We recently connected with Shyana Barrozo and have shared our conversation below.

Shyana , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

I have always had a very entrepreneurial like mindset and knew for sure I wanted to own a business. I’ve tried a couple other avenues in the past but my passion would eventually dwindle out. What gave me the idea to start a cotton candy business was actually a tiktok I seen of a bride holding a big pink cotton candy cone. I originally thought how cool would that be to have at my own wedding one day because I LOVE cotton candy. That is the exact moment my brain kicked into entrepreneur mode and I decided I wanted to start a cotton candy catering business. I immediately started researching everything you need to know about cotton candy. I first searched up cotton candy businesses in my area and realized that the choices were slim to none. Then I started researching profit margins and cost of commercial equipment to see if the start up cost would even be reasonable for me. I started to gather any information I could and took notes on my laptop, slowing adding up the start up cost. I did minimal researching on permitting in the very beginning just to round costs and get an idea of what I was getting myself into. Eventually I broke everything down into a PowerPoint and categorized what I would need to buy in order to make my idea come to life. I started off finding out what machines worked best and what I believed I could afford. I moved on to potential logo costs, business cards, uniforms, setup equipment, cotton candy sugars, permitting costs, etc. I rounded everything up and eventually got what I thought would be my starting cost. In business surprises are common. Haha. I was not able to buy everything right away. It honestly took me about a year to go from idea to launching point. Luckily I was gifted one machine and that motivated me to purchase another shortly after. After being able to purchase the essentials, I started contacting our department of agriculture and reading long boring laws and regulations on our state sites. I have an amazing spouse who helped a lot on that end. Permits are extremely confusing even for something as little as cotton candy. Roughly 10 months after I decided I wanted to do this was when I finally was able to complete all the legal stuff through our state (Florida). None of this was an easy nor timely process but it’s all been so worth it! Once legalities were taken care of and I had the equipment I needed, I proceeded to create our social media accounts to begin networking and promoting our business. I practiced at a family members birthday party to ensure I was ready to launch to the public. Once our pages were up, I started to reach out to every event I could possibly find in our area through email, dms, etc. Networking is SO SO important. The main thing to remember is even if the event is not what you expected, ask yourself a couple questions “were you able introduce your business to new faces?” “Were you able to pass out business cards, advertisements, etc?”, then it was probably more successful than you think! It has absolutely been a roller coaster and things definitely don’t always go as planned but the experience has been completely worth it! We’ve only been an official company for about 3-4 months now. So many more exciting things to come!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Shyana and I am 25 years old. I started working when I was 15 years old in the restaurant industry, starting at Waffle House and working my way through bars, resorts, fine dining restaurants, etc over the course of 10 years. I have always had a strong passion for entrepreneurship and knew I’d one day own a business. I started up a few small businesses in the past which taught me a lot of what I needed to know for my business now. I am now the proud owner of Sugar High Cotton Candy Catering. As a company, we specialize in unique flavors, toppings and party entertainment for any and every event. What I believe is special about Sugar High is that we focus on not only kid events/parties but special occasions for the adult liking as well. Cotton candy is one of those treats that can truly bring a smile to anybody’s face regardless of age. I really would like to bring a classy and elegant “spin” to cotton candy outside of the normal sticky cone. We have been working on some other cotton candy treats so we can accommodate to any event. As a newer company we have endless ideas in store for what’s next to come for Sugar High. We love being able to create a unique and fun experience for our customers by including toppings such as edible glitter (a crowd favorite) or by creating custom favors to go along with their event down to colors & flavors. This business has truly been a blast so far and I’m loving every second of it. I have to say I’m most proud of being able to make so many people of all ages smile from ear to ear when we hand them a cotton candy cone bigger than their head! The people we’ve met along the way have truly made the journey worth it. We’re currently practicing our Cotton Candy art and looking into adding some other top secret perks to our party packages so check in with us (: !

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

You can’t give up. I will say that is the hardest yet most important business tip. For a majority of my life I’ve lived paycheck to paycheck. I did not come from a family with any positive finacial background but I knew that is not what I wanted for my future. To be perfectly honest with you, I’m still striving for finacial freedom. Owning a business does not guarantee instant success. There is so much work put behind starting a business but I really think it all ends up being worth it. What you give in is truly what you get out. My most recent obstacle was showing up at an event that accidentally scheduled two Cotton candy vendors. After spending our last bit of money on renting a generator, gas and the vendor fee, we ended up coming out negative in profit. After putting in hours of work beforehand and also putting hours of work in at the event, the loss was extremely disappointing. Another time I was preparing last minute party favors and forgot to order the right containers for the favors. I also happened to be out of one of the flavors that they ordered because my container broke a day before. I had to improvise by doing half of the favors like they asked and the other half completely different. Luckily the customer was okay with it but that’s not always the case. I was struggling with a very tough personal dilemma as well that same weekend. I could write a book on the obstacles and times I’ve felt so overwhelmed that I’ve wanted to quit. But you can’t. Those stories are honestly some of the SMALLER hurdles I’ve had to get through compared to other instances. Determination is so essential. It’s okay to break down and cry sometimes, as long as you get back up and cherish what you learned. Running a business is the wildest roller coaster I’ve ever been on.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I believe I do much better with my clientele and marketing when I’m able to be there in person. I ran a few Etsy shops before I started Sugar High and as much as I pride myself in customer service skills, I still feel I present myself better in a more personable setting. Honestly I believe just being genuine and kind goes a very long way. I do my best to support the local small businesses around me and usually end up receiving that same support back. Again, what you give is what you get! My reputation with hospitality over the years in my community has really helped me build my customer base. Working in the restaurant industry for 10 years has allowed me to meet some of the most amazing people that have showed me endless amounts of support from co-workers to regular customers I had. As for new customers I just believe being kind, patient and charismatic really draws people towards not only the product but the business itself. In most cases, the better you treat your customers, the better they’ll want to treat you. I also took a lot of time networking by reaching out to other businesses, event coordinators, friends and family through emails and social medías with all the details of my business.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @sugarhighcottoncandy_
• Facebook: Sugar High Cotton Candy Catering
• Other: Tiktok – @sugarhighcottoncandy