Today we’d like to introduce you to Susan Popovich
Susan, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started Southern Treats the summer of 2019. I had previously worked in the medical field for twenty years prior to opening my small business. I knew it was time for a change. I felt like I was always working and never got to spend time with my family. My son was young at that time and my husband worked on the road a lot. My father was also needing more assistance. I’m not sure people really believed I was going to start a kettle corn company and not go back to working in the medical field. People thought that was the safe choice. I had very little to no money and no real experience with owning my own business. I had talked about opening this business for about ten years
prior to opening. I just never took that leap of faith. I knew if I didn’t do it then I would never do it. So I took a leap of faith and I jumped.
I had a vision of what I wanted my small business to be, but I didn’t know how I could make it happen. I knew I wanted to start off working small events in my area. I wanted to use simple but premium ingredients and be vegan friendly, gluten-free, dairy-free, and preservative-free. I wanted locals to fall in love with my kettle corn. I knew if I could get into our local farmers market I had a chance of succeeding. Palafox Market was voted the best farmers market in the South by Southern Living magazine and I knew that if I could become a vendor I could get my product out to the locals. I took a chance and brought my kettle corn to their office and applied. Everything was supposed to be online, but I knew if they tried my product and met me I had a better chance. I was told by many people I would never get in. They already had popcorn vendors and the waitlist was for several years, but I got accepted!
From that moment on I worked as hard as I could and applied to every event I felt was a good fit for Southern Treats. We are a family run business and my son, Roman has been my biggest help. He works with me the most and has never complained. He was twelve when I opened Southern Treats and he’s now eighteen. The time I have spent with him working side by side has been priceless. That is the reason I wanted to own my own business. I wanted to spend more time with my family. I wanted him to see it’s never too late to change. I wanted him to have a good work ethic and be a part of his community. He has also learned great social skills from working with customers and other business owners. When you own your own business you become part of your community. People want to see you succeed. They want to be part of your dream.
We just celebrate our five year anniversary in business. This has been a great year, but economically a hard one. We were featured in Bold Journey Magazine and then asked to be in a movie in October. We were one of the vendors in the movie. It’s just a small part, but what a great experience. More people are noticing my small business. I am hoping to grow more next year. Owning your own business is hard. You have to push yourself everyday, but I wouldn’t change a thing. You learn from your mistakes and you just keep working hard and trying to grow. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for Southern Treats.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There are so many obstacles and challenges. Financial challenges are difficult right now. The economy has its ups and downs. You have to know that is just part of owning your own business. I was given good advice by another business owner before I opened Southern Treats. He owned a popcorn business and he told me not to expand too fast, and always hustle. That was great advice. We were open during the pandemic and everything closed. We were allowed to work at a farmers market and a couple other events. That saved my business. We didn’t know what the future held for us. I have always remembered that. I would like to grow my business in 2025.
I am trying to get the financing now. Financing and being educated on what direction to go in are some of my biggest obstacles and challenges. I am applying for grants and loans and I want to keep the integrity of my business. I am looking at growing the shipping department of Southern Treats. I wanted to share my product with the rest of the country.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Southern Treats, LLC is a locally owned and family run business from Pensacola, Florida. We use only the best and simplest ingredients for our kettle corn and cotton candy. Our sweet and salty kettle corn is preservative-free,gluten-free, and vegan friendly! We also make our own cotton candy sugar! We have your favorite flavors and colors! We work different events on the Gulf Coast such as farmers markets, festivals, concerts, weddings, and any type of celebration or event. We bring an old fashion southern charm to your event. We also ship our treats and are working on growing that side of our business. I am most proud of the fact that we are a family run and female owned business and we have stayed true to our vision. We wanted to bring the best Southern Treats to our customers and I believe we do that.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I feel like opening my own kettle corn company was a huge risk. Starting over professionally at forty six years old was very risky. I know people thought I was crazy. They thought it would be a side hustle or it would fail in the first year. I knew if I worked hard enough it would succeed. So I took the leap of faith and I jumped. There was and is no plan B. I took a chance. December 11th is the anniversary of my mother’s passing. She had Parkinson’s and passed away thirteen years ago. I miss her every day. I saw what not following your dreams does to a person. She kept waiting until she retired to start painting again and wanting to travel. She retired and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. My son,
Roman was born right before her diagnosis. She died six years later fighting to be his grandmother for a little while longer. She thought me to fight and take the risk! You get one life. Life doesn’t happen to you. It happens for you. Take the chance. It maybe risky, but it’s worth the risk!
Pricing:
- Kettle Corn/ small-large $5-$12
- Speciality Flavors- prices vary
- Cotton Candy- $5-$10
- Events- prices vary
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.southern-treats.com
- Instagram: southerntreats5
- Facebook: southerntreats5
