We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Arda Sitiprawet. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Arda below.

Arda, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

The main goal of SugarCube Marshmallows is to spread awareness of Asian flavors here in the U.S. Growing up here in America, I have always felt that Asian representation in well-known American snacks have always been lacking. I mean, for example, Oreos have hundred of flavors but rarely do flavors from my community ever comes up. I started SugarCube Marshmallows because I wanted to highlight all of the flavors of my childhood and of other Asian communities in a well-known treat such as the marshmallow and show people that these flavors can be fun, flexible, and of course delicious!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Arda Sitiprawet and I was born and raised here in San Francisco. I am a first generation Asian American with parents who came here from Thailand. Being a first-generation Asian American, I have always been influenced by my family’s cooking and the flavors of my family’s country, as well as exposure to other Asian cuisines from my community. Growing up, I was always involved in the kitchen with my mother or helping out my father at his restaurant. Because of this, I developed this sense of wonder and curiosity about food and I just knew that I wanted to be involved in this world in some sort of way as an adult.

SugarCube Marshmallows started out as an idea for a couple of years when I first started learning how to make homemade marshmallows for fun to share with my friends and family. As I continued making more due to requests from friends, I started to get more creative with the flavors, especially Asian flavors that have been such a big part of my life. Looking around, I noticed that there isn’t really any other marshmallow product out there with Asian flavors that I grew up tasting. This got me thinking and eventually, I decided to take the plunge and start an official business! Marshmallows have always been that iconic treat from my childhood growing up here in America. With the combination of two flavors, two cultures, and two worlds; I believe it is a great representation of who I am and what is “Asian American”.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

SugarCube Marshmallows is not my first business. I actually had started 3 businesses before which all inevitably could not continue. I don’t really like to use the term “fail” since I don’t really see those businesses in that way. From working on those past ventures, they gave me the knowledge and experience that helped with the foundation of what I’m building today. Over the years, I had to learn to accept my path as it is and to look at the positives of every experience I’ve been through. I’m not saying that it was easy because there were times where feelings of disappointed and failure have crossed my mind; however, the only way to go about it is to continue to move forward. The biggest contributor to my resilience is the network I have around me. Make those connections and get involved in the community because similar to a baby (your business is your baby), it takes a village. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and ask questions!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Just to put myself out there! I learned quick that you can’t rely solely on an online presence. I know, I wish it can be that way as well especially for those who are a bit more introverted like myself. I saw a big impact on my brand and reputation when I started to get more involved in the community such as doing pop ups at community events or attending workshops and get-togethers with my product. The more face I show and the more I talk about the product and mission, the bigger the impact.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sugarcubemarshmallows.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/sugarcubemarsh
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/sugarcubemarsh