I Feel You, A Fortify Wellness Production
Bettina Mahoney the Founder/CEO of @atfortifywellness is a rape survivor who started her brand after struggling to not only find a therapist, but multiple mediums to heal through her trauma. Fortify Wellness is a 360 holistic platform offering therapy, coaching, fitness, and meditation on one subscription platform. We dive deep with our trailblazing guests about overcoming adversity.
I Feel You, A Fortify Wellness Production
Baking Dreams and Building Community with Cupcake Me Owner, Brittany Moss
Brittany Moss has transformed her personal adversities into a thriving business venture, and she's here to share her journey. As the founder and CEO of Cupcake Me, Brittany faced the challenges of launching a virtual bakery during a pandemic and a complicated pregnancy. Her tenacity and desire to provide a better life for her daughter Dakota led her to innovate and redefine what it means to be an entrepreneur in the baking industry. Brittany's story is not just about cupcakes; it's about resilience, kindness, and the strength found in community.
About Britney Moss:
Britney Moss is the Founder and CEO of Cupcake Me!, a growing brand that specializes in handcrafted baked goods. She started the business after becoming a new mom, inspired by her desire to provide her daughter with a better life. Amid the challenges of the global pandemic, Britney pivoted her bakery into a virtual storefront, turning adversity into growth. Today, Cupcake Me! offers a range of treats, including cupcakes, cakes, cookies, and their popular cake jars, operating in both DTC and B2B channels. The brand is expanding along the East Coast, with plans to become a household name. Their motto for corporate catering and gifting is "Start every relationship and conversation with something sweet." Through Cupcake Me!, Britney aims to offer creative opportunities within the baking industry while creating an inclusive environment for all dessert lovers.
And now, through January 2nd, 2025, get 10% off your total purchase with code FORTIFYWELLNESS10. Because wellness isn’t just about how you feel—it's about treating yourself right, too. Head over to : https://www.cupcakemenyc.com/
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**This information is not to be misconstrued as medical or psychological advice. Please contact your medical team if you have questions or concerns pertaining to your medical or psychological well-being. All of the linked products are independently selected, and curated by the fab Fortify team. If you love and buy something we link to, we may earn a commission.**
Welcome to I Feel you Season 6, the podcast where we dive into real, raw conversations about mental health, resilience and personal growth. I'm your host, bettina Mahoney, here to guide you through stories that inspire, challenge and empower. Please know this podcast may touch on sensitive topics and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice. If you or someone you know needs support, please reach out to a mental health professional. Now let's dive into today's episode.
Speaker 1:I am so excited to welcome Brittany Moss, the founder and CEO of Cupcake Me, a growing brand that specializes in handcrafted baked goods. She started the business after becoming a new mom. Inspired by her desire to provide her daughter with a better life Amid the challenges of the global pandemic, brittany pivoted her bakery into a virtual storefront, turning adversity into growth. Today, cupcake Me offers a range of treats, including cupcakes, cakes, cookies and their popular cake jars. Operating in both DTC and B2B channels, the brand is expanding along the East Coast but plans to become a household name. Their motto for corporate catering and gifting is start every relationship and conversation with something sweet. Through Cupcake Me, brittany aims to offer creative opportunities within the baking industry while creating an inclusive environment for all dessert lovers.
Speaker 1:I'm so excited to welcome Brittany Moss. Hi Brittany, Thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today. Hi Bettina, thank you so much for having me. I had your cookie after leaving a fourth effect event and it was delicious. I couldn't wait to get home. I had it on the train. It was so good.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. That's the feedback we've been getting from that event, so I'm ecstatic that everybody's liking this, I had to dip in.
Speaker 1:I was on the A train. I'm like you know what. I'm going to eat this cookie and it was delicious, thank you. So when we strip away all of your amazing titles and achievements, how do you define who you are?
Speaker 2:So I define who I am by pretty much just being a good person and being kind to others. Um, if I ever come in contact with anyone, that's whether it's family member, friend, stranger in the street. I hope that any experience that I'm sharing with them I'm leaving them better than what I was introduced to them. So that's how I define myself by the impact that I can make on others.
Speaker 1:Kindness. I love that. It's such a wonderful legacy to leave behind when you can just make people feel so much better than when you left them, and that's kind of my philosophy as well. You know my listeners and everyone that follows Fortify knows that I started my platform after I survived a rape and I wanted to create something for other people that was sustainable. We talked a lot about sustainability at that.
Speaker 1:Fourth effective and actually to sustainability for the next generation, generation Z and moms I know your mom to manage mood, sleep and stress. So adversity will come and we have an opportunity to overcome and rise above what we're going through. I really do believe that. So that's why I wanted to create 360 approach therapy, coaching, fitness and meditation on one subscription platform, because I know what it feels like to feel stuck and I've seen life from both sides and I know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. And when you're young, when you have, when you're dealing with young college kids, um, they might not understand that because their brains aren't fully developed until they're 26,. Their prefrontal cortex isn't fully developed. And then the other part is they haven't had the life experience that you and I have had. To know that it gets better.
Speaker 2:Exactly. They think everything is just very like, like pushed to them. They don't think that other people are experiencing the same things. So it's kind of good that you're creating that space so they can be level-headed and go through any turmoil that they may be experiencing.
Speaker 1:Yes, and you know I hope that your adversity wasn't, as you know, to the extent of mine, but I like to talk with really high performing women about adversities that they've been through, to offer a guidepost for other people on how they've overcome it too. So I'm curious did you have an adversity in your life that played a pivotal role in who you are today?
Speaker 2:For me as far as the records of my company. The thing that became pivotal and for me to actually embark on the journey of entrepreneurship and start my company was actually giving birth to my daughter. My pregnancy was very complicated, literally from me finding out the day of two weeks pregnant, I was pulled out of work, pulled out of school at the time, thrown bed rest for my entire pregnancy and then, upon delivering her, I delivered her at 9.40 PM. I wasn't able to see her again until about 5.20 AM, and that's due to me having a lot of labor issues with my body and blood and things of that nature, and so that was very scary. So from that day, in that moment, it starts to put a lot of things in perspective to me.
Speaker 2:And then, when I went back to work after giving birth to her, I was working like 14, 16 hour shifts as a director and I was like I'm missing everything. And so it brought me back to from being raised in a single parent household that my mom had to go to work all the time, and so I was always in sports. I was, I was in everything, every club, anything that you can imagine that school offered, I was a part of, and so it brought me back to those moments of wishing my mom could be there for a lot of things, but knowing that she couldn't for good reason, and then seeing the perspective on how my birth story went, with giving life to my daughter and then understanding me being at work. I was taking a lot of time away from her as well, and the attention that she's needing at that young, influential age made me make the decision that you know it is now or never.
Speaker 1:I'm going to take the leap of faith and, worst case scenario, I can always come back to this but I at least want to try, just so I can start having freedom of my time and being there for her. Wow, okay, so you went through a lot, from pregnancy to delivery. Are you comfortable sharing what that aftermath went through? Did you have a chance to sort of like break that down and, you know, digest it and have an opportunity to talk to someone about it?
Speaker 2:Um, pretty much. Yeah, good thing that I it was like doctors that I've known for so long, so they were very communicative on what was actually happened, happening, and the thing is that a lot of people don't understand. Everyone relates pregnancy to being such a glorious moment and it is because you're giving life and you're creating life, and it's beautiful. However, there's also other sides to it, involving complications and just especially for your first child, your body, just figuring this out as it's going, because that's honestly what's happening, and I felt that all too well during my pregnancy, and so I was actually diagnosed with a condition called hypermesis gravidium, and so that's like an extreme, extreme version of morning sickness instead of just being in the morning, is literally throughout the entire day.
Speaker 2:It was to the point where I was losing extreme weight, like throughout my pregnancy, I think I lost a total of 82 pounds and I wasn't. I wasn't very much in weight to begin with. I think by the time I was pregnant, I was like 144 pounds, and by the time when I started losing weight, I had made it up to like 178 pounds, 179. And so then to start losing all of that weight upon being sick, it was just chaotic, and so, with that, with that happening and trying to understand it, being put on medication during pregnancy is just not like a happy experience as you would want it to be, so you have to like really intricately find your happy moments, and what helped me get past those moments throughout the entire nine months was knowing that my daughter was still being healthy inside my body, growing, and so that helped me kind of build my mindset then that, regardless of what's happening to me, as long as she's okay, I'm going to remain focused and committed to this journey and see it fully through and pray for the best.
Speaker 1:You're so level-headed and so strong and so interesting with, like the women that I choose on this platform. The common denominator is that you guys are just so resilient and so strong and I know like sometimes we can talk about experiences and it seems like, oh, you know, we just had to focus and get through it. But I think it can be hard, especially in our bodies. Our bodies remember, our bodies keep score. And you alluded to working really long hours and was there any feelings of like mom guilt? Was like their mom guilt going like, okay, I'm like spending so much time away from her even though I'm working. I need to start this business so I can spend more time with her. Can you kind of dive into that a little bit?
Speaker 2:Yes, from when I was working as a director to then starting my business, there's always going to be mom guilt. It's pretty much how you manage that. And then also like your village around you. So, like my mom is like the center, the centerpiece for me to like keep calm and level headed, because I always feel guilty in anything with my daughter, anytime away from her. I still struggle with that today.
Speaker 2:I constantly feel guilty because I'm just like, or if I actually have time to like relax, I'm like all right, well, I'm, I have time now Shouldn't I be doing something with her instead of like, taking a nap?
Speaker 2:And so the struggle through that is just like when my daughter she's eight years old currently, but she's very articulate.
Speaker 2:So I find, because of how the conversations I've been having with her, since she's been able to communicate verbally, that she's very level headed for an eight year old and very understanding as well, and also because she's been with me since the building of this company has started. She sees the day to day, she, she understands that if, like, mommy is really tired, she's really tired, like it's nothing towards her personally, and so she's able to now, especially at the age she is currently, adapt and understand that better, to where she doesn't feel slighted, and I love that, even though I still feel mom guilt on my end. I don't feel it as much because of how intelligent she is to understand that this is not something personally against her. I actually need to rest in order to be a better version of myself for her, and so since we have those transparent conversations, I feel it's also helping her. She continues to grow to understand how important it is for her to get her rest and put herself first in moments as well.
Speaker 1:That's beautiful, and you talked about just being transparent with her, and I've had other conversations with Kanaka. In one of the episodes I think it was from season two, Kanaka Chattagupta and she talked about ways that she talks to her kids about maybe challenging moments as they get older. They might not necessarily want to talk to mom about what's going on, and she talked about having sticky notes and putting them in a jar and talking about it at dinner. But I'm curious, like how did you begin that sort of like transparent, open communication with your daughter? Because I think your daughter's mirroring your image of being strong, resilient and smart.
Speaker 2:Yes, Thank you for that. But yes, when it comes to my daughter, it started with just her understanding her emotions. I'm very big on that, because emotions can lead people to either act one way or act the other, and I want her to be very transparent with herself first, before she is with anyone else. And then it was also, as you just mentioned, sticky notes. Honestly, I use them as positive affirmations for her. So, like around her bathroom mirror, around her closet mirror, she just had multiple sticky notes of affirmations from me other ones that we've created together that she had to just say to herself she would have to pick one or two, say it to herself every morning something that she was maybe doubtful in whether she was going to a tennis match, gymnastics and read it to herself so that she can actually embark on that part of her journey of the day.
Speaker 2:And then that led to us having open communication with each other about seeing like I'm really mad because I didn't like when the teacher did this or when my friend treated me this way or said this to them or said this to me. And then I would have conversations like, well, what did you see in return? Were you honest about your feelings in those moments Were you able to manage your you being upset or the emotion you were feeling at the time? And then it's trial and error. So sometimes you but I was just really angry, so I just hung up. I'm just like you can't do that, because then the person doesn't necessarily know that you were angry. All they figured now is maybe you have the attitude, so now they're going to continue their attitude, as you have to be up front with people, and so that's pretty much how our communication just stemmed, and then we were able to just go from there.
Speaker 1:Wow, I talk about this all the time. That's incredible. Understanding your emotions is a huge tool set. A lot of people adults walk through life not necessarily knowing where their emotion comes from. So for me it was fortify. I wanted to create education services and then applying them. The application is the biggest part. And then you're doing that with your daughter, because that's a practice, like going to the gym and going on the treadmill and working the muscle with some weights, like that's building the muscle for her to for sustainability, for her to understand why she's feeling the way that she's feeling, and then articulating it. It can be so hard to articulate what you're feeling, especially when they're young, but that is so cool that you do that with her.
Speaker 2:Thank you. Yeah, it's hard.
Speaker 1:Like did you learn that from your mother? Is that kind of yes?
Speaker 2:My mom growing up is very transparent.
Speaker 2:Sometimes she was overly transparent but nonetheless it helped me get to the point where I am today and in transferring that to my daughter, like even since my daughter was like one years old, she was speaking fluently like in our being able to articulate, like in real conversation, like literally what we're having now, to the point where she would go to daycare and I would say what happened today. She was like, well, this baby did this and I did that, and then the baby was crying and then my babysitter said this and no, no, no, no. Then she allowed me to help so she would run through her entire day and I found that to be like such a blessing because it also, on my end, being a first time mother, helps soothe my anxiety about leaving her in the hands of someone else, and so I was so happy that that was she was able to like really capture that teaching of being able to speak and know and understand dialect, of sharing your emotions and also sharing your thoughts about what is happening around you Wow.
Speaker 1:And I'm curious for her when she's in school is there anything that you're concerned of, as like a parent, when it comes to mental health awareness or just any type of awareness around emotions and wellbeing in schools, like, do you think that they're doing an adequate job at talking about mental health and overall well-being? What do you wish there was more of?
Speaker 2:So funny fact Dakota, which is my daughter's name, she's homeschooled, and she's homeschooled for the exact reason that's why you just brought up we literally, my husband and I literally tried to have her in school in the same year that she went to school in the first grade, because she couldn't go prior because of the pandemic. Two schools within a month and a half of each other, and then a little bit longer at the second school until like the second semester of the school year. We pulled her out because of that reason and many other reasons, but it was definitely because of that reason, the first school she actually went into. We were so excited, did all like the background, the walkthrough, the questions, everything like that, to just be fully prepared to get her like set for school. And then, upon like the first week, we noticed an immediate change with her emotions and her, just her habit of how she acts in certain environments. And then she was also able to vocalize to us what was actually happening in the school, in the school doors, in the classrooms, and how that was affecting her. And so, understanding our child and understanding that this is not normal for her to act this way or to be in this anxiety-like state. We were then able to just quickly make the conscious decision to just remove her, and then, when she went to the second school, she was able to articulate it in a different way, of saying that she doesn't feel that she's actually being her. Her knowledge is being tested, her creativity is being tested, and she was telling us her dislikes versus her likes, and so I just felt better that she was going to do better under our advisement advisement of teaching her and understanding her curriculum. Where she was at those grade levels. She's still currently being homeschooled and she's actually doing amazing. She actually is two grades ahead of where she was at those grade levels. She's still currently being homeschooled and she's actually doing amazing. She actually is two grades ahead of where she's supposed to be currently. And then she's also, she's already graduated.
Speaker 2:I try to tell her all the time, because sometimes it is like a hit or miss Homeschool is not that grand, because they do feel like they're missing out on being in school, especially if they've had the opportunity to do such. However, I told her I was like like you're actually ahead of the pack and you're graduating with corporations versus uh, school. I said so, I said one, they're both great, but I said I want you to understand that you're also learning at a higher level of understanding emotions, understanding financing and business, because she also has her own business, understanding how to project your future based off what you're currently being taught, and then also building relationships outside of your peers, but also with adults and companies to leverage you as you continue to grow wow, I could listen to you go on and on about that.
Speaker 1:That's so interesting. That's so like. Your daughter is so lucky that, like you, have the resources to be able to do homeschooling with her. That's so important. What grade is she in? I know you said she graduated. What grade is she technically in?
Speaker 2:so she graduated. I mean, well, she's in third grade but during um earlier this year she didn't have a first grade graduation but she technically had a second grade graduation with a corporate affiliate of mine and, um, she did a whole um six month program with them for business and understanding, financing and how to build her businesses when she set forth and so, yeah, so she has literally her certification. She had a ceremony, she spoke at the ceremony, she literally did all the things and it's been paying off.
Speaker 1:We're all going to end up working for Dakota one day. I know right, that's the goal. I love that. So, speaking of entrepreneurship, I kind of want to jump and pivot on the other side of the spectrum. As you and I know, there's tons of adversity when you're starting business, and I'm curious if you can highlight some of the toughest moments in your journey and when you felt like you were hitting a rock, how did you keep motivated?
Speaker 2:Where do I begin? No, I'm joking Like no for entrepreneurship. It does feel that way. It's like, oh my gosh, if I can count all the things, how did I even make it to where I am today? And, honestly, that's how I feel and this is why I always practice like being grateful, because so many things especially in the time that I decided with, I'm sure, millions of other entrepreneurs, to start a business and really get into like the nitty-gritty of of scaling that business was during a global pandemic, and that's probably one of the hardest things, because that's not the traditional way to grow a business. Those are not traditional circumstances in which people grow businesses. So the most pivotal issues were for me is that I had opened a store a brick and mortar during 2019, in June, and then by March of 2020, I had to give it back because of the pandemic, after literally putting in $50,000 and building it out and everything of that nature, not knowing when I was going to be able to open again. Worried about if I was, if I decided to push through with this, what does that look like? And if I'm going to be in like serious debt to where? Now it affects my family personally, and so just like understanding the gravity of all those situations and then making the decision to give it back. Luckily for me, I was in um at my brick and mortar, was in the community that I resided in and they were understanding to the situation that I was making, so I'm very grateful for that. And then also now, what does that look like for me? To continue business?
Speaker 2:I literally during the all of 2020 and all of 2021, all of my custom cakes, because that's what the company was built off of initially I extremely like I didn't just cut my prices by half. I probably cut my prices by like 70%, and that was to one, keep the brand alive and keep people understanding and knowing that we still exist. Throughout all of this, but also for, like, the customers in the community in which I was in, people still needed to celebrate, they needed to still feel like something was a little bit normal and I was very like empathetic to that, because that affected me as well. The pandemic and everything got shut down on my daughter's birthday, so all our plans for her got canceled. So going through that situation helped me put into perspective of, maybe, how others were feeling and as much pushed me to rise above that we gave.
Speaker 2:We gave out God knows how many cupcakes, like literally probably over 1,200 cupcakes to essential employees in all different industries, cutting, slashing our prices tremendously, doing deliveries when I probably shouldn't have been out doing deliveries because I wanted people, like I said, to have that sense of normalcy and celebration to some degree, but still practicing like safe distance in our deliveries and so on and so forth, because some of our clients at the time were. They had, like they were very symptomatic to what was going on with covid, and then after that, going into markets, outdoor fairs and trying to learn that that's like a whole different beast as far as in the food industry, and trying to figure out how we how do we fit in? Are we meeting the customers where they need to be met? Is this going to to work for us, because it's very expensive to operate in outdoor markets, and is the revenue that we're putting into it, is the return on investment, worth it? And so for me it happens to be worth it.
Speaker 2:I did hit a little bit of stumbling block maybe the first two months of outdoor markets, but then, when I started to get my rhythm, I sold out every market and so it's just making those understanding pivotal changes.
Speaker 2:And then another thing that I hit was doing the markets for two years in a row and I was like is this all I'm going to do?
Speaker 2:Is this the highest peak that I'm going to hit with my brand? How else can I further this brand in the way that I see of coming from my background in corporate, of understanding the importance of having corporate clientele and how they can actually help scale your company and having those affiliations, and then also trying to figure out where do I fit in wholesale. And so I took all of 2023 off from markets, I cut off most of my custom orders from my business and then I went back to school through companies and programs that I was with throughout New York City to understand business and finance and build operational models. And then in 2024, I gained about 15 corporate accounts and use everything that I learned from the years prior to make the extreme pivot and grow the business to where it is today. And I think if I hadn't made those pivots and going through those experiences, I probably would have would still be where I am, where I was three years ago and still just learning and stumbling.
Speaker 1:Wow, and that takes a lot of like hard work. Looking in the mirror, like the honesty that you're talking about with your daughter, which can be kind of hard for some entrepreneurs Like I'm one of those people. I like I like to be told like, this is not the right way, this is a better way, especially for people that have already done the thing that I've done. You know it would be kind of silly to go, no, this is the way I want to do it, because if someone's already done it and done it better, it makes sense to listen to those people. So I think it's interesting that you said, okay, I need to pivot here, I need to learn more, and then I need to come back and come back stronger, which I think is really smart.
Speaker 1:There's kind of a sense of, like, personal healing and fulfillment within you during that point in time. Fulfillment within you during that point in time. Did that transformation that you went through change your perspective on resilience and also maybe even your focus when it comes to maintaining your personal wellness within your business, because we talk a lot about you can't pour from an empty cup. Yes, so, going through COVID, I'm sure a lot went through your head personally, as a mother, as a partner, as a business owner, you know what practices for you do you use to kind of keep up that energy, the focus, the passion, when it's very demanding.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So something that also rings true for me to always commit to what I've like agreed to for one and then also as the commitments of myself first is making sure that I am doing all the things that I need to do in order to stay like constant and show up for everything that I'm agreeing to basically, that I'm agreeing to basically, and so this was a hard lesson for me, because I'm a doer and I'm a person that keeps their head down and it's just like I gotta get this done, I gotta get this done, I don't care what else is going around, it has to get done because I agree to it and people are expecting me to have expectations on what is happening. And so it transformed from that and going through the pandemic and understanding that everything can like stop. None of this is promised to just be continued on long term. So how do I make sure that god forbid at the end of all of this or something just abruptly ends, that I'm still whole, and so that was just like again having conversations with my family, um, having the conversations with myself, mainly internally, saying that like, like, I understand what I want and where I want to go, I understand why I'm doing it, but how else am I going to like be able to preserve myself to make sure that I get there? So it wasn't until, honestly, this year like this took a lot for me to get into this mind frame and it wasn't honestly until this year that I started doing like Pilates. I started taking time and taking walks, like even if it was like for a few minutes, or I started sitting down and like actually having a meal versus just stuffing food in my mouth and having to get back. I got to finish making this, and so that took a lot of change, and it was also because of how the time and environment.
Speaker 2:My business was growing and as entrepreneurs we get like once. It's like once you get opportunity, you want it to last so long, and it's nothing to say that it won't. But one thing that can be harmful to end that opportunity is if is one you over promising and to not taking care of yourself. And so, again, it falls back to transparency. Like all of my wholesale partners and my corporate affiliates and even customers, I'm very open with them about what I can and cannot do, and I'm very also open with them about offering them another option.
Speaker 2:So sometimes it's been situations where I've had, even today, a situation where I have well, I really would like a cake for X, y and Z day and I'll ask them, being professional, is this like a dead set day? Because if so, I'm already booked and I can't do this. As much as I would love to help you, I just I can't, and that's. I used to be a guest person to everything. I literally would be up for almost like. It's been times in my business. I've been up for 36 hours straight multiple times because I said yes to too much at one time and on the back end, after this is over, I can't show up for myself. I can't show up for my daughter now because I'm overly tired. So it took me about maybe that happening over the last couple of years like 20 something times to be like I can't do this anymore because one, I'm only getting older.
Speaker 2:My health is at risk if I continue on this way, and I want to see my daughter grow up. I want to see all that I'm pouring into her currently blossom later like flourish. I want to be there to see this. I don't want to hear about it from a hospital bed. I don't like, I don't want any of that. I want to be present fully, like mind, body and soul present for her. And so that gave me like the hard look in the mirror and mentally understanding that okay, in order to have that happen, that be the end goal, I need to do the hard work now, along with the hard work that I'm doing in front of the world.
Speaker 1:That rings true for me as well. I think a lot of that is being able to separate yourself from the business. When you're an entrepreneur and you own a small business, it can be so easy to connect your identity to the business and I think, in order to get to the place that you're in, I'm also in that spot. I had to go. I'm worthy, with or without the business, and it changes the whole thing. It changes the way that you operate from internal perspective creating protocols, procedures, working with clients, potentially talking to investors. It changes the entire deal because you know that you're set and you're good enough, with or without those things, and you show up differently for the people around you and it can feel really, really empowering. And I'm all about building community. You are so clear that you're built, you're so big on building community within your community, within your business, and the clients keep coming back. How do you foster that? So many businesses are like, yes, we build community and I'm like, okay, how do you build the connection? How have you done that so successfully?
Speaker 2:I will say this I feel like this is the most simplest way for me to say besides, like seeing what I'm like doing step by step, but all the connections that I make force through new connections, and I think especially with, like my top clientele of, like wholesalers and high big corporations throughout New York City and other places. They understand that and most of my network have grown from like participating in, like cohorts or programs or just showing up to events that they may have. I owe it to myself first, and then my company, to show up and at least see what something is about and I can tell within maybe like 30 minutes to an hour of being at an event if I should continue on being there, if I should follow through for the end of the event or not. And I think a lot of entrepreneurs need to have that mindset because don't let someone make you feel like you are expected to do this. We already deal with so much, you already wear so many hats and it's just like be, be like home, like. Own your time. That's like and that's advice that I've gotten all along this journey from, from, like I said, family members, from my advisors, from mentors, from corporations own your time, because time management is key for success. And these are even like this is advice that I'm getting from like CEOs of like top global companies, like Brittany you need if you want to get to this, you got to own your time. You cannot say yes to everything. Every opportunity is not for you. You have to be able to practice discernment and understand that, yes, in business, your time is money and, as being a solo entrepreneur who is like in such like the multifaceted movements of day-to-day operations of your company, you cannot be everywhere at all times. You have to pick and choose because you have to make the most of the time that you're giving up. So that's how I do it.
Speaker 2:And then with the networking. Now, when it comes to that aspect, if I'm getting in a good space with a corporate company or just a client or an exec, they know that whatever information, in most cases that they're sharing with me, especially if it's their goal to reach more entrepreneurs I know so many entrepreneurs. I'm taking that to them. If somebody comes and asks me a question and I'm like, I mean, I know that, but I can introduce you to someone who does, because now you, you are aligned with what their, their scope of work, that their trajectory, that they're trying to grow to. This may be a valuable connection and I'm all for that.
Speaker 2:I don't believe in gatekeeping, I don't believe in that. Oh, just because I know I can't, I have to keep that away now from someone else. No, because at the end of the day, what's for you is for you and no one can take that away. And because I think I move with such like grace in that sense, I think that that's why it's like like blossom to what it is now. I think that's why I have such high repeat custom like customers, whether it's regular DTC customers or B2B or B2B2C, because of they know like they it's like kind of they feel and they know just based off conversations that we have what to expect in reference of working with, working with me, whether they're ordering or we're just having a conversation, yes, and it's about wisdom of knowing the difference, right, no-transcript?
Speaker 1:I think that's our common thread is we know that we can execute and we know that we're honest and we know that we're kind and we're building community and the right people will follow that, and we know that we're kind and we're building community and the right people will follow that, and I think that's so powerful and I'm curious. I know we you gave so much like wisdom during this.
Speaker 2:I hope so that's always my dream to get out today. I know I like. I hope everything that I say, like it resonates with someone, because I'm not here trying to preach. Anything Like what I'm doing does not pertain to your thoughts. It's about your personality and the mindset of business that you're building for yourself, my goals and my alignments. What I want to do and where I see myself in life is different from someone else's. Why? Because my definition of success and wealth and what that means to me is different from the next person.
Speaker 2:So it's like you can hear any entrepreneur speak. You can go to any networking event. You can go to any TED Talk. Everything that the person is talking about you don't follow. It's not like a step-by-step guide. You have to take what you can take from those situations and apply it to how it's better used for you, and I wish that like sometimes when I speak to other entrepreneurs, it's like I'm empathetic to this because I'm doing it in real time and I want sometimes it's just like sometimes I want to shake them, but like you deserve more than this Like, why don't you see this?
Speaker 2:And then other times I'm just like you're this close, like you're overthinking it, like. And other times I'll literally take the time to debunk, like whatever they're troubleshooting at the moment, and then they're like oh my god, that's so clear now. I'm like it was clear all along. I didn't do anything but repeat what you just said to me and just put it in like layman's terms to take out all the chaotic, because we are our own worst critics. So it's like when you break through all of those and understand, like I'm gonna show up authentically. I'm gonna be who I am. I know what my goals are. I know who to align those goals with and who to not align those goals with. I'm going to be transparent. I'm going to negotiate based on my needs as a company so we can have a great meetings of the mind and have a great working relationship. I'm going to put in the hard work so that you know that we are building trust, and I expect the same from you.
Speaker 2:I'm going to do all those things because my goal and my initiative is to grow. Why? Not only because I have other people and my affiliates watching me. I have my daughter watching me. That is who is the most influential to the moves that I make? It's her, because I'm leading her in real time with her own business.
Speaker 2:So if I'm out here slacking off, I'm making bad decisions or I'm not showing up to work and doing what I need to do and coming through on my promises, what is she going to do? She's going to think that's okay to do the same thing and then she's learning that from a young age that's not okay. Then that's going to follow her later in life and that's not what I'm trying to teach her. Yes, everyone slaps off occasionally because we feel the weight on our shoulders, but you also have to have like the gum and be like. You know what. I did this, but I'm just going to push through and that's honestly what it is. It's just going through. There's no way to get around these hurdles in entrepreneurship. You have to go through them, because that's how you're going to learn and gain the experience that's necessary.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and I think your daughter is your mirror and those lessons she's learning I think you said she has like a lemonade business yes, I'm going to go with her forever. You know whether she decides she wants to stick with it or do something else, you know those lessons are just, are going to carry with her forever and I always say that, like the, it's just learning for education sake, not for the grade. It changes it. You get passionate, you learn life skills, common sense which is not so common anymore and technology focused world. For a young girl to learn those skills Like. Good job, mom, you did it, thank you. Good job to dad too. He helps as well, helps as well. Go team. You know, incredible, incredible, I. I am so passionate about young kids learning the sustainable tools that talk about their emotions, applying it and you're like, you're like the blueprint for that. That's so cool, that's so exciting because I mean that's going to carry with her forever. And I'm just curious, like what you know now with running a business, would you do it again?
Speaker 2:I would a hundred percent do it again. That may be like a toxic trait of mine. I'm like I'm a student to life, like my family always makes a joke with me because they're like oh my God, if Brittany doesn't know something, she will research it to death. I've always been that way because I enjoy learning things, even if it's something that, like the most common person would be like why do you want to know this? I'm like because I don't know, so I want to know. And so I applied that same tool to my business.
Speaker 2:I didn't know finances too much as far as business, and I didn't grow up learning about money and how that is going to pay off in the long run pay off in the long run. So what did I do? I focused like hyper, hyper focused on that. Did it hurt me financially? Yes, did I want to move away and be like you know, let me just go back to these markets and make this money? Of course, but I understood the end goal. So I just stayed with my head down and stayed researching and stayed talking to whoever I knew in finance and business, and even if they weren't entrepreneurs, I want to speak to people who know numbers. Why? Because they're not going to apply that to what I'm currently doing. What I'm doing, I want to do responsibly. I don't want to do it and then, at the end of the day, like, oh my God, I owe this, I owe this If someone's coming after me for this. No, no, no. I want to clean this across the board. So I and my family, I agree, and I love being a student.
Speaker 1:Like you know, I don't have an MBA, but I feel like I do Same, Exactly. I've been thrown into the fire. But make no mistake, Like we're women, like we will figure it out. You're a mom, Figure it out. They find a way. I never made an app before, you know, and I and, but I figured it out Like yes, and that's amazing.
Speaker 2:That's like, that's not. That's not easy, Especially having no background, no easy task.
Speaker 1:Let me tell you.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I love it. I love what I do. I love sourcing the clients. I love sourcing the team. I love creating something again that's transparent and awesome. Contrary to some of the other competitors, you know, I like to build something that people can relate to, and I was talking to a college student. Hardest things especially for kids when they're walking through a technology world to be understood and sometimes you need that and sometimes that's like the first step to getting the help that you need is being understood. So that was everything to me, like that's amazing. Anything else I get right. That's what I want to get right is feeling understood. People need to feel understood.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then they don't feel lonely.
Speaker 1:Yes, I can feel lonely Life can be, and you know there's so many found like there's so many CEOs of these other companies are so far removed from the client and they don't get it, and I, and I'm so excited to bring something that where people get it, you know, um, made by people that understand you and your experience. We might not walk it the same way as you, but we've, we can, you know, stand next to you and and be in with you in the silence and help you get through it. You know, and I think that really matters. So I'm all about what you're doing. We have the same values and missions, which is so cool to me, like that's what's so fun.
Speaker 1:Like you're in the food business, I am in, like digital wellness, and yet we still have so much intersection and so much alignment. You know, um, I feel like I could talk to you forever, but I'm curious, as we kind of shift what's coming up next for cupcake meat? What do you see coming up in the future with Cupcake Me? Anything you want to share with the audience?
Speaker 2:So I will share that Cupcake Me. As many times as we've been asked over the years for vegan products and gluten-free products, because I've been asked so much and because I see the joy that customers get from our baseline products, we are transitioning to a all inclusive bakery so we will have vegan options. Yeah, people are excited about this and it's so cool because, yeah, we tested our first gluten-free cookie with um, venmo and paypal at the global citizen festival and their feedback to us and what we got to see in person was like, so like monumental and that like really helped like push the initiative for me personally that this is something that actually needs to happen. I want everyone to have the option to purchase something from cupcake me, because I have a lot of vegan and gluten-free customers. They're not my customers, but they refer me to customers who can eat my product and I always felt like that was a void and they were missing out, because they see the joy it brings but they can't partake, and so now I was just my focus over the last six months.
Speaker 2:This November, we'll be coming out with a gluten-free cookie that actually did wonders to over, I think, like what 60,000 people at the Global Citizen Festival, and then we are also coming out with our two vegan options for cookies and then by the end of the month and the end of the year, going into the first part of next year, we'll transition into these super popular cake jars, so we'll have them in a few vegan options, and so we're I'm so excited about that. That's just like a piece of what's coming, but that's like for me right now the most like largest piece to just be inclusive for everyone oh yes, and did you say 65,000?
Speaker 2:60,000. Yes, so there were 60,000 people there.
Speaker 2:We made um, I forgot it was a lot of action yes, exactly, you probably deliver like over 12 large boxes of this one particular cookie and Gail King actually had one and I had a one-on-one with her and she loved it, and so it's just like it just did remarkable way better than what I thought it would do because, like again, I'm my hardest critic and I taste everything, but then to see other people like, oh my god, because the the issue with vegans and um and gluten-free customer base, they feel like they're forgotten as far as like the fun for dessert and so for me to come out with this like super cool blue cookie and it's actually gluten free and then we can also make it a vegan option as well. They were, they just felt so like cared about and I love to see that because it's like that they someone just did it, just to say they did it. They were actually felt like. It was like purposefully done for them to enjoy and that's exactly what happened. So that's like so meaningful.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's amazing.
Speaker 2:I mean, that's like so meaningful.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's amazing. I mean, that cookie was so good. I remember like, just like you know, throwing up my sneakers. I'm like you know, I'm gonna whip out this cookie and I'm like, oh, this is so good, thank you. Oreo on top. I'm like this is such a great cookie I could have.
Speaker 2:Oh, you had the Oreo one, so that's awesome.
Speaker 1:Yes, the Oreo one is really good it was so good I could have probably eaten 12 of them, and thank goodness that I did it.
Speaker 2:I'm so happy you enjoyed it.
Speaker 1:Oh, I'm so excited for you. Incredible, like I'm going to say the word traction as a term for entrepreneurs, but yes, yes, so your traction Good for you. I always love to close with this question. I'm always impressed with the answer In one word what do you want to be remembered for?
Speaker 2:Oh man, that's a tough one. I want to be remembered for inspiration.
Speaker 1:Oh well, you inspire me, so thank you so much for joining me.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for having me. This is so awesome. It's such a great experience.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode. If you're ready to treat yourself while embracing balance, go to cupcake me, nyccom, and use the code fortify wellness 10 for 10% off your total purchase at cupcake me now through January 2nd 2025. And don't forget, join us again next week for more inspiring stories and insights. Until then, take care, find your balance and remember wellness Isn't just a destination, it's a journey, and you're not alone.