We were lucky to catch up with Tiffany Messenger recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tiffany, appreciate you joining us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

Back in 2019 my then 7 year old daughter had been throwing around ideas for a business to start. Many of the things she had come up with were just not feasible. For example she wanted to have a lemonade stand but we live on a cul-de-sac in a neighborhood that doesn’t get through traffic and it was April with snow still on the ground. One day she came home from school and told me she wanted to start a cotton candy business. Her teacher had mentioned that as a child she had a cotton candy machine and would set it up and sell to neighborhood kids. That night we started looking into it and by the time we went to bed we had purchased our first machine. Lily was the one who decided on the name of the business, some of the first things we would sell, and what the logo would look like. At the time my husband had thought we should go with a name that made it obvious what we sold but Lily turned down every suggestion and firmly decided it should be Lily’s Magical Treats. 5 years later and we’re all so very glad that we listened to her because it has allowed us to grow and expand our offerings.

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?

When we started the business we really dove right in. We applied for an LLC, filed articles of incorporation, read every book in the library about starting a business and being an entrepreneur, including every book in the children’s section on the topic for Lily to really understand all of the ins and outs. Going into it we thought it would just be a fun thing we could do as a family as a little side hustle that would eventually be something she took over when she got older, but the reception was so great and we loved doing it so much that it eventually became my full-time job, and Lily’s summer job. It has been such a great creative outlet for me, a parent who had been home with small children for many years before, and a wonderful way to build and grow a business as a family. We decided early on that we really wanted to differentiate our business from others by offering a dye-free cotton candy which can be enjoyed by everyone, even those who have food-dye allergies. Cotton candy is already gluten free, nut free, and vegan. We have added other candies over the years including our lollipops. We had so many people ask for a sugar-free candy that we experimented and added a more natural sugar-free lollipop option. We want our candy to be able to be enjoyed by everyone!

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

The very first time we ever did a market after starting our business we prepped for days to make sure we had lots of cotton candy available to sell, spent a lot of time with how our setup would look, and were very excited to get out there and share what we made. Within an hour of being at the first market the sky suddenly got very dark and the wind picked up. Out of nowhere a huge storm rolled in and our tent nearly took off in the wind and the heavy rain that was coming down. After several customers who had been helping to hold down the tent decided to flee to their car, we decided to throw everything into the back of our van as quickly as possible and get in ourselves. A minute later a huge gust of wind ended up flinging our tent in a way that it wrapped around our van trapping us inside where we stayed until the storm ended. As soon as it ended several vendors had to come over and help us pry ourselves out and all of the hard work we had done to prep for the market had been ruined; the cotton candy was soaking wet in it’s containers, our tent was completely mangled, and the cotton candy machine we had brought was broken. As I sat in the car crying, Lily reminded me that it could only possibly get better from here, and that everything could be replaced. She was only 7 years old but her words of wisdom were absolutely true. When you start out with the very worst thing happening it really can only get better and it has! Everything broken was replaceable. We learned so very much that day, especially about tent weights and checking the weather ahead of time, and learned how to pivot when bad or unexpected things happen.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

When we started our business we had a very limited budget of only $300. It was really just enough to buy an inexpensive cotton candy machine, some sugar and flavoring, and packaging. From there every dollar we made we reinvested back into the business for the first 3 years. We were able to expand our offerings by purchasing new and better machines every time we could afford them, including popcorn machines, snow cone machines, a slushy machine and more. We now have enough cotton candy machines that we have been able to cater events with 20,000 people in attendance, and when they’re not in use we are able to rent them out for a semi passive form of income.

Contact Info:

• Website: Https://www.lilysmagicaltreats.com
• Instagram: Lilysmagical
• Facebook: lilysmagicaltreats
• Linkedin: lilysmagicaltreats
• Youtube: lilysmagicaltreats

Image Credits

Venue: @lakewindsorccweddings_events
Floral, Rentals, and Design: @melodyrosedesignswi @melodyrosedecorwi
Photographer: @valerie.halling