We recently connected with Heather Ekola and have shared our conversation below.

Heather, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Crazy stuff happening is almost as certain as death and taxes – it’s technically “unexpected” but something unexpected happening is to be expected and so can you share a crazy story with our readers

My business was an accident. Not as big and accidental as Play-Doh, but it happened purely without a lot of planning, and grew as organically as a pumpkin does from last year’s jack-o-lanterns. I started out as a piano teacher. For twenty years I taught beginner level piano, and during that time would have a piano recital twice a year. I would make caramel apples for my students as a parting gift. That went on for a number of years. I would make caramel apples for my students, and a few neighbors around the holidays. It became a once a year tradition. Back in 2016, my 3 kids wanted to make over-the-top Halloween costumes, and money was a bit tight for extravagant Halloween costumes that would be worn once then disposed of. So I decided to make a few caramel apples, it was October after all, and I decided to post to Facebook to see if anyone was interested. I was very transparent about my kids wanting to earn money for Halloween costumes. I posted three flavors of apples to Facebook to offer local friends & neighbors: Gourmet Caramel, Salted Caramel, & Peanut. I ended up selling $1,000+ caramel apples in that single Facebook post, the kids were thrilled, and they trick or treated that year as a TARDIS, DALEK, and Maleficent.

The following year, I set up at a local three-day event selling caramel apples in four or five flavors. I had no idea what I was doing! I had a flimsy canopy-this was a November event-the week before Thanksgiving, and we had to pack up early because of weather. I had no lighting. No signage. I had a canopy, a table, a few apples, and no clue what in the world I was doing, but I was excited about it!

After the event, through social media, people wanted apples for Thanksgiving. People wanted apples for the Christmas season, and I didn’t have a clue. I was not forward thinking, and pretty shocked by the demand. I did not have any supplies to make more, so turned them down.

The following year I started setting up at more small events. Some were huge successes, and some were absolute disasters. But with each one, I learned, slowly, that I had something nobody else had. I had an incredibly delicious product that nobody else had even come close to making. I started carrying the caramel apples in local shops, at fall markets that drew thousands of people, and I eventually grew in just three very bumpy and very short years to the point where I could no longer sustain this out of my house. It was time to move the operation to a commercial kitchen, and open up my first store.

On February 1, 2020 Heather’s Gourmet Caramel Apples opened up its first store in Springboro, OH. Since then, we’ve expanded with an event space/classroom in April, 2022. We now offer classes, birthday parties, private events, corporate events, and on site dipping parties. We still attend 25+ events a year. We are open 6 days a week Monday-Saturday 10am-8pm.

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?

My name is Heather, and I am the Heather behind Heather’s Gourmet Caramel Apples. I studied Exercise Physiology at Purdue University (Boiler Up!), was a stay-at-home mom while my 3 kids were young, and am 22 states into running a marathon in all 50 states. (Just 28 to go!)

I own and manage a Gourmet Caramel Apple store in Springboro, OH. We make and sell apples on site in 30+ varieties. We also offer parties, classes, and events in our event space, which is attached to our store. We also are a makers’ store. We offer locally made goods in our gift shop including local honey, soap, candles, jewelry and other artisan finds that are one of a kind!

I am most proud to offer the BEST caramel apple you will ever sink your teeth into. We back our product 100%.

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

I opened my doors on February 1, 2020. Just a few weeks later, covid shut everything down. I didn’t know how we were going to survive it, being so new, so young, and so fragile a business. But we learned to pivot and pivot fast. We learned to write our plans in pencil and carry a big eraser, and we learned very early on how fragile a young small business is. I have been extremely frugal since the day we opened, and 2020 taught me how vital frugality is. You can work with less. You can dig in. You can get creative.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I started my business with $1,400. That’s all I had. I made, and I sold. I made, and I sold. I made, and I sold. I poured everything back into the business, and am still pouring everything that I can back into the business. It is okay to buy used equipment. It is okay to work 80 hours a week. It is okay to make sacrifices of your time and your desires to make due with what you need, not what you want.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.HeathersCaramelApples.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathersgourmetapples/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathersgourmetapples
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/heathers-gourmet-caramel-apples-springboro