We recently connected with Heidi Allison and have shared our conversation below.

Heidi, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So, what do you think about family businesses? Would you want your children or other family members to one day join your business?

When I started Sugar Bee Sweets it was just me and my Mom with my husband, Dad and Stepdad in extremely important supporting roles. I could not have done any of this without all of their help and support. They were so extremely crucial to this business that when my Dad died in 2012 and then my Stepdad in 2014 I thought I could no longer do this without them. Honestly, I didn’t want to do this without them. I wanted to give up, sell, close, something….

But I didn’t. My mom and I decided to stick it out and see if we could make something that they would be proud of. We love working together and it makes coming to work a pleasure every day. I recently told someone that there is not a single day that I don’t want to come to work…working with your family makes work feel like home and I honestly love being here everyday.

Fast forward to the present and I still have my mom here heading up the baking department, two of my nieces work here with us as well as a cousin who is thriving in a new role! Between them and long term employees who feel like family I am one lucky girl!

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

I am the owner and operator of Sugar Bee Sweets Bakery and The Hive. I was raised in Arlington, TX where I both reside and own both businesses. After graduating from UTA I accepted a position as an advertising producer for Tribal DDB and later, for The Richards Group. While working in Dallas I started experimenting and making sweets out of my home for friends and family. I soon learned that complimentary word of mouth recommendations were the best form of advertising and the referrals were keeping me a little too busy!

As I developed my talent, I knew I would have to quit my full time job and pursue opening my own bakery full time. This was a giant leap of faith for me and I’m thankful to God everyday that Sugar Bee Sweets has been as successful as it is today. I opened Sugar Bee Sweets’ store front location on Abram St. partially in November 2010 with the full storefront following in June of 2011. We moved to a larger location in January 2017 and in Fall 2019 we added a daytime eatery to the business called The Hive! Our goal at both the bakery and The Hive is to have fun while we’re working and to make our clients happy. We keep it simple and try to put a smile on everyone’s face that we work with.

Outside of work I have a blast raising my two girls who fill every free minute of mine and my husband’s day with laughter and craziness!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson that I had to unlearn was working 24/7! I thought that to be successful I had to work every waking hour and was afraid to say no or disappoint a client by not being available. When Coronavirus hit and the world slowed down I took that as a time to reflect both personally and on the business and realized how much I was missing out on by being consumed with the bakery. When shelter in place ended we decided to close both Sunday & Monday of each week and it was the smartest decision I’ve ever made. I get time with my family and get to reset each week and start fresh! Two days a week being closed feels like a vacation…it’s been almost two years and I still feel spoiled by those two days every week. Being open 5 days a week also ensures that my staff all get to work together instead of one person or another always being off/absent and having to catch everyone up. It’s amazing how less can sometimes be more!

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I initially put together funding for this business by both working a full time job and making cakes/sweets at night and on the weekends and saved EVERY. LAST. PENNY. This was during the last recession so we were unable to receive any type of funding or loans from a bank and realized we were going to have to do this the good ol’ fashioned way and do it all from the ground up! It was scary but worth it. In our first year we almost went under because we didn’t have a ton of capital and we weren’t aware of the ebbs and flows of the year so our first “slow time” was the scariest time of my life and I think about that time each year in January/February when things slow down. Learning the patterns of your business is so interesting and watching how some patterns stay the same and some change each year is one of the quirks you never thought of when you just wanted to “make pretty cakes!”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sugarbeesweets.com/
• Instagram: @sugarbeesweets and @thehivearlington
• Facebook: @sugarbeesweets and @thehivearlington
• Linkedin: @sugarbeesweets
• Twitter: @sugarbeesweets