We recently connected with Lisa Hodes and have shared our conversation below.

Lisa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

At Sweeties Candy Cottage, our imaginations are the main rules we follow. We do not try and copy other chocolate stores, but rather create recipes from our dreams. We do not care as much about looks but focus on innovation and taste. You will see chocolate recipes that are not found anywhere else, and if they are, we usually make our products with the motto “abundance”. One of our specialties is called “Better than a Cupcake”. The concept is a chocolate covered delectable cookie sandwich usually filled with icing in between the two halves and, often, the icing is flooded with goodies.

Another way in which we are different is that we create product lines that we sell wholesale to other stores, including candy stores. We offer an everyday line as well as holiday product lines. Our chocolate pizzas & candy sushi are just two of the many favorite offerings.

Lisa, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I bought an existing business and made it my own mainly because mainstream corporate America was not yet ready for true work flexibility and remote work. I have been a single parent virtually my children’s entire lives. I was in a constant struggle being pulled between my kids and my work. I was held back from promotions because I worked part of my days from home, and my kids were too young to understand the line between work and play time. I needed to be in a situation where I could have my work feel like I was working full-time and my kids feel that I worked part-time. My store was midway between my house and their school so I could easily travel to all the necessary places in a flash. It was easier for me to pay staff when I was with my children rather than constantly explain each and every school event that I could not miss.

I had no chocolate making experience, but I have always had a passion for candy. At the time of purchase, I thought the store was small enough to manage on my own and large enough to support my family. I dove in head first and never looked back. Sweeties Candy Cottage had quickly become my third child.

My mission was to change the world one smile at a time. Since I could not do much charity work being a single working parent, I realized that if I could make people happy, their happiness would be contagious which could only spread more and more happiness the busier we became. I also decided to fulfill my need for charity work through the store. I quickly decided that children, the community & the local schools would be my main focus to whom I would focus our charitable donations.

From the start, I wanted to help people make their dreams come to fruition for their gifts, parties & special life milestones. Our mission was always “You Dream it, We Create it.” Very quickly, we started making products out of candy & chocolate that were unheard of at the time. We have fun making candy replicate real life items (such as converse sneakers, fidget spinners, Prime Drink bottles to name a few.) From there, we launched a new industry of visiting day camp candy and started to sell wholesale to many stores in the tri-state region.

Through it all, what I am most proud of is the relationships that I have built with my staff throughout the years. We work in a small space and I have taken many employees under my wings – taught them good work ethics & standards, given them family, relationship & even financial guidance. After over 18 years, my heart gushes to see my former staff getting married, having babies, growing up and becoming wise. It has truly been an honor.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The height of Covid hit the week of Easter. Being a small owner operated business as well as in the food business I was allowed to stay open. There were barely any masks to find, most of my employees were too scared to go out of their house, therefore leaving me quite short staffed. Most of my competitors remained closed so I therefore felt a strong calling to stay open and be on the front line so that we could help people celebrate Easter in the midst of the nightmare of Covid. It was impossible to get any items that were not categorized as necessities, even Target was not allowed to sell gift items and Amazon was not capable of providing Easter celebratory items either.

We worked night and day. We put up an online order form, fielded calls to a former employee who was shacked up in her home, made what we could & tried to buy out all of our suppliers. We made 4x the amount of Easter baskets we normally make and offered delivery and curbside pick up.

We were swamped with work and I was working with only one employee. When I got home late each night, I would start to write up the online orders. Work days were from 6:30am-10:30pm day in & day out. We survived and prevailed. Being small and having vision helped us not only to not have minor financial loss, but to have a feeling of really helping our community at large, turn on a dime and change the business plan at every turn.

Any advice for managing a team?

Listen listen listen to your employees, have compassion & understanding, share information, provide more & more training as needed. People need to feel heard & understood. There is no task too low for me in my store, there is nothing I wouldn’t do that I ask of employees. Be dedicated to your staff. They are the backbone of your business, the face that meets the customers, and they are your representatives to the public. If they feel like you genuinely care about their well-being and that they are trusted by you, the returns will be invaluable.

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/sweetiescandycottage
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/sweetiescandycottage
• Linkedin: Lisa Hodes
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/sweetiescc
• Yelp: Sweeties Candy Cottage
• Other: https://sweetiescandycottage.etsy.com