WEBVTT - Candace Nelson 0:00:03.360 --> 0:00:06.960 I'm Sam Edis and I'm Amy Nelson. Welcome to What's 0:00:06.960 --> 0:00:09.559 Her Story? With Sam and Amy. This is a show 0:00:09.640 --> 0:00:15.400 about the world's most remarkable women, their professional and personal journeys. Together, 0:00:15.480 --> 0:00:19.200 we'll hear from gold medalists, best selling authors, and leaders 0:00:19.239 --> 0:00:22.840 of the world's most iconic brands. Listen every Thursday or 0:00:22.920 --> 0:00:27.880 join the conversation anytime on Instagram at What's Her Story Podcast. 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:33.479 Candice Nelson is the entrepreneur who put cupcakes on the 0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:36.280 map as their own category. She is the founder of 0:00:36.320 --> 0:00:39.920 Sprinkles and Pizzana, a judge on Cupcake Wars, and the 0:00:39.960 --> 0:00:47.040 author of her new book, Sweet Success. So you said 0:00:47.080 --> 0:00:51.120 goodbye to your career as an investment banker and then 0:00:51.159 --> 0:00:55.200 went back to school for baking. What was next? After 0:00:55.320 --> 0:00:58.720 pastry school? I got to work making special occasion cakes 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:00.360 out of my kitchen because I just wanted to be 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:02.760 as creative as possible. I need to do the opposite 0:01:02.800 --> 0:01:06.640 of crunching numbers. And it was actually kind of comical 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:10.040 because these special occasion cakes were just they took years 0:01:10.080 --> 0:01:12.120 off my life, I mean, making all the decorations and 0:01:12.120 --> 0:01:14.679 the fillings, and then I was trying to deliver them, 0:01:14.800 --> 0:01:17.320 and you know, on those steep hills of San Francisco, 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:19.720 was like they were sliding around all over the place. 0:01:19.760 --> 0:01:22.640 I just couldn't take it anymore. And I remembered some 0:01:22.760 --> 0:01:25.360 advice that someone had once told me, which is, if 0:01:25.400 --> 0:01:27.560 you want a real business, you have to make something 0:01:27.560 --> 0:01:30.440 that people will buy every day, which a special occasion 0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:33.440 cake you can't. So I sort of went back to 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:36.880 those wedding magazines I had seen when I had noticed 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:39.000 that cupcake towers were kind of, you know, coming on 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:42.520 the scene. But at the time, cupcakes still were like 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:45.160 kid fair, right. They were in the supermarkets. You found 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:47.520 him in the plastic clam shells. They were very unsophisticated. 0:01:47.520 --> 0:01:49.760 They were nostalgic. Everyone loved them, but they didn't really 0:01:49.840 --> 0:01:51.440 like the taste of them. They just liked the feeling 0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:54.200 of them. Reminded them of childhood. And so I thought, 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:57.560 what if I married like these beautiful ingredients and this 0:01:57.760 --> 0:02:01.080 artful design I am using, you know, for these special 0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:03.960 occasion cakes, and applied them to cupcakes, but not to 0:02:04.000 --> 0:02:07.279 make them too fancy. They would still be like fuss free, 0:02:08.000 --> 0:02:11.959 but somehow more elegant, more beautiful, elevated in terms of 0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:15.160 the ingredients. The technique and the style, and that was 0:02:15.200 --> 0:02:17.840 sort of the lightbulb moment for if I can like 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:21.120 remake the cupcake, this is a new business. And then 0:02:21.160 --> 0:02:23.000 what did you do, Like what was your first step 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:25.760 after you had this lightbalb moment. Well, my first step 0:02:25.919 --> 0:02:28.480 was I realized San Francisco was not a place to 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:32.800 be starting some like innovative new concept because the economy 0:02:32.880 --> 0:02:35.800 was terrible. So my husband and I actually had a 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:37.280 bunch of friends would move down to l A And 0:02:37.320 --> 0:02:41.840 we came down here and LA is based on, you know, 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:46.200 making business out of creative pursuits, right, which is essentially 0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:47.600 what I was trying to do. And so it just 0:02:47.639 --> 0:02:49.280 really spoke to me. And we went to all these 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:51.600 parties and every party would had the exact same cake. 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:54.120 It was that sweet lady Jane Barry cake, which is 0:02:54.160 --> 0:02:56.240 delicious and I love it and I love Jane, but 0:02:56.320 --> 0:02:59.160 I was like, hmm, this is a large city. There's 0:02:59.200 --> 0:03:04.040 one cake. So it all was happening. So we moved 0:03:04.040 --> 0:03:05.519 down to Los Angeles and I have to give my 0:03:05.600 --> 0:03:07.679 husband a bit of credit here because he had his 0:03:07.840 --> 0:03:09.840 m b A. He had worked in banking too. He 0:03:09.880 --> 0:03:14.079 was doing financial consulting and he said, I'll start the 0:03:14.120 --> 0:03:16.359 cupcake business with you two, like I will be your 0:03:16.360 --> 0:03:20.120 co founder. I will initially be your cupcake delivery man, 0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:23.040 and then we'll build this business together. And you can 0:03:23.080 --> 0:03:25.880 only imagine. I mean I people were raising eyebrows at 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:28.480 what I was doing, but just given like you know 0:03:29.280 --> 0:03:31.520 how it all works in investment banking and sort of 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:34.720 how gender plays role. Like he was getting a lot 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:37.760 of flak from people, but he was all in. And 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:41.000 so we came down to um Los Angeles. I started 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:44.200 making cupcakes out of my kitchen and it was like 0:03:44.600 --> 0:03:47.440 product market fit immediately because I didn't even know that 0:03:47.480 --> 0:03:50.440 many people down here. But my friends, who initially took 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:52.920 pity on me and we're ordering cupcakes, would take them 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:54.840 to parties and then their friends would order. And then 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:56.480 all of a sudden, people were calling me and I 0:03:56.520 --> 0:03:59.160 had no idea how they found me. And one of 0:03:59.160 --> 0:04:02.240 them happened to be Tire Banks as producer, and so 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:04.080 all of a sudden, I was baking cupcakes for tire 0:04:04.120 --> 0:04:06.840 Banks out of my little we allywood apartment kitchen, and 0:04:06.880 --> 0:04:09.320 I was like, we're onto something. And at that time 0:04:09.400 --> 0:04:13.720 was it called Sprinkles. It was there was a moment 0:04:14.240 --> 0:04:17.400 where it was Sweetie Cakes. There was a moment that 0:04:17.480 --> 0:04:20.640 was like during my cake making days. And then I 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:23.359 had this vision of I don't know, I was walking 0:04:23.400 --> 0:04:26.159 through an airport and I had this vision when I 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:30.320 looked at the the food court area of Sprinkles, And 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:32.440 not that I was wanting Sprinkles to be a food 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:35.080 court brand, but there was something spoke to me about 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:37.040 this name and how it was going to be huge. 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:39.680 And I think there's so much in a name, and 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:42.200 I feel so fortunate that the name was available for 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:44.839 us to use because Sprinkles is so strong, right, and 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:47.440 it's it feels good in your mouth, it's fun to say, 0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:50.400 it's elevated like Sprinkles or the decoration on top of 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:54.479 the cupcake. It's aspirational. And so just even with that name, 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:57.359 I knew that there was there was something there. What 0:04:57.440 --> 0:05:00.520 did you envision Sprinkles becoming in those are early days. 0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:03.240 I would have been happy with it being a successful, 0:05:04.040 --> 0:05:08.760 you know, bakery in Beverly Hills, But every entrepreneur has 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:10.840 a dream and a vision, and my vision was like 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:14.800 Sprinkles in every city across America and ultimately the great 0:05:14.800 --> 0:05:21.000 American bakery brand, right, but at the time, you know, 0:05:21.040 --> 0:05:24.400 I had to sort of temper my vision because it 0:05:24.480 --> 0:05:27.080 was let me walk you through the time in which 0:05:27.080 --> 0:05:29.680 we opened sprinkles. First of all, it had never been 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:31.600 done before. The first ever cupcakes only bake geren. It 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:33.680 was really kind of the first ever I hate this word, 0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:36.360 but it has some meaning gourmet cupcake. Right. It was 0:05:36.400 --> 0:05:40.200 the first time cupcake had really been elevated. So people 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:43.800 were already saying, like, hmm, there's a reason bakery sell 0:05:43.839 --> 0:05:47.159 lots of things. Then we're also opening this concept in 0:05:47.320 --> 0:05:50.560 l A, which, as we know, people don't really think 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:52.640 of people in l A eating cupcakes. They think of 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:55.360 a more as you know, doing yoga and drinking green juice. 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:58.559 And then on top of that, the South Beach diet 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:01.600 was like on the New York Times best selling list. 0:06:01.880 --> 0:06:03.960 It was low carb, like everyone I knew was eating 0:06:04.000 --> 0:06:06.320 low carb. I was even eating low car but it 0:06:06.360 --> 0:06:10.640 was still I could have a dessert afterwards. But the 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:13.279 thing is, I think one thing that was really important 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:15.640 is that because I was coming from somewhere else, I 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:18.480 really was able to see l A through clear eyes, 0:06:18.640 --> 0:06:22.400 not through these sort of ideas of what l A 0:06:23.080 --> 0:06:25.440 is like, not not through the stereotypes, and so I 0:06:25.480 --> 0:06:28.839 was driving around looking for retail locations and I was like, jeez, 0:06:28.880 --> 0:06:31.719 there's an awful lot of donut shops and burger joints 0:06:31.720 --> 0:06:34.280 in this town, like a feeling people might be eating 0:06:34.320 --> 0:06:37.760 cupcakes more than they are letting on. So, when did 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:41.560 Sprinkles leave your apartment? I was ready to sort of 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:44.680 you know, sign on the dotted line a lot earlier 0:06:44.760 --> 0:06:48.440 than we could find a spot. So I ended up 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:51.400 you know, selling out of my home kitchen probably for 0:06:51.440 --> 0:06:54.279 a year and a half and then went dark for 0:06:54.279 --> 0:06:56.279 a little bit as we were building the store. But 0:06:56.320 --> 0:06:58.680 it was really really tight. I mean it's so different now, right, 0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:01.039 like you can find retail space out post pandemic, but 0:07:01.080 --> 0:07:03.440 at the time, like it was really hard to find 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:06.080 retail space. And there were a couple of locations that 0:07:06.080 --> 0:07:10.800 fell through that I think, you know, the heavens that 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:14.560 they did because they were kind of in so so areas. 0:07:14.920 --> 0:07:20.480 And the thing with retail is my god, location, location, location, right. 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:23.920 I mean, the Sprinkles of mid City or the Sprinkles 0:07:23.960 --> 0:07:28.080 of Deep Venice wouldn't have had the trajectory that is 0:07:28.120 --> 0:07:32.040 Sprinkles Speverly Hills. Did we opened, All the agents were, 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:34.640 you know, lining up. All the stars were coming to 0:07:34.640 --> 0:07:37.480 see us after they visited their agents. All the tourists 0:07:37.480 --> 0:07:40.120 were coming by after They couldn't buy anything on Rodeo Drive, 0:07:40.160 --> 0:07:42.200 but they could they could buy three dollar cupcake and 0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:44.760 feel like they were partaking in you know, Beverly Hills 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:49.280 Hollywood culture. And so it was the location itself played 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:52.080 such a large role. And you know, even when we 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:55.240 expanded to other areas like you know, Dallas, we were 0:07:55.240 --> 0:07:58.560 the cupcake shop from Beverly Hills that ended up becoming 0:07:58.680 --> 0:08:04.880 our our reputation and now a quick break. As you 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:08.040 grow a business, obviously it creates a lot of stresses 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:12.480 that you don't expect. And here you were a newlywed 0:08:13.040 --> 0:08:15.400 running a business with your husband for the first time. 0:08:16.280 --> 0:08:20.640 How did that relationship evolved? Did you experience any kickups 0:08:20.640 --> 0:08:24.440 along the way or was it always smooth sailing? Oh? 0:08:24.480 --> 0:08:29.880 Come on now, no, But I will say, you know, 0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:31.960 all of my friends are like, I don't know how 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:36.040 you work with your husband, co parent with him, live 0:08:36.120 --> 0:08:39.000 with him, socialized with him. You guys still seem to 0:08:39.040 --> 0:08:42.720 like each other. And it's definitely not for everyone. But 0:08:43.480 --> 0:08:46.000 I think you know, in general, having a co founder, 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:48.880 I believe is really important. Not that there aren't like 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:52.679 incredible solo founders out there like killing it obviously, then 0:08:52.720 --> 0:08:55.200 it comes down to just a really strong team. But 0:08:55.800 --> 0:09:00.640 having Charles's support for me at the beginning was really everything, 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:03.800 because I really didn't have the confidence at the time 0:09:03.840 --> 0:09:06.360 to take that first step. It wasn't what I had 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:08.520 been brought up to do. I was like brought up 0:09:08.600 --> 0:09:10.200 you know, my dad was a lawyer. We were all 0:09:10.280 --> 0:09:13.720 very risk averse in our household, and so having his 0:09:13.760 --> 0:09:17.400 support was really important initially and then going forward we 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:20.600 were able to choose our lanes. You know, I was product, 0:09:20.679 --> 0:09:22.960 I was marketing. I became the face of the brand, 0:09:23.080 --> 0:09:26.920 and he was like, you know, signing the leases and 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:30.640 doing the contracts and you know, managing the people. But 0:09:30.679 --> 0:09:34.359 he's he's a great manager. So we really have complementary 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:37.880 skill sets. Now, one thing that I'll say is I 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:39.720 knew that I could work with him. And the reason 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:42.280 I knew that is because we actually did work together 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:45.040 before we started dating. We worked together in the in 0:09:45.080 --> 0:09:49.000 the investment bank, and we would be you know, putting 0:09:49.040 --> 0:09:52.400 together pitch books late at night, you know, sixteen hour 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:55.600 grueling days at the investment bank, and he was always 0:09:55.600 --> 0:09:58.240 the one with the sense of humor, and he was 0:09:58.280 --> 0:10:01.120 always the one who of all the people who worked 0:10:01.120 --> 0:10:03.840 at the bank, like knew the parking attendance names, and 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:07.160 knew like their family and knew what sports team they 0:10:07.160 --> 0:10:09.960 were cheering for. So I knew that, like we could 0:10:10.000 --> 0:10:13.120 work together under dress, and I also knew I just 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:16.760 really liked how he dealt with people, right, like how 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:20.839 he interacted with people. So you signed your first lease, 0:10:21.160 --> 0:10:24.160 and at what point did you feel like, Okay, this 0:10:24.200 --> 0:10:27.959 brand is exploding? You know, there were definitely a few 0:10:28.040 --> 0:10:32.720 different moments where we kind of exploded. The first explosion 0:10:32.800 --> 0:10:36.000 was really day one because Daily Candy had written about us, 0:10:36.000 --> 0:10:38.360 and for those people out there who don't remember, Daily 0:10:38.400 --> 0:10:43.000 Candy was sort of the original email newsletter telling everyone 0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:45.520 in town what was hot and happening, and it had, 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:48.960 as you probably remember, you guys, like the most incredible, 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:53.720 incredibly loyal, like fanatical following people did what Daily Candy 0:10:53.760 --> 0:10:57.160 told them to do. Did you pitch ta get Daily Candy? 0:10:57.200 --> 0:10:59.680 They reached out to us, and I was like star struck. 0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:01.720 The Daily Candy had reached out to me from my 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:05.800 little home apartment, and it was so powerful that actually 0:11:05.960 --> 0:11:08.400 we wanted to push the opening, and they said, we'll 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:10.960 pull the story if you don't hit that date because 0:11:11.000 --> 0:11:13.839 that's the date that emails going out. We're like, we're 0:11:13.840 --> 0:11:18.240 going to open that day. So we we absolutely frantically 0:11:18.240 --> 0:11:19.720 tried to get it together as best we could. But 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:23.400 even then, you know, I baked through the night. I 0:11:23.480 --> 0:11:26.520 baked all the cupcakes. I could have possibly thought somebody, 0:11:26.720 --> 0:11:28.959 you know, people would come in and buy that day 0:11:29.000 --> 0:11:32.040 and more. I filled the display case. I think we 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:36.200 had two hundred cupcakes, right, And the assumption was that 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:38.600 people would come and buy one or two. I mean, 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:42.720 isn't that how people enjoy cupcake? No, No, people were 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:46.280 buying one to two dozen. And at the time, my 0:11:46.440 --> 0:11:48.720 little mixers. I was literally, I mean, this is how 0:11:48.800 --> 0:11:51.719 naive like, I mean, I just laugh when I think 0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:53.720 back to it. I was working with little mixers that 0:11:53.800 --> 0:11:57.160 yielded one or two dozen. So people were coming in 0:11:57.240 --> 0:11:59.360 one at a time and there was a mob, and 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:02.560 so we were we were sold out by noon, and 0:12:02.600 --> 0:12:04.800 then all these customers were so excited come have a 0:12:04.880 --> 0:12:08.040 taste of sprinkles. Were like our happy line turned into 0:12:08.080 --> 0:12:11.199 an angry mob and I just was hiding in the back, 0:12:11.240 --> 0:12:12.960 baking as fast as I could, and Charles was like, 0:12:13.280 --> 0:12:15.840 you know, pouring on the Oklahoma's city charm as best 0:12:15.880 --> 0:12:18.600 he could. But we had, you know, people yelling at us. 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:23.360 We had agents assistants like standing their sweating because they 0:12:23.360 --> 0:12:25.920 had been told not to come back without two dozen cupcakes. 0:12:26.000 --> 0:12:28.840 I mean, it was just like the parade of humanity 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:32.559 we saw, and just the range of emotions was unbelievable. 0:12:33.400 --> 0:12:37.840 So that first burst was daily Candy. Then a few 0:12:37.840 --> 0:12:42.120 months later, Katie Holmes was on Entertainment tonight, one of 0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:45.720 the entertainment shows on some press junket for for a 0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:47.200 movie she was coming out with, and she talked about 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:51.120 sprinkles as being her little secret in Beverly Hills. And 0:12:51.280 --> 0:12:55.440 that was again a little history lesson back when Tom 0:12:55.520 --> 0:12:59.640 Cat days. Tom Cruise was courting Katie Holmes and that 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:03.679 a media frenzy and the one thing the media knew 0:13:03.760 --> 0:13:06.160 that she liked were sprinkles cupcakes, so they were always 0:13:06.200 --> 0:13:08.840 trying to apply her with sprinkles cupcakes on the right 0:13:08.840 --> 0:13:12.680 carpet to get the interview. And so we somehow we're 0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:16.440 part of that old phenomenon, and then eight months in 0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:19.599 Oprah Winfrey called and said she wanted the cupcakes for 0:13:19.640 --> 0:13:24.040 her studio audience on the show. And that was just like, 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:27.400 oh man, that was a pinch me moment for sure, 0:13:27.600 --> 0:13:31.720 getting that call from Oprah and then fulfilling those orders. 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:34.200 At that point, did you say, okay, we gotta open 0:13:34.200 --> 0:13:37.200 in multiple cities or how did you react to the Oprah? 0:13:37.520 --> 0:13:40.719 So we had lines, you know that wrapped around the 0:13:40.760 --> 0:13:44.320 block for probably months, I mean probably a couple of months, 0:13:44.360 --> 0:13:46.199 and it was sort of sad. I mean, with any 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:49.520 sort of growth, there is some loss that comes with it, 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:52.319 you know, in so many, so many different areas, right. 0:13:52.520 --> 0:13:54.880 I sort of liken it to raising a child too, 0:13:54.960 --> 0:13:58.200 write like you you you want to raise the child 0:13:58.320 --> 0:14:00.440 or the business to get to us age where it 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:03.839 can grow. But in the growth comes change. And so 0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:06.160 all of a sudden, like we had all these great regular, 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:09.800 you know, neighborhood customers and they were like, I can't 0:14:09.800 --> 0:14:12.880 get in anymore. And so we kind of like all 0:14:12.880 --> 0:14:14.719 of a sudden, we burst onto the scene. We were 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:18.240 like this international brand because of Oprah and the people 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:21.120 who got us there. I felt like we couldn't service anymore. 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:23.360 That was sad for me, but it was also a 0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:27.520 wake up call because it was time to scale and 0:14:27.640 --> 0:14:30.320 I had to let go of my control and my 0:14:30.400 --> 0:14:35.000 perfectionism and hire that team because for some reason back 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:36.880 in the day, my husband and I were still like 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:40.440 the main labor and granted we were really helping with 0:14:40.480 --> 0:14:43.320 the profit margin because we basically had no employees, but 0:14:43.440 --> 0:14:45.720 we were about to die. We were literally about to die. 0:14:45.720 --> 0:14:49.360 Like there were moments where we just slept like after 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:52.560 work with an april enrolled under our head. It's such 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:55.720 crueling work. And the way that we were doing it, 0:14:55.760 --> 0:14:57.520 which was I'm the only one that can make my 0:14:57.520 --> 0:14:59.680 cupcakes and he's the only one that can box the 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:03.960 cup akes, was ridiculous, right. So I remember hiring the 0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:06.280 first baker and I was like, oh my god, this 0:15:06.320 --> 0:15:09.400 is like the biggest, you know, leap I've ever made. 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:11.600 And then within a week he was like making the 0:15:11.600 --> 0:15:14.360 cupcakes great, and all these people were frosting my cupcakes 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:15.840 better than I could have ever frosted them. And I 0:15:15.880 --> 0:15:19.920 was like, oh, oh right, they can do it too, 0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:22.280 They can actually do better than me. All right, moving on, 0:15:22.520 --> 0:15:25.240 so then we, you know, a year in we opened 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:28.840 in Newport Beach, and we had great success in Newport Beach, 0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:31.680 and then the next step for us was proving that 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:34.560 we were a national brand. So instead of continuing to 0:15:34.560 --> 0:15:37.000 grow in Southern California, where a brand was fantastic and 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:40.240 it would have been like an easy win, we took 0:15:40.240 --> 0:15:42.600 a risk and went to Dallas, Texas as our third location. 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:45.280 And the idea was that a lot of people were saying, oh, 0:15:45.360 --> 0:15:48.120 it's just a trend. You know, this is only something 0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:51.720 that could fly in southern California where everyone so air 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:56.480 musing air quotes shallow, and we were like, no, I 0:15:56.520 --> 0:15:59.760 think there's more to this, Like cupcakes are innately a 0:15:59.800 --> 0:16:01.560 mirror a can. People love a cupcake, and we're just 0:16:01.560 --> 0:16:04.360 giving them more reason to love a cupcake. Everyone has 0:16:04.360 --> 0:16:07.640 a birthday and there's lots of celebrations, and there's a 0:16:07.640 --> 0:16:10.120 lot of reasons for people to buy great cupcakes. So 0:16:10.160 --> 0:16:12.640 we went to Dallas to prove that our concept head 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:15.800 legs on a national level. How did you go from 0:16:15.840 --> 0:16:20.920 having difficulty letting someone else bake the cupcakes to being 0:16:20.960 --> 0:16:24.760 in a different city than your brand. That is definitely 0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:28.920 releasing control and that was hard for me. But what 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:31.720 we did and granted I was nine months pregnant at 0:16:31.720 --> 0:16:34.720 the time we moved to Dallas. We moved to Dallas 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:39.960 for three months. We hired, we trained, we worked alongside everyone, 0:16:40.200 --> 0:16:43.880 and we made sure like with with you know, kid 0:16:43.960 --> 0:16:46.240 gloves like that this we were going to launch this 0:16:46.360 --> 0:16:48.840 business exactly the right way, with the right company culture, 0:16:49.280 --> 0:16:52.320 with the exacting standards. And that's really what it took. 0:16:52.560 --> 0:16:54.360 Then when you went to other cities, did you have 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:56.520 to do the same thing or were there no other cities. 0:16:56.880 --> 0:16:59.480 So as we grew, we were able to grow our 0:16:59.520 --> 0:17:04.320 team right, and we loved promoting from within. So literally 0:17:04.359 --> 0:17:07.520 the people who were becoming regional managers had started, you know, 0:17:07.840 --> 0:17:11.360 as cupcake associates, boxing cupcakes, but we knew that they 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:17.359 like lived and breathed sprinkles, and they understood the company culture. 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:19.760 They were the company culture. They had been raised with us, 0:17:19.760 --> 0:17:22.560 They've been brought up with us. So we were able 0:17:22.600 --> 0:17:24.919 to spend less time in each market, but certainly we 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:30.400 still went to every market, and you know, ultimately that 0:17:30.520 --> 0:17:33.840 was what was hard in terms of as my kids 0:17:33.840 --> 0:17:37.040 started to get a little older and they started to 0:17:37.160 --> 0:17:41.679 approach school age, I couldn't really do that anymore. And 0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:44.520 that was that was one of the reasons why we ultimately, 0:17:45.080 --> 0:17:48.960 eight years in, decided to pursue a sale, a significant 0:17:49.200 --> 0:17:52.480 sale of the company. What was that process like, because 0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:55.440 we talk a lot on this show about the process 0:17:55.480 --> 0:17:58.320 of building a company and growing a company, and we 0:17:58.520 --> 0:18:01.840 rarely get a chance to hear from one who solicited 0:18:01.880 --> 0:18:07.000 a buyer and successfully sold. It's so interesting because I 0:18:07.040 --> 0:18:09.840 was definitely raised in that culture, going back to the 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:14.080 banking days, where that's the dream, right You you found 0:18:14.080 --> 0:18:16.960 your company, you scale it, and you sell it. That 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:22.640 is what every founder wants, and it was what I wanted. 0:18:23.359 --> 0:18:27.000 But again with the growth and the loss, there was 0:18:27.119 --> 0:18:30.399 so much loss in that process for me, and I 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:32.600 think the hard part two is the best time to 0:18:32.880 --> 0:18:37.400 sell your company or get strategic investment at great valuations 0:18:37.400 --> 0:18:42.240 when everything is going really well, right, and so things 0:18:42.280 --> 0:18:47.600 were just going gangbusters for us, and ultimately my husband 0:18:47.640 --> 0:18:50.879 wasn't ready, which is weird because it was really you know, 0:18:50.920 --> 0:18:54.119 it's mostly was like my first child. I identified with 0:18:54.160 --> 0:18:56.280 it so much, and I was I mean, they called 0:18:56.359 --> 0:18:59.040 they called us Mrs and Mr. Sprinkles for God's sake, 0:18:59.080 --> 0:19:03.960 like it was our identity. And you know, we kind 0:19:03.960 --> 0:19:07.960 of had a family meeting about it and basically convinced Charles, 0:19:07.960 --> 0:19:10.040 like this was the way. Like I had kids, now, 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:12.600 I'd grown up moving all the time, I wanted roots. 0:19:12.640 --> 0:19:14.000 I didn't want to be on the road when my 0:19:14.040 --> 0:19:17.160 kids were supposed to be you know, at soccer practice. 0:19:17.280 --> 0:19:19.399 And so it was really a personal decision for me, 0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:22.000 and I think kind of a sacrifice for me because 0:19:22.080 --> 0:19:25.280 I was sacrificing one thing for the other. And ultimately 0:19:25.560 --> 0:19:28.880 we found an incredible partner and everything has been amazing. 0:19:29.000 --> 0:19:33.160 But I wasn't prepared for the journey that I would 0:19:33.160 --> 0:19:36.879 have after that, just in terms of letting go of 0:19:36.960 --> 0:19:39.359 something that it's like so important to me. I mean, 0:19:39.400 --> 0:19:43.320 I walked into I'm getting emotional thing about it. But 0:19:43.359 --> 0:19:45.000 I walked into the baker the other day and like 0:19:46.359 --> 0:19:49.199 the entire staff were the people that I trained, like 0:19:49.880 --> 0:19:52.960 in two thousand five, still working there, and they all, 0:19:53.000 --> 0:19:55.199 I mean, these people gave me my baby shower, right Like, 0:19:55.840 --> 0:19:57.959 they all came and gave me hugs, and I just 0:19:58.080 --> 0:20:02.280 was like, it's still so visceral, right, It's so emotional 0:20:02.320 --> 0:20:05.359 for me. It wasn't just a business, you know. And 0:20:05.359 --> 0:20:07.840 it's funny because throughout this process I really had to 0:20:07.840 --> 0:20:11.560 figure out, like, Okay, clearly I was over identifying with 0:20:11.600 --> 0:20:17.679 my business, like who is Candice Nelson? But got to 0:20:17.720 --> 0:20:21.920 spend some amazing time, you know, like building a home 0:20:22.160 --> 0:20:25.720 for my children, taking them to school, you know, leaning 0:20:25.760 --> 0:20:28.040 into the charity events and being like, you know, the 0:20:28.080 --> 0:20:31.359 PTA person for a little while. And I got to 0:20:31.400 --> 0:20:33.280 have some of that time, which was such a privilege 0:20:33.280 --> 0:20:36.680 and such an honor, and then ultimately found myself back 0:20:36.680 --> 0:20:38.600 in the food business with Pizza on Us. So I 0:20:38.640 --> 0:20:41.560 didn't learn my lesson the first time clearly, And what 0:20:41.680 --> 0:20:44.320 were the logistics of the fail like take us through 0:20:44.760 --> 0:20:47.600 how you let people know that you wanted to sell 0:20:47.640 --> 0:20:52.080 your company. Well, we hired an investment banker who was 0:20:52.119 --> 0:20:56.400 sort of you know, well known for this sort of transaction, 0:20:57.200 --> 0:21:01.240 and put together a pitchbook and you know, be serviced 0:21:01.240 --> 0:21:06.720 it to everyone we thought strategic and financial buyers and um, 0:21:06.760 --> 0:21:09.600 you know came back with initial interest and based on that, 0:21:09.680 --> 0:21:13.040 we had meetings and you know, it's like any relationship. 0:21:13.280 --> 0:21:16.080 Obviously there's a financial part of it, but there's also 0:21:16.200 --> 0:21:20.280 just who is gonna be the right person to carry 0:21:20.920 --> 0:21:24.040 care for your child that's growing up? Right? And I 0:21:24.119 --> 0:21:27.080 also had seen in the investment banking days this idea 0:21:27.119 --> 0:21:30.160 of founder syndrome where and I knew that I could 0:21:30.200 --> 0:21:33.000