Statements such as these are what separate the business owners who care about each customer from those who care explicitly about themselves. In order to become successful as a startup, one must display not only the courage and skillset of their craft, but also the intention of impacting every consumer who chooses to engage with the company's offerings. Alyssa Guidice, founder of A Pound and a Half Cupcakes Inc. based in Hicksville, has exhibited all 3 traits since she entered the food business back in late 2011.
In the 2nd installment of our "1 on 1" series, we take a trip with Alyssa down memory lane, and find out exactly how she turned her visions into reality, while getting a peak of what's she's got planned for her growing fan base in the future.
Alyssa: I always had a interest in baking like any kid growing up but my real interest starting coming in the beginning of our senior year of high school. I got a job at Iavarone Brothers as a cashier and moved to the bakery department and learned a lot from the two current bakers who were there.
Mike: What made you want to pursue a career within the food industry?
Alyssa: Honestly, I went into the food industry because I figured it would be a hell of a lot easier than getting a job as a teacher.
Mike: Let’s talk about your business. Take us through how you took a concept and turned into arguably the most promising start-up baking company on Long Island.
Alyssa: I honestly never thought my business would be as big as it is. I started my business when I was 18 years old and just started doing things for family and friends and word spread, I learned more each and every day and that’s pretty much how I got here. My concept tends to be a little different than others. I specifically focus on a very small aspect of the baking industry. I specialize in cupcakes, pull apart cakes, chocolate chip cookies, brownies and the giant cookie cakes. I do not do cakes, cake pops, royal icing cookies, chocolates, breads, pastries etc. I feel as if I can’t move on to things without perfecting others. I am learning more each and every day and my skills are improving each and every day. I always look back on my work from last year and compare it to this year and there is a very noticeable difference. Being able to build on these items and not take on too much at one time has helped me build what I have today. If you do too many different things, you take away from attention that should be spent on certain items. You don’t want to take on too many tasks that make you move away from what got you big in the first place.
Mike: Whom would you say are your biggest inspirations within your field: give me one celebrity and one non-celebrity.
Alyssa: You would think that my biggest inspiration would be Cake Boss but honestly, I don’t think I have a celebrity inspiration. There are so very few baker celebrities its hard to choose. I also don’t really follow celebrity chef’s enough to figure out who would be an inspiration. As far as non-celebrities, I would most likely say my Chef from culinary school, Chef Richard Amster. I never had someone push me so hard in my life the way he pushed me. I also never had someone make me cry in public as much as he did. He always motivated me to keep going and to never give up. He also always used to tell me that I am “going to be a big deal one day”. I never believed him until I actually see it now. I know he is always proud of me and I know that he follows my success everyday. He is truly an inspiration. (Even though he didn’t teach me anything that I know how to do today….. haha)
Mike: HA! I hear you there. Sometimes those can be the best teachers though. But I want to circle back around to you originally wanting to be a teacher. Leaving school and trying something completely fresh must have felt risky and nerve racking at times. Describe that process and how you gained the courage to branch out to do what you love.
Alyssa: Yes, I originally went to school for History. I actually kind of made an adult move and realized that I didn’t want to be thousands and thousands of dollars in debt and not be able to get a job after I get out of college. The one thing I was extremely nervous about was making friends at a commuter school. I used to travel out to Riverhead (which is an hour and 15 minute drive for me), and everyone generally was from out there. Luckily, I made a bunch of amazing friends, some I keep in touch with and some I don’t but I definitely don’t regret a thing about it. I wouldn’t say I made this decision because it was something I “loved” at the time; it kind of seemed like more of a convenient type thing but eventually grew into something I loved.
Mike: For all of the aspiring business owners out there, let’s provide them with some advice. Name 3 of the biggest Pros that you’ve experienced as an entrepreneur, followed by 3 of the biggest cons.
Alyssa: First off, being a business owner is probably one of the HARDEST things I’ve done in my life. Along with running a business, I also work part time doing social media marketing for a real estate, and also run one of Long Island’s only non-discriminatory networking groups.
- The three biggest pros of running my own business is that I am my own boss. I don’t answer to anyone, I don’t have to listen to anyone and I can kind of do whatever I want. Another thing is that I can take off when I want (of course there’s downfalls to that, but it is a pro). The third is when random people come up to you in the street and say, “Are you Alyssa the cupcake girl?” Kind of makes it seem like I made a name and brand for myself. That is probably one of the best feelings in the world.
- While all those seem awesome, there are way more than 3 cons to owning a business. The first and probably worst one is that I have absolutely NO life. My life is 24/7 business. I am glued to my phone and constantly on my computer. I have to sacrifice my Friday nights and weekends to the business, and especially when you work 16 hour days and if your lucky you see $20-$50 profit a week. That’s the food industry for ya. The second would be the stress and anxiety. Due to owning my own business, I unintentionally dropped 60 pounds and I get so stressed out I forget to eat. I’ve noticed this is a problem with other business owners I talk to as well. The anxiety about getting an order or loosing orders or how much money your loosing this week because the cost of eggs and sugar went up 50% its tough. Money is always a big problem for the stress and anxiety. You need a good amount of money to be an entrepreneur and you realize that you lose a lot more money than you get back. Lastly, I would say the feeling that you didn’t really accomplish anything in your life. For example: That feeling you feel when you find out people you grew up with have these awesome jobs and you just “make cakes”. I know this sounds silly and people may think its “awesome running a business at a young age” but I am missing out on so much. I never had a real “career”, I never had “work friends”, I never had to work M-F with weekends off and especially now planning my reunion, I feel like my life is “incomplete” because all my old friends have awesome futures and I just “make cakes”. But its definitely a downfall of owning a business. Its hard to explain via text but if you own a small business, you kind of understand what I am.
Mike: Excellent Advice. Now as a follow up, what is the biggest venue/event that your products and talents have been showcased at?
Alyssa: Hmm, I would guess I would have to say the last networking event I had on April 7th. As mentioned, I run a networking group called AAM Networking Group and on April 7th we had our spring event. At the spring event, we had 150 business owners attend and being that I provided all the dessert, all 150 guests were able to try my “brookie” cakes. That was a proud moment of mine, It actually got me some orders which is always a plus!
Mike: Despite all the stress, you’re clearly on a path that’s only trending upward. For all our viewers as well as your loyal customer base, can you share what’s up next for you?
Alyssa: This is a question that I’ve been wondering myself. I actually have been keeping this between my close family and friends. As most people believe my next step is to make my business larger, I am actually looking to downsize it and go into the beverage side of the food industry. Ideally, I would love to work with my Uncle in the wine/spirits industry but if that doesn’t work out, I plan on expanding my networking group, possibly go into corporate event planning or maybe I will decide to make my business larger. I am taking it all day by day and I know that eventually what is meant to be is meant to be. All good things have to come to an end at some point, but I know that this is always something I can fall back on and grow if need be.
Mike: Let’s end this with a Rapid Fire: if you had to choose one dessert that you could make for the rest of your career, which would it be? (PICK ONE ONLY).
Alyssa: If I had to choose one dessert it would definitely be my line of cookie cakes. They are my biggest and most successful sellers so I would probably continue to keep those going.
To read more about Alyssa and her baking business, visit http://www.apoundandahalf.com/.