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

Shanita, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

I believe to be successful, you must be willing to push yourself and keep moving toward your goals no matter what. You have to keep a positive attitude, think outside the box and know when to cut your losses.

After covid, business for the food industry is very different. People aren’t spending as freely and everyone is looking for value more than ever.

I try to ensure that each of my customers has a positive experience and I believe that is the true strength of my business.

Everything is delicious, but most importantly, my customers feel appreciated and seen. Due to this, I have an extremely loyal client base and very little decline in sales, no matter the economy.

Shanita, 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?

I have a bachelor’s degree in management and marketing and I had a long finance career before becaming a stay at home Mom in 2015. I had always wanted to learn how to can and the perfect opportunity to learn came in 2017.

I began doing research on safe canning methods and creating unique foodie flavors that tasted amazing and were unusual. My friends and family encouraged me to start my business and now here I am!

My flavors are NOT just boring traditional jams and jellies. They can be used so creatively in cooking and drink creation, along with traditional uses. I have made 70+ unique flavors of jam, jellies and spreads so far, with more to come. I truly have something for everyone.

I am most proud of building everything from scratch to make such a success in such a short time. Owning a small business is very labor intensive and you have be ready for anything and prepared to put in the hard work!

I decided my theme, designed my logo, decide and test all the flavors, create all marketing, name all the flavors and more! It feels amazing for something you’ve poured so much into to be so successful and have so many accolades.

I want people to know how passionate I am about what I do and how determined I am to provide the BEST. The best tasting, highest quality products and the best customer service. Everyone deserves to see what awesome customer service feels like and a positive experience can completely turn someone’s day around. I aim to be a light in my community and to anyone I interact with.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

My most effective growth strategy has been face to face interaction and word of mouth.

Face to face interaction usually results in a repeat customer and people seek me out often.

First time customers often post about how much they love my products on their social media, in my page reviews and tell their friends. I’ve gotten many loyal customers from their friends and family members.

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

I’m actually in a pivot right now. When I began my business I did frequent deliveries and many markets and craft shows all around my area near Ann Arbor and further out.

I’m now narrowing down my focus to two specific markets for this Summer (Whitmore Lake Farmer’s Market two Sundays a month and the University of Michigan’s NCRC building’s market two Wednesdays a month) and very minimal deliveries.

This ensures that I have enough product for these events and my work to life balance (truly the most important thing to me!) stays balanced.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Instagram.com/motorcityspreads
• Facebook: Facebook.com/mcspreads

Image Credits
All credits Shanita Richards