We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Solange Zuniga a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Solange , appreciate you joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

The Whimsy Farm was inspired by the beauty of Campton Hills, a semi-rural area in Illinois where I live and where the candy store is located, plus the idea of ​​creating a whimsical place for children. Driving around Campton Hills you will discover small farms with beautiful barns mixed with wonderful subdivisions. One of those barns inspired our logo: a barn with a lolipop as a weather vane. And as in any farm, our store is full of animals such as pigs, cows,ducks, chickens, sheep, all ready to celebrate with their party hats because at The Whimsy Farm Candy Store life is a celebration.

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

In Argentina I have been a party planner for 15 years, due to Covid I had to close my business, after this I decided to emigrate with my family to the USA and start this sweet adventure! The Whimsy Farm is an international candy store that carries candies and popsicles from around the world, rare sodas, trendy freeze dried candy, ice cream, boba tea and our signature rainbow cotton candy cake! We also throw whimsical birthday parties in our Candyland Party Room. our Candyland Room is always open to the community with board games and our exclusive digital playground for families to gather and enjoy time together. Also during the week we offer art classes for children and reading sessions. The multicultural city of Chicago was our inspiration to represent the beauty of diversity through our sweets, that is why at The Whimsy Farm you will find sweets from Japan, Australia, United Kingdom, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, European countries like Poland , Sweden, Germany among others and of course nostalgic sweets from the USA.
It is touching to see the smile on our customers’ faces when they discover a candy they ate as children in their home country. This is why I like to say that candy is powerful, because it connects us with a happy moment from our childhood and automatically brings us a smile.
I still remember a man who visited us a long time ago and with tears in his eyes told me “thank you, I haven’t been back to Japan for more than 10 years, I missed these candies, you have brought me back to my childhood”

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

Despite having extensive experience in the world of events and having created and managed my own business in my country of origin, I can say that starting a small business in a new country with a different culture and language is equivalent to starting from scratch and being willing to learn every day. Making mistakes is also learning. It has taken me a lot of time, money and above all emotional effort and resilience to get to the opening day of The Whimsy Farm. As an immigrant woman I have encountered all kinds of adversities from people who did not want to sell their businesses to foreigners, realtors who asked me to bring my husband so they could show me the property, people who, without knowing me, just because they heard me speak Spanish, asked me if I had entered the country legally, contractors who took advantage of my language difficulty and took my money and then disappeared, etc. The list of obstacles was long, it took me 5 years to get to today. I think the key was not to lose faith and trust in myself and my family. The ultimate goal is to create a new beginning where my sons Fermin (13 years old) and Francisco (16 years old) have a prosperous future..
I think the day everything changed was when I met other women entrepreneurs who helped me unblock the path. One day Juliana and Silvia, owners of Bocaditos Argentinian Cafe, heard my story and selflessly offered me their help.
They introduced me to their realtor Nick who trusted us and the rest is history!
It is important to have a support network, especially if they are women entrepreneurs who have already traveled the path

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I remember that I had my first vacation at the beach when I was 6 years old, on that occasion we went to meet a great friend of my father, his 10-year-old son Pablo is today my husband and my business partner. To get the funds to start The Whimsy Farm we both decided to sell everything we had in Argentina, including our home.
It was a risky bet, but we were determined to make it work.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/thewhimsyfarm_candystore?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Thewhimsycow?mibextid=LQQJ4d