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

Shannon , appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

It all started back in 2018 when I kept seeing macarons popping up all over social media and was intrigued how they were made. I grew up baking with my family but nothing as intense as macarons. When we moved to Beaufort, SC I gave it a go and immediately fell in love with the process! I truly enjoy every step and variable of the process and loved experimenting with different techniques until I perfected it.

During this time I realized that there was no one locally who made French macarons as the closest shops were Charleston or Savannah. This prompted me to consider opening up a business that started out of my home then into my own storefront two years later.

Shannon , 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’m a military spouse of 12 years and was in banking before macarons came into my life. Starting a business when you know that it may only last for a short time is daunting, but I’ve strived to make an impact in my local community in more ways than offering boujee cookies.

One of my passions is to help prospective entrepreneurs on how they can start their own business out of their homes. COVID changed the way many people look at how they can earn income, and as one of the preeminent home based food business in Beaufort County, I was asked to assist others in their own journey. Through mentoring I’ve helped over 75 local businesses get off the ground with a conservative combined gross sales of over $600,000.

Even though making flavorful macarons in my main business, I find so much more joy and satisfaction when I get to assist new business owners knowing that this is a more lasting impact.

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

Showing up consistently is the easy answer here but it really is more than that. When you are just starting out it is more about building relationships with other businesses around you than with customers.

Beaufort is a small town filled with so many different demographics of people. You have your locals, tourists, second home-ers, and a weekly influx of military families here to support their Marine grad on their graduation day. Three of these large demographics are temporary but you still need to have them as a source of revenue. How do you get them all to hear about you? By networking with other local businesses.

I’m thankful I recognized this early on as this is how I was able to establish a presence in my community. I went downtown with samples to meet shop owners and asked if I could leave flyers there. I met Natalie Wohlwend of Bathe through this and eventually had a mini pop-up in her store during one of the town’s monthly night events, 1st Friday in Downtown Beaufort.

Katie Silva of Lowcountry Made created the first outdoor shopping experience in Beaufort County for vendors to sell during the pandemic. She and I quickly became great friends and I can say that my successes were through her markets along with the additional connections I made with other vendors there.

Elizabeth Brubaker of Handmade Beaufort was a vendor that I was following on Instagram then finally met at the first Lowcountry Made market back when it was drive through only. This woman is a powerhouse and I am so thankful that she is my friend and confidant. Liz is the one who I called up first when I signed my lease to my storefront and asked if she could help with the build out and help me with my stress of hanging things up on walls!

Customers come and go but these connections I’ve made with other businesses owners are here to stay. Most business owners want each other to succeed, despite the few who would only use you for their own benefit. Share information, share ideas, be a good human, and your business will thank you for it.

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

When I started my journey out of my home to get licensed I was meet with an overwhelming “No” from the local licensing office. I was so taken aback as I did my research on the State’s laws, read up on the health departments requirements, and reviewed the local Code of Ordinances. It was a battle that took three months to eventually get that “Yes” all because of a misunderstanding on the change of regulatory ownership of state agencies. My husband once called me formidable, and I couldn’t live that expectation down in this situation.

This is definitely where the passion of helping other businesses started. It should not have been that difficult for me and I cannot imagine how many others were in this exact situation and gave up; especially in the military community as we have this mindset to “follow your superiors”. The only person you have to follow in business is yourself.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.toutsweetmacarons.com
• Instagram: @toutsweetmacarons
• Facebook: @toutsweetmacarons
• Other: Email: [email protected]

Image Credits
Headshot by: the2654project Kristen Scott