We recently connected with Taccara McDaniel and have shared our conversation below.

Taccara, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. 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.

I came up with the idea of for my business after letting a co worker try some of candied pecans I made. My co worker left and came back with seven orders asking me for a price and when I could have the candied pecans ready by. I was caught off guard because it was definitely unexpected but I gave her a price and a turn around date and that is how the idea of Pecan Tan Sweet Pecans and More, LLC got started.

I have always loved cooking because that is something my grandfather instilled in me. Once I saw how happy I was making other people when they tasted my cooking , I knew instantly I had to keep going. This was definitely a worthwhile endeavorI did my research and started my business in 2019 with 4 flavors of pecans ( candied, cinnamon, sweet and salty, and sweet and spicy) and three party dips ( Buffalo Chicken Dip, Rotel Sausage Dip and Spinach Artichoke Dip)

This was a unique approach because no one in my area was selling candied pecans, so I was able to learn what brought my customers in, what flavors they wanted to try, what else they wanted to see on the menu and so forth. I made sure my prices were reasonable enough to make a profit and also keep my customers coming back for more.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am the owner of Pecan Tan Sweet Pecans and More, LLC in Columbia, SC . I started out specializing in candied pecans with 4 different flavors and party dips in 2019. Since 2019 I now offer 7 flavors ( candied, sweet and salty, cinnamon, sweet and spicy, bourbon maple bacon, fireball, and crown vanilla). I have expanded to offering services such as meal prepping, shipping, treats and cookie boxes, sauces ( Hot Shayaki , Honey Shaylemon Pepper, Hot Honey Bourbon) Sunday Dinners, private events, taste testings, and weddings.

I am super proud of myself and the grownth of my business because business was hit or miss for a while but now it is starting to grow and have a constant flow. I am where I am today because of God, my loyal customers and my love for cooking,

I want the world to know that Pecan Tan Sweet Pecans and More, LLC treats and food is “Divinely Delicious”. Our products are made with love and you will not be disappointed. I worked very hard to get here and I am proud of where I am and where I am going,

I am also the Chief Marketing and Content Officer for Kingdom Business, Inc, I am very excited to tell you about Kingdom. Kingdom Business , Inc is a non profit organization that was created in Plainfield, NJ 2020 by Founder/President Youth Pastor Maurice Clark-Wilkinson and Co-CEO Pastor Derrick Grant.

The things that set Kingdom Business, Inc apart from others is that we have a podcast called the Upper Room where we reach out to our community about different topics such as God, financial literacy, education, polictics and more. We host annual community baby showers for soon-to-be moms and newborn moms and Christmas Toy Drives for the youth. Kingdom makes sure the homeless is taken care of by doing care packages and feeding the homeless, We aslo do food drives for the community, and give back to high school seniors that are going off to college.

I am proud of the growth of Kingdom Business, the work that we do in the community and the joy and smiles we see on peoples faces is rewarding to know we made a difference. Kingdom go towhere we are today because of hard work , dedication , trusting God and allowing Him to lead the way.

We consists of a team of 7 amazing people and our founder Maurice is very hands on and puts in a lot of work to make sure everything runs smoothly for our events. Maurice and Derrick are also the voices for our podcast “The Upper Room” .

I work closely with the Founder Maurice Clark-Wilkinson to create the logo, any branding ideas, website ideas, registries for our events and more. It is definitely not an easy road being a non profit organization with making sure the events are successful, donations come in on time and everything runs smoothly,

The lessons learned along the way is that although things may seem hard and not going accoring to plan in the beginning but when we sit back and watch God work , amazing things happen and everything falls into place.

The world needs to know that Kingdom Business is not just your ordinary non-profit organization , we are a ministry that literally takes it to the streets to see about our community. We are expanding so definitely remember our name because you will different states doing what we do best, which is giving back to the community.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

In 2021, I made a drastic decision to close the doors of my business. The pandemic was not as bad as 2020, so my sales dropped drastically, the world was back open and I felt as though my services were no longer needed. This was definitely not the case. My clients keep in touch and requested that I open my doors. I did some rebranding, researched where I went wrong , asked God to guide and when I annouced that I was back open , I have been consistent and thriving.

I will tell anyone to never give up on what you love to do. If itt seems rough and that things may not be going as planned, keep the faith, keep pushing and watch God work because the world needs you.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

I sell on my site pecantansweetpecans.com. and etsy. I wanted to give my clients different ways to know about my business. The pros are that I dont necessarily have a middle person that my customers have to go through if they have an issue or need to correct a purchase. I get to see my orders immediately instead of having to wait a certain time frame to see how many orders I have coming in. I honestly do not see any cons to selling online.

Contact Info:

• Website: pecantansweetpecans.com and kingdombusinessincorporated.org
• Instagram: pecan_tan_sweet_pecans and Kingdom_business_incorporated
• Facebook: Pecan Tan Sweet Pecans and More, LLC and Kingdom Business Incorporated

Image Credits
India Samuel ( INS Photographry)