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Confections, community, and cotton candy | An infectious brand loyalty strategy.
Episode 429th May 2023 • Honey & Hustle • Angela Hollowell
00:00:00 00:26:52

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Confections, community, and a little bit of fairy dust make up the incredible sugary profiles made sensational by Wonderpuff. Jackie Marin and her husband discovered their interested in creating custom confections for events, weddings, and more in South Florida and brought their talents to the Durham area 6 years ago.

Since it's inception, they've perfected the science of creating their flavors modeled after their experiences and the foods they eat. From crafting an incredible in-person buying experience at events like Afropunk, to hanging out at local markets around the Triangle, their infectious namesake translated well to help them boast thriving online sales during the pandemic. In this period of growth and community support, they were able to successfully raise money through Kickstarter for a space at Boxyard RTP.

What's next for this sweet duo? Learn more about the husband and wife team that brought the Haitian Cake flavor to cotton candy at https://www.ohwonderpuff.com/

Links:

Website: https://www.honeyandhustle.co

1:1 Consultation: https://angelahollowell.lemonsqueezy.com/checkout/buy/a0d1b976-39d0-4d1f-b2ee-5f5e3e6d7691?logo=0

9 Lessons We've Learned from our Podcast Guests: https://angelahollowell.lemonsqueezy.com/checkout/buy/7474a4cf-9bfa-4431-89a4-9660920f8ed1?logo=0

Digital Tools for Video Creators: https://angelahollowell.lemonsqueezy.com/checkout/buy/ce13789d-4a20-4f0f-b8a6-8ea7d9647c2b?logo=0

Mentioned in this episode:

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Transcripts

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Community is unity.

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And one thing that makes Durham

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so sacred is the amount of.

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Human beings that, want

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better for our world.

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You know, there's so many

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freedom fighters here.

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There's so many people here that

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are creating those spaces for,

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black and brown small businesses,

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and there are so many people

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who are, fighting for, small

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businesses and curators to get

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those resources so we can be

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successful in this late stage

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capitalist white supremacist world.

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You're listening to Honey

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and Hustle, a video podcast

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that inspires the dreamers,

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creators, and hustlers to make

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a business from their passions.

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I'm Angela Hollowell, and I'm a

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visual storyteller Based in Durham,

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North Carolina, I sit down with

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creative entrepreneurs, nonprofit

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founders, and small business

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owners as they share their stories,

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the lessons they've learned

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throughout their careers and how

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they've worked to make a positive.

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Hey everyone.

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My name is Angela Hollow.

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I am your host here at Honey and

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Hustle, and today I am joined

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by the magical furries princess

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herself, Jackie of Wonder Puff.

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Jackie, thank you so much

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for being here with me today.

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Hey

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girl.

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I'm good.

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I am good.

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So me and Jackie ran each other a

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very, very long time ago at one of

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my favorite places in Durham, which

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is um, Queenies and King Fisher.

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\ Um, and she has been

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spreading her magical fairy

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tale dust all over Durham.

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But for people who don't know and

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who are curious about the Durham

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versus everybody's shirt, can you

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tell us a little bit about There it

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Oh

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I feel Of course.

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Of course.

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Um, yes.

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Can you tell people a little bit

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about like, how Wonder Puff got

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started and why that feels so akin

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to like who you are as a person?

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Yes.

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Yes.

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Well, I'd love to start

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off by saying thank you

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for sharing space with me.

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Honey and Hustle have been.

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You know, you have been connected

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with really profound, wonderful,

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loving entrepreneurs in Durham

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and beyond, and, um, very proud

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of you and wishing you so much

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success in your podcast, and

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I'm really very, very grateful.

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To share space with you today

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because I feel like we've been

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trying to do this for like the past

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80 years and now we're here today.

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Um, like Angela said,

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my name is Jackie Morin.

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I go by she, her, and I am,

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um, half of Wonder Puff.

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I, um, established this

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small business of sugary

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confection with my business

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partner and husband, uh, Reem.

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And yeah, we love Durham.

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We love the bull city.

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And Wonder Puff could

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not exist in a place.

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Other than this wonderful

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city, um, I was introduced to

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cotton candy over a decade ago.

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Uh, me and re we were, we

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grew up in South Florida.

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Uh, he's from Miami and I'm

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from Broward, uh, which is

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next door to each other.

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So I just tell people I'm from

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Miami because they wouldn't know

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where Miramar or Pembroke Pines is.

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You are familiar

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with South Florida.

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Uh, and so I was introduced to

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a cotton candy company when I

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was volunteering at a nonprofit

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organization with my baby

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sister, who's now a wonderful

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chef living in Asheville.

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Shout out to Jasmine.

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Shout out to dream vote for just

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being radically her and wonderful.

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And I remember no one

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touching this cotton candy.

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I'm just like, it's

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after 12 o'clock.

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I haven't had my sugar

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fixed for the day.

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No one's touching this cotton

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candy machine, so I'm gonna go

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ahead and play with it myself.

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And so I poured this pink,

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extravagant, electric pink

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sugar into the machine.

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Press the button, press the

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heater, and sugar just flew out.

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And I'm just like,

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this is a whole vibe.

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And I just started spinning

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and twirling and the moment I

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started spinning and twirling

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the cotton candy, the families

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of the nonprofit that was there

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started to like form a line.

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All the kids were just

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like, oh, it's cotton candy.

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And I did some research

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extensively and, saw.

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that Cotton candy was becoming

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a super hot commodity for

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private events such as weddings

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and birthdays, and people

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from all over the world were

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creating their own small, sugar

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confection in their community.

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And I'm just like, this will

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be Very wonderful to do.

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Just not in Miami.

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And so when we moved to Durham

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seven years ago, me and Reem, we

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knew that it was time to bring my

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sugary dreams to the bull city.

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And so we've been spinning

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cotton candy for the past

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six years, ever since.

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And it's been pretty wonderful.

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Yes,

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we definitely wanna give Reem

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his flowers because first of

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all, he was not excited to meet

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me, but you know, that's okay.

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No, that is just, that's

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just a water sign,

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Pisces, uh, man for you.

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They are just calm and

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cool, wavy in the water.

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So I hope you did not

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take offense to that.

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Not at all because he created

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is my favorite flavor, which

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is the Jasmine Tea, which

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I love and highly encourage

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anyone to try if they're in

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that area or to buy online.

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And it just kind of speaks to

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like your palette and like a

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little bit of like how you bring

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your personality into the flavors

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that you guys have created.

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Can you talk to me a little bit

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about like how you come up with the

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flavors and like how you've kind

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of molded wonder puff into your

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own custom confectionary business?

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Yeah,

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so one thing that we really pride

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ourselves in when it comes to

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our sugar is that it is vegan,

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artificial free, artificial

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ingredients, like coloring.

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We, it's just, yeah,

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it's just pure.

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Cane bone, char vegan bone,

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char free vegan sugar, and As,

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and as also our ingredients.

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And so when we are making our

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flavors, uh, Reem likes to

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move extremely intentional.

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He is an audio designer,

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sound engineer, a producer,

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musician, and so that, that,

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that need for perfection.

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Um, Has really oozed into

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our business when it comes

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to our actual product.

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And if it wasn't for him, um,

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y'all would just be getting

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regular st bar cotton candy,

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uh, sugar if it was for me.

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So I'm very grateful that,

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uh, ream, um, you know, is

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the scientists when it comes

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to creating sugar, and it's

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all about, you know, what is.

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Different and unique.

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So when we first started our first

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couple years of operating Wonder

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Puff, um, we started off with like,

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Some simple, basic flavors that are

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still a staple to our menu today.

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So salted caramel is

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a banger, uh, mango.

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Uh, everyone loves raspberry

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mojito, even though that's not

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really, uh, a regular, uh, flavor.

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Um, but we kind of

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really go in and.

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We just move with

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a lot of intention.

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Um, and so we're not really

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just grabbing things and

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mixing them together.

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we're thinking about things that

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we've experienced in real life,

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like what, we eat that we like,

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and try to, find inspiration.

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Through that.

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for example, we used to sell a very

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popular flavor alongside with the

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Jasmine flower, is orange cardamom.

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And that was curated by

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my sister, Jasmine, who.

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Like we wanted to pay homage

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to our culture, because we're

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West Indian and we, you know,

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cardimum is a very important

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spice in our household.

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And then we, have also

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Haitian cake, which represents

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our Haitian culture.

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Uh, and that is butter, vanilla

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rum, and another rest, another

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ingredient that Rem would know.

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So, um, you know, my bad, I

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don't know what's all in the

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Haitian cake, but everyone

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loves it and it's one of my.

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And so yeah, that's, that's how,

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uh, that's how we get inspiration

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through our sugar making.

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Lovely.

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I love it.

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And a lot of your, you know, taste

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testers, your first, you know, um,

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people who experience your cotton

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candy, you see them in person.

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I believe you started with popups

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and doing like, you know, popups

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at events before going to, you

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know, Focusing on the e-commerce

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store during the pandemic.

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So can you talk to me about kind

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of like those first kind of like

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customer interactions and like

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how that helps you curate kind

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of the events that you went to

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and then how you shifted to,

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you know, kind of how you can

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create that experience that you

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know, people love and enjoy to

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that online shopping experience?

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I know that was like a big

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question, but it kind of

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No, no.

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Yeah, I hold space for it.

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Um, yeah, so when we started

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Wonder Puff, we did lots of

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free events, mostly, um, with

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black and brown curators.

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Uh, we gave a lot of our services

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to, um, either black or brown

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curators or black and brown spaces.

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And that's how we really,

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uh, we were able to get

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our business out there.

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Um, kind of leaning on the.

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Uh, you know, word of

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mouth kind of experience.

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And so we would truck along

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with our cotton candy cart

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and ask people like, Hey,

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can, can, can we vent here?

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Um, and this was like, right,

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this was like on the rise of like,

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you know, marketings and markets

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before you had to spend hundreds

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of dollars to, to be a vendor.

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Um, since we've been doing this

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for such a long time, we, I

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would, you know, ask businesses,

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can I share space with.

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And they would say yes, and I

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would give of our services for

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free or um, charge little, very

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little, uh, to the patrons who

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would partake in our cotton candy.

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And that really helped open

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the door, um, in connecting

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with other black and brown

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businesses and curators.

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And, you know, if I'm

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gonna give anything.

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For free, it might as

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well be cotton candy to

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my black and brown people.

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So that was very important,

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uh, for us to do.

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And then slowly but surely, We

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started getting asked to do vegan

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markets and regular local markets,

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and that's how we were able to

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connect with our community members.

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Uh, that's when many people, uh,

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discovered that they can have

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cotton candy in their offices,

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in their weddings, and so that's

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how we were able to have you.

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Clients we're, we're through

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those markets and like a lot

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of, many small businesses,

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um, who, who are vendors.

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Uh, and so I think

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that's pretty cool.

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Uh, we also started to do,

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um, We also started to vend

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in much more larger scale.

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So, you know, we would

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go to Atlanta and do

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Afropunk a couple times.

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Uh, we would go to New York

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cuz I just love New York.

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She's like, you know, next to

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Durham, you know, actually New

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York was my first love, but,

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uh, Durham is my true love.

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And uh, I would ask Reem

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like, Hey, can we drive?

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Cuz you know, from North

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Carolina to New York.

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Is literally a half day's trip.

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And so we would pack up our

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car full of sugar in the cotton

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candy machine and we'd just go

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to the city and, you know, bring

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our sugary magic to, to the big

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apple, which is really cool.

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Um, and that's where we started

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to realize, wow, we have a really

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awesome product and there's a

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potential opportunity to like,

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maybe we can make this bigger than.

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Marketing outside of

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birthdays and weddings and

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vendors, markets and stuff.

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Yeah,

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that is crazy.

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Did not know you went to Afropunk.

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So shout out to Afropunk

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for having your girl.

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Um, yes, we're not

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gonna get into that,

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but I am excited to hear about

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like, how you took it from

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like these sizable cities.

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I mean, if we're talking Miami,

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Durham, Atlanta, New York,

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these aren't like small places.

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So you're getting.

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Market of people at one

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time with each event.

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And so I love how you realize

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some people still do this and

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consider that to this day.

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Like, oh, we went the old

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way of, of word of mouth.

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But like word of

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mouth is evergreen.

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That's everlasting.

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That is the past, the

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present in the future.

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That's really the best way.

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You know what I mean?

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Because it's like not only people

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who follow you on Instagram

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and maybe bought from you

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on Instagram one time, it's

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like, no, I met this person.

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I got to actually get

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a feel for who she is.

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Like, you know, it's a different

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experience when you actually

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meet someone in person and

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can vouch for their brand from

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like, you know, versus like

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Instagram, like, oh, I tried it.

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You know, it, it was fine.

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But you know, you don't have

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a personal connection to

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the people who created it

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cuz you're just not there.

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Um.

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So again, going back to that

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like, you know, obviously over

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the pandemic weren't a whole

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lot of events to be vending and

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you guys kind of switched to,

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um, I wouldn't say switch, but

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like obviously had to focus on

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maybe more e-commerce sales.

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And I know you made some

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kind of new products for,

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um, people buying online.

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Can you tell me a little bit

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about how you guys kind of like,

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again, are continuing to like

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grow and progress and like meet

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the needs of your customers?

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Right.

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Yeah.

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So we all know that 2020 was, yeah.

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And um, you know, Aside from

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the world, viscously violently

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changing cuz of covid, uh, small

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businesses took, took such a huge,

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major hit while, you know, our

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politicians and big banks were

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getting p p P loans and it's

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just like, okay, well what

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about the small businesses

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who have been doing this

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for, for decades and who.

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Are trying to keep their employees.

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Like what, what

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happens to, to, to us?

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And, and, and while so many

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businesses were being closed

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in 2020, other businesses like

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myself, were going all the way up.

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Because everyone was at home.

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So because everyone was at

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home, uh, they had a lot of

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time to buy cotton candy.

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So we were making cotton

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candy by the hundreds, if not

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thousands, um, every month.

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And it was incredible.

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Uh, it did stop once everyone

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went outside, but, um, To

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receive so much support,

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uh, during the lockdown, uh,

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of 2020, it really helped.

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Um, one not only drives drive

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our sales, but created, uh,

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sus sustainability in a way

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that we've never seen before.

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Uh, and we were able to afford

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housing and, you know, that

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was very, very important to us.

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And, um, still one of.

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Most fondest memories when it

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comes to entrepreneurship and,

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and seeing how people were so

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intentional with, with, with

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consumerism at home and, and

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intentional with, with supporting

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black and brown businesses.

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And not only that, people

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really loved our products.

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I really, I do wish that

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energy still exists because.

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It's day and night now from

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2020 during, lockdown to now,

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the way people are consuming

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is very, very different.

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I would say unfortunately

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that many people, they forgot

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about small businesses and,

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you know, that is unfortunate.

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And, we, also took a hit,

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After all that, after all those

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wonderful sales, you know, it's

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kind of like the whole Black

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Lives Matter movement and,

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corporations kind of capitalizing

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off of that and, you know,

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trying to rise, you know, raise

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black and brown people's voices.

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But I guess it was

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no longer trending.

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And so people just kind of went

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back to their everyday program,

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which is something that we're

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seeing now at our present day.

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Thank you so much for watching

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and listening to the show.

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Whether you're a day one fan or day

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100 fan, I'm so glad that you found

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Honey and Hustle and have decided

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to stick along for the ride.

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As a thank you, I wanted to

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give you a little gift that this

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show has so graciously given

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me the ability to continue to

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connect with thought leaders,

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industry leaders, business

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owners, and other entrepreneurs.

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No matter where I.

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Link offers a digital business

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card that is a natural extension

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of my website and social media

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platforms that allows me to

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easily send people to strategic

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landing pages so they can learn

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a little bit more about me, the

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resources I offer, and how we

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can continue to stay connected.

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When you click the link below,

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under description, you'll

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get 15% off any of their

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wearables, phone taps, and

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hopefully the last physical

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Thank you so much again

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for supporting the show

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and our show sponsor link.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, a thousand percent.

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I mean, like, it's very unfortunate

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because like at the end of the day,

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sometimes the best thing you can

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do for your small business is to

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get a job, but like when you don't

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feel like welcome and supported

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in that job, then it just makes

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it like twice as hard because then

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it's like, okay, I'm not being

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supported as a small business

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owner, and now I don't feel sup,

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feel supported in the workplace.

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So, Something's gotta give,

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like, you know what I mean?

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In order to have like a sustainable

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income either way, you know?

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Right.

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Right.

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Exactly.

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And so, uh, again, so it's 2023

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now we're filming this in April.

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Um, you got a space at Fox

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Chart R T P, which was finished

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over the pandemic, I believe.

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Um, talk to me a

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little bit about that.

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Cuz Boxed RTP is kind

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of a different retail.

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Yes.

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Yes.

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So, uh, box yard, R t p

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is a shipping container,

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food court space.

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So it's an outdoor food court.

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And, um, yeah, we said yes to a box

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yard at the end of 2019 and didn't

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really move into our space until

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2021 because of the pandemic and.

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are neighbors to awesome Black

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and brown other retailers.

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So there's Meet and Grace

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Aya, who's my sweet sister.

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I love her so much.

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And then there's Karina

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from Honey Press, uh, and

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she is South Asian owned.

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And, um, it's, the community

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in Vard is, is phenomenal

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because we're all small business

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owners and majority of the,

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the majority of the owners.

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Are in the space every day.

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You know, we're really, we're

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really there in the trenches

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with our employees and, um,

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it has been extremely unique

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to open up a storefront during

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the pandemic because 2021,

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we're still in a pandemic.

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2022, we're still in a

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pandemic and 2023 right now,

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COVID is, is still here.

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And so, I don't know how, I don't

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know how we did it and I don't

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know how we're doing it, but by

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the mercy and love of the universe,

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we um, you know, we have a small

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team of cotton candy connoisseurs

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and we still keep the lights on

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and I think, um, this is probably.

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Our best work yet is creating

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this, you know, sacred

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disco space full of sugar.

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And we are really thrilled to have

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our own physical space because

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not many small businesses are

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granted that opportunity because

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everything is so expensive and

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it's just not there for us.

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Um, and so, yeah, uh,

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we've been there this

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July with Mark two years.

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And it will also mark the last

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month that we will be at Boxy Yard.

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Um, as much, as much magic as

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we we created in the space, we

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are ready to expand and, and

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do big, big, bigger things.

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And, um, yeah, we'll be closing

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the store in July 31st in.

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Oh man.

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Yeah.

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That's a beautiful run though.

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A two year run, which

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is technically four

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years in the making.

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If we're starting back 2019.

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So, Been a long time coming.

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That's a long time to think,

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you know, it's a long time to

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like try it out, see how, see

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how the clothes fit on in a

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commercial space and then kind of

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see like, okay, what do I like?

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What do I not like?

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What do I want next to look like?

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Right.

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Um, So talk to me a little

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bit about what you and Ream

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have cooking up, because just

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even since I've known you and

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known about Wonder Puff, like

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you guys have been really

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successful in the online space.

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You guys have the little glitter

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bonds for your champagne.

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You guys have, you know,

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containers that people can get,

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and then of course I see you

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around town at pop-up events.

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So like what, what new experiences

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are you hoping to curate for.

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Right.

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So, uh, July would mark, so

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not only does our shop close

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in July, but it marks six

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years that we've been making

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cotton candy in the triangle,

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uh, especially, particularly

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the wonderful will city.

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Um, I'm, I'm gonna

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keep it real with you.

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I have no idea what's next.

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I don't know what the

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hell we're gonna do.

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And I'm, and, and, and

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I'm surrendering to it.

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Um, and, and, and being gentle

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and kind with myself and

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realizing like, it's okay if we

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don't have all the answers, even

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though we live in a capitalist

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world where we need to be

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productive every day to survive.

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Um, I know that when we close the

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shop, wonder Puff will continue

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to operate in a smaller scale and.

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You know, I don't know exactly

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what, where we'll be going next,

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but I do know that the goal is

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to go back to e-commerce one,

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to, you know, wholesale and,

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and, and bring our cotton candy

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into, into retail spaces, because

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that's something that I've wanted

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to do for such a long time.

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But everything is

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so bloody expensive.

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So it's all about asking for.

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And utilizing and exhausting

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all of our resources.

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And I plan to do just that.

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Um, when, when we close the shop,

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um, leaning on my community, asking

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people for resources and, and, and

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getting the ball rolling and, you

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know, taking wonder, puff in, in

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a different, different direction.

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Yeah.

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That's beautiful.

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I think this last, I guess question

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slash comment I have is just

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based on, um, something I heard

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a business owner say

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on a documentary that

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I was working on and.

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He said, I don't think we get

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anywhere without community.

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And he was speaking to, you know,

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the small business community,

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the local community of creators,

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but then also the people who

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are coming in and just kind

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of learning and moving here

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and really like recognizing

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the community that's here and

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wanting to contribute to that.

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You know, as you know, an

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amplifier, as a consumer, as

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a creator, all those types of

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things, like, and again, ending

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on your Durham versus everybody's

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shirt, like you definitely

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have an affinity to Jerem and

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the community that Sierra, can

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you talk a little bit about

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why the Durham small business

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ecosystem is so special and so

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unique and has really provided

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the playground for you to like

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try all these different things?

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Right,

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right.

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Yeah.

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Community is unity.

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And one thing that makes Durham

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so sacred is the amount of.

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Human beings that, want

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better for our world.

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You know, there's so many

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freedom fighters here.

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There's so many people here that

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are creating those spaces for,

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black and brown small businesses,

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and there are so many people

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who are, fighting for, small

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businesses and curators to get

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those resources so we can be

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successful in this late stage

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capitalist white supremacist world.

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Um, Durham is the reason why

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Wonder Puff exists, and I

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really don't see Wonder Puff

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ever being anywhere else.

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And if she was to go somewhere,

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You know, the, the headquarters

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will forever be in the Bull City

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and you know, it, it wa it was

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Durham and, and everyone else

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outside of this wonderful city

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that helped funded our Kickstarter

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for when we opened our store.

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And I'm forever grateful for

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people, you know, not only,

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um, people in Durham, but

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people everywhere who have

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shared the Wonderf wonder

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Puff experience with us.

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You know, just

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giving us a space to.

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Covered in sugar and giving

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us their hard dollars so

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we can stay sustainable.

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I think there's so much beauty

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in that because people don't need

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to spend money on cotton candy.

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You know, they don't need

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to share space with us.

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But, but they do, and they have

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for the past almost six years,

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and we don't take that lightly.

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Um, we hold every supporter,

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every client, every customer.

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We hold them very near and dear

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to our heart because this world

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needs so much radical love.

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And so we, we gotta do

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it together as a people.

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And that's something that

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Wonder Puff really focuses on

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is not only being a sustainable

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business through sugar, but

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you know, how can we make this

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world a safe space, um, when

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there's so much pain, you know?

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Yeah.

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That's so beautiful and I think

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that is just like a beautiful

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note to end on because we all

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need our happy place and whether

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that is your physical business,

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whether sure.

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Home, whether that's your

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circle of friends and family and

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loved ones, like it's so valid.

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It's so needed, and it's so

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important for you to be able

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to thrive in any environment.

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So thank you so much

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for sharing that.

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Thank you so much for being

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here with me today, and

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I really appreciate it.

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Thank you, girl.

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