaker:lost. And then I'm going to send out these like heavy
Speaker:duty, butter and chocolate brownies.
Speaker:Do you think he could come up with a fat-free brownie?
Speaker:So I said,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:certainly can try and rolled up my sleeves and,
Speaker:and got to work.
Speaker:And it had to be,
Speaker:it couldn't be just good.
Speaker:It had to be great.
Speaker:And that's how,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:of course we feel about brownie brittle and all the slavers
Speaker:too. We look for that,
Speaker:Oh, wow.
Speaker:Factor from our customers.
Speaker:And if we don't get it,
Speaker:that product isn't going anywhere.
Speaker:So I finally came out with a really good fat-free brownie
Speaker:and one of my neighbors and the industrial complex,
Speaker:where I had the little bakery came by one day and
Speaker:he said,
Speaker:what are you doing?
Speaker:I said,
Speaker:Oh, try this.
Speaker:And he goes,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:this is really good.
Speaker:He said,
Speaker:can you give me some samples?
Speaker:I'd like to send it to a friend.
Speaker:And I said,
Speaker:sure, well,
Speaker:his friend was one of the top people at Disney.
Speaker:And they were looking for healthier items to put in a
Speaker:quick service restaurants in the parks and on the dessert menus.
Speaker:And she loved it.
Speaker:And she took it to the executive chef at Epcot and
Speaker:he liked it as well.
Speaker:And I was invited up to do a cutting,
Speaker:which is like a sampling front of 12 executive chefs.
Speaker:No pressure.
Speaker:Yeah. So I did,
Speaker:I went Up there,
Speaker:it took a few weeks to put it together and I
Speaker:went up there and brought several different varieties of our brownies.
Speaker:And the next thing you know,
Speaker:we had an order for 37,000
Speaker:brownies, pretty incredible.
Speaker:Oh, wow.
Speaker:Well, that is such a fantastic story.
Speaker:And a couple of things I want to just emphasize here
Speaker:for everybody is you really listened to just an individual customer.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you had no idea at that point who,
Speaker:who the friend was that he was sending that product to.
Speaker:Right, right.
Speaker:But a really important point in terms of listening to your
Speaker:customers because so many good ideas can come from their mouths.
Speaker:You don't have to be the one who knows everything.
Speaker:Peer Sheila had the talent and the knowledge and,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:the flavors and the baking tricks for the brownies,
Speaker:but she listened to what a customer said and look at
Speaker:what happened.
Speaker:The other thing is she didn't just fulfill that customer's need
Speaker:with, okay.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:we'll just do this on the side real quick,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:make something for them.
Speaker:And that'll be that she made sure the product was fabulous,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:to her way of talking the wow factor.
Speaker:And then you got yourself out there,
Speaker:you put yourself in a kind of scary situation with that
Speaker:presentation and look what happened.
Speaker:You didn't hold back,
Speaker:you got yourself out there.
Speaker:And so now you're sitting on this super big order.
Speaker:How in the world did you fulfill that?
Speaker:I'm sure that was,
Speaker:I don't know how many times the size of your past
Speaker:largest order,
Speaker:but were there any struggles there and actually get up to
Speaker:level and fulfill that type of an order?
Speaker:I took the business to a whole new level and beyond
Speaker:the capacity of my little 1200 square foot facility,
Speaker:I learned about contract manufacturing and this was all new to
Speaker:me and looking at different that were not only interested in
Speaker:doing contract manufacturing and other words,
Speaker:making products for another company,
Speaker:but we're capable,
Speaker:had the capabilities,
Speaker:had the cutting materials,
Speaker:had the wrapping materials,
Speaker:had all the equipment that we needed.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:the first thing you say is sure,
Speaker:yes, we can do it.
Speaker:And then we roll up your sleeves and once again,
Speaker:and you know,
Speaker:dig in and try and figure out exactly how that's going
Speaker:to happen.
Speaker:And it's interesting how there's just this synergy,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you start heading in one direction and you meet someone and
Speaker:they know someone,
Speaker:or I remember reaching out to one of my suppliers and
Speaker:of course they're the best resource because they know all the
Speaker:bakeries and who has what?
Speaker:And so that was a tremendous help.
Speaker:So transitioning from that to producing like tens and platters to
Speaker:37,000 brownies.
Speaker:Yeah. Was it a challenge?
Speaker:Yes. We certainly made sure that we had enough lead time
Speaker:for not just the production,
Speaker:but also all the packaging that we needed to order special
Speaker:packaging. Right.
Speaker:Yeah. And so did you end up having multiple contractors or
Speaker:just one on one baking facility Over the years,
Speaker:multiple, some worked out better than others.
Speaker:It was an experience.
Speaker:Would I do that again?
Speaker:Yes and no.
Speaker:I think that it just requires vigilance making sure either you're
Speaker:there or someone that you trust is there supervising production.
Speaker:Yeah. That's kind of where I was getting with that question.
Speaker:I kind of thinking,
Speaker:and I haven't been in the baking industry in that manner,
Speaker:but I'm thinking that your direction and information down to them
Speaker:so that they produce the product that you initially presented,
Speaker:right. That Disney's expecting to get is exactly along the same
Speaker:lines. And then you have to have people watching at all
Speaker:times, like you said,
Speaker:so I'm sure quite different from what you did when you
Speaker:started out with the brownies.
Speaker:Very different.
Speaker:Yeah. Going from 80 chord,
Speaker:Hobart mixer to 340 quart mixers,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:we had like at 1.1
Speaker:plan had three of them and they could all three could
Speaker:be going at the same time.
Speaker:Could you put a person in there?
Speaker:Is that how big they are?
Speaker:Yes. Oh yeah.
Speaker:Oh, a person.
Speaker:Yeah. In the mixer.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:Actually. Oh,
Speaker:Willy Wonka.
Speaker:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So let's now swing around to brownie brittle.
Speaker:So you're describing how you first came about and identified that
Speaker:this could possibly be a product and started testing it.
Speaker:And again,
Speaker:gift biz listeners in my hundredth episode,
Speaker:which was just one back,
Speaker:we talk about how you identify a business or a product.
Speaker:And here is yet again,
Speaker:another perfect example because you know,
Speaker:it was a single point in time,
Speaker:a single revelation.
Speaker:And you don't know when you're going your day,
Speaker:where that might happen.
Speaker:Sheila saw it,
Speaker:identified it and bingo,
Speaker:there it was.
Speaker:And then she had to work the idea.
Speaker:So let's continue on with the brownie brittle.
Speaker:So you had the idea,
Speaker:you started sampling,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:making the brownie super thin,
Speaker:like that,
Speaker:what happened next?
Speaker:Then it was just getting the samples out there.
Speaker:And there was a couple different packaging changes that we've done
Speaker:along the way,
Speaker:just trying to continually perfect the packaging so that the focus
Speaker:was on initially getting samples out there,
Speaker:filling the orders as they came in and then optimizing it,
Speaker:commercializing the process.
Speaker:And so that we could do the scale up and do
Speaker:the volume.
Speaker:So were you sending samples out to customers that you already
Speaker:had from the past business or were you approaching a brand
Speaker:new setup?
Speaker:It was an entirely new sector.
Speaker:So there was another learning curve there.
Speaker:What I had done with the brownies was basically food service.
Speaker:So half sheets for food service distributors would be the base
Speaker:for our brownie Sunday.
Speaker:So it was now all of a sudden it was retail
Speaker:and it was gourmet shops.
Speaker:It was grocery stores.
Speaker:It was club stores,
Speaker:meaning like Costco Sam's BJ's,
Speaker:it was different margins,
Speaker:different markups.
Speaker:Anyway, what I basically did was teamed up with a group
Speaker:out of Orlando who was very familiar with that industry.
Speaker:And we were able to catapult the product out into the
Speaker:marketplace and find adequate production and streamline that customize equipment Ramping
Speaker:up once again,
Speaker:entirely. Yep.
Speaker:And I can tell you that the first half of 2012,
Speaker:I did less than a half a million in sales and
Speaker:from July to the end of December where we were in
Speaker:what was full speed ahead mode,
Speaker:we did 8 million just insane Word.
Speaker:Wow. So receptivity was really high,
Speaker:right from the start.
Speaker:It was,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:getting it into Costco and the demos that was the biggest
Speaker:challenge was,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:and I used to say,
Speaker:the good news is we've created a product that no one's
Speaker:ever heard of before.
Speaker:And the bad news is we've created a product that no
Speaker:one's ever heard of before.
Speaker:So it was all about driving trial and demos,
Speaker:demos, demos,
Speaker:and Costco.
Speaker:And BJ's Sam's,
Speaker:they were the perfect vehicle for this product.
Speaker:Yeah. I first saw it was in Sam's at a demo
Speaker:as a matter of fact,
Speaker:but you know,
Speaker:you say it's a brand new product,
Speaker:but it's kind of grounded in something we already know,
Speaker:which is brownies,
Speaker:right. So it's not totally new,
Speaker:but it is in terms of how you apply it.
Speaker:I would say,
Speaker:which leads a little bit to your cookbook.
Speaker:So let's talk that right now.
Speaker:Oh, That was fun.
Speaker:Butter and chocolate.
Speaker:And I had no idea what I was taking on,
Speaker:but I'm really proud of how it turned out.
Speaker:And we've just gotten some amazing reviews about the cookbook.
Speaker:You have this idea to do a cookbook in your mind,
Speaker:or did someone come to you and say,
Speaker:you really should do a cookbook.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:We have recipes on brownie,
Speaker:brittle.com and our fans love them and they want more and
Speaker:had all these treasured recipes,
Speaker:many of them,
Speaker:family recipes.
Speaker:And I thought,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:I want to get them out there.
Speaker:And so it's not just the brownie,
Speaker:brittle recipes.
Speaker:There are quite a few in the cookbook,
Speaker:but it's actually taking that original family recipe for brownies and
Speaker:showing people all the different things that you can do with
Speaker:it, like brownie,
Speaker:truffles, brownie cookies,
Speaker:brownie bites,
Speaker:brownie, waffles,
Speaker:brownie, French toast.
Speaker:I have a recipe in there for an edible like brownie
Speaker:batter that you could use to stuff the French toast or
Speaker:a crepe.
Speaker:It is very creative.
Speaker:It's not something that weight Watchers would offer,
Speaker:But you're allowed to cheat every once in a while.
Speaker:Right. You know what?
Speaker:I always believe if you're going to indulge,
Speaker:make sure it's worth it,
Speaker:you know?
Speaker:And yeah.
Speaker:And you know what,
Speaker:even if you don't want to do the made from scratch
Speaker:brownie recipe,
Speaker:you can incorporate brownie mix into these recipes as well and
Speaker:look like a real hero.
Speaker:Right. And I love the fact that you still have the
Speaker:family recipes integrated in and then regular brownies and the brownie
Speaker:brittle too,
Speaker:because I think when you and I met last year,
Speaker:I think we were at America's baking in sweets and you
Speaker:were signing books,
Speaker:right. Our conversation,
Speaker:a part of it anyway,
Speaker:was people needed to understand what to do with brownie brittle.
Speaker:Like it wasn't exactly,
Speaker:it tastes great by itself,
Speaker:but it isn't an exact extension of how you might bake
Speaker:with it and use it for other things besides just by
Speaker:itself. Exactly.
Speaker:Yeah. And you can grind it up and use it just
Speaker:like you would a Graham Cracker and make a crust out
Speaker:of it.
Speaker:It's got that nice chocolate crunchy,
Speaker:finished a cheesecake or a tart or a pie or bars.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:imagine like the seven layer bars that everyone just loves and
Speaker:using brownie brittle as a base for that.
Speaker:So great idea.
Speaker:Again, give Ms listeners think about your product.
Speaker:It's not an automatic assumption.
Speaker:I think we're around our products so often that we're like,
Speaker:well, yeah,
Speaker:you can apply it this way and you can apply it
Speaker:this way.
Speaker:This is obvious,
Speaker:but not necessarily.
Speaker:So sometimes you have to walk a customer exactly.
Speaker:To what they can do,
Speaker:just like Sheila's now doing in her cookbooks.
Speaker:So, and we will make sure,
Speaker:because you want to take a look at this cookbook.
Speaker:We'll link up in the show notes,
Speaker:page, that book,
Speaker:for sure.
Speaker:So that you can see what that's all about.
Speaker:Okay. So your whole story to this point,
Speaker:I'm going to call you the queen of brownies.
Speaker:Now she loved because you've got the initial brownie business with
Speaker:Walt Disney as a customer,
Speaker:super exciting.
Speaker:Then you morphed into brownie,
Speaker:brittle in all the box stores,
Speaker:revenue wise jumped a millions of dollars within that year.
Speaker:Something had to go wrong.
Speaker:There has to be a story in here that was challenging.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:like it just,
Speaker:it still makes you stand in your tracks and be like,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:I can't believe we got through it.
Speaker:What's that story?
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:there were so many,
Speaker:there were so many struggles.
Speaker:There was,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:it sounds like,
Speaker:Oh, look at this,
Speaker:she got 37,000
Speaker:brownies and it just kept going and going now it was
Speaker:a rollercoaster ride.
Speaker:And someday I'll write a book you had experienced.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:There will be hundreds of pages dedicated to the downside.
Speaker:But I think the most significant dip that I experienced was
Speaker:the 2008 housing crisis.
Speaker:So here I am like all these years starting the businesses
Speaker:in 1992,
Speaker:few ups and downs,
Speaker:but then the housing crisis and my Disney business was just
Speaker:way down food service business was way down.
Speaker:People weren't saving their money to go to Disney.
Speaker:They were trying to save their homes.
Speaker:They weren't eating out.
Speaker:And when they were,
Speaker:they weren't ordering a $5 brownie Sunday.
Speaker:So I had to find them in the grocery store.
Speaker:And that was when I said,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:I'm going to take this product,
Speaker:this brownie brittle,
Speaker:go to the grocery.
Speaker:Cause you,
Speaker:you go to a grocery buyer and you show them brownies.
Speaker:And Bronies are like a me too item.
Speaker:The first response is going to be,
Speaker:we already have a brownie or cheesecake guy makes a brownie,
Speaker:but no one was going to tell me that they already
Speaker:had a brownie brittle.
Speaker:So, so that's exactly what I did.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I decided to throw everything I had left into launching brownie
Speaker:brittle. And fortunately it worked out sure.
Speaker:Dad Vice for people who might be at a point where
Speaker:they're wanting to approach some of the bigger box stores,
Speaker:Don't be intimidated.
Speaker:I think that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:make an appointment,
Speaker:go out there and they're all looking for new products and
Speaker:just make sure that you've got your numbers,
Speaker:that, you know,
Speaker:your costs,
Speaker:because if you're upside down just to scent,
Speaker:you could lose tens of thousands of dollars.
Speaker:So I would make sure you've got your pricing,
Speaker:right. Make sure you've got your packaging.
Speaker:Right. And take that big leap of faith.
Speaker:What have you got to lose?
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:I totally agree.
Speaker:And I also see a lot in my neighborhood,
Speaker:some of the smaller grocery chains,
Speaker:as well as like whole foods are very interested in a
Speaker:lot of local items too.
Speaker:And they will take on some of those categories.
Speaker:So if you get some success in a local venue,
Speaker:will that help you as you go to some of the
Speaker:larger brands or the larger chains,
Speaker:I guess I should say.
Speaker:Yeah, Last absolutely.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:one is a good test for the product.
Speaker:You're dipping your foot in the pond there and seeing if
Speaker:it's just you,
Speaker:that thinks the product is great or,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:your friends that thinks the product is great,
Speaker:getting it on shelf and seeing how it moves is certainly
Speaker:the best test.
Speaker:And then a lot of the larger club stores like Costco
Speaker:Sam's they also have regional buying offices.
Speaker:So let's say you just get it into your local market,
Speaker:out a gourmet market.
Speaker:And it does well,
Speaker:and you want to go to your local,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:your grocery.
Speaker:They can actually test it out in different divisions.
Speaker:Like here we're in Florida.
Speaker:So Publix has different divisions.
Speaker:They might put it in the Miami division and have the
Speaker:product in a limited number of stores before they put it
Speaker:across the board.
Speaker:That's great advice.
Speaker:It's also not a bad idea because then when you start
Speaker:talking about production and having to ramp up,
Speaker:you're not overwhelmed by going from really,
Speaker:really small to huge right away.
Speaker:Plus if it doesn't work and it doesn't move in the
Speaker:stores and they don't reorder,
Speaker:then you're stuck.
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:Terms of costs.
Speaker:So absolutely.
Speaker:Yeah. Great advice in terms of,
Speaker:don't be intimidated,
Speaker:just go in,
Speaker:show your product and know that they're also looking,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:they can't have product on the shelves.
Speaker:That is the same over time.
Speaker:Either a store has to continually refresh,
Speaker:offer new things or they're going to lose their customers.
Speaker:So it's a win-win as long as your product is stable,
Speaker:your is stable.
Speaker:The pricing is on like Sheila's talking about Exactly.
Speaker:Is there anything else You would add here,
Speaker:Sheila, before we move on?
Speaker:No, don't be afraid to reach out to other people in
Speaker:the industry for advice.
Speaker:What I learned when I first started the brownie business,
Speaker:which was very refreshing,
Speaker:is it wasn't like the same as a corporate world where
Speaker:everybody was so tight lipped and,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:held their cards against their chest.
Speaker:A lot of them were interested in helping other people.
Speaker:I think too,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:women in business tend to be more generous with their advice
Speaker:and support and reach down and lift up another woman business
Speaker:owner and help them.
Speaker:I also believe in Armen,
Speaker:everything comes full circle and you just never know.
Speaker:So I'm,
Speaker:I'm actually a mentor for the specialty food association.
Speaker:And I enjoy talking to people who are trying to launch
Speaker:a new product and emerging brands.
Speaker:Beautiful. Kind of like what we're doing here right now.
Speaker:Sheila, I want to turn now into our reflection section.
Speaker:This is a little bit more looking at you as a
Speaker:person where our listeners can hopefully relate or grab some tips
Speaker:from you.
Speaker:What is a trait that you've just had naturally that you've
Speaker:called upon as you've made your journey?
Speaker:I am tenacious and I don't know that I always possessed
Speaker:that trait or I just developed it along the way with
Speaker:everything that I had to put up with,
Speaker:but it certainly was one that I developed.
Speaker:And thank God,
Speaker:because I think those big dips would have definitely put me
Speaker:in a wouldn't put me in the same place I am
Speaker:today. You would have just said,
Speaker:this is way too much.
Speaker:I'm moving on.
Speaker:Not doing it.
Speaker:Yeah, I do.
Speaker:I do.
Speaker:Yeah. And you know,
Speaker:I find that for myself too.
Speaker:Sometimes it's like,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:I'm so overwhelmed.
Speaker:Why am I doing this?
Speaker:And all I need is a good night's sleep.
Speaker:And then I get up and I'm full charge.
Speaker:I had again.
Speaker:Right, exactly.
Speaker:Yes, exactly.
Speaker:Is there a tool or something else that you use that
Speaker:you would,
Speaker:could be able to share with our listeners that helps you
Speaker:keep productive or to create balance?
Speaker:So I have no balance.
Speaker:I don't think I can advise anyone on how to have
Speaker:balance in their life.
Speaker:Another trait being honesty.
Speaker:How about that?
Speaker:I Think once you let go of that,
Speaker:you realize,
Speaker:okay, this is not how it's going to be.
Speaker:I'm fortunate that my children work with me.
Speaker:So I get to see my kids and my husband is
Speaker:retired and he's very happy to just kind of sit back
Speaker:and float the pool.
Speaker:So, and very supportive.
Speaker:So, you know,
Speaker:that's great,
Speaker:but I just try and work in the time of my
Speaker:friends, my girlfriends are like so important.
Speaker:So being able to grab a lunch here or there,
Speaker:and fortunately they're also very supportive and patient with me,
Speaker:but I would say that I've learned to kind of go
Speaker:through my day by dividing projects into two categories.
Speaker:Those that are important and those that are urgent otherwise your
Speaker:entire day can get derailed.
Speaker:That's one thing that I definitely try and a tool that
Speaker:I try and use,
Speaker:especially, you know,
Speaker:with calls and emails and texts,
Speaker:you could just get thrown all over the place and someone
Speaker:like me with serious add,
Speaker:forget it.
Speaker:It could be just overwhelming,
Speaker:but that does help.
Speaker:So then you were able to prioritize your tasks and make
Speaker:sure you're not spending too much time on things that are
Speaker:important, but could really take up your whole day.
Speaker:Got it.
Speaker:And is there a book that you've read lately that you
Speaker:think our listeners could find value in?
Speaker:I'm not an avid book reader,
Speaker:not because I don't enjoy reading a good book,
Speaker:but you know,
Speaker:I really have time to finish one.
Speaker:So that's very frustrating to me.
Speaker:I know I pour through a lot of articles on a
Speaker:daily basis about what's going on in the industry,
Speaker:but there is one book that I would highly recommend.
Speaker:It's one that changed my life.
Speaker:I pull it out every once in a while and the
Speaker:pages are tattered and there's highlights and underlines.
Speaker:And the book is the secret by Rhonda Byrne.
Speaker:I've just been able to benefit so much from her teachings.
Speaker:It works.
Speaker:I don't know if you're familiar with the book,
Speaker:but yes,
Speaker:I'm so familiar.
Speaker:And I totally believe in that.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I look at the path that I've been on and it
Speaker:just seems like there are things that just get placed in
Speaker:my path because it's going to lead me forward one way
Speaker:or another,
Speaker:or maybe it's that little angel on the blade of grass.
Speaker:I'm not sure.
Speaker:Yeah. There you go.
Speaker:No, I totally,
Speaker:totally believe in that.
Speaker:So when you're seeing the same thing,
Speaker:putting it out there,
Speaker:what you want to do.
Speaker:And I think a lot of that also goes back to
Speaker:some people will start their businesses and not really know what
Speaker:they're doing.
Speaker:Right. Not really know.
Speaker:They don't have an end game.
Speaker:They're just like,
Speaker:I want to start this business and it's going to be
Speaker:this, but what is it really going to look like?
Speaker:So I think for the secret to work,
Speaker:you have to have an idea.
Speaker:You have to be going somewhere.
Speaker:Exactly. Yeah.
Speaker:You have to be on that path.
Speaker:And then again,
Speaker:that synergy that just things just come into your life,
Speaker:the things that you need,
Speaker:the people that you need,
Speaker:but it takes believing to an entirely new level.
Speaker:It's believing when you have no reason to believe in something
Speaker:and still believing powerful.
Speaker:Yeah. And surrounding yourself with people that support your belief.
Speaker:And don't listen to the naysayers Well and give biz listeners
Speaker:just as you're listening to the podcast today,
Speaker:you can also listen to audio books.
Speaker:If you're not able to read either audio books are a
Speaker:little bit easier to consume.
Speaker:I've teamed up with audible for you to be able to
Speaker:get an audio book,
Speaker:just like the secret.
Speaker:And I do know that that's on audible because I have
Speaker:it all you need to do.
Speaker:If you want to get a free book is go to
Speaker:gift biz,
Speaker:book.com and make a selection.
Speaker:Okay. Sheila,
Speaker:it's time for me to invite you to dare to dream.
Speaker:I'd like to present you with a virtual gift.
Speaker:It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.
Speaker:So this is your dream or your goal of almost unreachable
Speaker:Heights that you would wish to obtain.
Speaker:Please accept this gift and open it in our presence.
Speaker:What is inside your box?
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I have to say my dream has come true with the
Speaker:brownie brittle.
Speaker:And I'm so fortunate and I'm so grateful with it.
Speaker:We've been able to give back to different organizations like cookies
Speaker:for kids cancer and kids,
Speaker:community closet,
Speaker:canine companions for independence,
Speaker:our local food bank.
Speaker:I would love for that to go on forever through a
Speaker:foundation. So I opened up that magical box.
Speaker:It would be this foundation that was funded and would carry
Speaker:on this great work that we've done forever.
Speaker:I love that.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you're in a place right now that I think all of
Speaker:us want to be,
Speaker:you're living your dream and you want to just extend it
Speaker:and continue and give back.
Speaker:Exactly. There is just nothing better than being able to back.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:seeing what all this hard work is done.
Speaker:It's great that everybody loves the product.
Speaker:And I get a tremendous amount of satisfaction from all the
Speaker:letters and emails that come in every day from people,
Speaker:our fans,
Speaker:our customers,
Speaker:but to know that we're able to take some of that
Speaker:and do some good with it is so rewarding.
Speaker:Give his listeners,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:that they'll be a lot of information over on the show
Speaker:notes page,
Speaker:but if you're not near a computer,
Speaker:not able to jump over there right now,
Speaker:Sheila, where would be a single place online where you would
Speaker:direct people if they wanted to learn more about you and
Speaker:the Product brownie,
Speaker:brittle.com. Well,
Speaker:that's hard.
Speaker:Bernie reel.com
Speaker:and our number is 1-800-BROWNIE.
Speaker:Oh, you're lucky to have gotten that.
Speaker:I know.
Speaker:I know it goes back to that karma,
Speaker:I think.
Speaker:Yep. It did.
Speaker:Yeah. When you're wondering whether you're headed in the right direction
Speaker:or not,
Speaker:and this was way back in the start of the brownie
Speaker:business. And it's like,
Speaker:I think somebody is trying to tell me something,
Speaker:this phone number it became available and I was able to
Speaker:get it.
Speaker:Yeah. Yep.
Speaker:You have to be like,
Speaker:yes. Yes.
Speaker:And there have been many yeses along your journey.
Speaker:And I so appreciate you being here today,
Speaker:sharing with us,
Speaker:the experiences,
Speaker:giving an insight into what you've gone through to be successful
Speaker:in how things have gone from one business to another and
Speaker:then extended on with your book.
Speaker:I really love the fact Sheila that you've taken brownie brittle,
Speaker:which is such an awesome product unto itself and made it
Speaker:extend into a greater good it's the best because a product
Speaker:is a product,
Speaker:but when it can do more for people and really create
Speaker:even more good in the world,
Speaker:you've got something golden.
Speaker:Thank you again for sharing and may your candle always.
Speaker:Thanks. Where are you in your business building journey,
Speaker:whether you're just starting out or already running a business and
Speaker:you want to know your setup for success.
Speaker:Find out by taking the gift biz quiz,
Speaker:access the quiz from your computer at fit dot L Y
Speaker:slash gift biz quiz or from your phone by texting gift
Speaker:biz quiz to four four,
Speaker:two, two,
Speaker:two. Thanks for listening and be sure to join us for
Speaker:the next episode.
Speaker:Today's show is sponsored by the ribbon print company.
Speaker:Looking for a new income source for your business.
Speaker:Customization is more popular now than ever brand your products with
Speaker:your logo or prints,
Speaker:a happy birthday,
Speaker:Jessica Griffin,
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Speaker:right? A checkout it's all done right in your shop or
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Speaker:It's a great way to pay it forward,