Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jaryl Campos. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Jaryl, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

Hello there, thanks for having me! Well, it started with another lifetime hobby of mine: doodling. I created this cartoon character, a raccoon named Clingy. It’s a term of endearment that my wife gave me when she saw a raccoon clinging to a tree in front of her apartment when we first started dating. She said you’re that raccoon, clingy. She said that it described a characteristic of mine that would appear when we spent time together. From there, I wanted to use it as I started branding my tarts. It’s a perfect name because when you smell the tarts baking and taste them for the first time you form this immediate attachment, like when you become clingy around someone you love.

Jaryl, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Growing up as a proud Filipino-American, I was fortunate enough to attend many family gatherings with tables full of delicious Filipino dishes and desserts. One dessert particularly stood out to me the most: mini-pies (also known as pecan tarts). At these gatherings, I would always look out for these tarts and grab a few before they were all gone. While I was in high school the pecan tarts started to disappear from our family parties. It wasn’t until I was in my early 30s that my good friend made them and a flood of memories came rushing back. I fell in love with the tarts all over again. I decided to make the pecan tarts myself and put my twist on the recipe. The process of making them became an obsession, from picking the right ingredients to carefully pressing out the buttery tart shell. I believe that as an artist and a baker, paying attention to detail is the key to making the perfect pecan tart.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

As a young boy, I would watch my Mom bake delicious Filipino classics such as pandesal, hopia, and puto. I would always try my best to make anything from her cookbooks. One of my favorite recipes was her pineapple upside-down cake. She was my inspiration. With a big family and a tight budget, I would offer to bake something whenever my siblings were hungry. I would make cakes, cookies, breads – anything that would yield large quantities and last throughout the week. Their happiness was my happiness.

Fast forward to the present, I have had a vision of baking tarts for over a decade. It all started during a difficult time in my life. Baking tarts was my escape, and it reminded me of the days when I baked for my family.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I worked alongside my talented friend Nevine Younes at Radish Studios to create the branding for Clingy Tarts. We worked on colors, fonts, and most importantly the logo. We began by establishing a social media presence on Instagram. If I had any advice for anybody starting a business, it would be to put more focus on branding and how it would apply to packaging, printed collateral, and social media. These are almost as equal to the final product.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: clingytarts
• Linkedin: Jaryl Campos

Image Credits
Chiara Peretti, Jaryl Campos, Joseph Padiernos (group photo)