Hi, I'm Herman Hartmann, and I want to welcome you to Ndigo Studio.

Today we're talking to Stefanie Hart.

We're going to talk about entrepreneurship, baking with a real foodie.

She was a little girl.

She learned how to cook and her grandmama's kitchen.

And now, oh, my God, she is America's only black chocolatier.

Maybe black manufacturer of chocolate.

And she owns one of Chicago's more popular bakeries.

Have you ever heard of Brown Sugar Bakery?

She just acquired Cuban candies and she is just doing a bang up job.

She's growing.

She's baking cakes.

She's making candy.

She's got a mix coming out.

She is growing by leaps and bounds.

And we're going to learn how she does it.

Cozy conversations drop the knowledge that stories.

Funding for this program was provided by Illinois Student Assistance Commission, the Chicago Community Trust.

Sin City Studios, Lamberg in Chicago, Gold Coast, and Downers Grove, Commonwealth Edison, City Colleges of Chicago, Broadway in Chicago, and Governors State University.

Welcome to Indigo Studio.

Thank you so much.

I'm so excited to be here.

I'm excited too.

I want you to start in the kitchen with your grandmother as a little girl on Saturdays.

On Saturdays we get here.

We we got here because of my love of cake, my love of my grandmother.

I, would watch my grandmother while she would talk about the events of the week.

We would talk about school.

And it was just a time of love in a time that I kind of got to focus because there were other grandchildren, but I was the one that was with her in the kitchen.

So.

And you were watching everything.

And loving every taste that I got.

That caramel cake.

I absolutely love that you were favorite.

It and pineapple coconut is my favorite.

That's your favorite?

Yes.

And so now you grew into a business.

Tell me how you opened up Brown Sugar Bakery.

It was really missing my grandmother and missing that particular type of cake.

it wasn't mine.

Intent.

I tried to find it.

I really wanted that cake.

I went to several bakeries.

I was traveling a lot at the time, and I didn't find the taste, and I don't know, my daughter says I had a midlife crisis and started baking, and I baked until I got the memory of, you know, it connected my mouth and my memory made a connection.

And so how did you get the idea to open up the store?

I did, that was a biggie.

Did Stephanie people forced it?

you know, I want a cake.

I want a cake.

I want a cake, I want a cake, I want a cake.

And, you know, there's only so many cakes your little oven can bake.

So you.

So you opened up store baking.

I actually started teaching myself other cakes, because if you're going to open up a store, you need a whole line of cakes.

And I went into a commercial kitchen and I started from the bottom, I started selling to restaurants in Chicago, like Harold's chicken sliced cakes.

And, I remember they called me and said, you're not doing this right.

You have to put a phone number on here.

We're going to get in trouble.

And I put that phone number on there and that I haven't looked back since then.

Your business just took off.

It took off.

People were like, we they don't have this at Harold's number.

This.

And they don't have that at that.

And I was like, but I just sell to them.

And they were like, well, we want a whole cake.

And I started off in a really tiny store on 75th Street on the south side.

And then you went to Navy Pier.

Navy pier was just so exciting for me.

I love 75th Street, but it was like I got the opportunity to take my grandmother and all the ladies that I love that I've met baking cakes to the bigger city to a place.

Navy pier is a wonderful tourist attraction.

One of the largest in the world, mind you.

Solutely and so we've I felt like I got to put all the ladies that I loved on stage.

Did you take the full line down?

I did, I took all my in a cupcake.

Form in the.

I took the full line in a cupcake form on the lemon, the German chocolate, the pineapple, coconut, and of course the caramel.

And so now you're selling to restaurants.

You have an outlet of your very own where you take your orders, and now you're at Navy Pier and you're selling cupcakes.

Then something kind of unexpected accidentally happened.

Cupid candies.

That was me about that expansion.

I was looking for a space larger to make cakes for brown sugar.

Business growing.

Business is growing.

People want more cakes, but I can't meet the demand out of my retail bakery.

so I was turning down opportunities that I didn't want to continue to say no to.

When I came across the factory, they were selling the building.

Which was not too far from me.

It's not.

It's in the neighborhood.

I can't believe I never saw it before.

it's on Western Avenue, and it's a cute little building.

It's 10,000ft.

And for me, that was a big step.

But they were making candy there.

And I remember asking him, what are you going to do with all this candy manufacturing equipment?

And he was like, I don't know, maybe I'll sell it to a company in Michigan.

And I was like.

Okay, so you started learning how to make candy when.

We finally got the deal done?

yeah.

I started learning how to make candy.

And what a fun thing that was.

The first thing I thought about was when I was a child, we used my grandmother used to keep a can of turtle candies on the table.

And that's what Cupid is.

It makes turtle candy.

It was a can of turtle candies that we used to be.

Able to get chocolate.

nuts.

Nuts?

Yes.

And the first thing I did was have fun with that.

We now make white chocolate.

we call them tortas, which is French for turtle.

We can't legally call them turtle.

Now, are you a chocolatier?

I'm not a chocolatier.

What's the difference between a chocolatier and a chocolate manufacturer?

So a chocolatier is like an artist.

They're an artisan.

It's varies, I manufacture chocolate, I get candy, and I put it on the line, and we can push about right now, about 40,050 thousand pieces of candy a day.

A day.

Right.

And then we package and box and ship out.

I don't just make candy for myself.

I make candy for others.

kind of around around the world.

You can ship around the world.

Actually, I do have a vendor that ships a candy that I make for them, which is no sugar added chocolates, and they ship around the world.

Are you online?

Of course we're online.

We ship out a shipment.

That's great.

Christmas present.

Tell me.

Wonderful Christmas present.

You go to Brown Sugar bakery, chicago.com.

You go to nationwide shipping and you can get a cake from me.

I also ship through a couple of other, venues like, Taste of Chicago, which you can get anything from Chicago ship nationwide.

and Goldbelly, which is the largest, shipper of food in the world.

Online.

So we have started in your kitchen because you couldn't find the cake that your grandmother made.

That was to your satisfaction.

Absolutely.

Okay.

You've gone to Navy Pier, grown your business there.

Now you are in the manufacturing.

So give me the growth steps and what the challenges have been, because we're making this sound like one, two, three reel.

Absolutely.

And it's not.

So first of all, all of that has taken 21 years.

21 years time.

21 years.

Old.

Okay.

And I will tell you, I feel like I'm at day one right now.

and the reason I'm at day one is because I'm learning.

I'm going from I've gone from retailing to manufacturing.

Which is wholesale, which.

Is not is definitely wholesaling.

it is a different standard that you have to keep, there, you know, I've got quality assurance people.

I've got rules and regulations.

There's one way into my floor.

There's just so many other constraints, but it's kind of fun because it keeps me very narrow in what we do.

it's a different thing to market to an individual versus a corporation.

and so we're, I'm learning every day, and then we're just in a time where the world is your customer.

Not it's not so local anymore.

So I call this period of time escaping mom and pop.

And it's challenging.

but it's not a mom and pop stores.

It's mom and pop online going around the world.

Absolutely.

And you have to address that as a business.

Did you change the recipe of the candies at all?

I did, I did, I never really had the recipe.

well, you know, butter makes it better.

Butter makes it better for a little bit.

He had a little better let her do.

I added a little more butter to it.

I wanted the caramel to be a little bit more like the caramel.

My customers were used to, because, you know, people, they are your customers.

They expect a certain thing.

And they'll tell you.

And then they tell you.

So hot.

Now, how did you how did you do that?

Because, did you do you use tasters or do you just rely on your you just self-reliant or do you know, is there a team you tasted?

I definitely have people that I trust, that are really food sharp, that I asked to taste the product before I went live with it.

I do the same thing with packaging, just about everything.

I, we were so blessed.

We launched our candy line at Nordstrom's and Nordstrom's.

So where else is the candy?

Macy's.

So it's still cubic candy.

It is not.

It is.

Life is sweet.

Life for sweet.

Life is sweet.

And so you're in department stores.

Yes.

And the reason that the upgrade that I just finished going through at the factory is so that I can be involved with customers nationwide in retail stores.

So the stores have to meet a certain standard.

Your location of operation has to meet a certain standard in order to get in programs nationwide.

And we finally made that.

Okay.

So you are a real entrepreneur because you're growing your business step by step, stage by stage, and opportunities are coming.

Some you're looking for, some just you.

They are.

You look up one day and somebody wants a cake and blah blah blah and another business evolves.

What are you looking forward to in the future for expansion?

For expansion?

I'm so excited.

I really want other people to have the experience that I had with my grandmother and my mother and my aunties, and so we're coming out with a cake mix.

A cake mix, yes.

So people will be able to get a very the same taste you get at the bakery.

You can actually work with that mix and get it at home.

And I'm so looking forward to what people do with my mix, because we used to take cake mixes when we were little, we had the Easy-Bake ovens and we would put jellybeans in and all kinds of crazy things as children.

And so I'm excited to see what love experiences people have with my cake, because that was a love experience for me.

Is it?

What's the name of the mix?

Is it brown sugar?

Brown sugar?

Bakery cake.

And this will go on in the in the grocery stores.

Yes.

Oh, Stephanie.

So all I got to do is add an egg and some milk.

You have to add an egg and milk.

Yes, and a little bit of oil.

Or if you want to turn it up a notch, you can use a little butter.

Put a little butter in it.

And so you're going to mark it with that win.

I figured will be in by second quarter of next year.

This takes is a process.

Getting slotted in stores is a big process.

I'm so thankful that I work with other entrepreneurs to help me understand the landscape.

But.

But we're going to go work.

so how do you make a cake mix?

How do you create that uses your real formula?

It is you work with a company that takes what you that you actually work with a company.

It's like coming up with a seasoning.

You can come up with cake mixes.

I was lucky enough to work with, really smart, female entrepreneur, I'll say, because I want you to buy her product, too.

It is, Michelle Haskins sirup lady.

Exactly.

And she kind of really trained me what to do.

And I followed her footsteps, and I went to the manufacturers, and I said, I need this, I need that, I need it to look like this.

Nope.

That's not the right texture.

That's not it.

We've got to go back.

And you work and you work until you nail it and you get it took about two years.

And she's a great model because she too got her recipe for her sir from her grandmother.

So I understand that you model madam C.J.

Walker that you.

She's up there.

She's your favorite.

She's on favorite.

And I'll tell you, you know, this, I got the real gumption because sometimes you need gumption.

You might not have everything else you need from watching, the movie about madam C.J.

Walker.

And she was dancing in a manufacturing company.

You should know her prior to never.

Did you never heard of?

I had.

Heard of her.

Until the.

Movie.

I had heard of her, but I never saw the workings.

Actually seeing something where, you know, they imitated her working and coming up with her stuff.

You know, baking is very similar to making of the products she was making.

You're cooking in pots and you're stirring, and all of that motivated me.

And then to see her work her way to, you know, one store, two stores, ten stores and then say, hey, wait a minute.

When she got, you know, she ran into those obstacles and she's decided, I'm just going to grow and do it myself, because when you there was other ways for me to grow.

I could have gone to a co-packer and let them make the cakes for me.

But you don't want to lose control.

you wanted to have control to a certain point.

Now my goal is to grow it past myself and eventually I'll go to a co-packer maybe in 3 or 4 years, but I'll know enough to know that my co-packer is working in the best way that they can work.

To what to call this product a Co-packer is somebody that just like the cake mix, you go to them to help you develop a product.

You actually give them your recipe, and they manufacture your product at a scale that you might not have the space or ability to do.

I see now you are now in the manufacturing of baking goods.

Will you bring smaller, companies, other entrepreneurs, single solo entrepreneurs who still baking at home and doing ten rather than 100?

Will you bring them under your your auspice?

You know, it's not the person that's baking at home.

It's the person that is in a retail store that has really developed their product.

the opportunities we are launching, with another woman that has a vegan restaurant, big gap goodies.

We came up with a vegan poundcake that we will be shipping nationwide for her.

She can't bake that pound cake in her restaurant, but we work together to nail that pound cake and we'll be shipping that pound cake.

And then additionally, sometimes small businesses have great products and great businesses, but as in many businesses, it's not going to the second generation.

And we are working with a very established business, Angelica's Bakery will be making all of their cakes from now on and putting them back in the grocery stores.

We just started delivering this week.

So they they are a baker.

Their bakery that really sells a lot to grocery stores around the area.

And, you know, the woman is 82 years old and can't do it anymore, and we're going to do it for her.

And I'm very proud of that.

I really, really am.

It makes me feel so good that this factory isn't just going to make my things, but it's going to keep another black woman's business that she worked 30 years on alive.

So you're in the food business.

Are you constantly looking for new recipes or you making new recipes all the time?

I mean I'm in the media business but every week, every Sunday I'm like oh we could do this or we could at this, or we could do this to the point we got to say, slow down because you can't do one thing at a time.

Do you go through something.

Like, go through that all the time?

My daughter's like, mom, that's another shiny thing you're running after because I'm constantly getting ideas.

I want to also launch a praline.

it's like, really?

I've got to hurry up.

All in.

Praline does.

Exactly.

Yes, ma'am.

Yes, ma'am.

I make caramel, and I've got nuts.

And I make candy and I have to do this.

So now you're going to do a praline?

Yes, I'm going to do a praline.

That'll be part of our line.

and then I'm really going to stop right there for a minute and get really good at all the things we want.

How about your staff?

Has your staff grown?

Have you built staff?

Did we have to go and get some other kind of people to work with you, to work for you, to give you some counsel and some guidance?

How does how does that part of the business work?

I think that one of the hardest things as an entrepreneur is just recognizing that you absolutely do need mentors.

There's always the next level.

I've been blessed to have some really good counsel.

And then there's the other side that that while you're a mentee in a certain situation, you're a mentor on the other side.

And I the.

Pay ramp keeps coming.

Oh my gosh, that that's something that I have to realize comes along with it.

We probably have about 60 people right now total.

my goodness.

And I have open positions.

The positions that I haven't filled are the next level positions and the ones I'm most proud of.

And those are like operations manager.

I can't do everything, so I need people that can run a floor.

I am working with, a consultant right now that's going to help me find a person that really can help me understand production and to maximize my production, because just because you're doing something doesn't mean that you're getting the most out of it.

There's somebody looking at this show right now.

It could be a little girl and she makes cookies, or she makes brownies and she wants to go into business.

What advice might you give her?

I would say to anyone, whether you're a little girl, it's best because it's all about mindset.

It's about mindset.

And I would say, surround yourself with people that think you can.

That is the most important thing, because it really is about what you think you can do.

And the next thing I would say is, just like when you're learning how to ride a bike, you can't learn how to ride a bike without falling off, and you can't grow a business without making mistakes.

I think that we need to talk about that more in business.

Failure is a part of being successful.

There's not one successful person on the planet that has not failed, and the most successful people have failed the most.

So it's a hand in hand thing.

And I think we've got to get used to getting back up and getting on the bike, just like we did when we were children.

We didn't let the falling off stop us from learning how to ride a bike, but many people, they they try something and when they're not successful at it, they don't keep try.

What have you or what have your tough lessons been in entrepreneurship?

Is there anything you should have done that you didn't do?

Any regrets?

Did you grow too fast and you should have done this, but you didn't in any stories like that?

Oh, absolutely.

And I don't think this is 21 years.

So I think that I probably could have sped my growth up if I had gone to culinary school.

you did.

You went to Grandmama's culinary school.

That's one.

But I think that if I had learned about product management and there's there's some things and I study a lot and we're blessed to be in an age of information.

But yeah, I definitely think that's one thing.

And then I also think that I started this and I did not have a place I was going.

I was just making cakes and making more Italian Kitchen.

Yeah.

And then out of a store and making more cakes and making more cakes.

I would think that if I could have thought ten years out, I would have been more successful.

But it's hard to think ten years out.

It's a dual thing.

Had I thought ten years out, I might have thought I couldn't do it.

I tried.

But at the same time, I think you have to give yourself know that if you're starting it, you may get to ten years.

Got to get those growth steps.

So what about money?

What about that business loan?

What about I got to open up the store.

I need more money.

How did you balance that?

You know I have it.

I will tell you that, you know, it's tough.

And being a small business is tough.

And you've got to be ready to get through that.

And so, you know, I sing this song to myself.

Do you remember the song Miss Mary Mac.

Mary met Mac Mac dressed in black, black, black.

Do you remember she made a dollar out of $0.55.

There you go.

And I keep remembering that money comes from where it's at.

And even if it's not here today, I do what I can today.

And, you know, I also say he who fights and runs away lives to fight another day.

What do you think about franchising?

Any opportunity to franchise?

Absolutely.

And that was one of the other reasons I wanted to have the capability to manufacture, because as I've learned from other people, you know, you can't have an oven at every location.

and what I mean by that is, yeah, there'll be an oven to warm things up.

But if you think you're going to start a business, businesses have commissaries and those commissaries then spread out.

So this manufacturing plant means that I can open up within 50 miles of here and move the thing from the manufacturing to that franchise and know that the quality is going to be the same and know you know, that the customer there is going to get the same experience as they get on 75 to.

Still be your original, your original product and you're still in control of it.

But I also want to say that the world is changing and the fact that we can ship our cakes nationwide to the to an end customer and have them really feel what I want them to feel is also very exciting.

What do you want them to feel?

What do you want your customers?

I want them to feel happiness.

I want them to share it.

I want them to be excited.

Just like I was in my grandmother's kitchen and I was excited.

We were excited about dessert and I want people to feel that again.

Wow, Stephanie.

Thank you.

I'm so proud of you.

Good luck.

God bless.

I'll be looking for the, for the mix that I can add to the sugar.

No sugar?

No.

Should have to ask.

No sugar.

The butter, the butter.

Egg.

Yeah.

You know, a little milk and that's it.

And a stir and stir.

But I'll be to the bakery to.

But I think.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Hey, this has been, a foodie program, and we've been learning about candy.

We've been learning about cakes.

But most of all, we've been learning about how to grow a business and the ideas that you have as a little girl.

You can grow up with them and they can become businesses.

That's the real story of Stephanie Hart.

I'm her main hardman and I thank you for watching Indigo Studio.

For more information on this show, follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Funding for this program was provided by Illinois Student Assistance Commission, the Chicago Community Trust.

Sin City Studios, Lamborghini Chicago, Gold Coast and Downers Grove, Commonwealth, Edison, City Colleges of Chicago, Broadway in Chicago, and Governors State University.

NDIGO Studio.