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

Jazmone, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear your thoughts about family businesses.

My desire for Sugar’d is for it to be a successful family ran business. Growing up, I’ve witnessed first hand what family businesses can blossom into. From growing up around the Lewis Family of Lewis and Wright Funeral Home, sitting inside of Monique’s Homestyle Kitchen, and even working at the old Prince’s Hot Chicken until 4 am, I’ve had a blueprint of knowing that family can keep businesses structured. Just seeing how different family members strengths can keep the fluidity of the business going has always been an eye opener for me to understand that I do not have to do it all by myself.

When Sugar’d started it was an idea that I threw out to 2 of my siblings with a “I think we can do this together” mindset. With my siblings now being in college, I’ve had to rely on family and friends to stand in the gap for me when I need a hand. There’s been times where I’ve had to hire my mom to come with me to take orders. I’ve also had times where I am by myself and a friend sees me pushing through and they’ve stepped behind the table just to get me through a rush. It’s a great feeling knowing that there are family and even friends who understand what I am pushing Sugar’d to be and they are willing to help in any capacity.

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

Sugar’d started off as a gourmet cotton candy business as a result of my kids not knowing what cotton candy was and me not able to explain to them what the flavor profile of it was. This was during the time where covid protocols were starting to be lifted but I knew it would be a while before they could experience a fair which led me deep into research and me evolving into The Sugar Fairy. Throughout these 3 years, we have added Mini Dutch Pancakes, Sugar’d Cookies, Fairy Fresh Lemonades, and our latest edition, Fairy Cakes. We are now partners with For Goodness Cake who matches volunteers to make and hand-deliver birthday & graduation cakes to children in foster care and youth overcoming adversity on their special day. We also have been involved with several markets in Nashville and we are looking forward to working with many more.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The biggest lesson that I am learning is to ask for help. As a single mom of 2, I get caught up thinking I am superwoman. Between working my corporate job full time, being on the PTA Board, assisting a high school dance team, and running Sugar’d, I find myself stretched thin simply because I’ve had a hard time asking for assistance. I am such a “I got it” type of person that it sometimes hinders me from doing things to the best of my ability because I would be running on fumes while still trying to get things done.

Sugar’d has grown so much that I have no choice now to stop myself from getting overwhelmed and simply put my pride aside to ask for help. I’ve had to understand that there are people in my corner for a reason and I need to utilize my support system.

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

For some reason, some people have the perception that entrepreneurs are rich. Which some are but it doesn’t start off that way. I initially started funding Sugar’d with money I was making from my full time job with the dream that it would start making its own money. There still are times where i have to occasionally dip into my own pocket for Sugar’d but that’s because I know the potential of my business and everything I want it to be. Most of us young entrepreneurs have to do that and it’s okay. As long as we keep the faith and know that if we keep going that it will not always be this way, we will make i through.

Contact Info:

• Website: SugardNashville.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/sugar.dnashville
• Facebook: Facebook.com/sugar.dnashville

Image Credits
InfiniteVision Photography