Our FWL Girl Boss for today is Candace Nelson, Investment Banker turned Cupcake Queen. Candace is the CEO of the boutique bakery , Sprinkles Cupcakes which was founded in 2005. Sprinkles Cupcakes now has over 21 locations in the United States and has plans to go international in places such as London and Tokyo. Sprinkles Cupcakes created themselves a unique selling point and unveiled the worlds first ever cupcake ATM which was first unveiled at their Beverly Hills location!
Here are a few things we learnt from Candace Nelson:
Career changes are never too late
Before Candace started her cupcake business she was an investment banker. Investment bankers are known to bring in the big buck so you can imagine how much she was earning. however despite this Candace resigned , enrolled in a pastry program and set her business up! It is never too late to make a U turn, you are not stuck. Change careers if you need to!
Do not allow your resources to limit you, just start!
Candace started her business immediately from her home before she later moved her business to an old fashioned bakery. The biggest excuse we tend to give is ” I lack of resources” , sometimes our limits are not our lack of resources but ourselves.
Stay creative & Fill the gap!
When Candace started out her business she was the only cupcake bakery that existed, which led people to believe the business could not succeed! Sprinkles Cupcakes is described as having a “sophisticated” take on the classic cupcake, they also create vegan and gluten free cupcakes. Even more unique they make dog – food cupcakes!
Locate areas that need you – research , research and more research
Her and her husband noticed there was nothing going on in LA with cupcakes so they decided to open their first store there.They started searching for retail space and eventually found a tiny spot in Beverly Hills that used to be a sandwich shop and hired a creative director to help them build an old fashioned bakery with a modern, adult flair.
SAVE! Finance your business yourself if possible!
“We had some money saved so we financed the whole venture ourselves. We bet it all on the business but we believed that by twisting the adult expectation of what a cupcake should be, we could make it work. It was a big leap of faith but when during our grand opening the line stretched out the door and down the street and we sold out in two hours, we knew we were onto something.”
