Video with the Cake Pop Girls

Last September, in the midst of one of the 90 rainy days that month (slight exaggeration, but not much), two young women walked in to the store.  They were holding a Tupperware container and my first thought was "Uh oh, another person trying to sell me jewelry."  Oh, how wrong I was.

Tamara and Emily were a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.  They were so sweet and enthusiastic I couldn't help but like them!  And that Tupperware container wasn't filled with jewelry but was instead filled with Cake Pops!  They were in the process of kicking off their business - Alexandria Cake Pop Company - and were walking around to introduce their product to local merchants and find potential distribution outlets for the cake pops.

I had seen cake pops at Starbucks and heard some friends and Mom Bloggers talk about them.  But I had never seen cake pops like these!  Tamara and Emily had come up with all kinds of adorable shapes and characters!  And each was elegantly wrapped to preserve its shape and freshness.  They offered one to me and I chose a Cat (in honor of my niece, Allison Catherine, who we call Cat sometimes).

We also spent some time together brainstorming other outlets for their cake pops - places where they might be able to sell them and also advertising and earned media possibilities.  We had such a nice time together - it is always fun to talk with other entrepreneurs!  They left some business cards with me to share with customers that might be interested in their product.

So now the proof was in the pudding - here were two lovely, fun young ladies with a great idea and a cute, creative product.  How good were the cake pops?  All I can say is Yum, Yum, Yum!  They had the three main ingredients for success - a great personality, a distinctive product, and it tasted as good as it looked!

Another thing I love about them is their focus on philanthropy.  They donate 5% of all of their profits to Operation Second Chance, an organization that focuses on serving wounded, injured, and ill combat veterans.  With both of my parents having worked in the Veterans Administration, this was a cause near and dear to my heart.

You can't help but love them!

They are truly inspiring as entrepreneurs because they aren't afraid to try new things to bring publicity to their business.  A couple weeks ago, they contacted me and asked if I would allow myself to be videotaped for a contest being held by the National Retail Federation.  The contest was titled "This Is Retail" and they were asked to submit a 2 minute video on their small business.  The winner will get $25,000!  What a great boost for a small business!

They had an intense day of videotaping prior to stopping by Zoe.  They had been wonderful to send me the questions in advance so I was prepared for the taping session.  We made a few slight changes to the area of the store where I would be filmed, set up some lights, and ran through the questions!  I had such a fun time!  I can't wait to see the final product and learn how they do in the judging process!

And I definitely can't wait to get the cake pops I ordered for Zoe's birthday celebration!!

Next up:  Hotels and Heels