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

Hi Jeanil , thanks for joining us today. How do you feel about asking friends and family to support your business? What’s appropriate, what’s not? Where do you draw the line?

When I first started my business, my family and friends were extremely supportive. They referred their friends, co-workers, and other family members to me and it helped my business grow to where it is today. With family and friends, I feel like they can really help grow your business, until they start to expect your products for free.

Everything is a business, whether it’s small or big, we are working towards similar goals so if they wouldn’t go into Target and expect to get their items for free, they should not expect my baked goods for free.

Jeanil , 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?

My name is Jeanil Garcia, owner of Confetti Me Sweets LLC. I started my business as a stay at home mother of my two beautiful little girls. Being a stay at home mom wasn’t always easy- mentally, so I always figured out different ways to keep me busy.

I always loved macarons but never thought about making them from home until one day I just wanted to start baking. The first time I made the macarons, it came out horrible, but after lots of practice and mistakes, I finally figured out what worked! I started to play around with different shapes and characters and eventually, through social media, I began receiving order requests. I’ve always been pretty artistic, growing up being in art clubs and taking art classes- this is where the creativity for the macarons came from.

My original plan was to start with macarons, and keep adding more sweets, but I discovered quickly that macarons became my niche and nothing else. A year after starting my business, I began signing up for different events and farmers markets, where I grew more of a customer base.

Through events, I received my first wholesale deal with a bakery, and fast forward to three years later, I grew out my home space so I bake macarons in a commercial kitchen, you can find my macarons in 5 different locations (still expanding), and I get custom orders for birthday parties, weddings, baby showers, business events, etc on a weekly basis.

I am most proud of myself for getting this far! This is my first business and to be able to grow it as much as I did…Im just grateful! I am someone who knew nothing about making macarons, or even running a business. I also never invested in a macaron class! All the knowledge I gained about my business, I learned through Pinterest and YouTube.

My business is similar to nurturing a baby. I pride myself in providing fresh ingredients along with fun, bright, and creative macarons with unique flavors that are different from any other macarons that you have tried. All of our macarons are handcrafted, baked and served with a side of love for you and your family to enjoy. I also enjoy meeting new people, so being able to share something I love making, brings so much excitement to my life.

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

When I first started making macarons, I was just doing it for fun. My fiance at the time actually bought my first mixer for Christmas. This is where it all started!

When I thought about how I can turn this hobby into a business, I didn’t even think about supplies. I advertised on Facebook, and when I finally got my first customer, I delivered the macarons in a meal prep food container (how embarrassing, I wish I could find my first clients and give them a new box- it was definitely a lesson learned) but they still absolutely loved the macarons.

Well, to be honest, initially I didn’t invest much into the business, besides the ingredients. When I got my first customer, I used the money to buy macaron boxes. Every order after that, I’d use the money to buy more supplies. When I got into events and markets, I spent less than $200 buying supplies.

I don’t think I paid myself for the first 2 years, I was reinvesting everything back into the business. Now, I have better organization on what I need and the income coming into the business.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

When I started Confetti Me Sweets, I was a stay at home mom. It started as a hobby and quickly became a business when I knew I could grow it much bigger. While also being a stay at home mother, I got my real estate license and I am also a realtor.

I consider my macaron business a full time business. I am the baker, the photographer, social media admin, and everything in between, I do it all! I am also a full time realtor, which I also truly enjoy.

My goal is to hire a baker and extra team members to work farmers markets and events so I can focus on expanding the business. This is still only the beginning…

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.confettimesweets.shop/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/confetti_me_macarons
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/confettimemacarons