We recently connected with Caprice Wilson and have shared our conversation below.
Appreciate you joining us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.
Thanks for having me and I’d love to share my story. To be honest, I’m more of a strategy person, but after meeting my husband and learning some things from him, I can say I’ve become more of a risk taker now. During the summer of 2022 I told my husband that I wanted to start a business, but I wasn’t sure how things were going to turn out. I’m not the person who just jumps into something without having a plan and a roadmap. Well for my husband, it’s about having faith, taking risk, and giving it all you got. All that sounded good, but to me it still felt risky. On September 20th, 2022, and with the support from my husband and stepping out on faith, I took that risk and registered my business with the state of Minnesota and Caprice’s Sweet Treats was born.
After registering, I knew I had work to do so I got straight to it. I signed up for different courses on handling food and received my Cottage Food Producer license in November of 2022. Thereafter, I joined a Food Industry Cohort and will have completed this course on November 5th, 2023. My business has grown so quickly within the last year. I have a huge customer base, I’ve been able to connect with other businesses on vending opportunities, and proud to say that Caprice’s Sweet Treats has been used for multiple catering services as well. Throughout this experience I must admit, it was the best risk-taking thing I’ve ever done. To those who’s looking to take a risk, I say go for it; it will change your life for sure.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’m a mother of 6 beautiful children (2 biological & 4 stepchildren), and the grandmother to one handsome grandson. I have 6 siblings, born in Chicago, Illinois but raised in North Minneapolis since the age of 13. I have an AA in Accounting, but my passion is healthcare, community and creating fun experiences. I’m a Leading Ambassador (Leading Ladies) for my church. I’m the co-chair on a DE&I sub-committee for North Memorial Hospital and partners with my husband for Live Your Healthy Lyfe; an annual Health & Wellness community event. Currently, I’m a Customer Experience Business Partner for North Memorial Hospital where I’ve been there for 22 years and during my day’s offs, I continue building Caprice’s Sweet Treats. Some hobbies that I enjoy are bowling, watching my grandson play sports, and finding organization where I can either volunteer my time or donate.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
I believe there’s always a way to grow your clientele, but that depends on how you deliver your service. What does that mean? You must invest your time with growing in the customer service area and your product must be presentable. Take going to the grocery store for an example, when you pick up an item, that item must look the “part” even if you’ve never tried it before. Meaning, it must present itself well enough that you’re willing to buy it. Next, you decide to check-out with a cashier instead of doing self-checkout. So, what is your expectation? Most expect for the cashier to be kind, friendly, have a smile on their face, and to give you the best service possible while you’re spending your money. Well, these behaviors apply to me as well, my customers are my top priority when it comes to customer service and with presenting them products they would buy if they were at a grocery store.
The things that’s been most effective for me is staying consistent with postings on social media, asking my customers to share their experiences about my product, networking at events, and asking for vending opportunities when they become available.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
This story I’m about to share is extremely heartfelt, it touches me in a way that not only fills my heart with pain but with love as well. On August 17th, 2008, my beloved sister Tanesha was murdered, and my life changed forever. At this moment in my life, I was only 28 years old and was still learning and understanding life experiences. It felt like I was handed a thousand truckloads full of pain and brokenness that could never be healed. For the first couple of years, it was hard and challenging and I was trying to push through the pain, but things wasn’t panning out. I struggled and struggled because I was in so much heartbreak. To add a little clarity, my sister is the person who raise me, so I looked at her like a mother figure. She taught me everything I needed to know about being a smart young woman and a parent. She was someone who gave me the world and made sure I felt special.
As time passed, I knew things needed to change, but it was up to me to put a plan in action; something my sister always did. I think that’s how I became more of a “strategy person”. She taught me to always have a plan and to make sure I followed it. While going through those years in distress, I decided to pray about change and then got to work. I started therapy, discovered working out was good stress reliever, started journalizing my feelings, and most importantly started having faith in God that things were going to be okay. During those days, I would sometimes ask myself “is this something Tee-Tee would do?” and my response would be yes! She would tell me to never give up, push yourself through the hard times and know that all things are possible if you have a plan and believe in the plan.
Considering all the things I’ve experience on this journey; I will treasure every moment. It has given me the true meaning hope, perseverance, pain, stress, faith, and love.
Contact information:
- Website: http://www.capricessweettreats.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/capricessweettreats?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/capricessweettreats/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D
Contact Information:
- Email: capricewilson327@yahoo.com
- Website: https://www.capricessweettreats.com
- Phone: 612-715-0947
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/capricessweettreats
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/capricessweettreats
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