November 28, 2022 • 21 mins
📌 HEADS UP! THIS IS AN ARCHIVED EPISODE OF SUBSCRIPTION BOX BASICS. SOME OF THE OFFERS & LINKS MAY NO LONGER BE AVAILABLE.
As you know by now, personal development is our jam at Sub Box Basics. We built an entire subscription box business around it. There’s so much to learn from other entrepreneurs, especially those that pepper FUN in the game!
In today’s episode, Julie interviews Candace Nelson, founder of Sprinkles Cupcakes, judge of Cupcake Wars and author of Sweet Success: A Simple Recipe to Turn your Passion into Profit. (which just came out Nov 8th!)
Candace Nelson is a serial entrepreneur, a New York Times bestselling author, Wall Street Journal contributor and an expert in turning one’s passion into a profitable business. Her book, Sweet Success: A Simple Recipe For Turning Your Passion Into Profit will be published by HarperCollins Leadership in November 2022. Candace Nelson revolutionized the baking industry when she left a career in finance to start Sprinkles, the world's first cupcake bakery and Cupcake ATM. Nelson followed with the launch of Pizzana, a growing chain of Michelin Bib Gourmand-awarded pizzerias leading the third wave of pizza in the US. She continues to expand her portfolio of investments with CN2 Ventures and lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two sons, and Norwich terrier, Willy.
LINKS
- Get Candace’s book, Sweet Success, at https://amzn.to/3F2qifXv (affiliate link)
- Learn more about Candace Nelson at https://candace-nelson.com
- https://www.instagram.com/candacenelsonÂ
- https://twitter.com/candacenelsonÂ
- https://www.tiktok.com/@candacenelson
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Julie (00:22):
hey everybody, a welcome back to Subscription Box Basics.
I'm Julie Ball and you guys knowpersonal development is my jam.
I mean, I built an entiresubscription box around personal
development.
I especially love learning fromother entrepreneurs.
So when my guest today popped inmy inbox, you can imagine my
(00:44):
excitement.
So.
Please let me introduce you toCandace Nelson.
She is a wildly successfulserial entrepreneur, a New York
Times bestselling author, TVpersonality, cupcake wars,
anyone.
She's a wife, a mom, and anexpert turning one's passion
into a profitable business.
(01:04):
And if you're watching thevideo, I have her new book right
here.
It's called Sweet Success, ASimple Recipe.
For turning your passion intoprofit.
It's out now and if you listento the end of this episode, you
actually might get your hands onthis copy that I have in my
hands.
So Candice, welcome so much tothe podcast.
Candace (01:26):
Thank you for having me, and congrats on the business
you have built and the communityyou've built is very impressive.
Julie (01:33):
Oh, thank you so much.
I am so excited to dive in.
We have a lot to talk about andfor those of you haven't met,
Candace, she is most known forfounding Sprinkles Cupcakes,
which is the world's firstcupcake bakery and the brilliant
Cupcake atm.
If you don't know what it is, golook it up right now.
(01:53):
I love it.
My daughter and I experienced itfor the first time when we were
visiting Disney Springs.
And what's cool about Candaceand her book is she has some
really scrappy early days, and Iknow so many of you guys can
appreciate that because thatmight be where you're at right
now.
So, Candace, tell us a littlebit about how you got started.
(02:13):
You didn't have an mba, right?
You didn't like.
This started in your apartment?
Candace (02:18):
So I like to say in building Sprinkles, I did get my
mba, I got my cupcake mba, Nice.
I had been on this path where Iwas really on this trajectory to
get my mba, you know, a trueone.
and.
A couple of things happened.
First of all, I was working inthe technology world during
(02:39):
the.com boom, and then the.combust happened and I was out of a
job, and then nine 11 happened,and all of a sudden I was faced
with this reality that, thatthings are fleeting and I
decided I wanted to do somethingI was passionate about something
that was more joyful thancrunching numbers, which is what
I had been doing before.
(03:02):
And so I decided to take aserious pivot and instead of
going to business school, I wentto pastry school.
Love it.
And I came up with this idea forelevating the lowly cupcake.
You know, this great nostalgictreat that we all love in this
country.
But that back in the day reallywas relegated to the supermarket
(03:22):
bakery.
And I had this aha moment as Iwas walking through the
supermarket one day, seeing allthese cupcakes that were stacked
up and plastic clam shells andyou know, that kind of gross
shortening laden frosting.
Yeah.
And the tacky cupcake picks.
And I just thought, golly, thecupcake needs a makeover.
And so I said about to reinventthe cup.
(03:45):
And it certainly started verygrassroots.
I mean, I was baking cupcakesout of my apartment.
I was pushing them on myfriends, and when I say pushing
them, I mean, I would show up atevery gathering with these
cupcakes and people werescratching their head like,
Okay, everyone be really nice toCandace.
She's obviously lost it.
She left a lucrative career andshe just shows up everywhere
(04:08):
with these darn cupcakes.
It's not even a birthday party,but they would, pity order them
from me.
And those first humble steps,they just seem so insignificant
and sometimes it just takes solong.
You're thinking to yourselflike, is anything ever gonna
happen?
I persisted and sure enough whathappened was first my friends
(04:32):
were ordering.
Then I started getting callsfrom friends of their friends
who had my cupcakes at a party.
And then not that long after Istarted getting calls from
people who I didn't know and whoI couldn't trace how they'd
found my number, and I thought,I might be onto something.
I had always had this feelingthat I was onto something in my
(04:54):
gut, but everyone around me wastelling me that it was a
terrible idea.
It happened to be the height ofthe low carb craze.
I was trying to sell theseluxury cupcakes for$3 when
people were used to spending 75cents.
So there're all these cardsstacked against me and I just
kept at it.
I was persistent, and eventuallyI started to get a little sense
(05:15):
that I was onto something.
I started to get that tractionand that was everything for me.
And it's so
Julie (05:22):
interesting too, because you were in LA at the time,
right?
Candace (05:24):
Yes, and I still am.
And yes, the Okay.
Yes.
This started in LA in BeverlyHills.
Nobody's known for eatingcupcakes here.
Everybody drink green juice.
Everybody drinks green juice.
By the way, when I first arrivedhere, I think it's really
important to go through lifewith open eyes.
right?
Not just buy into the thingsthat people are telling you
because everybody said nobody inLA Eats carbs.
(05:46):
But as I was driving around, cuzI had freshly moved from San
Francisco where I was working intechnology and I saw so many
burger joints and so many donutshops and I was like, wait a
second, there's gotta be somepeople around here who are
eating carbs.
Otherwise, there wouldn't bethese places in every strip
center.
Julie (06:05):
I love that you said how shocked you were when someone
ordered that you didn't know,because as a business owner,
there's something so specialabout that.
I remember when I was justlaunching my subscription box
business, sparkle Hustle Grow,when I first got an order of a
name that I didn't recognize.
I was like, hallelujah.
(06:26):
Someone who doesn't know mebought my product and it's so
validating.
Don't you think?
Candace (06:32):
It's so exciting?
Yeah.
You're like, wow, I'm really inbusiness now.
These aren't just my friends whofeel sorry for me.
Exactly.
Julie (06:43):
It's not a pity by Exactly.
So you tell a lot of your story.
In the book.
So I encourage our listeners toread deeper into that story.
But I wanna talk a little bitmore about the book right now.
So what inspired you to bring itto pen and paper and before you
go into it, I love.
The formatting of this book.
Guys, if you're watching thevideo, this is a beautiful book.
(07:06):
It's hard cover, but it's gotsome color in it and everything
in here you relate back to yourindustry of baking, and I just
think that's such a unique twiston a personal development book.
So tell us what
Candace (07:18):
inspired it.
Thank you so much for those kindwords.
First of all, I do wanna saythat sweet success is definitely
business book, but it issoftened with this idea of
sharing my personal stories andI don't want it to be too
serious of a read.
I want entrepreneurship to feelmore accessible.
(07:39):
And I wanna break down thebarriers to entrepreneurship
because so often we see in themedia these larger than life
characters, who are raisinghundreds of millions of dollars
and they're sending Rocketshipsto the moon.
And it's like, noentrepreneurship can simple.
It's on a spectrum, and I builta really big business out of
something anyone could do.
So I want people to feel likethey can do it too.
(08:01):
Because I was the most unlikelyentrepreneur.
I was raised to just, go toschool and follow a career.
My dad was a corporate lawyer.
He was totally risk averse.
And so the idea of, peppering infun pop culture stories, which
were so much a part of SprinklesHistory.
Yeah.
And the idea of sharing all mymistakes, all the learnings from
(08:23):
along the way and peppering itwith these illustrations to make
it more fun, to make it moreaccessible was really important
to me.
So thank you for mentioningthat.
Julie (08:31):
I love that you do talk about things that you have
learned the hard.
And I love that you talk aboutjoy.
We always, in my business, we'vealways measured like the joy of
doing business.
And that doesn't mean you haveto create this huge business.
Maybe you, I always call it thesweet spot, like what works for
(08:52):
you in this season right now foryou and your family?
So I love that you do touch onthat stuff and you encourage
along the way through all of theups and downs of your.
Candace (09:02):
It's so important not to forget the joy in anything
you're doing.
And to your point about there'sdifferent seasons in life and
some may feel really hard andgrueling, but at the end of the
day, like gotta pick your headup and remember what you're
doing it for, you know?
And if you are.
On this journey and you're notenjoying any of it, no matter
(09:23):
how hard it can be at times,like what is the point?
Lift your cut up and patyourself on the back for
stepping outside your comfortzone and try to find a little
bit of joy and lightness in theexperience.
So thank you for that.
And so sweet success is reallyabout my journey, bootstrapping,
building, scaling, andultimately selling a significant
(09:44):
stake in the business.
And when I did step away, Ifound that a lot of women,
female founders, aspiringfounders were coming to me for
advice.
They wanted mentorship.
And I loved doing that.
I loved being at a place in mycareer where I had something to
share and some lessons to share.
But I wanted to do more of thatat scale.
(10:04):
And so it's hard, you know, Istill operate a business.
I stepped away from Sprinkles,but I'm now running Pizzana
which is my new pizza concept.
We have three, soon to be fivein Southern California.
We've expanded to Texas andwe're growing there.
So I'm very busy on a day-to-daybasis.
And I wanted to help more women.
So that's where the idea of thebook came in.
(10:26):
And actually, Being anentrepreneur, there's very
little time to sit down andreflect on the things that
you've done right.
And be able to write thoselessons down.
So Covid actually provided aperfect opportunity for that
because there was nothing on thesocial calendar.
I wasn't even driving my kids toschool.
They were Zoom schooling, and Igot a chance to sit down and
(10:48):
reflect, and it was a beautifuljourney.
Julie (10:51):
What a blessing in disguise, right?
Yeah.
Okay.
So in the book you do talk aboutwhen you're starting a business,
you don't have to always startsomething from scratch.
You can take the route ofreinventing an old classic.
So you've given the example oflike Peloton, how they
reinvented group spin classes bymaking it available at home and
(11:12):
how you at Sprinkles reinventedthe kids treat to an upscale
sophisticated treat.
So a lot of my students who arethinking about starting
subscription boxes they come tome and they say, how's it done
before?
Is this gonna work?
Is there room for me in themarket what would you tell them?
Candace (11:30):
I think first of all, there are people who look at the
market and say, oh, that alreadyexists.
and they are dissuaded from it.
Right?
And then there's people who lookat the market and say, that
already exists, and see it asproof of concept, right?
So I think it's important torealize if it exists already,
that means there's a market forit.
The fact that you wanna do itmeans you can bring your own
(11:52):
unique spin to that businessidea.
Nobody is you like that is yoursuperpower, is that you are
uniquely you and you bring yourunique set of experiences,
perspective, voice and personalbrand to this business.
And so, Don't be discouraged,but I do encourage you to really
lean into what is thatdifferentiation.
(12:13):
It is a noisy market out there.
There is gonna be competition.
Don't be discouraged by that.
Use it as inspiration to reallydig deep into what your brand
is, what value you're offering,and how it's different from the
rest.
And I think one way to do thatis to really target down on your
niche, right?
Don't try to be everything toeveryone.
Yes.
And that was.
Initial inspiration forsprinkles is like America's the
(12:36):
land of the supermarket, but Ithought it was really special to
go to a, you know, specificstore or market for a specific
ingredient or item.
And by really nicheing down andtargeting what I was doing, I
was able to resonate so muchmore deeply with an audience
that then, became my brandambassadors and ended up doing
my marketing for me.
(12:56):
And then all of a sudden mymarket was really big.
But you have to start byspeaking to a really small
audience.
Julie (13:03):
I 100% agree with that.
And if you're listening andyou're not sure where to start
with, Go read some reviews ofyour competitors.
It is like gold.
You can learn what they're doingreally well and you can learn
what their customers arecomplaining about, and that is
just a really good place tostart if you're kind of worried
about.
It being, too busy in themarketplace or is there's room
(13:26):
for you.
So I encourage you to do that.
I agree with you.
Candace (13:29):
I think you do have to study the market.
you have to understand thecompetition and the landscape
initially.
Do your homework initially andfigure out.
Where you can really, rise abovethe noise and succeed and what
your sort of part of the marketis going to be, what you're
gonna own once you're on yourway.
I do encourage people to tuneout the competition a little
(13:51):
bit.
Good point.
And really focus on what you aredoing, cuz sometimes that can be
a distraction.
And really it's all about youdoing what you do really well
and delivering on that everyday.
And the competition reallydoesn't have anything to do.
Yeah,
Julie (14:05):
that's really good advice.
And we get so trapped in thatcomparison syndrome.
So if you need to unfollowsomebody, if you need to
unfollow the competition mute
Candace (14:16):
them.
Mute them, then they won't knowyou're unfollowing.
Yes,
Julie (14:19):
Good point.
Yes.
Okay, so I wanna talk about onechapter, and I think this is
really important for ourlisteners.
It's a chapter called Test theAppetite, and you talk about
getting feedback.
Early iterations and reallyvalidating the Sprinkles cupcake
concept.
And I really think it'simportant when you're starting a
business because you don't wannaput all your eggs in one basket,
(14:41):
so to speak, and then nobodywants it.
You haven't validated thatconcept.
And so you tell the story aboutbaking tons and tons of cupcakes
in your apartment, taste testingthem one bite at a time, sharing
them with friends for feedback.
Right.
Can you tell us a little bitabout that story and why you
thought that was So, I.
Candace (15:01):
Well, I really encourage women to dream big.
I think you have to dream dreamsthat really light you up, that
get you almost like just tinglyinside.
Like, yes, you wanna wake upevery day and be excited about
what you're building.
But temper that by startingsmall.
And that's becauseentrepreneurship is not about
(15:24):
just carelessly throwing allcaution to the wind.
It is about a risk versus rewardscenario, but you wanna minimize
the risk, right?
And take a calculated risk.
And so, The way to do that isreally to test your idea, your
thesis, your business on asmaller scale before you go all
(15:44):
in.
And you're right, that's what Iwas doing when I was, baking out
of my West Hollywood apartmentwith my tiny little mixer.
And, you know, the boxes werestacked up on my dining room
table and people and mm-hmm.
people who were driving by andpicking up my orders and my dog
was barking at them.
I mean, it was it was soscrappy, right.
And the reason I did that isbecause to sign a lease to truly
(16:07):
put in the orders for ourcustomized boxes, all of these
things were such an unbelievableinvestment.
We feel you on that.
I was bootstrapping thisbusiness.
Only way I could stomach it wasby having that little bit of
traction and just having thatindicator that there was a true
appetite for my product.
And so that will obviously lookdifferent for someone who's
(16:29):
doing, a subscription box.
But I think there's so manydifferent ways to your audience
and maybe get a little bit offeedback in the beginning so you
can iterate on what you'redoing.
You know, some of the bestfounders will put a product out
into the market thinking onething, get that feedback and
completely turn their ideaaround and have success doing
(16:50):
something else.
But because they were nimble andbecause they were testing at a
smaller scale, they weren't,dead in the water
Julie (16:57):
Right?
And you have to listen to thatfeedback.
And actually take action if itmakes sense to, to pivot.
Now, you had talked a little bitin the book about you weren't
gonna have the red velvetcupcake, right?
and that was some feedback thatyou took and it turned out to be
a, one of your best sellers,right?
Candace (17:15):
That's right.
So this is funny.
My husband, who is my co-founderin Sprinkles, is from Oklahoma
City and he, listen, one of thereasons we work so well together
is we both have crazy sweettooths.
So he was my number one tastetester, my co-founder in the
business.
But just what I thought, I wasready to roll out my menu.
(17:35):
He said to me, you're missingthe red velvet.
And I said, what are you talkingabout?
He goes, you gotta have a redvelvet.
I.
I don't have to have a redvelvet.
This isn't my menu and I don'tlike red velvet.
These are just, you know, anyred velvet I tasted to that
point was just flavorless cakewith a little bit of red food
coloring and he.
Sweetie, I am from Oklahoma.
(17:55):
They are gonna laugh me outta mystate if we open a cupcake shop
without red velvet.
And I was like, Ugh.
All right.
So here was my compromise.
I was like, I'll come up with ared velvet cupcake, but I'm
gonna do it my way.
I'm gonna amp one coco.
I'm gonna do like a really richtingy cream cheese frosting.
I developed one that even Iliked, and sure enough, we, when
(18:17):
we opened Red Velvet, became ourrunaway bestseller.
And no matter where we open,it's our best seller.
So sometimes you gotta listen tothose ideas around you.
Sometimes you gotta tune'em out,but sometimes you gotta listen.
Yes.
Julie (18:29):
I love that.
I think too you have to becautious of not just listening
to one complaint.
You know, if there's a lot ofpeople who are giving you
similar feedback, that's a redflag to, that's something to pay
attention to.
Candace (18:42):
That's so true actually.
And we use that idea at ourrestaurant now because, you know
Yelp reviews, I mean, everyrestaurant tour just rolls their
eyes at the Yelp reviews, right?
Because all it takes is oneperson with a bone to pick and
they can just go crazy on theYelp and you can run yourself
ragged, chasing after those Yelpreviews.
(19:03):
So what we've decided to do isif there's just one you customer
who has got a bone to pick,like, okay, maybe we don't have
to change our whole business,but if there is sort of a theme
or a trend going on, that's whenyou really gotta lean in and pay
attention.
Julie (19:18):
Yeah, I agree.
Okay, so let's wrap up with onepiece of advice to someone who's
listening and they're just like,they're on the edge, they're so
ready to turn their passion intoprofit, and they just need your,
that little kick in the buttfrom someone like you.
What are you gonna tell?
Candace (19:32):
Oh, it's all in the action.
It's all in the action.
And so even if you're notfeeling it, take those first few
steps.
And fake it till you make it ifyou have to.
I mean, it's, if we were to sitaround and wait for the
confidence to take that firststep, nobody would ever take
those first steps.
The confidence comes from theaction, and that action is what
(19:55):
separates the dreamers from thedoers.
So just get.
Take those first few steps, askfor help, and be on your way.
Julie (20:05):
Yeah, small progress is still progress, right?
All right, so where can ourlisteners follow you online?
I know you're on Instagram, sowhat's your handle there and
where else can they follow you?
Candace (20:15):
My handle on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok is at
Candace Nelson.
And that's Candace with an Ace,not an i c.
Okay.
And I'm also on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is a new favoriteplatform of mine and I'd love to
connect with any of yourlisteners there as well.
Julie (20:32):
Right on.
I've been hearing that a lotmore lately about people are
getting back into LinkedIn.
It's so interesting.
So thank you for sharing that.
And listeners, if you areinterested in winning this copy
that I have in my hands, I wantyou to take a screenshot of you
listening to this podcastepisode, then share it on
Instagram stories and tag usboth.
(20:52):
You can tag Candace.
And you can tag us atsubscription box basics and
we'll be watching for those.
Candace, thank you so much forthis interview.
I really admire you, what you'vebuilt.
I love that you're sharing yourstory with others, and it's been
so fun getting to know you.
Thank
Candace (21:10):
you.
I feel the same about you, andI'm really just so honored to be
able to speak to your communityand thank you for everything
you're doing out there inspiringfemale entrepreneurs.
Julie (21:18):
Thank you.
All right, listeners, thank youfor tuning in again, and we'll
see you in the next episode.
Bye bye.
hey everybody, a welcome back to Subscription Box Basics.
I'm Julie Ball and you guys knowpersonal development is my jam.
I mean, I built an entiresubscription box around personal
development.
I especially love learning fromother entrepreneurs.
So when my guest today popped inmy inbox, you can imagine my
(00:44):
excitement.
So.
Please let me introduce you toCandace Nelson.
She is a wildly successfulserial entrepreneur, a New York
Times bestselling author, TVpersonality, cupcake wars,
anyone.
She's a wife, a mom, and anexpert turning one's passion
into a profitable business.
(01:04):
And if you're watching thevideo, I have her new book right
here.
It's called Sweet Success, ASimple Recipe.
For turning your passion intoprofit.
It's out now and if you listento the end of this episode, you
actually might get your hands onthis copy that I have in my
hands.
So Candice, welcome so much tothe podcast.
Candace (01:26):
Thank you for having me, and congrats on the business
you have built and the communityyou've built is very impressive.
Julie (01:33):
Oh, thank you so much.
I am so excited to dive in.
We have a lot to talk about andfor those of you haven't met,
Candace, she is most known forfounding Sprinkles Cupcakes,
which is the world's firstcupcake bakery and the brilliant
Cupcake atm.
If you don't know what it is, golook it up right now.
(01:53):
I love it.
My daughter and I experienced itfor the first time when we were
visiting Disney Springs.
And what's cool about Candaceand her book is she has some
really scrappy early days, and Iknow so many of you guys can
appreciate that because thatmight be where you're at right
now.
So, Candace, tell us a littlebit about how you got started.
(02:13):
You didn't have an mba, right?
You didn't like.
This started in your apartment?
Candace (02:18):
So I like to say in building Sprinkles, I did get my
mba, I got my cupcake mba, Nice.
I had been on this path where Iwas really on this trajectory to
get my mba, you know, a trueone.
and.
A couple of things happened.
First of all, I was working inthe technology world during
(02:39):
the.com boom, and then the.combust happened and I was out of a
job, and then nine 11 happened,and all of a sudden I was faced
with this reality that, thatthings are fleeting and I
decided I wanted to do somethingI was passionate about something
that was more joyful thancrunching numbers, which is what
I had been doing before.
(03:02):
And so I decided to take aserious pivot and instead of
going to business school, I wentto pastry school.
Love it.
And I came up with this idea forelevating the lowly cupcake.
You know, this great nostalgictreat that we all love in this
country.
But that back in the day reallywas relegated to the supermarket
(03:22):
bakery.
And I had this aha moment as Iwas walking through the
supermarket one day, seeing allthese cupcakes that were stacked
up and plastic clam shells andyou know, that kind of gross
shortening laden frosting.
Yeah.
And the tacky cupcake picks.
And I just thought, golly, thecupcake needs a makeover.
And so I said about to reinventthe cup.
(03:45):
And it certainly started verygrassroots.
I mean, I was baking cupcakesout of my apartment.
I was pushing them on myfriends, and when I say pushing
them, I mean, I would show up atevery gathering with these
cupcakes and people werescratching their head like,
Okay, everyone be really nice toCandace.
She's obviously lost it.
She left a lucrative career andshe just shows up everywhere
(04:08):
with these darn cupcakes.
It's not even a birthday party,but they would, pity order them
from me.
And those first humble steps,they just seem so insignificant
and sometimes it just takes solong.
You're thinking to yourselflike, is anything ever gonna
happen?
I persisted and sure enough whathappened was first my friends
(04:32):
were ordering.
Then I started getting callsfrom friends of their friends
who had my cupcakes at a party.
And then not that long after Istarted getting calls from
people who I didn't know and whoI couldn't trace how they'd
found my number, and I thought,I might be onto something.
I had always had this feelingthat I was onto something in my
(04:54):
gut, but everyone around me wastelling me that it was a
terrible idea.
It happened to be the height ofthe low carb craze.
I was trying to sell theseluxury cupcakes for$3 when
people were used to spending 75cents.
So there're all these cardsstacked against me and I just
kept at it.
I was persistent, and eventuallyI started to get a little sense
(05:15):
that I was onto something.
I started to get that tractionand that was everything for me.
And it's so
Julie (05:22):
interesting too, because you were in LA at the time,
right?
Candace (05:24):
Yes, and I still am.
And yes, the Okay.
Yes.
This started in LA in BeverlyHills.
Nobody's known for eatingcupcakes here.
Everybody drink green juice.
Everybody drinks green juice.
By the way, when I first arrivedhere, I think it's really
important to go through lifewith open eyes.
right?
Not just buy into the thingsthat people are telling you
because everybody said nobody inLA Eats carbs.
(05:46):
But as I was driving around, cuzI had freshly moved from San
Francisco where I was working intechnology and I saw so many
burger joints and so many donutshops and I was like, wait a
second, there's gotta be somepeople around here who are
eating carbs.
Otherwise, there wouldn't bethese places in every strip
center.
Julie (06:05):
I love that you said how shocked you were when someone
ordered that you didn't know,because as a business owner,
there's something so specialabout that.
I remember when I was justlaunching my subscription box
business, sparkle Hustle Grow,when I first got an order of a
name that I didn't recognize.
I was like, hallelujah.
(06:26):
Someone who doesn't know mebought my product and it's so
validating.
Don't you think?
Candace (06:32):
It's so exciting?
Yeah.
You're like, wow, I'm really inbusiness now.
These aren't just my friends whofeel sorry for me.
Exactly.
Julie (06:43):
It's not a pity by Exactly.
So you tell a lot of your story.
In the book.
So I encourage our listeners toread deeper into that story.
But I wanna talk a little bitmore about the book right now.
So what inspired you to bring itto pen and paper and before you
go into it, I love.
The formatting of this book.
Guys, if you're watching thevideo, this is a beautiful book.
(07:06):
It's hard cover, but it's gotsome color in it and everything
in here you relate back to yourindustry of baking, and I just
think that's such a unique twiston a personal development book.
So tell us what
Candace (07:18):
inspired it.
Thank you so much for those kindwords.
First of all, I do wanna saythat sweet success is definitely
business book, but it issoftened with this idea of
sharing my personal stories andI don't want it to be too
serious of a read.
I want entrepreneurship to feelmore accessible.
(07:39):
And I wanna break down thebarriers to entrepreneurship
because so often we see in themedia these larger than life
characters, who are raisinghundreds of millions of dollars
and they're sending Rocketshipsto the moon.
And it's like, noentrepreneurship can simple.
It's on a spectrum, and I builta really big business out of
something anyone could do.
So I want people to feel likethey can do it too.
(08:01):
Because I was the most unlikelyentrepreneur.
I was raised to just, go toschool and follow a career.
My dad was a corporate lawyer.
He was totally risk averse.
And so the idea of, peppering infun pop culture stories, which
were so much a part of SprinklesHistory.
Yeah.
And the idea of sharing all mymistakes, all the learnings from
(08:23):
along the way and peppering itwith these illustrations to make
it more fun, to make it moreaccessible was really important
to me.
So thank you for mentioningthat.
Julie (08:31):
I love that you do talk about things that you have
learned the hard.
And I love that you talk aboutjoy.
We always, in my business, we'vealways measured like the joy of
doing business.
And that doesn't mean you haveto create this huge business.
Maybe you, I always call it thesweet spot, like what works for
(08:52):
you in this season right now foryou and your family?
So I love that you do touch onthat stuff and you encourage
along the way through all of theups and downs of your.
Candace (09:02):
It's so important not to forget the joy in anything
you're doing.
And to your point about there'sdifferent seasons in life and
some may feel really hard andgrueling, but at the end of the
day, like gotta pick your headup and remember what you're
doing it for, you know?
And if you are.
On this journey and you're notenjoying any of it, no matter
(09:23):
how hard it can be at times,like what is the point?
Lift your cut up and patyourself on the back for
stepping outside your comfortzone and try to find a little
bit of joy and lightness in theexperience.
So thank you for that.
And so sweet success is reallyabout my journey, bootstrapping,
building, scaling, andultimately selling a significant
(09:44):
stake in the business.
And when I did step away, Ifound that a lot of women,
female founders, aspiringfounders were coming to me for
advice.
They wanted mentorship.
And I loved doing that.
I loved being at a place in mycareer where I had something to
share and some lessons to share.
But I wanted to do more of thatat scale.
(10:04):
And so it's hard, you know, Istill operate a business.
I stepped away from Sprinkles,but I'm now running Pizzana
which is my new pizza concept.
We have three, soon to be fivein Southern California.
We've expanded to Texas andwe're growing there.
So I'm very busy on a day-to-daybasis.
And I wanted to help more women.
So that's where the idea of thebook came in.
(10:26):
And actually, Being anentrepreneur, there's very
little time to sit down andreflect on the things that
you've done right.
And be able to write thoselessons down.
So Covid actually provided aperfect opportunity for that
because there was nothing on thesocial calendar.
I wasn't even driving my kids toschool.
They were Zoom schooling, and Igot a chance to sit down and
(10:48):
reflect, and it was a beautifuljourney.
Julie (10:51):
What a blessing in disguise, right?
Yeah.
Okay.
So in the book you do talk aboutwhen you're starting a business,
you don't have to always startsomething from scratch.
You can take the route ofreinventing an old classic.
So you've given the example oflike Peloton, how they
reinvented group spin classes bymaking it available at home and
(11:12):
how you at Sprinkles reinventedthe kids treat to an upscale
sophisticated treat.
So a lot of my students who arethinking about starting
subscription boxes they come tome and they say, how's it done
before?
Is this gonna work?
Is there room for me in themarket what would you tell them?
Candace (11:30):
I think first of all, there are people who look at the
market and say, oh, that alreadyexists.
and they are dissuaded from it.
Right?
And then there's people who lookat the market and say, that
already exists, and see it asproof of concept, right?
So I think it's important torealize if it exists already,
that means there's a market forit.
The fact that you wanna do itmeans you can bring your own
(11:52):
unique spin to that businessidea.
Nobody is you like that is yoursuperpower, is that you are
uniquely you and you bring yourunique set of experiences,
perspective, voice and personalbrand to this business.
And so, Don't be discouraged,but I do encourage you to really
lean into what is thatdifferentiation.
(12:13):
It is a noisy market out there.
There is gonna be competition.
Don't be discouraged by that.
Use it as inspiration to reallydig deep into what your brand
is, what value you're offering,and how it's different from the
rest.
And I think one way to do thatis to really target down on your
niche, right?
Don't try to be everything toeveryone.
Yes.
And that was.
Initial inspiration forsprinkles is like America's the
(12:36):
land of the supermarket, but Ithought it was really special to
go to a, you know, specificstore or market for a specific
ingredient or item.
And by really nicheing down andtargeting what I was doing, I
was able to resonate so muchmore deeply with an audience
that then, became my brandambassadors and ended up doing
my marketing for me.
(12:56):
And then all of a sudden mymarket was really big.
But you have to start byspeaking to a really small
audience.
Julie (13:03):
I 100% agree with that.
And if you're listening andyou're not sure where to start
with, Go read some reviews ofyour competitors.
It is like gold.
You can learn what they're doingreally well and you can learn
what their customers arecomplaining about, and that is
just a really good place tostart if you're kind of worried
about.
It being, too busy in themarketplace or is there's room
(13:26):
for you.
So I encourage you to do that.
I agree with you.
Candace (13:29):
I think you do have to study the market.
you have to understand thecompetition and the landscape
initially.
Do your homework initially andfigure out.
Where you can really, rise abovethe noise and succeed and what
your sort of part of the marketis going to be, what you're
gonna own once you're on yourway.
I do encourage people to tuneout the competition a little
(13:51):
bit.
Good point.
And really focus on what you aredoing, cuz sometimes that can be
a distraction.
And really it's all about youdoing what you do really well
and delivering on that everyday.
And the competition reallydoesn't have anything to do.
Yeah,
Julie (14:05):
that's really good advice.
And we get so trapped in thatcomparison syndrome.
So if you need to unfollowsomebody, if you need to
unfollow the competition mute
Candace (14:16):
them.
Mute them, then they won't knowyou're unfollowing.
Yes,
Julie (14:19):
Good point.
Yes.
Okay, so I wanna talk about onechapter, and I think this is
really important for ourlisteners.
It's a chapter called Test theAppetite, and you talk about
getting feedback.
Early iterations and reallyvalidating the Sprinkles cupcake
concept.
And I really think it'simportant when you're starting a
business because you don't wannaput all your eggs in one basket,
(14:41):
so to speak, and then nobodywants it.
You haven't validated thatconcept.
And so you tell the story aboutbaking tons and tons of cupcakes
in your apartment, taste testingthem one bite at a time, sharing
them with friends for feedback.
Right.
Can you tell us a little bitabout that story and why you
thought that was So, I.
Candace (15:01):
Well, I really encourage women to dream big.
I think you have to dream dreamsthat really light you up, that
get you almost like just tinglyinside.
Like, yes, you wanna wake upevery day and be excited about
what you're building.
But temper that by startingsmall.
And that's becauseentrepreneurship is not about
(15:24):
just carelessly throwing allcaution to the wind.
It is about a risk versus rewardscenario, but you wanna minimize
the risk, right?
And take a calculated risk.
And so, The way to do that isreally to test your idea, your
thesis, your business on asmaller scale before you go all
(15:44):
in.
And you're right, that's what Iwas doing when I was, baking out
of my West Hollywood apartmentwith my tiny little mixer.
And, you know, the boxes werestacked up on my dining room
table and people and mm-hmm.
people who were driving by andpicking up my orders and my dog
was barking at them.
I mean, it was it was soscrappy, right.
And the reason I did that isbecause to sign a lease to truly
(16:07):
put in the orders for ourcustomized boxes, all of these
things were such an unbelievableinvestment.
We feel you on that.
I was bootstrapping thisbusiness.
Only way I could stomach it wasby having that little bit of
traction and just having thatindicator that there was a true
appetite for my product.
And so that will obviously lookdifferent for someone who's
(16:29):
doing, a subscription box.
But I think there's so manydifferent ways to your audience
and maybe get a little bit offeedback in the beginning so you
can iterate on what you'redoing.
You know, some of the bestfounders will put a product out
into the market thinking onething, get that feedback and
completely turn their ideaaround and have success doing
(16:50):
something else.
But because they were nimble andbecause they were testing at a
smaller scale, they weren't,dead in the water
Julie (16:57):
Right?
And you have to listen to thatfeedback.
And actually take action if itmakes sense to, to pivot.
Now, you had talked a little bitin the book about you weren't
gonna have the red velvetcupcake, right?
and that was some feedback thatyou took and it turned out to be
a, one of your best sellers,right?
Candace (17:15):
That's right.
So this is funny.
My husband, who is my co-founderin Sprinkles, is from Oklahoma
City and he, listen, one of thereasons we work so well together
is we both have crazy sweettooths.
So he was my number one tastetester, my co-founder in the
business.
But just what I thought, I wasready to roll out my menu.
(17:35):
He said to me, you're missingthe red velvet.
And I said, what are you talkingabout?
He goes, you gotta have a redvelvet.
I.
I don't have to have a redvelvet.
This isn't my menu and I don'tlike red velvet.
These are just, you know, anyred velvet I tasted to that
point was just flavorless cakewith a little bit of red food
coloring and he.
Sweetie, I am from Oklahoma.
(17:55):
They are gonna laugh me outta mystate if we open a cupcake shop
without red velvet.
And I was like, Ugh.
All right.
So here was my compromise.
I was like, I'll come up with ared velvet cupcake, but I'm
gonna do it my way.
I'm gonna amp one coco.
I'm gonna do like a really richtingy cream cheese frosting.
I developed one that even Iliked, and sure enough, we, when
(18:17):
we opened Red Velvet, became ourrunaway bestseller.
And no matter where we open,it's our best seller.
So sometimes you gotta listen tothose ideas around you.
Sometimes you gotta tune'em out,but sometimes you gotta listen.
Yes.
Julie (18:29):
I love that.
I think too you have to becautious of not just listening
to one complaint.
You know, if there's a lot ofpeople who are giving you
similar feedback, that's a redflag to, that's something to pay
attention to.
Candace (18:42):
That's so true actually.
And we use that idea at ourrestaurant now because, you know
Yelp reviews, I mean, everyrestaurant tour just rolls their
eyes at the Yelp reviews, right?
Because all it takes is oneperson with a bone to pick and
they can just go crazy on theYelp and you can run yourself
ragged, chasing after those Yelpreviews.
(19:03):
So what we've decided to do isif there's just one you customer
who has got a bone to pick,like, okay, maybe we don't have
to change our whole business,but if there is sort of a theme
or a trend going on, that's whenyou really gotta lean in and pay
attention.
Julie (19:18):
Yeah, I agree.
Okay, so let's wrap up with onepiece of advice to someone who's
listening and they're just like,they're on the edge, they're so
ready to turn their passion intoprofit, and they just need your,
that little kick in the buttfrom someone like you.
What are you gonna tell?
Candace (19:32):
Oh, it's all in the action.
It's all in the action.
And so even if you're notfeeling it, take those first few
steps.
And fake it till you make it ifyou have to.
I mean, it's, if we were to sitaround and wait for the
confidence to take that firststep, nobody would ever take
those first steps.
The confidence comes from theaction, and that action is what
(19:55):
separates the dreamers from thedoers.
So just get.
Take those first few steps, askfor help, and be on your way.
Julie (20:05):
Yeah, small progress is still progress, right?
All right, so where can ourlisteners follow you online?
I know you're on Instagram, sowhat's your handle there and
where else can they follow you?
Candace (20:15):
My handle on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok is at
Candace Nelson.
And that's Candace with an Ace,not an i c.
Okay.
And I'm also on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is a new favoriteplatform of mine and I'd love to
connect with any of yourlisteners there as well.
Julie (20:32):
Right on.
I've been hearing that a lotmore lately about people are
getting back into LinkedIn.
It's so interesting.
So thank you for sharing that.
And listeners, if you areinterested in winning this copy
that I have in my hands, I wantyou to take a screenshot of you
listening to this podcastepisode, then share it on
Instagram stories and tag usboth.
(20:52):
You can tag Candace.
And you can tag us atsubscription box basics and
we'll be watching for those.
Candace, thank you so much forthis interview.
I really admire you, what you'vebuilt.
I love that you're sharing yourstory with others, and it's been
so fun getting to know you.
Thank
Candace (21:10):
you.
I feel the same about you, andI'm really just so honored to be
able to speak to your communityand thank you for everything
you're doing out there inspiringfemale entrepreneurs.
Julie (21:18):
Thank you.
All right, listeners, thank youfor tuning in again, and we'll
see you in the next episode.
Bye bye.
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