We recently connected with Roxanne Arocho and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Roxanne , thanks for joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?
I was gifted a KitchenAid Christmas of 2018 and that is really when baking became a hobby. If friends and family had a gathering, I already knew I was going to bring something sweet.
I struggled for a few weeks coming up with a business name that represented us. Especially being the business took off right when COVID had everyone shut down. It was my husband’s idea to come up with the name: Sweet Roars. I loved it immediately. Our boy is a huge dinosaur lover, he could recite 20 dinosaur species at the time. Once we reached out to our friend, Ernie with Kneat, to design the logo, I knew it was gonna be a name easily to identify the home-bakery by.
Roxanne , 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?
I am a self-taught home-bakery owner operating under Texas Cottage Law. My love for baking started when I got my first Kitchenaid for Christmas. I was in awe. It was like being gifted the newest game console. There was so many recipes and tricks to make breads, cookies, cakes, etc. What I loved the most is you could make the baked goods your own way.
My love for baking didn’t initially start until I had my son and wanting to make baked goods that had some sort of nutritional benefit for him. Muffins, breads, cookies, even his smash cake & first birthday cake! Guests were so surprised how good yogurt based frosting tasted. I was all in and I wanted to do it all. I didn’t step out of my comfort zone until I began experimenting with cookie flavors. Around Easter 2020, I had close friends and family, requesting the fruity pebbles cookie that we have on our cookie lineup today. I would get asked by them to make them for their job events and family members birthdays.
The pandemic hit around the same time, and the whole country was shut down. I went full throttle and that’s when I began selling cookies and banana bread off of my Instagram page. My husband, alongside me, saw the response and support, it was picking up for me. He put the idea in my head to make a business page and to begin branding. It wasn’t until I was selling 20-30 dozens a week that I felt it was possible. My husband had just gotten laid off due to the pandemic, and we both agreed we could do this full-time while he job searched. It was time go full force.
Everything we do is represented through us and our cultures. Our son is a huge dinosaur lover, hence the logo. We have always wanted to be as authentic as possible, and I like to think it shows within our products and branding. This year has been a year full of celebrations, and we can’t wait to show what we got cooking up!
Have you ever had to pivot?
This summer was one of the hottest for us. The heat and cookies don’t mix well. We had to take a step back from doing local vendor markets in our area. I was in such a funk with how sales were going. Social media is a huge deal when it comes to content, and I felt like we were so behind. I’m just now figuring it all out, and how we could move forward to stay relevant in the community.
I started doing more pick ups from our home and hosting small bake sales. We have been doing more preorders to give us an idea of how much to make and sale on those specific days.
We will be back to market this fall. I’m so excited for the cooler weather and back to the grind!
Any fun sales or marketing stories?
Our very first time being a vendor at a local market was one for the books, Our good friend, Ernie, signed us up for a market being hosted by Los Primos, a local food truck in Pasadena, we had no idea where to start. We needed a tent, table, a tablecloth, and items to spruce up our set up.
We borrowed a tent and rush ordered our tablecloth, We stayed up a full 24 hrs preparing for the big day. The day came, we got all set up. Shoppers came out and supported, We had a line going, and had such a rush of emotions going through me. My husband came over to let me know we had only 2 boxes of cookies left. I checked the time, and we had only been out there 2 hours selling. I couldn’t believe it! Those last 2 boxes sold, and we packed it up early. As soon as we got in our car, I bawled. I kept repeating to myself “this is real, people really like my cookies.” Ever since then, I haven’t looked back, I make triple the mount now to make sure we don’t have to leave a market early!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sweetroars.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetroars/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sweetroars
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/sweetroars/
Image Credits
Brittany Mueller