in this episode of the self-love archives, we're yapping with shanyah rumph, the founder of buttermee pancakes- what started as a college side project for her mental health turned into a viral business serving happiness one stack at a time. shanyah shares how she went from studying clinical mental health + rehabilitation to building a community around pancakes, joy, and connection.
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+ when you get your buttermee stacks this weekend, post a photo tagging both @theselflovearchive and @buttermeepancakes on instagram + you'll be entered into our bloom giveaway!
🥞 🎟️ 🌸 you'll win x2 tickets to bloom: an immersive self-love expo AND a pancake stack + frozen orange juice.
winner will be announced on instagram monday, august 18th! 🥞💖
listen in for a conversation about mental health, entrepreneurship, and the unexpected joy of following what makes you feel good.
follow shanyah & buttermee here:
instagram → https://www.instagram.com/buttermeepancakes/
tiktok → https://www.tiktok.com/@buttermeepancakes
connect with julia on instagram @beautybyjulia + tik tok @juliasalvia
unlock more archive content on instagram @theselflovearchive + tik tok @theselflovearchives
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
So I noticed that youweave a lot of mental
health into buttery.
Yeah.
Tell me a littlebit more about that.
So I was getting my master'sin clinical mental health and
rehabilitation counseling,and I ended up on this crazy
pancake journey when I hadmy summer off of school.
(00:20):
Mm-hmm.
And I had full intentionsgoing back to school.
I was gonna be a mental healthpractitioner and I was gonna own
a behavioral health facility.
And then the pancakes took itsown turn and I kind of just
had to keep going with that.
Mm-hmm.
So what I did, I justkept moving on with,
(00:41):
with the pancakes andI felt pretty guilty.
So I decided that I wouldstill be a part of the mental
health community in any waythat I can, because I am
still a believer that we needmore mental health resources.
Yeah.
So even if I wasn't able to.
Continue pursuingwhat I was doing.
(01:01):
I still wanted tojust be able to help.
And what brought you towanting to study that
in the first place?
Um, the need for mentalhealth resources.
Yeah.
I think, um, like manyother people who choose
that path mm-hmm.
You're usually the therapistfriend, or like Yeah, yeah.
You know, you're the, thefriend that everyone's
(01:22):
calling with their drama.
All my friends used to tellme I'm the least judgmental
person that they know.
Mm-hmm.
Um.
And oddly enough, my favoriteage of people are like preteen.
Mm-hmm.
Early teenage years.
Yeah.
Which everyone in school justis like, no, that's crazy.
That's crazy.
But that is, thatis my age of people.
(01:44):
I love that age.
And so I used to dolike camp counseling.
I, most of my jobs whenI was younger was just
always camp counseling.
Mm-hmm.
I would do like, mm-hmm.
Summer counseling or like afterschool programs and I had so
much fun just being able to bea listening ear and provide some
type of guidance to that, thoseyoung impressionable minds.
(02:05):
And so yeah, I just feltlike we need more of that.
Do you think that youappreciate or have like a
love for caring more for thatage range because you might
have had a difficult time.
Oh, for sure during theknee drink for sure.
Because I know I did.
Yeah.
And that's why I enjoy likechatting and like, everybody's
like, no kids, kids, kids.
(02:25):
Like toddlers.
I'm like, yeah, toddlers.
Toddlers.
I'm like, no.
I like teens.
Me too.
Like let me talk to a teen.
Me too.
I, I think.
Many people when they get olderand they're adults, they're
so far removed from beinga teenager that they don't
remember what it's like or theydon't care what it is like.
And I get it.
'cause the problems that ateenager has or a pre-teen,
(02:46):
they seem so trivial.
Yes.
The further you get.
But for me, I've alwaysfelt like at any stage
in life, whatever yourproblems are, they're the
most important thing to you.
Mm-hmm.
And so you're handling them likethey are the end of the world.
And I, I feel like.
Like especially kids now,they're so mature and most
of them mature really fast.
They just need somebodyto listen to them.
(03:08):
Yeah.
And someone who cares abouttheir problems in the same
way that they do becausethey are still important and
they're still, of course,emotionally weighing on them
the same way your problems areemotionally weighing on you.
So I love that age.
I think I'm like relearningin my like adult years too,
how to continue to healthat teenage version of
me if there was more care.
(03:31):
For teens that maybe Iwould've had an easier time
healing in my adult life.
Mm-hmm.
I wouldn't have had to like takemyself back and be like, no,
it's okay that that happened.
Mm-hmm.
You know?
But you needed someoneto listen to you.
Yeah.
Someone to listen and someoneto care as much as you cared.
Mm-hmm.
About something that wasdefinitely pushed to the back
(03:53):
burner because you're so young.
It's like, these arenot real problems.
You're not in love.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But you are, you're experiencingsome really intense emotions.
Mm-hmm.
And even if later in lifeyou realize they're not as
intense as you might havethought that they were,
they're still intense emotions.
Yeah.
I mean, I think if, if myteenage years were just trivial.
(04:18):
Nothing's an issue now.
Are you kidding?
Throw anything at me?
It's fine.
I'll be good.
Yeah, yeah.
Oh, I felt that what a timegrowing, growing up is so, so
odd, and then you're hormonallychanging, like mm-hmm.
There's just so much going on.
Yeah.
I would not go back.
(04:40):
Oh man.
I don't think, I don'tregret anything, but I also
don't think I would go back.
Yeah.
I, no, I regret something.
Well, I regret, you know what,I try not to regret anything
because I do feel like theyshould, that whatever you did
shapes you into who you are now.
Yes.
But there are some thingsI'd be like, well, I
wouldn't do that again,but, but not regret.
(05:03):
Not regret again,what would that be?
Um.
I, I just think the way,maybe the way that I handled
most situations mm-hmm.
That I experienced, like,are we trauma dumping?
Are we, I mean, go ahead.
(05:24):
Oh man.
There's so much to unpack.
Oh no, we're trauma dumping.
There's just so much tounpack, but like, I was
not very responsible.
So you're a teen.
Yeah, I was.
I was, I was, I could havebeen more responsible.
I think, yeah.
And then just the way I choseto handle a lot of situations
that I didn't love or, orappreciate, I, I did not choose
(05:48):
mature ways to handle anythingand then experiencing emotions.
I think that's fair.
Well, kinda, I think it'sfair, kinda, I feel like you
do know better and you justsometimes choose not to do
better just for the fun of it.
Mm-hmm.
But I know you knowthat like that.
It's funny 'cause you sayingthat makes me think to like how
(06:10):
we are as adults and like Yeah.
You know better, butsometimes you just, yeah.
You choose the latter.
Know when you choose the nowas an adult, I mean, for the
most part you'll be like reallyconscious in your decision
making and it'll be almostmore conscious, like in the
frontal cortex of our brains.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We're, we're likemore conscious.
We have a moral like compass.
You know, I died a teenage me.
(06:31):
I don't, I don't know.
I was, we're exploring theworld though after.
You know, like action, firstthought after, you know,
it's almost like this periodof like, try and try and
try again, or like to justfigure out who you are.
So I think that's whywe, teenagers feel like
the rebels or like, youknow, they're not mature.
(06:54):
They're not doingwhat they're told.
Mm-hmm.
And I think that they'rejust exploring the world.
They are.
It's their first time here now.
I don't, it's all ofour first time here, but
yeah, like, I mean, don't.
Be really stupid.
Like it's not the time toexplore the world by like,
you know, when, when a, whena parent like, I, I don't
know, I, I don't know whichside I would be on of this,
(07:14):
but let me know where, whereyou fall, where you, you
have a kid, okay, 5-year-old,I don't, I don't know,
3-year-old doesn't understandfire, like the stove is hot.
Are you gonna let them touch it?
No.
Like, are you gonna tell them?
You know what I mean?
Like, are you gonna continueto tell them No rhetorical
(07:36):
question, but like Yeah.
Are you gonnacontinue to tell them?
No And then they,if they keep trying.
Okay.
You know what I mean?
Okay.
A literal fire.
No, but a hot surface.
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
So like nothing would,especially after you said
no, like no, this is hot.
Yeah.
Nothing that wouldseverely harm you.
(07:57):
Yeah.
But.
A small little, youknow, like a teacup.
Yeah, just a little bit.
A teacup.
That's fine.
Touching a literal fire.
No.
Yeah, but a hot surface.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like the pancake.
Machines are hot surface.
Mm-hmm.
There are some kids who comein and they stick their hand
under the sneeze garden, andI'm like, no, don't touch that.
(08:18):
It's hot.
And then they'll justlike, keep doing it.
And then I'm like,well, you told them.
I don't even know thatI could try anymore.
And so then when they literallytouch the machine, I guess
maybe sometimes they have tofeel it to really believe you.
I don't know.
I think it's like a, it'slike a learning process.
Yeah, for sure.
Probably similar to thelearning process you went
through for opening wherewe're sitting right now.
(08:41):
Oh man.
That was large learning process.
I'm still processing.
I'm still learning.
It hasn't, teenage years,hasn't, hasn't ended yet.
No.
I think I'm like.
I'm still a toddler here.
I, I feel like I'm not growingI'm, or my growth is slow.
It's really slow,like my mental growth.
(09:03):
But I love, I love that yousay that, but you already have
two like brick and mortars.
Yeah, I know.
We're sitting in one right now.
Yeah.
And so many people know whoyou are and who butter meat is.
I know.
It's really crazy.
That's so cool.
Very, very crazy thought.
Sometimes I like.
Like sit and I say to mymom like, what did I do?
(09:26):
What did I do?
What did I do?
How did I do this?
Sometimes I also feel likethis was the dumbest thing
that I've ever done, andthen other times I'm like,
no, just see it through.
Just see it through.
This was a good idea.
We need to unpack that.
Yeah.
(09:53):
Welcome back to the SelfLove Archives podcast.
My name is Julia Salvia.
I'm your self love bestie,and I am here with Shania.
She is the founder of ButterMe, and we are sitting in one
of her locations right nowas we speak in Pure Village.
Yes, in Long Branch, New Jersey.
Yes.
Hi.
(10:13):
Hello.
Thanks for ha.
Thanks.
Like thanks for having me.
Thanks for havingme in your space.
Anytime.
You're always welcome.
Thank you.
And thank you for beinghere on the podcast.
Of course.
This is my joy.
This is fun.
This is, thank you.
So much fun.
A nice break from just pancakes.
Pancakes, yeah.
Well, tell me, we're sittinghere and you just told me
(10:35):
that you feel like a toddler.
Okay.
Yeah.
Still in your businesswhen we are sitting in one
of two of your brick andmortars, which is insane.
I know.
I like, I am just a girl.
I am.
No, seriously.
I'm just a girl.
I'm just a girl.
I am lost.
(10:56):
I kind of, it's a lotof winging it and just
learning as I go along.
I never quite knowwhat I'm doing.
Mm-hmm.
And then that.
Contributes to me feelinglike a toddler and like a
bunch of different thingsjust keep hitting you at
one time and suddenly you'relearning how to do something
you've never done before.
I think every single day you'reencountering something you've
never thought, never done beforeand never even thought about.
(11:19):
And so then you're like,how do I even, like,
who do I call for this?
And, and so it's a, it's alot of that and it always
feels like I'm a newborn.
Like I always have questionsand sometimes I feel like,
okay, these are probably the.
Dumbest questions ever,like every day, but they're
gonna come back around.
I feel like dumb, this, thisstupid quote unquote stupid
(11:42):
questions always come backaround where you're like,
oh, thank God I asked thatquestion, because I wouldn't
have known this answeror that answer, you know?
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
How did you start Butter Me?
Well, not like this.
Not like, no, I wasin a little cart.
(12:03):
I was getting my master's inclinical mental health and rehab
counseling and then I had likethe summer off and so I kind
of just decided I wanted to dosomething fun for the summer.
Mm-hmm.
Um, the program washeavy so I was cooking a
lot and I love to cook.
Mm-hmm.
So once we got to the summer,um, I started to make things
(12:23):
that I just didn't really like,'cause I was doing so much
cooking that I was like souninspired and I hate pancakes.
So I started making pancakes.
I know, so you hate pancakes,but you own two pancake.
Oh, I love thesepancakes stores.
Yes.
I hated pancakes.
(12:45):
'cause they just felt likethey had a horrible mouth feel.
Mm-hmm.
And then they were just likeoverwhelming, pretty soggy.
And they always had likethis yellowish color
that I didn't appreciate.
Yeah.
So I always thought thatthat was just what a pancake
was, but I knew that that.
Pancakes are so simplethat there was no reason
I shouldn't like them.
(13:06):
Yeah.
So I was like, I am gonna make apancake that I like, like I am.
So I looked up how theymake pancakes in other
countries and they were, Isaw, um, puff Ridges and the
Netherlands, but those aremade with yeast and buckwheat.
And then I saw Taco Yaki.
But those have likeoctopus and stuff in them.
Oh.
So I like the machine though.
'cause they were thesesmall versions of pancakes.
(13:27):
Yeah.
So it was like, oh, but do theydo that like classic American.
Buttermilk and people, somepeople were doing it like
in the west coast, but I waslike, I live in the east.
Yeah.
So I just ordered themachine and then I was
playing around making my ownpancakes and everything I
didn't like about pancakes.
I mean, everything I didlike about pancakes, it just,
it was encompassed in thislittle mini form that I got a
(13:49):
crispy ed edge in every bite,and I like the color better.
So I was like, okay, this.
I love this.
And then my family wasjust like, no, you should
do something with this.
So.
Mm-hmm.
I got a little cart and I wasgonna do bridal expos, um,
and I did bridal expos 'causeI thought I was gonna cater.
Mm-hmm.
I was like, oh, this wouldbe fun at like, you know,
somebody's brunch or something.
(14:10):
Yeah.
And so I was cateringand it just got crazy.
Like it, oh my gosh.
It just kept snowballinginto something bigger
and something bigger.
And every time I went toa bridal expo, um, I would
have a really crazy line.
And people were like, how can Ijust buy this, these pancakes?
And so I was like, well,I guess I could do like a
farmer's market or something.
(14:31):
Mm-hmm.
And so I did that andI'd have like this
outpour of people again.
And so it just kept going.
And all of these people that Iencountered that first summer,
they inspired me to justkeep moving and keep going.
And I never wanted a store but.
It kind of inspired you tosay, fuck it got pressured.
(14:53):
Oh my God.
Pressured.
Yeah, I was pressured.
I was like, I, when I wasdoing the farmer's markets
in Asbury, they told me like,oh, you should do a container
'cause it's for the summer.
'cause I had full intentionsto go back to school.
Yeah.
And when I called aboutthe container, the VP
of Leasing said, um.
He said, oh, no one everleaves the container, but we
(15:15):
have this building that's beenabandoned for seven years and
we wanna revive the building.
So let's go back.
Let's like, just come in.
Let, yeah,just, I need you here.
And I was like, ah, okay.
And then you did it.
I did it.
And your first, first location?
Yeah.
As in Asbury?
(15:35):
Mm-hmm.
That's awesome.
And I've just been.
And going with it ever since.
It's hard to stop thegrowth behind the scenes
when the front line ispushing and growing so fast.
Yeah.
So like even if I said,okay, no, we're gonna
(15:56):
keep this one store.
Mm-hmm.
I grow on social media at likea really exponential rate.
And so imagine me tryingto house all of these
people in my tiny.
500 square foot Asbury store.
Yeah.
Where you only haveoutdoor seating and stuff.
So then that's how I'm like,okay, let's open another one.
(16:17):
Mm-hmm.
And then you grow again onsocial media and then your
for you page starts touchinglike everyone else's state
or everyone else's area.
And then you'll get floodedwith comments that are like,
come further up and mm-hmm.
Like, go further up the shore.
And so then I'm like,well, how can I say no
to my internet friends?
(16:37):
I wanna meet them too.
Yeah.
So how, I mean, how's yourmental health with all of this?
Because this is agood problem to have.
Oh, yes.
But yes, but also it's avery easy problem to fumble.
Mm-hmm.
And like that, orlike get lost in Yeah.
That, that really,really freaks me out.
(16:59):
So, yeah, mentally, I, I mean,I had listened to Emma Greed.
Uh, I was listening to apodcast that she did Right.
And she was saying thatbusiness owners are okay
about a third of the time.
And I was like, you know,that really sit like that
really sits with me too.
Yeah.
That just really sit, it, it,it, it sat well and I said
that really describes what Ifeel like most of the time.
(17:22):
A third of the time I'm okay.
Yeah.
And other than that I am, itfeels like the world is on fire.
Mm-hmm.
And you're constantlyputting out fires 'cause
there's no one else to call.
Yeah.
And so when anything is wrong,you are getting called for.
And either you're getting calledfirst or you're getting called
last, and that's because it hassnowballed into something that
like no one else can handle.
(17:44):
But I think mentally halfthe time we're like, all
right, well, a littleless than half, actually.
Mm-hmm.
More than half of the time.
I am, I don't know whatI'm doing and I cry a lot.
I think IAnd, if you comein on like an insanely
(18:07):
busy day, I am probablycrying behind the counter.
No, unfortunately yes, I,I completely understand
because I am it alsocrying all the time.
You just can't help it.
You can't help it.
You can't help it.
And then.
(18:27):
There's no immediate resultor reward for what you're
doing besides people who arereally nice and they tell
you immediately like, ohmy God, these are so good.
I love it here.
Or like the same day that I wascrying behind the counter, I
saw a 6-year-old girl and hermom come in and she had on a
(18:48):
butter me sweater and she boughtanother one for her friend
and they don't live nearby.
So they were here forthe dance competition.
Yeah.
Yeah.
They were like,please open one by us.
We've been here like threetimes a day every single day.
So those things, I'm like,okay, just keep going.
Like, just, just, you'remaking somebody happy.
(19:08):
But a lot of daysthey feel really hard.
Um, and then little thingswill happen and there's no
grace for people sometimes,and so then you'll get
really negative commentsand not so great reviews.
Over something that you would'veabsolutely fixed in the store.
(19:28):
So like I got a commentabout, someone said that
we didn't put enoughNutella on their pancakes.
And I was like, okay,well first that's the
serving a new tell off.
But aside from putting theserving, even if you would've
just said to us, 'cause likeno, everyone in the store
(19:51):
is trained to not arguewith anybody like mm-hmm.
Because that's just.
It's not nice.
You want everybody tohave a good experience.
It's not worth it.
Yeah.
Aside from that, I reallylike when people are happy.
Like, I know when, when I goout to eat, I, I like to be
satisfied with what I got.
So if someone likes theirfood with a little extra
something, that's fine.
You just tell 'em thatlike, you want more Nutella
(20:13):
and we would've fixed it.
Why would that warrantlike a two star review?
Wouldn't you?
Didn't even give usa chance to fix it.
Ugh.
But those things on a really.
Not so great day.
They, they mentally, they,they just do it for me.
Mm-hmm.
So, but mentally,I guess I'm okay.
I guess.
(20:35):
So when it comes to reallytough days, what is like the
number one thing you have to doon that day to get through it?
Go home, go.
No, seriously, on a reallytough day, I go home.
Yeah.
Like, that's it.
I'm like, I'm, I'm done today.
I'm done it.
(20:56):
And some days we'll getlike, like when our air kept
breaking on a weekly basis.
Mm-hmm.
And it was so hotthose weeks too.
Oh my gosh.
When I heard what was wrongwith the air, I just started
crying and I was like,this is the electrician.
I was like, all rightJoe, I'm going home.
I'm going home.
I'm gonna just call me, tellme, tell me what you find.
(21:17):
Tell me what, what we're doing.
I'm going home.
Mm-hmm.
I just, I couldn't take anymore.
I anytime I am havinga really hard day home,
so I'm, I'm going home.
Yeah.
Now I, I feel like now inthis moment, you have a lot of
people that work for you and atthe location, so you have the
(21:37):
ability to go home in some ways.
Do you mean like go home,like close the store, go home?
No, no, no, no, no, no.
Keep the store open.
Go home.
Everyone gets.
Everyone gets pancakes from8:00 AM to 8:00 PM 9:00
PM On the weekends you'regetting your pancakes.
If I'm having a mentallyhard day and I'm crying and
(21:58):
I go home, someone here isnot crying and they're gonna
make sure you get pancakes.
So in a way, like I havethe ability to go home,
but then sometimes I reallydon't, even though I, it's
so beautiful the way peopleshow up to support businesses
when they see them online.
Um.
If you don't come ready to bepatient and just gentle with
(22:19):
these businesses, you candrive them out of business.
Yeah.
And I know that even if they'redoing well, even if they're
doing successful, like yeah.
So sometimes the doingwell is not quite the doing
well that you would think.
Mm-hmm.
And I think because somepeople don't have like the
best understanding of business.
'cause it's not like justa common thing to know.
(22:41):
Yeah.
But for context.
Uh, when I first went viraland I had like these insane
lines, um, that felt almostunmanageable in that time.
People are driving fromso far and they're coming.
They are in this long line.
(23:01):
You don't wanna disappoint them.
And so you are runningoutta stuff, but you're
trying to replenish reallyfast, and so you'll.
Order on DoorDash, you'll run tothe The closest grocery store.
Yeah.
And in Asbury, your closestgrocery store is like really
small owned, family ownedand they're charging you
about $9 for a heavy cream.
(23:24):
Like Yeah.
So you don't make anymoney at that point.
You're practicallyjust giving stuff away.
Yeah, because all theingredients are costing you
like triple the price and soyou didn't make any money.
But then also.
Your machines are not builtfor the kind of capacity that
people are like lined up for.
(23:45):
And so then you are, you haveto essentially throw away
literally everything you bought.
Like I had to, when I firstwent viral, I had to throw
away everything that Ibought, I mean down to like
my orange juice machine.
'cause it wasn't bigenough and stuff.
Mm-hmm.
And so not many businesses havethe money to reinvest in that.
Yeah.
And you don't get the money.
(24:06):
By just selling to that crowdthat you have because you have
to pay back the staff thatyou didn't know you needed.
You have to pay backthe, um, just the, all
the cost of ingredients.
Mm-hmm.
Which are now way,way too expensive.
You're like, I wouldrun out of cups and now
I'm rush ordering cups.
And the rush order feessometimes are just $200
(24:28):
extra on a box of cups,and now you're paying a
ridiculous amount for cups.
Mm-hmm.
So.
Those things, they, they arereally difficult to maintain.
Yeah.
And so even though you wouldthink like, oh my God, this
business is doing so well.
A lot of the times it'snot profitable at all
or it's not sustainable.
(24:48):
And so that's how you endup needing like some type
of investor or something.
But everybody doesn'thave that option.
And so Yeah.
Sometimes that actuallyjust runs them out.
Yeah.
The opposite way.
'cause they, theyreally can't sustain.
So.
Yeah.
Because if you keep.
Almost like breaking even,essentially because, and
not by choice, but becauseeverything is so busy.
(25:11):
Yeah.
It's, and you're selling,you know, 10 times more
than you thought you wouldin a day, like you don't
have the additional capital.
Mm-hmm.
To actually reinvest itinto the business, to
have that 10 times more.
You know.
Yeah.
Quantity of cups or that Yeah.
10 times more quantity ofheavy cream and everything
that you need and machinesand like, it, it, it is a lot.
(25:31):
Yeah.
And then you're, allof your things break.
I broke my mixer whenwe first went viral.
Oh no.
Because we were trying tomake more batter than that
machine could even comprehend.
Yeah.
And so it, that was,it was overwhelming.
It was a lot.
Yeah.
Um, but I made some phone calls.
I worked it out and.
(25:53):
We still pay back ourloans now, but yeah.
But it was worth it.
It was worth it.
But it is, it is difficult forbusinesses to get through that.
So it is a good problem to have,but also still a scary one.
Yeah.
To have, because you also,it's something else is I
just genuinely don't believeany business is designed
for that on pour of traffic.
(26:13):
Like no individual storeis designed for that.
Mm-hmm.
And so you don't get to controlyour quality the same way.
Yeah.
And I hate that.
Yeah.
I, I hate that.
And then I also hate howtransactional it becomes.
I love to Yap.
I We love to chat.
Yeah.
We love to ask peoplehow their day was.
You cannot do that when youhave this really long line.
(26:35):
Yeah.
Because it's not fair toeverybody else's waiting
so long so that it'slike, oh man, please come
back when we can talk.
Yeah.
Come hang.
Yeah.
But you just like, I sometimesam behind the counter.
I just will.
Throw away a bunch of pancakes.
'cause I'm like, I don'tlike the color on this one.
This one's too light.
(26:55):
This one's because you knowthat they're, they're not gonna
taste the way you want them to.
Yeah.
And sometimes justget extra anxious.
'cause I get it, like mostpeople, they don't care as
much as I think that they do.
I'm like.
Like, oh, this isnot fluffy enough.
And so isn't thathow it goes though?
Like Yeah, for sure.
We care so much about whatwe're putting out there and
that's why for sure you havea successful business because
(27:17):
you care so much about it.
But that's also why it's so hardfor you to have a successful
business at the same time.
It's like this, this dualityof, of caring so much that
it could hurt your businessif you let it get to you.
Yeah.
I, it, it can absolutelyhurt and then I waste so
(27:38):
much because of it, which islike not super duper great.
Also.
Yeah, like I, when people placean online order, sometimes
they'll take like 20 or 30minutes to come get it, and
then I throw it away andremake it when they get there.
'cause I'm like, I don't wantyou to eat cold pancakes.
Like, but I do it sooften and it's unfortunate
(27:59):
that the more, uh, the.
The bigger you keep getting,the more people you're serving.
And so it was so easy todo those things when I just
had my small little clam.
Yeah.
In the Asbury or when, evenwhen people in Asbury just
didn't quite know who wewere, it was just the locals.
Mm-hmm.
(28:19):
And then the bigger youget, it's like, oh no, I
can't do that for everybody.
Yeah.
Because you just, you'rethrowing away so many stuff.
The, the trays.
The branded trays are actuallynot super easy to get.
Mm-hmm.
'cause they come fromout of the country.
So those little things,they are, they're a lot.
Mm-hmm.
They're a lot.
(28:40):
It's still a good time,but it is, it's crazy.
If there was something thatyou wanted to tell someone
who's wanting to open up.
A business and kindof just go for it.
'cause that's kind of like whatyou did, you just went for it.
Yeah.
And here we are today, sittinghere in one of your locations
(29:01):
with tons of people that loveyour pancakes, including myself.
Oh, I love them.
Especially thecookie butter one.
That one is those, those youmade me like cookie butter.
Oh.
Like I didn't really,I wasn't really like a
cookie butter person.
I think just, I thinkI'm more of an like
Nutella strawberry person.
But I tried that cookie butter.
Everyone will get.
Nutella.
(29:21):
Wow.
And strawberries.
Everyone who gets in this lineand requests that, there's
always one of us that arelike, just have cookie butter.
Just please justget cookie butter.
I'm begging you.
I'm begging you.
I'm begging you.
I even made a post aboutthat on TikTok and I was
like, raiding our flavors.
So you finally stop orderingNutella with strawberry.
(29:42):
What a perfect post.
Yes.
And number one is cookie butter.
Mm-hmm.
It is the staff favorite.
Yeah, it's that, that oneis the one, it's magical,
like a magical experience.
It's, I promise.
It's so good.
I promise.
Um, okay.
Here's, here's what Iwould tell anybody who
wants to own a business.
Yeah.
Don't think about it, becausethen you're gonna talk
yourself out, out of it, right?
(30:03):
Absolutely.
You're gonna talk yourself out.
It, it is as scary asyou think it'll be.
It is as overwhelming as youthink it'll be, but also, it's
not all gonna hit you at one.
It's gonna come in doses.
Mm-hmm.
You will have really,really good momentum.
Um, success doesnot look like this.
It looks like this.
(30:25):
Mm-hmm.
You're still growing, but you'regonna have a lot of lows and
those lows are not gonna hinderyour ability to succeed and just
make sure you're, you go intobusiness for the right reasons.
So I see a lot of people whowill say that, you know, I.
I want freedom over my time.
I want autonomy.
(30:45):
I just, I don'twanna have a boss.
I wanna work for myself.
And those are not quite theright reasons because when
you own a business, especiallyone that you want to do well,
you don't own a business, thebusiness owns you, and you
do not have freedom over yourtime like you think you do.
(31:05):
Um, yeah.
You are going to work morehours than you've ever worked
in your life, and they'regonna be unorthodox hours.
I, the weekend isnot gonna matter.
Sometimes the weekendsare your busiest days.
That's when all the eventsare going on, or just anything
that you have to be a part of.
And they're gonnahappen on the weekends.
They're gonna happen reallyearly in the morning.
(31:25):
You're gonna get phonecalls really late at night.
And so if you're not doingit for the right reasons,
I don't know, it's, it'shard to make it through.
Yeah.
I think a lot of people comeout of maybe working like a
nine to five corporate job,and they're like, I don't
wanna have a boss anymore.
And I'm like, mm-hmm.
Or I wanna work less hours.
Yeah.
Or, and that'll happenlike eventually.
(31:47):
Yes, yes.
When you own a business.
But it, it's definitely not now.
Nope.
Not right now.
It's not immediate.
It's gonna take some time and Iwanna say just see it through,
I mean, I'm seeing it through.
Mm-hmm.
I haven't gotten to the place oflike being a little more chill.
I am.
Always the girl that's runningup and down the boardwalk.
So if you see anyone doingthat, that's probably me.
(32:09):
Just if you see anyonesprinting Yeah, sprinting
down the boardwalk,that's most likely me.
Please say hi.
But I haven't gottento the place of like it
being nice and chill, buteventually I'll get there.
Yeah.
You know, so speakingof pancake flavors, yes.
We're coming out withpancake flavor together
(32:30):
we are to support and um.
Basically talk more about bloom.
So it's a bloom pancake.
I don't know whatwe're gonna call it.
Do we know what we'regonna call it yet?
I feel like bloompancake is fine too.
So tell me, tell me more aboutthe flavors in, in the pancake.
So it's gonna be alemon ricotta pancake.
(32:51):
I feel like, I dunno ifit should come with fresh
strawberries or if I shouldjust encourage people to add it.
Mm-hmm.
But like.
We always have strawberries inhere and we think you should
put strawberries on everything.
Mm-hmm.
So strawberries are great.
I would put strawberrieson the cookie butter.
People do that.
Okay.
Yeah.
People do that a lot.
Yeah, I would do that.
But I'm so excited thisweekend that you're
(33:12):
hearing this podcast, um,it will be available for
purchase at both locations.
Yes.
And.
We're still trying tofigure out the logistics
'cause we're filmingthis a little in advance.
But yeah, we're film figuringout the logistics on the
giveaway, but you'll win ticketsto bloom some pancake stacks.
Um, all those detailsare gonna be in the
(33:33):
description down below.
But I'm excited.
And we're gonna, we're gonna goactually make some right now.
Yes.
Let's go make some pancakes.
So let's go make some pancakes.
Wow, you're doing amazing.
Yeah, you're hired.
Some of them aren't perfectlyin the little hole there.
(33:55):
Are you looking fora hobby for you?
Wow.
Hey, you did good.
I did that pretty quick too.
Beautiful.
You suck.
So first there's a littlewhipped cream, always
whipped cream and powderedsugar on every pancake.
Okay.
Always with cream and powderedsugar, unless you don't want
it, then we don't put it on.
But always with creamand powdered sugar, it
makes it look so pretty.
(34:17):
Yeah.
Then some maple syrup.
It looks so good.
Okay.
White chocolate chips.
(34:37):
Okay.
Full trust in.
Okay.
Some little edible flowers.
Yes, edible flowers.
They're so pretty.
And then our little lemon.
Okay.
Delicious.
Beautiful.
I love it.
It's so cute.
(34:58):
Oh, the bloom pancakes.
The bloom stack.
We're gonna have to cheers.
Okay.
Let's get more whitechocolate in there so I can.
You mask the taste.
Yeah, this is probably cold.
Is it recording?
Okay.
Cheers.
Yeah, that's good.
(35:24):
I mean it's abutter mee pancake.
True.
Thank you for showingme how to make pancakes.
Of course.
Come back anytime.
Should work here.
Put in some shifts for me.
I actually, if you want a hobby.
She's great at pink.
Amazing.
Thank you for being onthe podcast and telling
me a little bit more aboutButtery and about you.
(35:45):
Of course, of course.
Anytime you needsomeone a Yap, I'm here.
Thanks.
And I a yapper.
I'm just a girl.
I'm just a yapper, just a girl.
Just a yap days.
I, uh, I'm overstimulated.
I either go home orI go to my therapist.
I actually, this week,that's such a rough week.
I miss therapy and then like,I know, I'm so sad about it.
(36:08):
I was so sad about it.
And then like the Stupid LoveIsland finale really threw me.
The show threw me like Iwas, I was so annoyed that
I decided to watch anotherseason, and that season was
just worse than this one.
And I was like, forget it.
Forget it.
Um, our bloom stackwill be available the
(36:30):
weekend of August 15th.
15th through the 17th.
Yeah.
And you guys will be able to getit in store in both locations,
in Long Branch and in Asbury.
Yep.
And with your purchase figureout logistics, but with your
purchase, you'll be ableto win tickets to Bloom.
Yep.
All right.
(36:50):
I'm finishing this stock righthere as you should take it away.
So I noticed that youweave a lot of mental
health into buttery.
Yeah.
Tell me a littlebit more about that.
So I was getting my master'sin clinical mental health and
rehabilitation counseling,and I ended up on this crazy
pancake journey when I hadmy summer off of school.
(00:20):
Mm-hmm.
And I had full intentionsgoing back to school.
I was gonna be a mental healthpractitioner and I was gonna own
a behavioral health facility.
And then the pancakes took itsown turn and I kind of just
had to keep going with that.
Mm-hmm.
So what I did, I justkept moving on with,
(00:41):
with the pancakes andI felt pretty guilty.
So I decided that I wouldstill be a part of the mental
health community in any waythat I can, because I am
still a believer that we needmore mental health resources.
Yeah.
So even if I wasn't able to.
Continue pursuingwhat I was doing.
(01:01):
I still wanted tojust be able to help.
And what brought you towanting to study that
in the first place?
Um, the need for mentalhealth resources.
Yeah.
I think, um, like manyother people who choose
that path mm-hmm.
You're usually the therapistfriend, or like Yeah, yeah.
You know, you're the, thefriend that everyone's
(01:22):
calling with their drama.
All my friends used to tellme I'm the least judgmental
person that they know.
Mm-hmm.
Um.
And oddly enough, my favoriteage of people are like preteen.
Mm-hmm.
Early teenage years.
Yeah.
Which everyone in school justis like, no, that's crazy.
That's crazy.
But that is, thatis my age of people.
(01:44):
I love that age.
And so I used to dolike camp counseling.
I, most of my jobs whenI was younger was just
always camp counseling.
Mm-hmm.
I would do like, mm-hmm.
Summer counseling or like afterschool programs and I had so
much fun just being able to bea listening ear and provide some
type of guidance to that, thoseyoung impressionable minds.
(02:05):
And so yeah, I just feltlike we need more of that.
Do you think that youappreciate or have like a
love for caring more for thatage range because you might
have had a difficult time.
Oh, for sure during theknee drink for sure.
Because I know I did.
Yeah.
And that's why I enjoy likechatting and like, everybody's
like, no kids, kids, kids.
(02:25):
Like toddlers.
I'm like, yeah, toddlers.
Toddlers.
I'm like, no.
I like teens.
Me too.
Like let me talk to a teen.
Me too.
I, I think.
Many people when they get olderand they're adults, they're
so far removed from beinga teenager that they don't
remember what it's like or theydon't care what it is like.
And I get it.
'cause the problems that ateenager has or a pre-teen,
(02:46):
they seem so trivial.
Yes.
The further you get.
But for me, I've alwaysfelt like at any stage
in life, whatever yourproblems are, they're the
most important thing to you.
Mm-hmm.
And so you're handling them likethey are the end of the world.
And I, I feel like.
Like especially kids now,they're so mature and most
of them mature really fast.
They just need somebodyto listen to them.
(03:08):
Yeah.
And someone who cares abouttheir problems in the same
way that they do becausethey are still important and
they're still, of course,emotionally weighing on them
the same way your problems areemotionally weighing on you.
So I love that age.
I think I'm like relearningin my like adult years too,
how to continue to healthat teenage version of
me if there was more care.
(03:31):
For teens that maybe Iwould've had an easier time
healing in my adult life.
Mm-hmm.
I wouldn't have had to like takemyself back and be like, no,
it's okay that that happened.
Mm-hmm.
You know?
But you needed someoneto listen to you.
Yeah.
Someone to listen and someoneto care as much as you cared.
Mm-hmm.
About something that wasdefinitely pushed to the back
(03:53):
burner because you're so young.
It's like, these arenot real problems.
You're not in love.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But you are, you're experiencingsome really intense emotions.
Mm-hmm.
And even if later in lifeyou realize they're not as
intense as you might havethought that they were,
they're still intense emotions.
Yeah.
I mean, I think if, if myteenage years were just trivial.
(04:18):
Nothing's an issue now.
Are you kidding?
Throw anything at me?
It's fine.
I'll be good.
Yeah, yeah.
Oh, I felt that what a timegrowing, growing up is so, so
odd, and then you're hormonallychanging, like mm-hmm.
There's just so much going on.
Yeah.
I would not go back.
(04:40):
Oh man.
I don't think, I don'tregret anything, but I also
don't think I would go back.
Yeah.
I, no, I regret something.
Well, I regret, you know what,I try not to regret anything
because I do feel like theyshould, that whatever you did
shapes you into who you are now.
Yes.
But there are some thingsI'd be like, well, I
wouldn't do that again,but, but not regret.
(05:03):
Not regret again,what would that be?
Um.
I, I just think the way,maybe the way that I handled
most situations mm-hmm.
That I experienced, like,are we trauma dumping?
Are we, I mean, go ahead.
(05:24):
Oh man.
There's so much to unpack.
Oh no, we're trauma dumping.
There's just so much tounpack, but like, I was
not very responsible.
So you're a teen.
Yeah, I was.
I was, I was, I could havebeen more responsible.
I think, yeah.
And then just the way I choseto handle a lot of situations
that I didn't love or, orappreciate, I, I did not choose
(05:48):
mature ways to handle anythingand then experiencing emotions.
I think that's fair.
Well, kinda, I think it'sfair, kinda, I feel like you
do know better and you justsometimes choose not to do
better just for the fun of it.
Mm-hmm.
But I know you knowthat like that.
It's funny 'cause you sayingthat makes me think to like how
(06:10):
we are as adults and like Yeah.
You know better, butsometimes you just, yeah.
You choose the latter.
Know when you choose the nowas an adult, I mean, for the
most part you'll be like reallyconscious in your decision
making and it'll be almostmore conscious, like in the
frontal cortex of our brains.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We're, we're likemore conscious.
We have a moral like compass.
You know, I died a teenage me.
(06:31):
I don't, I don't know.
I was, we're exploring theworld though after.
You know, like action, firstthought after, you know,
it's almost like this periodof like, try and try and
try again, or like to justfigure out who you are.
So I think that's whywe, teenagers feel like
the rebels or like, youknow, they're not mature.
(06:54):
They're not doingwhat they're told.
Mm-hmm.
And I think that they'rejust exploring the world.
They are.
It's their first time here now.
I don't, it's all ofour first time here, but
yeah, like, I mean, don't.
Be really stupid.
Like it's not the time toexplore the world by like,
you know, when, when a, whena parent like, I, I don't
know, I, I don't know whichside I would be on of this,
(07:14):
but let me know where, whereyou fall, where you, you
have a kid, okay, 5-year-old,I don't, I don't know,
3-year-old doesn't understandfire, like the stove is hot.
Are you gonna let them touch it?
No.
Like, are you gonna tell them?
You know what I mean?
Like, are you gonna continueto tell them No rhetorical
(07:36):
question, but like Yeah.
Are you gonnacontinue to tell them?
No And then they,if they keep trying.
Okay.
You know what I mean?
Okay.
A literal fire.
No, but a hot surface.
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
So like nothing would,especially after you said
no, like no, this is hot.
Yeah.
Nothing that wouldseverely harm you.
(07:57):
Yeah.
But.
A small little, youknow, like a teacup.
Yeah, just a little bit.
A teacup.
That's fine.
Touching a literal fire.
No.
Yeah, but a hot surface.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like the pancake.
Machines are hot surface.
Mm-hmm.
There are some kids who comein and they stick their hand
under the sneeze garden, andI'm like, no, don't touch that.
(08:18):
It's hot.
And then they'll justlike, keep doing it.
And then I'm like,well, you told them.
I don't even know thatI could try anymore.
And so then when they literallytouch the machine, I guess
maybe sometimes they have tofeel it to really believe you.
I don't know.
I think it's like a, it'slike a learning process.
Yeah, for sure.
Probably similar to thelearning process you went
through for opening wherewe're sitting right now.
(08:41):
Oh man.
That was large learning process.
I'm still processing.
I'm still learning.
It hasn't, teenage years,hasn't, hasn't ended yet.
No.
I think I'm like.
I'm still a toddler here.
I, I feel like I'm not growingI'm, or my growth is slow.
It's really slow,like my mental growth.
(09:03):
But I love, I love that yousay that, but you already have
two like brick and mortars.
Yeah, I know.
We're sitting in one right now.
Yeah.
And so many people know whoyou are and who butter meat is.
I know.
It's really crazy.
That's so cool.
Very, very crazy thought.
Sometimes I like.
Like sit and I say to mymom like, what did I do?
(09:26):
What did I do?
What did I do?
How did I do this?
Sometimes I also feel likethis was the dumbest thing
that I've ever done, andthen other times I'm like,
no, just see it through.
Just see it through.
This was a good idea.
We need to unpack that.
Yeah.
(09:53):
Welcome back to the SelfLove Archives podcast.
My name is Julia Salvia.
I'm your self love bestie,and I am here with Shania.
She is the founder of ButterMe, and we are sitting in one
of her locations right nowas we speak in Pure Village.
Yes, in Long Branch, New Jersey.
Yes.
Hi.
(10:13):
Hello.
Thanks for ha.
Thanks.
Like thanks for having me.
Thanks for havingme in your space.
Anytime.
You're always welcome.
Thank you.
And thank you for beinghere on the podcast.
Of course.
This is my joy.
This is fun.
This is, thank you.
So much fun.
A nice break from just pancakes.
Pancakes, yeah.
Well, tell me, we're sittinghere and you just told me
(10:35):
that you feel like a toddler.
Okay.
Yeah.
Still in your businesswhen we are sitting in one
of two of your brick andmortars, which is insane.
I know.
I like, I am just a girl.
I am.
No, seriously.
I'm just a girl.
I'm just a girl.
I am lost.
(10:56):
I kind of, it's a lotof winging it and just
learning as I go along.
I never quite knowwhat I'm doing.
Mm-hmm.
And then that.
Contributes to me feelinglike a toddler and like a
bunch of different thingsjust keep hitting you at
one time and suddenly you'relearning how to do something
you've never done before.
I think every single day you'reencountering something you've
never thought, never done beforeand never even thought about.
(11:19):
And so then you're like,how do I even, like,
who do I call for this?
And, and so it's a, it's alot of that and it always
feels like I'm a newborn.
Like I always have questionsand sometimes I feel like,
okay, these are probably the.
Dumbest questions ever,like every day, but they're
gonna come back around.
I feel like dumb, this, thisstupid quote unquote stupid
(11:42):
questions always come backaround where you're like,
oh, thank God I asked thatquestion, because I wouldn't
have known this answeror that answer, you know?
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
How did you start Butter Me?
Well, not like this.
Not like, no, I wasin a little cart.
(12:03):
I was getting my master's inclinical mental health and rehab
counseling and then I had likethe summer off and so I kind
of just decided I wanted to dosomething fun for the summer.
Mm-hmm.
Um, the program washeavy so I was cooking a
lot and I love to cook.
Mm-hmm.
So once we got to the summer,um, I started to make things
(12:23):
that I just didn't really like,'cause I was doing so much
cooking that I was like souninspired and I hate pancakes.
So I started making pancakes.
I know, so you hate pancakes,but you own two pancake.
Oh, I love thesepancakes stores.
Yes.
I hated pancakes.
(12:45):
'cause they just felt likethey had a horrible mouth feel.
Mm-hmm.
And then they were just likeoverwhelming, pretty soggy.
And they always had likethis yellowish color
that I didn't appreciate.
Yeah.
So I always thought thatthat was just what a pancake
was, but I knew that that.
Pancakes are so simplethat there was no reason
I shouldn't like them.
(13:06):
Yeah.
So I was like, I am gonna make apancake that I like, like I am.
So I looked up how theymake pancakes in other
countries and they were, Isaw, um, puff Ridges and the
Netherlands, but those aremade with yeast and buckwheat.
And then I saw Taco Yaki.
But those have likeoctopus and stuff in them.
Oh.
So I like the machine though.
'cause they were thesesmall versions of pancakes.
(13:27):
Yeah.
So it was like, oh, but do theydo that like classic American.
Buttermilk and people, somepeople were doing it like
in the west coast, but I waslike, I live in the east.
Yeah.
So I just ordered themachine and then I was
playing around making my ownpancakes and everything I
didn't like about pancakes.
I mean, everything I didlike about pancakes, it just,
it was encompassed in thislittle mini form that I got a
(13:49):
crispy ed edge in every bite,and I like the color better.
So I was like, okay, this.
I love this.
And then my family wasjust like, no, you should
do something with this.
So.
Mm-hmm.
I got a little cart and I wasgonna do bridal expos, um,
and I did bridal expos 'causeI thought I was gonna cater.
Mm-hmm.
I was like, oh, this wouldbe fun at like, you know,
somebody's brunch or something.
(14:10):
Yeah.
And so I was cateringand it just got crazy.
Like it, oh my gosh.
It just kept snowballinginto something bigger
and something bigger.
And every time I went toa bridal expo, um, I would
have a really crazy line.
And people were like, how can Ijust buy this, these pancakes?
And so I was like, well,I guess I could do like a
farmer's market or something.
(14:31):
Mm-hmm.
And so I did that andI'd have like this
outpour of people again.
And so it just kept going.
And all of these people that Iencountered that first summer,
they inspired me to justkeep moving and keep going.
And I never wanted a store but.
It kind of inspired you tosay, fuck it got pressured.
(14:53):
Oh my God.
Pressured.
Yeah, I was pressured.
I was like, I, when I wasdoing the farmer's markets
in Asbury, they told me like,oh, you should do a container
'cause it's for the summer.
'cause I had full intentionsto go back to school.
Yeah.
And when I called aboutthe container, the VP
of Leasing said, um.
He said, oh, no one everleaves the container, but we
(15:15):
have this building that's beenabandoned for seven years and
we wanna revive the building.
So let's go back.
Let's like, just come in.
Let, yeah,just, I need you here.
And I was like, ah, okay.
And then you did it.
I did it.
And your first, first location?
Yeah.
As in Asbury?
(15:35):
Mm-hmm.
That's awesome.
And I've just been.
And going with it ever since.
It's hard to stop thegrowth behind the scenes
when the front line ispushing and growing so fast.
Yeah.
So like even if I said,okay, no, we're gonna
(15:56):
keep this one store.
Mm-hmm.
I grow on social media at likea really exponential rate.
And so imagine me tryingto house all of these
people in my tiny.
500 square foot Asbury store.
Yeah.
Where you only haveoutdoor seating and stuff.
So then that's how I'm like,okay, let's open another one.
(16:17):
Mm-hmm.
And then you grow again onsocial media and then your
for you page starts touchinglike everyone else's state
or everyone else's area.
And then you'll get floodedwith comments that are like,
come further up and mm-hmm.
Like, go further up the shore.
And so then I'm like,well, how can I say no
to my internet friends?
(16:37):
I wanna meet them too.
Yeah.
So how, I mean, how's yourmental health with all of this?
Because this is agood problem to have.
Oh, yes.
But yes, but also it's avery easy problem to fumble.
Mm-hmm.
And like that, orlike get lost in Yeah.
That, that really,really freaks me out.
(16:59):
So, yeah, mentally, I, I mean,I had listened to Emma Greed.
Uh, I was listening to apodcast that she did Right.
And she was saying thatbusiness owners are okay
about a third of the time.
And I was like, you know,that really sit like that
really sits with me too.
Yeah.
That just really sit, it, it,it, it sat well and I said
that really describes what Ifeel like most of the time.
(17:22):
A third of the time I'm okay.
Yeah.
And other than that I am, itfeels like the world is on fire.
Mm-hmm.
And you're constantlyputting out fires 'cause
there's no one else to call.
Yeah.
And so when anything is wrong,you are getting called for.
And either you're getting calledfirst or you're getting called
last, and that's because it hassnowballed into something that
like no one else can handle.
(17:44):
But I think mentally halfthe time we're like, all
right, well, a littleless than half, actually.
Mm-hmm.
More than half of the time.
I am, I don't know whatI'm doing and I cry a lot.
I think IAnd, if you comein on like an insanely
(18:07):
busy day, I am probablycrying behind the counter.
No, unfortunately yes, I,I completely understand
because I am it alsocrying all the time.
You just can't help it.
You can't help it.
You can't help it.
And then.
(18:27):
There's no immediate resultor reward for what you're
doing besides people who arereally nice and they tell
you immediately like, ohmy God, these are so good.
I love it here.
Or like the same day that I wascrying behind the counter, I
saw a 6-year-old girl and hermom come in and she had on a
(18:48):
butter me sweater and she boughtanother one for her friend
and they don't live nearby.
So they were here forthe dance competition.
Yeah.
Yeah.
They were like,please open one by us.
We've been here like threetimes a day every single day.
So those things, I'm like,okay, just keep going.
Like, just, just, you'remaking somebody happy.
(19:08):
But a lot of daysthey feel really hard.
Um, and then little thingswill happen and there's no
grace for people sometimes,and so then you'll get
really negative commentsand not so great reviews.
Over something that you would'veabsolutely fixed in the store.
(19:28):
So like I got a commentabout, someone said that
we didn't put enoughNutella on their pancakes.
And I was like, okay,well first that's the
serving a new tell off.
But aside from putting theserving, even if you would've
just said to us, 'cause likeno, everyone in the store
(19:51):
is trained to not arguewith anybody like mm-hmm.
Because that's just.
It's not nice.
You want everybody tohave a good experience.
It's not worth it.
Yeah.
Aside from that, I reallylike when people are happy.
Like, I know when, when I goout to eat, I, I like to be
satisfied with what I got.
So if someone likes theirfood with a little extra
something, that's fine.
You just tell 'em thatlike, you want more Nutella
(20:13):
and we would've fixed it.
Why would that warrantlike a two star review?
Wouldn't you?
Didn't even give usa chance to fix it.
Ugh.
But those things on a really.
Not so great day.
They, they mentally, they,they just do it for me.
Mm-hmm.
So, but mentally,I guess I'm okay.
I guess.
(20:35):
So when it comes to reallytough days, what is like the
number one thing you have to doon that day to get through it?
Go home, go.
No, seriously, on a reallytough day, I go home.
Yeah.
Like, that's it.
I'm like, I'm, I'm done today.
I'm done it.
(20:56):
And some days we'll getlike, like when our air kept
breaking on a weekly basis.
Mm-hmm.
And it was so hotthose weeks too.
Oh my gosh.
When I heard what was wrongwith the air, I just started
crying and I was like,this is the electrician.
I was like, all rightJoe, I'm going home.
I'm going home.
I'm gonna just call me, tellme, tell me what you find.
(21:17):
Tell me what, what we're doing.
I'm going home.
Mm-hmm.
I just, I couldn't take anymore.
I anytime I am havinga really hard day home,
so I'm, I'm going home.
Yeah.
Now I, I feel like now inthis moment, you have a lot of
people that work for you and atthe location, so you have the
(21:37):
ability to go home in some ways.
Do you mean like go home,like close the store, go home?
No, no, no, no, no, no.
Keep the store open.
Go home.
Everyone gets.
Everyone gets pancakes from8:00 AM to 8:00 PM 9:00
PM On the weekends you'regetting your pancakes.
If I'm having a mentallyhard day and I'm crying and
(21:58):
I go home, someone here isnot crying and they're gonna
make sure you get pancakes.
So in a way, like I havethe ability to go home,
but then sometimes I reallydon't, even though I, it's
so beautiful the way peopleshow up to support businesses
when they see them online.
Um.
If you don't come ready to bepatient and just gentle with
(22:19):
these businesses, you candrive them out of business.
Yeah.
And I know that even if they'redoing well, even if they're
doing successful, like yeah.
So sometimes the doingwell is not quite the doing
well that you would think.
Mm-hmm.
And I think because somepeople don't have like the
best understanding of business.
'cause it's not like justa common thing to know.
(22:41):
Yeah.
But for context.
Uh, when I first went viraland I had like these insane
lines, um, that felt almostunmanageable in that time.
People are driving fromso far and they're coming.
They are in this long line.
(23:01):
You don't wanna disappoint them.
And so you are runningoutta stuff, but you're
trying to replenish reallyfast, and so you'll.
Order on DoorDash, you'll run tothe The closest grocery store.
Yeah.
And in Asbury, your closestgrocery store is like really
small owned, family ownedand they're charging you
about $9 for a heavy cream.
(23:24):
Like Yeah.
So you don't make anymoney at that point.
You're practicallyjust giving stuff away.
Yeah, because all theingredients are costing you
like triple the price and soyou didn't make any money.
But then also.
Your machines are not builtfor the kind of capacity that
people are like lined up for.
(23:45):
And so then you are, you haveto essentially throw away
literally everything you bought.
Like I had to, when I firstwent viral, I had to throw
away everything that Ibought, I mean down to like
my orange juice machine.
'cause it wasn't bigenough and stuff.
Mm-hmm.
And so not many businesses havethe money to reinvest in that.
Yeah.
And you don't get the money.
(24:06):
By just selling to that crowdthat you have because you have
to pay back the staff thatyou didn't know you needed.
You have to pay backthe, um, just the, all
the cost of ingredients.
Mm-hmm.
Which are now way,way too expensive.
You're like, I wouldrun out of cups and now
I'm rush ordering cups.
And the rush order feessometimes are just $200
(24:28):
extra on a box of cups,and now you're paying a
ridiculous amount for cups.
Mm-hmm.
So.
Those things, they, they arereally difficult to maintain.
Yeah.
And so even though you wouldthink like, oh my God, this
business is doing so well.
A lot of the times it'snot profitable at all
or it's not sustainable.
(24:48):
And so that's how you endup needing like some type
of investor or something.
But everybody doesn'thave that option.
And so Yeah.
Sometimes that actuallyjust runs them out.
Yeah.
The opposite way.
'cause they, theyreally can't sustain.
So.
Yeah.
Because if you keep.
Almost like breaking even,essentially because, and
not by choice, but becauseeverything is so busy.
(25:11):
Yeah.
It's, and you're selling,you know, 10 times more
than you thought you wouldin a day, like you don't
have the additional capital.
Mm-hmm.
To actually reinvest itinto the business, to
have that 10 times more.
You know.
Yeah.
Quantity of cups or that Yeah.
10 times more quantity ofheavy cream and everything
that you need and machinesand like, it, it, it is a lot.
(25:31):
Yeah.
And then you're, allof your things break.
I broke my mixer whenwe first went viral.
Oh no.
Because we were trying tomake more batter than that
machine could even comprehend.
Yeah.
And so it, that was,it was overwhelming.
It was a lot.
Yeah.
Um, but I made some phone calls.
I worked it out and.
(25:53):
We still pay back ourloans now, but yeah.
But it was worth it.
It was worth it.
But it is, it is difficult forbusinesses to get through that.
So it is a good problem to have,but also still a scary one.
Yeah.
To have, because you also,it's something else is I
just genuinely don't believeany business is designed
for that on pour of traffic.
(26:13):
Like no individual storeis designed for that.
Mm-hmm.
And so you don't get to controlyour quality the same way.
Yeah.
And I hate that.
Yeah.
I, I hate that.
And then I also hate howtransactional it becomes.
I love to Yap.
I We love to chat.
Yeah.
We love to ask peoplehow their day was.
You cannot do that when youhave this really long line.
(26:35):
Yeah.
Because it's not fair toeverybody else's waiting
so long so that it'slike, oh man, please come
back when we can talk.
Yeah.
Come hang.
Yeah.
But you just like, I sometimesam behind the counter.
I just will.
Throw away a bunch of pancakes.
'cause I'm like, I don'tlike the color on this one.
This one's too light.
(26:55):
This one's because you knowthat they're, they're not gonna
taste the way you want them to.
Yeah.
And sometimes justget extra anxious.
'cause I get it, like mostpeople, they don't care as
much as I think that they do.
I'm like.
Like, oh, this isnot fluffy enough.
And so isn't thathow it goes though?
Like Yeah, for sure.
We care so much about whatwe're putting out there and
that's why for sure you havea successful business because
(27:17):
you care so much about it.
But that's also why it's so hardfor you to have a successful
business at the same time.
It's like this, this dualityof, of caring so much that
it could hurt your businessif you let it get to you.
Yeah.
I, it, it can absolutelyhurt and then I waste so
(27:38):
much because of it, which islike not super duper great.
Also.
Yeah, like I, when people placean online order, sometimes
they'll take like 20 or 30minutes to come get it, and
then I throw it away andremake it when they get there.
'cause I'm like, I don't wantyou to eat cold pancakes.
Like, but I do it sooften and it's unfortunate
(27:59):
that the more, uh, the.
The bigger you keep getting,the more people you're serving.
And so it was so easy todo those things when I just
had my small little clam.
Yeah.
In the Asbury or when, evenwhen people in Asbury just
didn't quite know who wewere, it was just the locals.
Mm-hmm.
(28:19):
And then the bigger youget, it's like, oh no, I
can't do that for everybody.
Yeah.
Because you just, you'rethrowing away so many stuff.
The, the trays.
The branded trays are actuallynot super easy to get.
Mm-hmm.
'cause they come fromout of the country.
So those little things,they are, they're a lot.
Mm-hmm.
They're a lot.
(28:40):
It's still a good time,but it is, it's crazy.
If there was something thatyou wanted to tell someone
who's wanting to open up.
A business and kindof just go for it.
'cause that's kind of like whatyou did, you just went for it.
Yeah.
And here we are today, sittinghere in one of your locations
(29:01):
with tons of people that loveyour pancakes, including myself.
Oh, I love them.
Especially thecookie butter one.
That one is those, those youmade me like cookie butter.
Oh.
Like I didn't really,I wasn't really like a
cookie butter person.
I think just, I thinkI'm more of an like
Nutella strawberry person.
But I tried that cookie butter.
Everyone will get.
Nutella.
(29:21):
Wow.
And strawberries.
Everyone who gets in this lineand requests that, there's
always one of us that arelike, just have cookie butter.
Just please justget cookie butter.
I'm begging you.
I'm begging you.
I'm begging you.
I even made a post aboutthat on TikTok and I was
like, raiding our flavors.
So you finally stop orderingNutella with strawberry.
(29:42):
What a perfect post.
Yes.
And number one is cookie butter.
Mm-hmm.
It is the staff favorite.
Yeah, it's that, that oneis the one, it's magical,
like a magical experience.
It's, I promise.
It's so good.
I promise.
Um, okay.
Here's, here's what Iwould tell anybody who
wants to own a business.
Yeah.
Don't think about it, becausethen you're gonna talk
yourself out, out of it, right?
(30:03):
Absolutely.
You're gonna talk yourself out.
It, it is as scary asyou think it'll be.
It is as overwhelming as youthink it'll be, but also, it's
not all gonna hit you at one.
It's gonna come in doses.
Mm-hmm.
You will have really,really good momentum.
Um, success doesnot look like this.
It looks like this.
(30:25):
Mm-hmm.
You're still growing, but you'regonna have a lot of lows and
those lows are not gonna hinderyour ability to succeed and just
make sure you're, you go intobusiness for the right reasons.
So I see a lot of people whowill say that, you know, I.
I want freedom over my time.
I want autonomy.
(30:45):
I just, I don'twanna have a boss.
I wanna work for myself.
And those are not quite theright reasons because when
you own a business, especiallyone that you want to do well,
you don't own a business, thebusiness owns you, and you
do not have freedom over yourtime like you think you do.
(31:05):
Um, yeah.
You are going to work morehours than you've ever worked
in your life, and they'regonna be unorthodox hours.
I, the weekend isnot gonna matter.
Sometimes the weekendsare your busiest days.
That's when all the eventsare going on, or just anything
that you have to be a part of.
And they're gonnahappen on the weekends.
They're gonna happen reallyearly in the morning.
(31:25):
You're gonna get phonecalls really late at night.
And so if you're not doingit for the right reasons,
I don't know, it's, it'shard to make it through.
Yeah.
I think a lot of people comeout of maybe working like a
nine to five corporate job,and they're like, I don't
wanna have a boss anymore.
And I'm like, mm-hmm.
Or I wanna work less hours.
Yeah.
Or, and that'll happenlike eventually.
(31:47):
Yes, yes.
When you own a business.
But it, it's definitely not now.
Nope.
Not right now.
It's not immediate.
It's gonna take some time and Iwanna say just see it through,
I mean, I'm seeing it through.
Mm-hmm.
I haven't gotten to the place oflike being a little more chill.
I am.
Always the girl that's runningup and down the boardwalk.
So if you see anyone doingthat, that's probably me.
(32:09):
Just if you see anyonesprinting Yeah, sprinting
down the boardwalk,that's most likely me.
Please say hi.
But I haven't gottento the place of like it
being nice and chill, buteventually I'll get there.
Yeah.
You know, so speakingof pancake flavors, yes.
We're coming out withpancake flavor together
(32:30):
we are to support and um.
Basically talk more about bloom.
So it's a bloom pancake.
I don't know whatwe're gonna call it.
Do we know what we'regonna call it yet?
I feel like bloompancake is fine too.
So tell me, tell me more aboutthe flavors in, in the pancake.
So it's gonna be alemon ricotta pancake.
(32:51):
I feel like, I dunno ifit should come with fresh
strawberries or if I shouldjust encourage people to add it.
Mm-hmm.
But like.
We always have strawberries inhere and we think you should
put strawberries on everything.
Mm-hmm.
So strawberries are great.
I would put strawberrieson the cookie butter.
People do that.
Okay.
Yeah.
People do that a lot.
Yeah, I would do that.
But I'm so excited thisweekend that you're
(33:12):
hearing this podcast, um,it will be available for
purchase at both locations.
Yes.
And.
We're still trying tofigure out the logistics
'cause we're filmingthis a little in advance.
But yeah, we're film figuringout the logistics on the
giveaway, but you'll win ticketsto bloom some pancake stacks.
Um, all those detailsare gonna be in the
(33:33):
description down below.
But I'm excited.
And we're gonna, we're gonna goactually make some right now.
Yes.
Let's go make some pancakes.
So let's go make some pancakes.
Wow, you're doing amazing.
Yeah, you're hired.
Some of them aren't perfectlyin the little hole there.
(33:55):
Are you looking fora hobby for you?
Wow.
Hey, you did good.
I did that pretty quick too.
Beautiful.
You suck.
So first there's a littlewhipped cream, always
whipped cream and powderedsugar on every pancake.
Okay.
Always with cream and powderedsugar, unless you don't want
it, then we don't put it on.
But always with creamand powdered sugar, it
makes it look so pretty.
(34:17):
Yeah.
Then some maple syrup.
It looks so good.
Okay.
White chocolate chips.
(34:37):
Okay.
Full trust in.
Okay.
Some little edible flowers.
Yes, edible flowers.
They're so pretty.
And then our little lemon.
Okay.
Delicious.
Beautiful.
I love it.
It's so cute.
(34:58):
Oh, the bloom pancakes.
The bloom stack.
We're gonna have to cheers.
Okay.
Let's get more whitechocolate in there so I can.
You mask the taste.
Yeah, this is probably cold.
Is it recording?
Okay.
Cheers.
Yeah, that's good.
(35:24):
I mean it's abutter mee pancake.
True.
Thank you for showingme how to make pancakes.
Of course.
Come back anytime.
Should work here.
Put in some shifts for me.
I actually, if you want a hobby.
She's great at pink.
Amazing.
Thank you for being onthe podcast and telling
me a little bit more aboutButtery and about you.
(35:45):
Of course, of course.
Anytime you needsomeone a Yap, I'm here.
Thanks.
And I a yapper.
I'm just a girl.
I'm just a yapper, just a girl.
Just a yap days.
I, uh, I'm overstimulated.
I either go home orI go to my therapist.
I actually, this week,that's such a rough week.
I miss therapy and then like,I know, I'm so sad about it.
(36:08):
I was so sad about it.
And then like the Stupid LoveIsland finale really threw me.
The show threw me like Iwas, I was so annoyed that
I decided to watch anotherseason, and that season was
just worse than this one.
And I was like, forget it.
Forget it.
Um, our bloom stackwill be available the
(36:30):
weekend of August 15th.
15th through the 17th.
Yeah.
And you guys will be able to getit in store in both locations,
in Long Branch and in Asbury.
Yep.
And with your purchase figureout logistics, but with your
purchase, you'll be ableto win tickets to Bloom.
Yep.
All right.
(36:50):
I'm finishing this stock righthere as you should take it away.
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