We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brooke Bartlett a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Brooke, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

A LONG LONG time ago ( like 14 years ago). I was an intern at a wedding venue in St. Louis. I was clearing tables at a wedding and I saw a dad and his daughter just laughing, enjoying their time together, their burdens lifted. They were light. At 22 fresh out of college I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my time on earth. But I knew whatever I did I wanted to create more of what I saw at that event, a sweet moment. It just seemed the world needed more of that.
Eventually a few years later the road led Nick and I to open GoPo Gourmet Popcorn. What gets me up everyday is making those moments a little sweeter for your friends and family. You all have invited us to do popcorn bars and favors for events large and small. You have spent your Saturday afternoons at our shop playing silly board games with your kids. Doing exactly what we wanted to create the space for, people to enjoy their time together.
So whenever you want a moment with your people, we will make the snacks. Because, time just passes by too quick. And maybe one day you will taste one of our flavors and it will take you back to a special time or holiday with a special person…and that is quite special to be sure.
Thank you for letting us be a piece of your gatherings big and small.

GoPo Gourmet Popcorn- Popped for your moments.

Brooke, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

We are really proud of providing an inclusive enviroment to host friends and family.

Have you ever had to pivot?

We had to pivot when Covid-19 hit. We were very focused on direct to consumer in person sales. Our whole commerical street went quiet. We had to figure out how to become a necessary stop. So we add an espresso machine and learned how to make coffee during the pandemic. At the time the other small coffee shop in town had permanantly closed. There were no other places doing espresso drinks. People who had never been in to the shop before came into to get their work coffee and were able to learn more about the brand.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

We started out of another business’s commercial kitchen. This was back in 2013 when food trucks were getting started in the midwest. We emailed around 30 businesses about using their kitchen at night. One said yes. We used their kitchen for about 18 months got a process and a catalog of flavors. Then we moved towns to a place that had more affordable rent and then got a bigger fan base and eventually were able to purchase a building. Banks are more willing to work with you once you have numbers and proof your product is selling. Keep your bookeeping up so you can show profit margins and growth over the years is important when you are ready to purchase a storefront or the next large piece of equipment.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.gopogourmetpopcorn.com