261 – Know Who You Are and Stay in Your Lane with Julia of Birnn Chocolates of Vermont
Julia and her husband, Mel are the fourth-generation owners of Birnn Chocolates of Vermont. Julia’s great-grandfather started making confections in 1915 in New Jersey and in 1991 her father and uncle moved the business to Vermont.
Julia and Mel are humbled by the opportunity to continue crafting truffles using her family’s 100-year-old recipes. The couple started working in the family business in 2010 and in 2016 they took over the reigns as the new owners.
Deciding to join the family business was one of the most influential decisions of Julia’s life. Working with her father, uncle and husband on a daily basis has proven to be some of the most rewarding work she’s ever done, but also the most challenging.
Each family member brings a variety of value to the team, it’s definitely a mixing pot of experiences, learning styles and personalities. Her father and uncle are now retired but many of their long term employees have stayed on and are very excited to see what the future brings.
BUSINESS BUILDING INSIGHTS
- You can learn a lot from your employees. Be open to understanding the job from their point of view and listen to suggestions and ideas for improvement.
- Have people that you can reach out to. You’re not supposed to know it all, that’s why you build a team.
- Being focused on a single core product makes you as efficient as possible. It also results in a higher quality product, reduced prices for inventory and a clear message to your customer.
- Customer service is another area to differentiate yourself. Take the actions that show your customers you are there for them and that you care.
- Part of being successful in business is networking and building a community within your industry.
- Don’t put your eggs in one basket when it comes to vendors. Having multiple options can become critical in time of need.
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Thank so much! Sue
Transcript
Hi there.
Speaker:You're listening to gift biz unwrapped episode 261 We have one
Speaker:focus. It's on truffles where a hundred percent wholesale,
Speaker:a hundred percent truffles.
Speaker:We are the people who make truffles for the people who
Speaker:sell truffles to the people who love truffles,
Speaker:Attentive gifters,
Speaker:bakers, crafters,
Speaker:and makers.
Speaker:Pursuing your dream can be fun whether you have an established
Speaker:business or looking to start one now you are in the
Speaker:right place.
Speaker:This is gift to biz unwrapped,
Speaker:helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.
Speaker:Join us for an episode packed full of invaluable guidance,
Speaker:resources, and the support you need to grow your gift biz.
Speaker:Here is your host gift biz gal Sue moon Heights.
Speaker:Hi there And I'm really happy to have you here with
Speaker:me today as we continue to hunker down at home.
Speaker:Balance becomes more and more important today.
Speaker:I have a happy feel good business story to share with
Speaker:you and it's coming at the perfect time.
Speaker:I want this podcast to provide optimism,
Speaker:balance, and a place of peace right now and I want
Speaker:you to know that you can come here and have a
Speaker:semblance of normalcy.
Speaker:It's good for our brains and our spirits.
Speaker:I think making sure our businesses are healthy and salad will
Speaker:become a more renewed focus once our lives returned to normal,
Speaker:a new normal.
Speaker:Perhaps. In this show,
Speaker:you're going to hear conversation about three things that should exist
Speaker:in your business.
Speaker:We're going to talk about the importance of defining clear lines
Speaker:of responsibility for each employee and why it's important to stay
Speaker:true to the structure we cover,
Speaker:how to get strength,
Speaker:clarity, and focus by narrowing in on your product of expertise
Speaker:and your target market.
Speaker:And we talk about why burn chocolates of Vermont isn't on
Speaker:social media yet and how and why they plan to approach
Speaker:this in the future.
Speaker:I wish I could give you a delicious,
Speaker:beautiful chocolate truffle right now while you sit back and join
Speaker:us in this chat Today.
Speaker:I'm thrilled to introduce you to Julia burn fields of burn
Speaker:chocolates. Julia and her husband.
Speaker:Mel are the fourth generation owners of burn chocolates of Vermont.
Speaker:Julia's great grandfather started making confections in 1915 in New Jersey
Speaker:and in 1991 her father and uncle moved the business to
Speaker:Vermont. Julia and Mel are humbled by the opportunity to continue
Speaker:crafting truffles using her family's 100 year old recipes.
Speaker:The couple started working in the family business in 2010 and
Speaker:in 2016 they took over the reigns as the new owners
Speaker:deciding to join the family business was one of the most
Speaker:influential decisions of Julia's working with her father,
Speaker:uncle and husband on a daily basis has proven to be
Speaker:some of the most rewarding work she's ever done,
Speaker:but also the most challenging.
Speaker:Each family member brings a variety of value to the team.
Speaker:It's definitely a mixing pot of experiences,
Speaker:learning styles and personalities.
Speaker:Her father and uncle are now retired,
Speaker:but many of their longterm employees have stayed on and are
Speaker:very excited to see what the future brings.
Speaker:And I'm excited to hear what you have to say.
Speaker:Julia, welcome to the gift biz on repped podcast.
Speaker:Well, thank you so much.
Speaker:So I'm so happy to be here with you.
Speaker:Your journey is so rich in information.
Speaker:I can't wait to get into it.
Speaker:I know a little bit about it,
Speaker:but before we dive in and you tell me all about
Speaker:it and our listeners get to know too,
Speaker:I want to start out by having you describe yourself in
Speaker:a little bit of a different way and that's through a
Speaker:motivational candle.
Speaker:It just gives us a different peak into what you're all
Speaker:about, if you will.
Speaker:So if you were to describe a motivational candle,
Speaker:what color and quote would be on your candle?
Speaker:So I have two that I've kind of come up with
Speaker:here and one I guess would be create your own sunshine.
Speaker:I feel like I'm a very positive person and that is
Speaker:something that comes easily to me.
Speaker:So it would be a colorful candle,
Speaker:kind of like a rainbow and that was what would be
Speaker:on it.
Speaker:That quote,
Speaker:I love it being an super positive person that I am,
Speaker:this quote like totally resonates with me too.
Speaker:Oh good.
Speaker:And we actually,
Speaker:funnily enough,
Speaker:we just started a quote board last week in our employee
Speaker:break room.
Speaker:So this is very kind of at the front of my
Speaker:thought process these last couple of weeks.
Speaker:And so we've been coming up with quotes of the week
Speaker:and employees are encouraged to submit quotes and we put them
Speaker:on the board and talk about them and hope that they
Speaker:resonate with each individual employee throughout the week.
Speaker:That is such a cool idea because also I think depending
Speaker:on what happened the prior week,
Speaker:like let's say you had some challenges or something happened,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:it's a nice way to reset your thinking as you're going
Speaker:into the next week.
Speaker:Exactly. I love that.
Speaker:Did you say you had a second one?
Speaker:I do.
Speaker:And that is the only,
Speaker:the present moment contains life and that is something that's really
Speaker:resonated with me lately.
Speaker:We can get really caught up in the past and focused
Speaker:on the future,
Speaker:but every day just focusing on today and that is what
Speaker:we have and what we should celebrate and kind of bringing
Speaker:into stay positive because this is it.
Speaker:So those both really kind of keep me going every day.
Speaker:I love that we're both of these quotes on the quote
Speaker:board at some point.
Speaker:Not yet.
Speaker:Ooh, they're on their way.
Speaker:I love it.
Speaker:So only the present moment contains life.
Speaker:I is super special to our listeners too because when you're
Speaker:starting your business,
Speaker:some people are in a full time job right now and
Speaker:they're looking at starting later.
Speaker:Some people are in the midst of it and you're at
Speaker:a point where all the things that you thought were possible
Speaker:you're working on.
Speaker:I'm working on,
Speaker:I'm working on them,
Speaker:but now you're in the muck of the business,
Speaker:right, for good and bad.
Speaker:So it's just embrace where you are at the time.
Speaker:Exactly. I have not heard either of these and I really
Speaker:like both of them.
Speaker:So thank you for sharing them.
Speaker:Of course.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:Okay, so let's go back to the beginning.
Speaker:So burn chocolates has been in your family for a long
Speaker:time. It has,
Speaker:yes. Your whole life.
Speaker:So what was your progression?
Speaker:Did you always know you were going to join the family
Speaker:business or talk us through how this all happened.
Speaker:Sure. So no,
Speaker:this was never the plan.
Speaker:The chocolate business has always been in my family.
Speaker:As you mentioned earlier in the intro that in 1915 my
Speaker:great grandfather started making confections.
Speaker:So it's always been a part of me as a child.
Speaker:I obviously didn't realize how special it was,
Speaker:but it was great going to birthday parties and events with
Speaker:school. I always had a box of seconds.
Speaker:Yeah. That was what I brought with me everywhere.
Speaker:So you were the most popular person in school,
Speaker:let's just admit it.
Speaker:Yeah, it's a,
Speaker:it's a little bit debatable whether I had real friends or
Speaker:they just wanted the chocolate.
Speaker:Yeah. And that goes all the way up through college.
Speaker:Cause my dad would send me boxes in college,
Speaker:I would have truffles in my room,
Speaker:people would come by and just grab them and leave.
Speaker:And so it was just kind of my thing,
Speaker:always, never really realizing it until looking back and reflecting always
Speaker:a craft box,
Speaker:cardboard craft box with seconds.
Speaker:Yeah. And that's the ones that aren't perfect enough to sell
Speaker:but still tastes great,
Speaker:have even extra chocolate or decoration on them,
Speaker:usually stuck together.
Speaker:So you grab one,
Speaker:it's really two or three.
Speaker:That's a bummer.
Speaker:Really. It is.
Speaker:Yes. What my friends and family all would probably associate with
Speaker:me and growing up kind of in my kind of circle.
Speaker:So that was kind of my dad.
Speaker:I have memories of him coming home from work and smelling
Speaker:like chocolate.
Speaker:And as a baby I would lick his face because he
Speaker:smelled so good and he'd come home from work and he'd
Speaker:pick me up and I would just look at his face
Speaker:cause it was chocolate.
Speaker:So it was definitely a huge part of my life,
Speaker:but we never really talked about it in a way of
Speaker:this was going to be my future.
Speaker:And this was the expectation.
Speaker:My mom was not in the business,
Speaker:she was a nurse,
Speaker:so she had her own career.
Speaker:So it's a little bit less potentially all encompassing that my
Speaker:mom and dad were full on in it.
Speaker:It wasn't.
Speaker:Yeah. So you never felt any pressure.
Speaker:Exactly. I never felt any pressure.
Speaker:It was never really talked about as my future.
Speaker:It was never like,
Speaker:no, you shouldn't do this.
Speaker:It was really not something that we discussed ever.
Speaker:But I was a part of the business.
Speaker:I worked in the company starting in high school.
Speaker:It was my first job was working in production at the
Speaker:chocolate factory.
Speaker:And so I've known a lot of the employees that are
Speaker:still here today since we moved from New Jersey to Vermont
Speaker:in 91 I was six years old and I would come
Speaker:in, I had my birthday parties at the factory.
Speaker:So we have some employees that are still here today that
Speaker:remember we when I was six.
Speaker:So they've literally watched me grow up and now have stayed
Speaker:on and wanted to be a part of this and have
Speaker:really helped encourage me and lift me up.
Speaker:I've always felt very welcome here and that's been a huge
Speaker:bridge and very encouraging for me to follow through with this
Speaker:plan in the end.
Speaker:So what were you thinking you would do as you're thinking
Speaker:about your education and how you might progress?
Speaker:What were you thinking?
Speaker:I went to school to college for elementary education.
Speaker:So my degree is in elementary ed.
Speaker:I have taught,
Speaker:I love children,
Speaker:I love teaching and that's absolutely my passion.
Speaker:When I found kind of that direction in college,
Speaker:I really for the first time felt very fulfilled and this
Speaker:is what I want to do.
Speaker:When I moved back home from school.
Speaker:The positions here in Vermont are very tricky and limited and
Speaker:a lot of times you have to wait for a teacher
Speaker:to retire.
Speaker:So I worked at Sugarbush,
Speaker:I was a ski instructor.
Speaker:I still was able to use my degree teaching children how
Speaker:to ski and I also got to ski a lot and
Speaker:it was kind of a great world.
Speaker:Two worlds combined there,
Speaker:but it wasn't the traditional classroom,
Speaker:it wasn't a career necessarily or what I was thinking would
Speaker:be. So I did that.
Speaker:That's where I ended up meeting my husband Mel,
Speaker:and it kind of progressed from there.
Speaker:So you guys met on the slopes?
Speaker:We did,
Speaker:yes. He was a snowboard instructor.
Speaker:I was a ski instructor.
Speaker:Love it.
Speaker:Okay. So then what?
Speaker:So Then we were living the life,
Speaker:we were skiing every day.
Speaker:We would,
Speaker:in the summertime I was landscaping,
Speaker:he was building houses.
Speaker:We ended up finding a caretaking position on a private Island
Speaker:on Lake Champlain here in Vermont.
Speaker:And that was a dream job.
Speaker:We lived on 87 acre private Island.
Speaker:We were the caretakers,
Speaker:we were primarily there alone for the week and the owners
Speaker:would come every weekend and we would help keep the grounds
Speaker:and we would cook and clean and do everything in between.
Speaker:We would work on the boats and drive people and we
Speaker:were part of the culture there and it was incredible.
Speaker:But again,
Speaker:it wasn't like this is a career.
Speaker:This was just a fun opportunity that we had.
Speaker:And so my dad was kind of looking in from the
Speaker:sidelines and saying,
Speaker:okay, this is all great,
Speaker:but what is your plan like?
Speaker:What do you really see yourself doing in the future and
Speaker:are you going to teach?
Speaker:Are you going to,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:where do you see yourself?
Speaker:And that's when really the first time he ever mentioned the
Speaker:business to me.
Speaker:And I was I think 21 and he said,
Speaker:what's your plan?
Speaker:We're talking about succession,
Speaker:we're talking about our future,
Speaker:my dad and talking about himself and my uncle,
Speaker:his brother,
Speaker:and they co owned the company at the time.
Speaker:And so I said,
Speaker:well I've never thought about that.
Speaker:And what would that look like?
Speaker:I don't have any siblings and my uncle doesn't have any
Speaker:children. So it was really on me.
Speaker:If they were going to pass it down to the next
Speaker:generation, that was the only option.
Speaker:Otherwise they would sell the business.
Speaker:So those were kind of two options.
Speaker:So if I were to talk to your father right now,
Speaker:would he say that that was always in the back of
Speaker:his mind?
Speaker:Oh, I would think that possibly,
Speaker:yes. Like it would be the obvious,
Speaker:Right? I mean,
Speaker:yeah, exactly.
Speaker:I mean it's the only option,
Speaker:honestly. So as far as keeping it in the family,
Speaker:they were the third generation.
Speaker:So I think of course he must have thought about this.
Speaker:So what would he say about the fact,
Speaker:cause he must have consciously not tried to place that idea
Speaker:in your mind.
Speaker:He let you do and pursue what naturally felt right for
Speaker:you, which I think is so honorable.
Speaker:Correct. That's why this worked.
Speaker:Like if there would have been pressure,
Speaker:you might not have ever wanted to do it.
Speaker:Exactly, yes.
Speaker:I think he was quite strategic in his.
Speaker:Did you guys ever have conversations about it?
Speaker:Not previously really,
Speaker:no. I never thought it wasn't an option,
Speaker:but I never considered it as really an option.
Speaker:It just didn't really come up and it was really his
Speaker:thing and I knew how much he worked and it was,
Speaker:I guess looking back it was always on the table,
Speaker:but again,
Speaker:it just was really never brought up.
Speaker:And I,
Speaker:I guess it was strategic.
Speaker:I think my dad really believed in supporting me.
Speaker:What end for me to really exploring what that might be.
Speaker:So giving me the tools,
Speaker:the resources,
Speaker:the support,
Speaker:but not really saying,
Speaker:Hey, what about this?
Speaker:He really wanted me to explore that at least through my
Speaker:education. And then after college is really when that's when the
Speaker:conversation came up.
Speaker:I see.
Speaker:Okay. So he laid out what this would look like and
Speaker:what was going through your mind at that point?
Speaker:I just have to say I kind of feel not in
Speaker:a weird way so,
Speaker:but I kind of feel like this is a similar version
Speaker:of asking for a hand in marriage with a different twist.
Speaker:Right? I mean it is,
Speaker:it's kind of this is the future,
Speaker:this is what it would be.
Speaker:Would you honor this?
Speaker:And we always joke fourth generation,
Speaker:no pressure,
Speaker:the first woman in the family,
Speaker:no pressure at all.
Speaker:So I was very hesitant.
Speaker:I was excited,
Speaker:but also did not think really that this was going to
Speaker:work out.
Speaker:And I still didn't think that this would be my future,
Speaker:but I did for the first time in my life want
Speaker:to honor the opportunity and explore it seriously instead of me
Speaker:just Dismissing it.
Speaker:And then having my dad and uncle sell the business and
Speaker:then later on in life saying what if.
Speaker:Right. That's what I wanted to avoid.
Speaker:For sure.
Speaker:For sure.
Speaker:So were you and mal married yet?
Speaker:We were engaged.
Speaker:Okay. So the plan was set there,
Speaker:but again,
Speaker:there was a lot going on that year.
Speaker:So we were engaged.
Speaker:We decided to come into the family business and give it
Speaker:a try.
Speaker:We said we would do it for a year.
Speaker:Mel and myself,
Speaker:we always knew we wanted to work together.
Speaker:That was something that we had met working at Sugarbush.
Speaker:We then were caretakers of this Island and we worked very
Speaker:well together.
Speaker:We both have very different strengths and together combined were pretty
Speaker:strong unit and so we knew we wanted to work together.
Speaker:That was very clear to us.
Speaker:We also managed a restaurant prior together for a season and
Speaker:that was definitely,
Speaker:we knew we wanted to work together,
Speaker:but we didn't know exactly what we were going to do
Speaker:and we felt pretty inspired by getting various jobs together,
Speaker:like the caretaking position,
Speaker:managing a restaurant.
Speaker:We were going to maybe go be deck hands on a
Speaker:boat and travel the world.
Speaker:Like we were young and very inspired and very much feeling
Speaker:like the world was our oyster and we could do anything.
Speaker:And then my dad kind of brought us back to reality
Speaker:and said,
Speaker:well, Hey,
Speaker:what about this?
Speaker:What about the family business?
Speaker:So that was a big switch for us.
Speaker:We were very much used to working outside,
Speaker:having quite a bit of flexibility with our schedule,
Speaker:having a seasonal change in our work.
Speaker:And so coming in to a full time position inside year
Speaker:round with the same crew was very different for us and
Speaker:was a little bit daunting.
Speaker:But we also valued the history and what this meant and
Speaker:realized that this could be an incredible opportunity for us.
Speaker:Okay. So both of you at the same time entered into
Speaker:the business and so how did your father start to integrate
Speaker:you in,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:everyone knew you obviously,
Speaker:and you were very familiar with the business from a certain
Speaker:perspective. Right?
Speaker:Right. I can definitely demold.
Speaker:I can pick,
Speaker:I can do all of the jobs of production very well.
Speaker:I was very confident in that and so we started in
Speaker:production. We were production workers,
Speaker:we were hired help.
Speaker:We were coming in at a very base level,
Speaker:like anyone else off the street would be brought in and
Speaker:learning the ropes.
Speaker:So I definitely had a hand up against Mel.
Speaker:He was coming in as the newbie.
Speaker:I knew a lot of the skills,
Speaker:a lot of the positions,
Speaker:but still not doing this as a summer intern or a
Speaker:summer employee.
Speaker:It was,
Speaker:we really want to learn your position,
Speaker:we want to learn your hardships,
Speaker:we want to know what's challenging about your job.
Speaker:And we also want to know what you love about it
Speaker:and really coming in really to learn the positions and with
Speaker:no other agenda other than that.
Speaker:So we were in production,
Speaker:we were working on the line,
Speaker:we were doing gift boxes,
Speaker:we were in the kitchen,
Speaker:we were in shipping.
Speaker:So we really got a handle and we learned,
Speaker:and this was really important to my dad and to my
Speaker:uncle and to us specifically most importantly to us,
Speaker:is to learn from each employee and to come in on
Speaker:an equal level and to really respect their job,
Speaker:their position,
Speaker:and have them teach us as they are the expert.
Speaker:They've been doing this position,
Speaker:some of them for 20 years.
Speaker:Right. So did they all know that the ultimate goal was
Speaker:that you guys were going to take over the business?
Speaker:It was never explained to them in that way,
Speaker:but I think They kind of probably speculated that that was
Speaker:what was happening Exactly.
Speaker:And I was afraid coming in as the boss's daughter and
Speaker:essentially my boyfriend or truly fiance at the time,
Speaker:we were worried about the perception and how people may treat
Speaker:us. And we were only met with open arms and extreme
Speaker:excitement and everyone took us in and really accepted us.
Speaker:And that was a huge,
Speaker:something that we weren't quite sure how people would react,
Speaker:but I think they understood that my dad and uncle were
Speaker:getting older,
Speaker:that this wasn't going to be forever and not knowing the
Speaker:future is very scary.
Speaker:If we sold what would happen and seeing the next generation
Speaker:come in,
Speaker:it was a positive wave.
Speaker:Their jobs were probably safe with you and Mel coming in
Speaker:versus if someone brand new took over the business or you
Speaker:got acquired by another brand.
Speaker:Right. That's scary and unknown and seeing a familiar face and
Speaker:knowing that the next generation was at least interested.
Speaker:I think that was kind of understood silently understood in a
Speaker:way. Right,
Speaker:but that is great that you were met with such a
Speaker:positive nature by everybody.
Speaker:I'm sure that's why we're still here.
Speaker:If it was met with a lot of people,
Speaker:a defense mechanism or resistance at all,
Speaker:then I think it would have been a lot more challenging
Speaker:to accept the position and wanting to move forward.
Speaker:But our job really did transition into learning from each employee
Speaker:and then saying,
Speaker:Hey, well what about if we did this?
Speaker:And Mel is very technical,
Speaker:he's really understands machinery.
Speaker:His background is in music but also an audio engineering.
Speaker:So he is an engineer at heart.
Speaker:And so he was able to implement different things with the
Speaker:machinery, with the computer systems that helped everyone out.
Speaker:And so he was automatically in,
Speaker:he was able to make people's jobs easier and more enjoyable.
Speaker:And so therefore that gained loyalty from the get go.
Speaker:So that was really important.
Speaker:Right. Well and that's just a good point and of itself,
Speaker:change can also be improvement,
Speaker:right? So things can get better,
Speaker:especially cause you guys were so shoulder to shoulder,
Speaker:really understanding what was going on and coming from a different
Speaker:perspective from your father who had been in it for so
Speaker:long. So that's great to hear.
Speaker:So how long were you doing this where you were really
Speaker:engaging and integrating into every single area before you started taking
Speaker:over? Seven?
Speaker:Say it was a few years.
Speaker:We had come in with the assumption of one year kind
Speaker:of trial period and that year flew by and we were
Speaker:all into the next.
Speaker:And then the third before we really even had a conversation
Speaker:with my dad and uncle,
Speaker:we weren't really great about keeping to our timeline and it
Speaker:was just with a business and with especially a family business
Speaker:things you wear so many hats and you really are pulled
Speaker:in so many different directions and we were very busy and
Speaker:the need was very much there.
Speaker:We didn't realize how our past and our experiences would be
Speaker:so helpful.
Speaker:And so there was just so much to take on and
Speaker:as you had just mentioned coming in with just a different
Speaker:perspective and we were able to make some changes and that
Speaker:just kind of snowballed and then we started taking over more
Speaker:responsibility. So it then kind of divided from Mel was really
Speaker:focused on the machinery side of things.
Speaker:The it side of things and I migrated more towards marketing,
Speaker:customer service and sales.
Speaker:So that's still remains kind of the divide.
Speaker:We didn't figure out how to really cleanly divide things until
Speaker:later on,
Speaker:which I'll talk about later.
Speaker:But that's how it naturally happened because those are more of
Speaker:our strengths and there was opportunity in both courts.
Speaker:So that was probably from 2010 to 2015 I would say
Speaker:a good five years where we were just learning and then
Speaker:starting to implement and taking everything in and really organically it
Speaker:all kind of fell into place.
Speaker:Okay. And at what point then along the way,
Speaker:so you said about three years in,
Speaker:you saw that,
Speaker:okay, we're going to take over like this plan is working,
Speaker:looks like it's all coming together.
Speaker:There's the whole element then of the books,
Speaker:right? The financials behind running the business and it doesn't sound,
Speaker:I don't know about Mel,
Speaker:but like you didn't have that background of,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:P and L's and all of that.
Speaker:So how did you tackle that?
Speaker:So We sat down with my dad and uncle and they
Speaker:walked us through it all.
Speaker:Mel is more inclined,
Speaker:he's had past experiences where he was dealing with books in
Speaker:different businesses.
Speaker:He actually owned his own business at one point he was
Speaker:a web designer.
Speaker:He's lived a lot of different lives truthfully.
Speaker:So we learned from them and then I took a business
Speaker:class so it was really through being thrown into it and
Speaker:then also I took a leadership course,
Speaker:I took a business course and that was for me what
Speaker:I needed to feel strong about taking over and that's when
Speaker:we really said to my dad and uncle,
Speaker:we're ready.
Speaker:And we were at that point established as I guess general
Speaker:managers. We were,
Speaker:we had an announcement with the crew probably three years in
Speaker:that we were officially now the general managers,
Speaker:if anyone had anything come to us,
Speaker:bill and Jeff are transitioning into their part time retirement and
Speaker:we are the people that you now directly report to.
Speaker:So we did that probably three years in and then we
Speaker:went to my dad and uncle and said,
Speaker:okay, we're doing this and we're committed,
Speaker:but we're not going to feel as satisfied being managers forever.
Speaker:We want to talk about ownership.
Speaker:Okay. I'm going to stop you here for a second because
Speaker:there's a point I want of all our listeners to catch
Speaker:from your story,
Speaker:Julia, a lot of time is the people that I'm talking
Speaker:to don't start something that they really,
Speaker:really in their heart want to do because they don't have
Speaker:the business background or they don't know anything.
Speaker:In your example about books,
Speaker:I want to reinforce an underline the fact that you got
Speaker:the information that you needed as you needed it and look
Speaker:at how successful you guys are today.
Speaker:Yes, we did not go to business school.
Speaker:We did not have a crash course even it was getting
Speaker:thrown into it and you figure it out and you have
Speaker:your resources and that's something that I can't kind of recommend
Speaker:highly enough is having a team and having people that you
Speaker:reach out to.
Speaker:I got really involved in the chamber of commerce,
Speaker:the business community,
Speaker:and reached out to people.
Speaker:I was asked to be on a board of other business
Speaker:owners. So we act as a board to each other.
Speaker:I ask questions,
Speaker:help me with this PNL.
Speaker:I'm not understanding this.
Speaker:And they would talk me through it.
Speaker:So I would say most people really who end up businesses,
Speaker:and maybe it's not most,
Speaker:but I would say a very high number really didn't go
Speaker:to business school.
Speaker:This wasn't the plan.
Speaker:They just were passionate about something,
Speaker:which I think probably a lot of your listeners are,
Speaker:they have their makers and have a product that they feel
Speaker:very strongly about.
Speaker:But it is,
Speaker:how do I make this into a business?
Speaker:There's so many variables,
Speaker:so many parts of it.
Speaker:But I think just continuing on,
Speaker:being loyal,
Speaker:being honest,
Speaker:paying your bills and learning and understanding that you're not supposed
Speaker:to know it all and you're not going to know it
Speaker:all. And that's okay.
Speaker:So Julia and Mel are ready to have the ownership conversation.
Speaker:We'll hear how that goes.
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Speaker:we kind of came to the Table with my dad and
Speaker:uncle and said,
Speaker:we're ready to take over and if you are not ready
Speaker:then we might want to talk about training some new managers
Speaker:and doing something else.
Speaker:And it wasn't a threat,
Speaker:it sounds like it was,
Speaker:but it wasn't.
Speaker:We were truly going to be okay either way with whatever
Speaker:decision they made,
Speaker:but it was just coming to that decision that this is
Speaker:the crossroad here.
Speaker:Do you want to retire and have us take over ownership?
Speaker:And if so,
Speaker:there's a whole years that it took us to figure out
Speaker:how to do that.
Speaker:And if you want to remain owners for five,
Speaker:10 however long your existence,
Speaker:that's wonderful.
Speaker:We support you.
Speaker:We understand we will be here until you find someone to
Speaker:essentially run your business.
Speaker:But if you want to remain owners,
Speaker:we'll train them and make sure you're comfortable and then we're
Speaker:going to go seek something else.
Speaker:So that was kind of the crossroads that we came to,
Speaker:the understanding that we do want to run our own company,
Speaker:whether it be burn or something else.
Speaker:So we did feel strongly about that.
Speaker:So you were ready to take ownership and plot the next
Speaker:direction, if you will.
Speaker:I guess I'm curious in surprise that there'd be a question
Speaker:when your dad was the one who initially approached you with
Speaker:it in the first place.
Speaker:Yes, it was.
Speaker:I understand why that might be a little surprising,
Speaker:but it's also something,
Speaker:this has been their life.
Speaker:This has been so when it came kind of closer to
Speaker:that call,
Speaker:it was kind of like,
Speaker:well, wait a second,
Speaker:I've built this,
Speaker:I've done this.
Speaker:And yes,
Speaker:they were also a generation,
Speaker:the next generation in their family,
Speaker:which was interesting and brought up a lot of emotion and
Speaker:seemingly felt like maybe they hadn't lived it.
Speaker:It was very convoluted,
Speaker:emotional, just a wild time for all of us.
Speaker:But as team kind of closer to that decision,
Speaker:it was harder for them.
Speaker:Well, I get it.
Speaker:It's a big step because it's also a big lifestyle change
Speaker:too. Absolutely.
Speaker:And my uncle never had children and this is absolutely his
Speaker:baby and he's a little bit younger than my father and
Speaker:it was harder for him to let go and it was
Speaker:a Big,
Speaker:big time.
Speaker:Yeah, and it really stirred up a lot.
Speaker:So we said,
Speaker:all right,
Speaker:if you're not ready and this isn't what you want.
Speaker:They kind of wanted to remain owners for a while and
Speaker:have us manage and that was something that we kind of
Speaker:said no to essentially,
Speaker:which wasn't easy and I don't know that I would have
Speaker:been so direct if it wasn't for Mel and I as
Speaker:a unit and coming and feeling very strong and like we
Speaker:had all of the skills to do this.
Speaker:It would have been I think a little bit different if
Speaker:it was just me,
Speaker:but we did feel strongly and we did come up to
Speaker:them with a plan and say,
Speaker:this is what we're thinking.
Speaker:Let's just throw something on the table because otherwise we're going
Speaker:to just keep spinning our wheels here because this is just
Speaker:a lot,
Speaker:right? In addition to running a business,
Speaker:how do we transition?
Speaker:How does this work?
Speaker:There are about 200 different ways to do that.
Speaker:Okay, so I'm on the edge of my seat.
Speaker:What happens next?
Speaker:So they decided,
Speaker:yes, I mean this is a dream.
Speaker:After many talks and walks and hikes and we met all
Speaker:over, we would meet outside,
Speaker:we would meet out for lunch,
Speaker:just the four of us and talk about how we wanted
Speaker:this to go down and how to do it best.
Speaker:And what we all came to the table with is that
Speaker:we want everyone to feel like this was the best decision
Speaker:for our individual families,
Speaker:for our family unit,
Speaker:as an extended family unit for our employees,
Speaker:for the health of the business.
Speaker:We wanted it all to work out and we didn't want
Speaker:anyone to feel taken advantage of.
Speaker:My dad and uncle have a great relationship,
Speaker:which is why it worked out for so many years together
Speaker:and essentially they chose each other,
Speaker:but they also are brothers and we came in and they
Speaker:of course didn't necessarily choose us in a way they did
Speaker:asking us,
Speaker:but it's that family dynamic that is very challenging.
Speaker:It's you don't choose your family and it's a blessing and
Speaker:a curse in the same aspect.
Speaker:And so working together it was challenging and having four of
Speaker:us at the top or as people who employees would go
Speaker:to, it was confusing and that was kind of how we
Speaker:came to the crossroad that I spoke of earlier of just
Speaker:we need to be more United and have a clear depiction
Speaker:of each of our roles because our employees are confused and
Speaker:they're going to ask Jeff for something that they know Jeff
Speaker:is going to say yes to and they're going to ask
Speaker:Julia for something.
Speaker:So they were almost,
Speaker:the employees were kind of taking that advantage,
Speaker:but they were playing us a little bit.
Speaker:As far as I know that this person's a little more
Speaker:lenient here and this person,
Speaker:and there were just too many of us and bill and
Speaker:Jeff were semi retired at the time,
Speaker:so they weren't here all the time.
Speaker:So it was really just clarity for the employees,
Speaker:clarity for our individual selves,
Speaker:and then also of course planning for the future.
Speaker:This is a really good point and I think this is
Speaker:what you were,
Speaker:that we were going to get Into later and that later
Speaker:is now.
Speaker:Right. So walk us through in a little more detail about
Speaker:this, because I think even for a small business,
Speaker:let's say you have three people working for you,
Speaker:it's really important to have an understanding of who has what
Speaker:primary functions.
Speaker:Right? Right.
Speaker:So as you were making this transition,
Speaker:so this is when you transitioned and took over ownership,
Speaker:we can leave out a few of the little nuances maybe.
Speaker:Right? But so how did you start to finding who was
Speaker:doing what and getting that all figured out and then announced
Speaker:to the staff?
Speaker:So at first,
Speaker:this was in 2016 I think we are now.
Speaker:So that's when we transitioned ownership and it was made very
Speaker:clear to the staff that Mel and myself were going to
Speaker:be the direct people.
Speaker:We didn't really tell them about the transition until I think
Speaker:the new year annual employee party and we made a big
Speaker:deal about it.
Speaker:We wanted to make sure everything went smoothly and make sure
Speaker:everyone on our end was happy.
Speaker:It was about a two year process,
Speaker:this transition and meeting with attorneys and meeting with our financial
Speaker:people and making sure everything was going to work out and
Speaker:everyone was feeling good about the business transaction I guess.
Speaker:And so once Mel and I were the new owners,
Speaker:we called off telling the employees for a little bit until
Speaker:we settled in and we were very much a team and
Speaker:we were tackling everything together.
Speaker:That was exhausting and it wasn't dividing and conquering our best
Speaker:way and people were coming to both of us.
Speaker:So it was double the time of explaining things and they
Speaker:would grab us and we would always be available.
Speaker:And we wanted to continue that,
Speaker:but we would then come up to our office or meet
Speaker:in the break room and say,
Speaker:okay, what about this?
Speaker:And they're like,
Speaker:Oh, I already heard of that.
Speaker:And so we just felt like we were spinning our wheels
Speaker:and not really diving in at the best.
Speaker:We weren't being as productive as we felt we could be.
Speaker:So we ended up just saying,
Speaker:we need to divide.
Speaker:We need to say,
Speaker:what are your strengths?
Speaker:What do you want to do?
Speaker:What are your passions here and where do you see yourself
Speaker:and kind of the positions that you would like to lead.
Speaker:And then we're going to explain that to our employees and
Speaker:say, okay,
Speaker:if you need to go to about HR,
Speaker:that's Julia.
Speaker:If it's about a machine,
Speaker:that's Mel,
Speaker:if it's about production,
Speaker:that's Mel.
Speaker:So really dividing our responsibilities was a huge kind of step
Speaker:in our ownership and management and realization that this is really
Speaker:how we're going to be our best here.
Speaker:I'm sure there was kind of a transition time then to
Speaker:where people would still come to you for things that were
Speaker:now mouths Absolutely still happens.
Speaker:And so you guys stood strong in your positions,
Speaker:right? And said,
Speaker:well, go to Julia for that,
Speaker:or go to Bella for this.
Speaker:Right. Our initial reaction is like,
Speaker:okay, I'll make a decision right here and that would happen.
Speaker:And then we would get together and say,
Speaker:well, I did do this.
Speaker:And so it was like,
Speaker:okay, we really have to understand that we have to stay
Speaker:strong and we have to stay in our lane in a
Speaker:way and say,
Speaker:this is really you,
Speaker:and we can of course talk and collaborate and that's what
Speaker:we're here for.
Speaker:But that was really important for us and for our employees
Speaker:Or else you would've just gone back to the old way.
Speaker:It was exactly.
Speaker:Okay. So let's fast forward now to today.
Speaker:Let's talk about how fabulous the business is.
Speaker:I have to say your truffles are so artistic and gorgeous
Speaker:and of course tasty too.
Speaker:Well, good.
Speaker:Yes, that's the most important part and well,
Speaker:it's also the attractiveness.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:they are so beautiful.
Speaker:It just attracts you to them right away,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:when I see them on displays,
Speaker:at shows,
Speaker:et cetera.
Speaker:So share with us a little bit,
Speaker:if you were to represent burns chocolates of Vermont to someone
Speaker:for the first time,
Speaker:what would you say about the product?
Speaker:Well, thank you so much.
Speaker:First of all,
Speaker:I would say that our business has transitioned over the years
Speaker:and so in 1991 we became exclusive chocolate truffle manufacturers.
Speaker:So everything we make is a truffle and that was really
Speaker:important to our business.
Speaker:My dad and uncle were very strategic with that because they
Speaker:wanted to create the best truffles out there.
Speaker:We have one focus,
Speaker:it's on truffles where a hundred percent wholesale,
Speaker:a hundred percent truffles.
Speaker:We came up with a slogan saying,
Speaker:we are the people who make truffles for the people who
Speaker:sell truffles to the people who love truffles.
Speaker:And our truffles are made with Vermont fresh,
Speaker:heavy cream.
Speaker:They're hand decorated.
Speaker:We make them fresh every day.
Speaker:What differentiates us from others in the truffle industry.
Speaker:We shipped same day.
Speaker:Our product is always shipped fresh.
Speaker:We have over 150 varieties of truffles.
Speaker:It is everything we do here.
Speaker:So that's our business in a nutshell,
Speaker:and everything is focused on the truffles and the quality and
Speaker:getting them out as quickly as we can.
Speaker:Okay, so I have to say,
Speaker:you've just done me a huge service because I'm going to
Speaker:send people to this section of the clip over and over
Speaker:and over again,
Speaker:because when I'm coaching people,
Speaker:especially people who are starting out,
Speaker:they want to do all the things,
Speaker:right? Right?
Speaker:Let's stay within the chocolate making business.
Speaker:Okay? So they're going to want to do truffles and they're
Speaker:going to want to do fudge and this,
Speaker:that and everything,
Speaker:because the thinking is that if they don't,
Speaker:they're going to limit their audience.
Speaker:So you did a couple of things here.
Speaker:It's only going to be truffles and it's also only going
Speaker:to be wholesale.
Speaker:Now, I know that the company was still under your father
Speaker:and uncles control at that time,
Speaker:but what's the thinking about?
Speaker:Limiting yourself in that way.
Speaker:And is it a limit?
Speaker:So you're talking to my audience now and you're telling them
Speaker:the truth,
Speaker:right? I do.
Speaker:I absolutely Understand exactly what you just laid out.
Speaker:And that is the thinking of most people.
Speaker:It's we want to have the biggest variety and we want
Speaker:to reach the most people.
Speaker:But what we've found is exactly the opposite of that.
Speaker:And so really having an exclusive focus has made us be
Speaker:as efficient as possible.
Speaker:So with efficiency,
Speaker:we are able to crank out a high quality product at
Speaker:a very fair price.
Speaker:So everything is about efficiencies.
Speaker:We have taken our one product,
Speaker:we have 150 varieties,
Speaker:so it's not like we have just the one truffle.
Speaker:We've created the variety in the one mold.
Speaker:So we're using the same mold.
Speaker:Essentially. We have three different molds,
Speaker:different sizes,
Speaker:different shapes,
Speaker:but it's the same recipe.
Speaker:So we're giving a variety,
Speaker:but within these guidelines of,
Speaker:it's the same recipe.
Speaker:So there we have the same raw ingredients,
Speaker:so we're able to buy in bulk.
Speaker:We're able to have volume discounts because we're buying the same
Speaker:ingredients for all of our offerings.
Speaker:We have the same boxes,
Speaker:we have the same trays,
Speaker:so everything is about efficiency across the board.
Speaker:We have one shipping container,
Speaker:we have one shipping box,
Speaker:so everything thinking about that really limiting the variety is really
Speaker:going to help you stay focused,
Speaker:help bring your price point down and force you to become
Speaker:the best at what you're doing.
Speaker:Right. The best,
Speaker:and I will add to that,
Speaker:then you are seen as the specialist.
Speaker:I mean you are the specialist in truffles because that's what
Speaker:you do and what we tell people is we have no
Speaker:other distractions.
Speaker:We do not have a retail store.
Speaker:We do not do turtles,
Speaker:we don't do lollipops.
Speaker:Everything else,
Speaker:it's a hundred percent truffles.
Speaker:Our customers are other candy store owners.
Speaker:They do make a lot of the other confections,
Speaker:so they're making all of the varieties that their customers are
Speaker:asking for and they're buying our truffles because we can guarantee
Speaker:that we're going to get them our truffles that cheaper than
Speaker:they can make them because truffles are a very time consuming,
Speaker:intricate process when you're making them by hand.
Speaker:We've invested in the machinery from Switzerland to help us be
Speaker:efficient at producing truffles and giving a consistent product and having
Speaker:that be carried out for years and we're using a hundred
Speaker:year old recipes from my great grandfather,
Speaker:so it's tried and true.
Speaker:Of course,
Speaker:we're always looking at ways to make it better ingredients to
Speaker:make it cleaner,
Speaker:more delicious,
Speaker:but we're using the same chocolate.
Speaker:We're using the same essentially the same recipe as we always
Speaker:have been and we're just working on customer service is another
Speaker:thing to differentiate yourself and that's a huge focus for us
Speaker:as well.
Speaker:So it's truffles and customer service.
Speaker:I would say our two main focuses for the business.
Speaker:I'm thinking the efficiency also follows through in customer acquisition,
Speaker:right? You're only going after people who have a cellar or
Speaker:truffles, the wholesale market.
Speaker:Right. So you're dividing your attention There either.
Speaker:Right. And we get a lot of people come to us
Speaker:and ask us to be at this wine show or something,
Speaker:and it's like,
Speaker:who's walking the show?
Speaker:Is it consumers?
Speaker:And they're like,
Speaker:yeah. And it's like,
Speaker:that's not our audience.
Speaker:It's a hundred percent retailers or distributors or shop owners.
Speaker:So it's very focused where as wholesalers also were able to
Speaker:shut down on weekends,
Speaker:were able to shut down at nighttime.
Speaker:So it's a better quality of life.
Speaker:And that was really a big part of the motivation was
Speaker:quality of life,
Speaker:moving to Vermont,
Speaker:closer to the dairy cows,
Speaker:also skiing,
Speaker:also outdoors.
Speaker:So it's always been quality of life and also quality of
Speaker:product and really having that balance.
Speaker:And that's really when we're going to be our best selves.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I often say,
Speaker:find your lane and then stay in it.
Speaker:Right? Right.
Speaker:Yes. So your lane was taking into account a number of
Speaker:things. Obviously the family business,
Speaker:all the things you just said,
Speaker:lifestyle, all of it.
Speaker:Right, but there is always the tendency to kind of jump
Speaker:over and take that in and okay,
Speaker:well we'll just do that one sale.
Speaker:Yeah, that one craft show or that one.
Speaker:Do you find that a challenge or are you guys so
Speaker:clear cut and focused,
Speaker:you've got this down or do you ever think about drifting?
Speaker:When we came in,
Speaker:when we transitioned ownership,
Speaker:we sent out a market research survey to all of our
Speaker:existing customers and we said,
Speaker:what do you guys want?
Speaker:We're here to listen.
Speaker:We will do boxed truffles if you want.
Speaker:We ask them,
Speaker:do you want us to expand?
Speaker:Do you want us to do other things other than truffles?
Speaker:We want to hear from you.
Speaker:What do you want Byrne to provide you that we're not
Speaker:doing currently and what was really important about that survey or
Speaker:we felt that the feedback was going to be so important
Speaker:to us that we put a lot of energy and we
Speaker:had a budget for it and everyone that filled out that
Speaker:survey that responded to us,
Speaker:they were given free shipping on a case of chocolate,
Speaker:their next order on one case.
Speaker:So it was so important to us to get that feedback
Speaker:from them that that's what we gave them.
Speaker:So we had a really,
Speaker:really high return rate for that survey and almost unanimously it
Speaker:said, keep doing what you're doing.
Speaker:Do not stray.
Speaker:We have seen people do this and it does not go
Speaker:well. They told us that we're the last people they call
Speaker:a suppliers.
Speaker:They said,
Speaker:because we will ship it the same day.
Speaker:They're like,
Speaker:we don't have to worry about you.
Speaker:It's consistent.
Speaker:We know what we're going to get.
Speaker:Please don't change a thing.
Speaker:And we almost worried them,
Speaker:right? Because they said,
Speaker:Oh, you're the new owners.
Speaker:They're all excited and we don't want them to get too
Speaker:off track.
Speaker:And so that really reigned us in and said,
Speaker:okay, how can we better exactly what we're doing?
Speaker:And so we really focused on that and made some internal
Speaker:changes as we always do to just be more efficient,
Speaker:be more eco-friendly,
Speaker:which is a focus that we're absolutely in the future and
Speaker:now and kind of going on from there.
Speaker:Right. So a company could have said,
Speaker:okay, no changes,
Speaker:status quo,
Speaker:things are going to go as they are,
Speaker:but you're not.
Speaker:You're continuing to perfect not changing the product and all the
Speaker:care abouts from your customers,
Speaker:but always seeing how you can improve,
Speaker:which is perfect.
Speaker:Thank you for sharing that cause that's so important.
Speaker:So let's bring a little further dose of reality into this
Speaker:when we're still here.
Speaker:Something that didn't go the way you want it.
Speaker:Some challenging moment.
Speaker:Oh, let's see.
Speaker:There are many.
Speaker:Give me the best one.
Speaker:Okay. So we had a big issue with supplier a few
Speaker:years ago where they didn't have one of our main ingredients.
Speaker:It was just not available.
Speaker:They were taken over by a larger company and the manufacturing
Speaker:process was bottlenecked and they were out of our product.
Speaker:It is our main ingredient.
Speaker:And my uncle always said,
Speaker:you're only as good as your source of supply.
Speaker:And our source of supply was dry essentially.
Speaker:So we had to use,
Speaker:and again,
Speaker:a huge part of being successful in business I think is
Speaker:networking and building that community within your industry.
Speaker:And we reached out to everyone we knew and we said,
Speaker:Hey, can you make this for us?
Speaker:Do we need this flavor match?
Speaker:We need this product from another manufacturer.
Speaker:And that was absolutely our hardest challenge.
Speaker:Hands down.
Speaker:It was a scary time,
Speaker:but we worked through it.
Speaker:We never were out of product.
Speaker:It was very,
Speaker:very close.
Speaker:But we knew that with blending and with flavor matching and
Speaker:really focusing on consistently providing that customer service that we were
Speaker:going to be able to work through this and using the
Speaker:resources that we had to get a product out there that
Speaker:was absolutely matched the quality that we've always provided.
Speaker:But that was something that was by far our biggest challenge.
Speaker:Oh, I'm sure.
Speaker:When you say it was your major ingredient,
Speaker:for sure.
Speaker:Yes. Did the savior of the day retain the business?
Speaker:Is that who you're using now to?
Speaker:Absolutely. We've also buy from the other people too.
Speaker:So it's again,
Speaker:not having all of our eggs in one basket and learning
Speaker:that the hard way and having accounts with multiple vendors and
Speaker:having a relationship,
Speaker:a meaningful relationship with them,
Speaker:understanding that corporation can come in and it's by the numbers
Speaker:and basically our ingredient was not one of the top numbers,
Speaker:so it wasn't put on the priority of production.
Speaker:So definitely knowing that and knowing that something could happen,
Speaker:chocolate's a commodity.
Speaker:So there's a lot of variables that can affect your business
Speaker:and always saying you're only as good as your source of
Speaker:supply if you're creating something but you're not able to get
Speaker:the raw ingredients,
Speaker:you have no product.
Speaker:So never letting that go or even close to,
Speaker:but also having potentially multiple vendors or multiple sources is definitely
Speaker:was a lesson learned for us and a really good lesson
Speaker:for all of us here too as well.
Speaker:Okay. So something else I want to touch on that we
Speaker:talked about briefly in our pre chat and I also noticed
Speaker:as you were sending me the information as we were preparing
Speaker:to be able to sit down and talk today,
Speaker:is your presence on social media?
Speaker:Yes. You didn't find us,
Speaker:did you?
Speaker:I know.
Speaker:So yes.
Speaker:This is an interesting thing for us.
Speaker:It's when we took over,
Speaker:people thought that we would be all over social media.
Speaker:Maybe my dad and uncle weren't quite as familiar with it
Speaker:was the thought and we've heard that feedback from our customers,
Speaker:but we were really hesitant to be on social media because
Speaker:we are very much the manufacturers and kind of the white
Speaker:label behind the product.
Speaker:So our brand is not marketed in the consumer world.
Speaker:We are marketing to retailers,
Speaker:but consumers don't know the burn name.
Speaker:Even here in Vermont,
Speaker:we do a ton of donations.
Speaker:As you can imagine,
Speaker:as a chocolate company,
Speaker:people do find us,
Speaker:but they don't know our brand from the marketplace.
Speaker:They see us as a manufacturer in the community.
Speaker:So it's been a strategic move to not be on social
Speaker:media because we're really wanting our customers to navigate that.
Speaker:Many of our customers in the past have used our truffles
Speaker:and branded them as their own.
Speaker:And I would say that was the majority.
Speaker:But right now what we're seeing is a shift and we're
Speaker:seeing more people,
Speaker:I think due to social media,
Speaker:people are being more transparent.
Speaker:They want to show their customers their true selves,
Speaker:what they do and what they make,
Speaker:and then also tell stories of the things that they're not
Speaker:making, that they're bringing in and being proud of that product,
Speaker:even if they don't make it thing.
Speaker:If I did make this,
Speaker:it would be twice the amount.
Speaker:Here's a high quality product that we're getting.
Speaker:And this business has a really cool story and I'm excited
Speaker:to tell you.
Speaker:I've met them at a trade show.
Speaker:I know the owners.
Speaker:So we're seeing that shift.
Speaker:And so I am dabbling and looking into potentially starting our
Speaker:social media accounts,
Speaker:but also very apprehensive about it because it's something that we
Speaker:would be starting from the ground up.
Speaker:And it's right now we don't have to manage that.
Speaker:That is something that is not on our radar.
Speaker:And so going into that,
Speaker:I am very apprehensive about opening kind of Pandora's box there.
Speaker:But I do think it's important.
Speaker:I do understand why so many people use it,
Speaker:especially when you're going direct to consumers.
Speaker:But still we are people,
Speaker:we are dealing with people,
Speaker:our customers are people and they want to know us and
Speaker:they want to see behind the scenes and so I do
Speaker:appreciate that and understand that and so I am thinking more
Speaker:about it and these Instagram,
Speaker:Facebook and just giving a little bit more behind the scenes
Speaker:as we see things shift.
Speaker:I think you're wise in having a strategy before you jump
Speaker:forward because I mean it is a whole nother animal For
Speaker:sure and that's why we've stayed on this side of things.
Speaker:But it is funny when people come for a tour or
Speaker:people visit and they post something and we're not able to
Speaker:be properly tagged and we've run into that before or people
Speaker:have been looking for an Instagram.
Speaker:We have beautiful product.
Speaker:So it is something that I think we have a bunch
Speaker:of beautiful photos and photography of our product and it'd be
Speaker:great to be able to share that on an easy platform
Speaker:like Instagram,
Speaker:but it's again,
Speaker:just another thing,
Speaker:The reason behind why you would do it makes a lot
Speaker:of sense.
Speaker:And I liked the fact that you're treading slowly,
Speaker:like I said before,
Speaker:making a strategy and really being very intentional about what your
Speaker:move will be.
Speaker:And I think for our listeners,
Speaker:the point here is you guys are such a successful business
Speaker:and some of us now think social media because let's face
Speaker:it, it's not new anymore,
Speaker:but it's still newer compared to print or TV and more
Speaker:reasonably priced.
Speaker:Although that's changing too.
Speaker:But it seems like the obvious way you should be marketing
Speaker:your business and it's not necessarily what everybody needs to do,
Speaker:particularly to the full blown level.
Speaker:Like you don't have to be on all the platforms.
Speaker:Each platform is different,
Speaker:it has a different nature,
Speaker:et cetera.
Speaker:And to do single platform well with intent.
Speaker:Like you just heard about Julia saying,
Speaker:well here are the reasons why we're thinking maybe we do
Speaker:want to start and I'm thinking it'll be really interesting to
Speaker:watch your progression when you do.
Speaker:I don't think it's,
Speaker:if you do,
Speaker:I think it would probably be when you do,
Speaker:but you're starting now from a clean slate where the social
Speaker:media groundwork has already been established.
Speaker:Like there's super solid platforms out there,
Speaker:you're talking Instagram,
Speaker:Facebook, et cetera.
Speaker:It'll be really interesting to watch how you approach this.
Speaker:Yes, and I do agree that it is most likely when
Speaker:and not if,
Speaker:and that's what we're currently working on.
Speaker:A few things and exactly want to do it with intent
Speaker:and so we want it to have purpose other than just
Speaker:us posting photos of what we're doing.
Speaker:We want it to,
Speaker:what do our customers want,
Speaker:why are we doing this?
Speaker:And so it has to have intent.
Speaker:We have to be strategic about it.
Speaker:Overall, as a business,
Speaker:we are quite conservative and we do make decisions based on
Speaker:a lot of background strategic planning.
Speaker:So again,
Speaker:another part of that part of the mix there.
Speaker:It's a biggie for sure.
Speaker:Yes, for sure.
Speaker:Okay. Any advice for somebody who's listening to us today?
Speaker:Thinking of starting a business,
Speaker:not picking up from a family business,
Speaker:so starting fresh and in a way you Guys had a
Speaker:little bit of the goodness of both because you already knew
Speaker:what your product was going to be.
Speaker:There were systems in place,
Speaker:but you were analyzing and willing to make changes and adjustments
Speaker:based on what you thought should move forward to,
Speaker:but any advice for someone who's about to get started but
Speaker:just can't get themselves to put their foot over that starting
Speaker:line? Sure.
Speaker:I would say a few things.
Speaker:So networking is huge and I have that as something that
Speaker:helps me in life in general,
Speaker:having my network of friends,
Speaker:but in business it's even more valuable in a way.
Speaker:So reaching out to the chamber of commerce saying,
Speaker:this is what I'm thinking,
Speaker:who should I be talking with?
Speaker:We do work with the refugee resettlement program.
Speaker:That's where we've retained a lot of our employees over the
Speaker:years. So it's really talking to community and asking what resources
Speaker:do we have?
Speaker:I think people will be surprised at what is probably already
Speaker:in place.
Speaker:We also have incredible business classes locally through our colleges,
Speaker:through different state and federal funded programs where I've taken multiple
Speaker:business classes,
Speaker:leadership classes,
Speaker:and just really delving in,
Speaker:learning from each other,
Speaker:being open and honest and asking all the questions you can
Speaker:and then,
Speaker:and doing it and jumping in and saying,
Speaker:I can do this and understand there will be failure before
Speaker:success and to not give up.
Speaker:And so not throw all your money into it all at
Speaker:once. I would say start small,
Speaker:but also investing in the future is a big part of
Speaker:that. So getting the machinery to be more efficient has been
Speaker:a big step.
Speaker:And a big part of our success is always having those
Speaker:big dreams but doing it in small chunks.
Speaker:But I would definitely say getting involved,
Speaker:networking and just staying positive.
Speaker:Perfect. Love it.
Speaker:So what do you see for the future for you?
Speaker:So I would say our goals,
Speaker:our dreams,
Speaker:in a way it feels like our dreams have already come
Speaker:true. We're living it.
Speaker:We've done the transition.
Speaker:We have a healthy business,
Speaker:but I would love to see continuous and healthy,
Speaker:sustainable growth for our company.
Speaker:We are not trying to quadruple in size and become this
Speaker:monster. We're really happy with the size of our company.
Speaker:Obviously we'll need growth to be sustainable,
Speaker:but we want it to be healthy growth and we don't
Speaker:want to have three shifts and triple the employees.
Speaker:We have a really healthy kind of ecosystem right now,
Speaker:but we want to create and continue to create an enjoyable
Speaker:space for our employees.
Speaker:I would say we would love to be,
Speaker:if we're talking goals net zero energy chocolate factory,
Speaker:that would be really cool.
Speaker:We just installed a huge solar system on our roof this
Speaker:past summer,
Speaker:so we're just starting to see,
Speaker:these have been the darkest months in Vermont,
Speaker:obviously these past few months.
Speaker:So we're already starting to see more sunshine coming and we're
Speaker:getting a return on that energy,
Speaker:which is really exciting.
Speaker:So I think that's what we're looking for in the future.
Speaker:Just continue the trajectory and hoping people still eat chocolate when
Speaker:they're happy or sad.
Speaker:Yeah, continuing to just focus on being the best truffle manufacturers
Speaker:out there.
Speaker:I love it and I don't think you need to have
Speaker:any concerns about people not still loving chocolate.
Speaker:I think you're good there.
Speaker:Yeah, I agree.
Speaker:Well Julia,
Speaker:thank you so much.
Speaker:I've loved hearing your story.
Speaker:It's so interesting that unique and different just because of the
Speaker:four generations and how the transition was made.
Speaker:Your father in particular must be so proud of you and
Speaker:just how you've taken this on what you're doing for the
Speaker:future. Does he still play a little bit of a role?
Speaker:Is he allowed to come in and have chocolate?
Speaker:Let me ask that.
Speaker:Yes. Free chocolate for life was absolutely in our contract for
Speaker:both my dad and uncle that was Hands down.
Speaker:That was something that I came up with and said,
Speaker:of course.
Speaker:And yes,
Speaker:they come in,
Speaker:they come in and say hello to our employees.
Speaker:They come in really for chocolate,
Speaker:for dinner parties and for,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:yeah, I mean do they have to come in and kind
Speaker:of check in and they are officially our consultants so they
Speaker:do have to answer their phone whenever we call them,
Speaker:wherever they may be in this world.
Speaker:And we're really excited and I'm very satisfied and feel grateful
Speaker:for the opportunity and that they're really having enjoying their retirement.
Speaker:They were able to retire at a time where they're very
Speaker:able bodied and they're traveling and enjoying themselves very much.
Speaker:And so that's really rewarding for me to see that.
Speaker:Beautiful. Well you know I equate chocolate with smiles and that's
Speaker:exactly what you're sharing with us.
Speaker:A business full of smiles.
Speaker:Thank you so much.
Speaker:I really appreciate your taking the time to talk with us
Speaker:today. Thank you so much Sue for having me and I
Speaker:hope you have a wonderful day and I hope to see
Speaker:you again soon.
Speaker:Yes, for sure.
Speaker:We will.
Speaker:I saw in the prophet a few weeks ago that a
Speaker:third generation business has a 90% failure rate.
Speaker:Well burn is definitely not one of them.
Speaker:They're going stronger than ever and it's because of the solid
Speaker:business measures Julia and Mel learned from their predecessors and what
Speaker:they're putting in place today.
Speaker:This is definitely a business to model when it comes to
Speaker:strategy next week we're bringing back a past guest who has
Speaker:new information for us.
Speaker:I'm happy to say it's a topic you've been asking to
Speaker:hear more about.
Speaker:Fair, so Mark your calendars or subscribed to the podcast if
Speaker:you haven't already and I'll catch you again next week and
Speaker:until then be well,
Speaker:I want to make sure you're familiar with my free Facebook
Speaker:group called gift is.
Speaker:It's a place where we all gather and our community to
Speaker:support each other.
Speaker:Got a really fun post in there.
Speaker:That's my favorite of the week I have to say where
Speaker:I invite all of you to share what you're doing,
Speaker:to show pictures of your product,
Speaker:to show what you're working on for the week,
Speaker:to get reaction from other people and just for fun because
Speaker:we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody in
Speaker:the community is making.
Speaker:My favorite posts every single week without doubt.
Speaker:Wait, what aren't you part of the group already?
Speaker:If not,
Speaker:make sure to jump over to Facebook and search for the
Speaker:group gift biz breeze.
Speaker:Don't delay.