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

Hi Samantha , thanks for joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My parents have always taught me to learn a lot and follow my dreams. My dad always wanted me to go to school and get my degrees so that I could have a good corporate job, I currently have two Bachelor’s degrees and one Master’s degree. My mom always wanted me to follow my heart and my dreams, and because of that, I was able to create Sammy Snacks. I grew up being a migrant daughter, my parents and family would migrate to Washington state to work in the fields every 6-8 months, I lived that life for about 9 years. When I was a little girl I remember my parents getting home from work and as a little girl I always wanted to grow up to be like my parents, I wanted to work in the fields so that they could be proud of me but at the age of 8, I did not understand that it was not the life I wanted to live. I still remember my parents telling me I needed to go to school and study hard so I wouldn’t be working and struggling as they did. Now that I am older I realized all the struggles they went through so that I could have a good education and a good life. Now I know working in the fields is hard, tiring, and not the dream job I thought I wanted. If it wasn’t for my parents pushing me and supporting my dreams I wouldn’t be where I am at today. I am very thankful for both of my parents because in the end, they taught me to follow whatever made me happy.

Samantha , 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?

Hello, I am Samantha owner of Sammy Snacks! I am first generation woman and a mother to a beautiful little boy. I am a very passionate person and I put a lot of effort and hard work into my business. In 2020 when COVID happened, I was only able to work part-time from home, and that wasn’t helping me pay all my bills, so I started to brainstorm on what I was able to do to get extra money. I came up with many ideas but my mother encouraged me to sell my chamoy snacks, at first I did not want to sell snacks because I honestly did not see myself selling them, I wanted to do something else but somehow my mom convinced me to sell my candies. Within a few weeks, I had created Sammy Snacks, a candy shop that sells Chamoy-covered candies called Dulces Enchilados, At the time I was only selling a few candies such as Gushers, Gummy Bears, Xtremes, Peach rings, Sour Punch and Sour Patch, I was selling to family and friends on social media. I was getting good feedback from everyone, I was actually pretty impressed by all the positive feedback. Around July of 2o2o, I made my own website and by the Fall of 2020 I was selling my candy at pop-up markets, it was going well I was happy I was making sales.

In 2021 I felt like I did not improve a lot as a business because I became pregnant and I couldn’t do a lot of pop-ups but I still managed to focus on my online sales and I started to write down ideas for 2022.
The beginning of 2022 was great, I was back at pop-ups and I was making changes in my business, I changed my logo, branding, and marketing skills and added more products to my menu because I knew I needed something different than what I had. Within a few weeks, I started to notice an improvement in sales and engagement with customers after I made those changes. The first quarter of the year was great, I was getting the hang of pop-ups once again, I was getting invited to different pop-ups and I was just getting to know other vendors out there. During the second quarter of the year, Sammy Snacks was getting more noticed and I was getting invited to events across the city, I was so happy knowing that people really did like my unique chamoy, and at the end of the quarter I was brainstorming on what I wanted to do next with Sammy Snacks, so many ideas came to mind but I knew not to rush anything because nothing good comes out of a rushed decision.
In the third quarter of the year, I came up with my chamoy apparel which now I sell chamoy-inspired shirts. In August I participated in a Chamoy competition and we got an honorable mention at that event, I was very proud of that outcome because it showed that my Chamoy is indeed unique and delicious. Throughout this period of time, I got invited to be a part of Market Square events these events are in the heart of San Antonio and they bring in a big crowd, as a business owner that is always what we pray for because we get amazing sales. Honestly, for about 4 years I had prayed that one day I would be a part of the Market Square family and sure enough, my first event with Market Square was in September. I was extremely ecstatic to be a part of their events because I had finally achieved a big goal I had set for myself.

So far Sammy Snacks has been doing great, online orders are amazing and we also stay busy with events and pop-ups throughout the year. I am extremely grateful and blessed for all the opportunities Sammy Snacks has gotten. With so much greatness there are of course some setbacks, it’s not always perfect but I still manage to push through. Although 2022 is not over I am ready for 2023 because we have some new goals to achieve.

I also want my customers, followers, friends, and family to know I am very thankful for them because without them I wouldn’t be here. I am also really proud of myself, I put a lot of love into Sammy Snacks; when people buy from me, they are helping me achieve one of my goals of owning a successful business. Coming from a low-income family to owning my own small business is a blessing; anything is possible if you believe in yourself and your dreams.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

Yes, it absolutely did. Just like many of my business friends, I started right after the pandemic hit. I needed that extra money because unfortunately, I did not have enough money to pay bills so I had to come up with a way to get money. I had many ideas but my mom encouraged me to sell my Chamoy snacks, she would say they were really good and she knew people would like them. I did not see myself selling Chamoy snacks but after pondering on that discussion for weeks I decided to give it a try and in a few days I had a business, I created Sammy Snacks. I started by getting orders through Facebook as well as doing local pop-up markets on the weekends. Little by little I started to grow and to get known across San Antonio, fast forward to today, I am now a part of big events that happen across San Antonio, my online store has sold to almost all 50 states and Sammy Snacks just keeps growing but most importantly I feel like I am a part of a small community of hard-working business owners. I have put a lot of work and dedication into my business and I am proud of it, I believe a key business milestone for me was my sales, for the year 2022 I set a significant number of sales for Sammy Snacks and I surpassed that goal in October 2022, I am truly blessed for that and I am extremely excited for what’s to come in 2023.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Being consistent, I have to make sure I provide my customers with the same tasteful chamoy over and over again, I believe this helps my customers trust that my products will always taste the same. People trust a business that is reliable therefore it is very important to be consistent; Inconsistent results demonstrate unprofessionalism. I also have to be consistent with my customer service, pop-up markets, social media engagement, and everything that involves Sammy Snacks. With my consistency, I have improved customer retention which is one of the main reasons why Sammy Snacks is successful.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sammysnackstx.com
• Instagram: @sammysnackstx

Image Credits
Oscar Garcia