We were lucky to catch up with Whitney Robinson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Whitney thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights 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’ve always been the type of mom that came up with the cutest ideas/themes for my kids birthday party’s. Me and my best friend would spend hours making cake pops, chocolate covered pretzels, and other fun treats for their events. So, I’m July of 2020 (a very scary time for most) I was one of the million people just trying to navigate my new world. My God sister reached out to be because she had a client that wanted some nice treats for her grandchild’s birthday party and she instantly thought of me. She called me and asked “if I still did treats” I said “not really. I just do them for my kids parties”she said “well can just do her a few items.” I was very hesitant because I had never had an actual paying customer. I immediately began to doubt myself. My sis said “you better make this money”. So I agreed and took her order. As I begin to come up with a design for how I wanted the treats to look. I was just so excited! I was in my element, my happy place! I spent hours and hours thinking about if from the moment I took the order until I delivered it. My family and friends saw how happy this made me and suggested I start an actual business. So a few weeks went passed and I thought nothing of it but God spoke to me and said “I have given you a gift and now it’s time to show the world” I was obedient and did just that. I begin to think how could I Stand out? It dawned on my my youngest daughters 5th birthday party (September 8th)would be the official launch because her theme was so unique! My daughter is in loved with the grocery store publix. Yes that’s correct the store publix! So, I immediately did research for my state about starting a at home bakery business and it was very easy since my business falls under the cottage food law in Florida, then I started to think of names and Sweet Shack just came so easy. Sweet Shack were we specialize in all things sweet! I contacted a graphic designer and we came up with a logo! Now it was time to think of the treats. I made little Rice Krispie treats that looked like brown grocery bags with food in them, chocolate covered pretzels that looked like pencils, chocolate covered Oreos with the logo, candy apples with the logo, and sugar cookies name tags. The party was a success! I posted the pictures from the party onto my social medias and the support and awe I got from that order was very unexpected! Within the same day I received 2 customers that wanted to book orders. The road hasn’t been east but I have trusted myself and kept God first and he has steered me every step of the way. I have been to training with the best of the best. I have meet amazing people that have continued to pour into me and my business.

Whitney, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Sweet Shack specialize is all things sweet. We offer many chocolate covered treats that can be customized to any event/theme. Our top selling menu items are the cake pops. They are bite sized rolled crumbled cake covered in chocolate. They are the perfect treat to satisfy that sweet tooth. I pride myself in every order. Every idea is carefully thought out and executed to personalize them. We have recently added decorative sugar cookies to the menu and have been a huge success. We are always grown and learning over here to give our customers the best experience possible.

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

The end of 2022 business was pretty slow and I was feeling very defeated. Just in a creative funk and was very unmotivated. Then in November I woke up to my social media platforms GONE! No explanations on why. I tried for weeks to get in touch with someone (that is impossible) and nothing worked! I had to come to the realization that all my hard work, all my context, all of my followers were just GONE and I would have to start over. I was devastated. I felt this was a sign that it was time to let Sweet Shack go. I cried, I was angry, I was hurt. I thought all my hard work that I built was over. We know in todays society we if you aren’t active you are forgotten about very quickly. One day, I prayed over my business and as clear as day I heard a voice. This isn’t the end it’s a test! I immediately was taken back because I wasn’t expecting it. I believe this was a test from God to show me that he gave me this gift and no man could take it from me no matter how hard they tried. I then said to myself “what am I missing?” And I thought a website! Just don’t rely on social media because we don’t know if that will be around forever and with my own website. No man could take something I owned! So in March I have came back with my website and babe so many cool ideas for the years to come. Can’t wait to show them off.

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

My customer service. From the time you put in an inquiry to the time you pick up and order. I try to make the process as stream lined as possible. I make sure to think about my end user from beginning to end.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sweetshackorl.com
• Instagram: sweet.ShackOrl
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090235119220&mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Other: Tick tok : https://www.tiktok.com/@sweet_shackorlando?_t=8aHhAwLZMvD&_r=1