Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jessica Jacobson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Jessica thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

The most honest answer to this question, if you are a parent, is that the success of your children will be your legacy. To that end, I hope to live with intention and lead by example. I strive to fill my life with meaningful activities that interest and fulfill me. I want to teach my children that love always wins. I want to teach them that helping people creates lasting joy. My legacy will be one of love, compassion, and kindness. I want to be remembered as a woman who lived her life with integrity and always treated others with the respect they deserved.

Jessica, 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?

In addition to bustling family life, I started a business called Fireworks Chefs Butters, which allowed me to pursue my passion for creating delicious food. FCB started with a generations-old family recipe. And because of that, we hold strong to our roots. Family is everything to me. The kids are great helpers. We make it fun and not stressful.

I expanded the line to create new and unexpected flavors to cook with. It is butter that can make anything better.
As a brand, Fireworks solves the problem of making simple meals more flavorful and exciting in less time. By adding infused butter to any dish, it becomes a new experience that will inspire. Infused butter is not something commonly found in stores, and the variety of flavors that Fireworks offers is impressive.

With my business, I get to help people find creativity and joy in the kitchen. What’s not to love about that? My business has afforded me the opportunity, also, to give back to our community. Our chef’s butter is made by hand in a facility that employs those experiencing homelessness and joblessness. I am mindful that our time on earth is limited, and I aspire to leave it better than I found it.
I hope that my business and my life inspire others to pursue their dreams and put in the hard work to achieve their goals while remaining true to their values.

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

My previous career in corporate retail marketing was a dream come true for me – I got to travel the country, meet interesting people, and work on creative projects. However, as my young family started to grow, I knew that path would need to change. I had always been passionate about food and cooking since I was 12, and after the birth of my third child, I decided to start a food business as a side hustle.

I began recipe testing in my home kitchen and started with the family recipe for steak butter. It was so good that my family suggested I sell it. However, I knew that I needed more products, so I started testing other flavors and giving them away for free. While people loved the butters, they seemed confused about how to use them, so I spent the next six years teaching people how to cook with them. And I’m still teaching…and learning about building my business along the way.

I started selling at local farmers markets and eventually got into Lucky’s Market in North and South Boulder. Every time I sampled my butters, I saw how much people liked them. And I gained more confidence in my product. I started learning how to build a business from scratch, starting with finding a commercial kitchen, scaling up production and finding help in the kitchen,

The next big milestones were doing business further away from home, finding a partner to help mix and package the butters and using a local distributor to deliver those far away orders.

A critical step in growing a small business is creating the personality of a brand. In my case, I was able to work with a close friend who knew me and my product well. The exploration of making logos and packaging that spoke to my customers as well as to who I am was extremely worthwhile, fun and essential to building my company.

Today, I am proud of how far my business has come, and I’m excited about its future. It’s about as close to full-time a job as I want at this phase of life with my loveable, yet sometimes crazy family life.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Funny, I’m in the middle of a pivot right now. I have been selling at farmer’s markets since 2017, with a Covid break during 2020. For 2023, my goals are to focus on selling larger orders to bigger specialty grocery chains. I want everyone in the state of Colorado to have access to Fireworks Chefs Butters. And by selling at farmer’s markets you can’t get that reach. So I have to work hard at selling to buyers instead of the general public. We are thinking of transitioning to new product lines and new production facilities because of this pivot as well. Its a big shift in mindset, but a necessary one for growth and success.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fireworksbutters.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fireworksbutters/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sizzle.Spread.Boom
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fireworkschefsbutters/?viewAsMember=true