TalkingWithTami: Hello Laura! When I met you and your daughter Susan, I was so happy… your fun! Your company Susansnaps made me smile when I saw you online! Tell us about your company and how it got started?
Susansnaps is a labor of love-developed after I watched my husband and our 22 year old daughter, Susan (named for my sister Susan who died from cancer in 1977) undergo back to back chemotherapy. Ginger is a natural stomach soother – making these the perfect treat. I developed the recipe, while Susan worked on the logos and packaging. What was once just a fun idea has turned into a full-time business. Now, my daughter, Susan, and I bake up to 8,000 snaps a day and are shipping all across the U.S. Susansnaps come in three delightfully, delicious flavors: original, cocoa, and citrus!
TalkingWithTami:Your a mom and daughter team,which I find very inspiring. Do you guys always agree on day to day tasks with your company? If you dont, tell us how you overcome challenges in owning a productive business?
Susan and I really enjoy working together. People always want to know if we get along, and you know what? We do! We work well together as a team. We both have great strengths and areas that we are responsible for in order for Susansnaps to run smoothly. Speaking for myself, I am very lucky to work side by side with my oldest daughter. We have been through some really tough times together, that it is a joy to spend time doing something we love that we know is bringing smiles to so many other people.
TalkingWithTami:Your ginger snap cookies are made with love, we can see that lol. Tell us some things or places that Susansnaps have been involved in?
Susansnaps helped Costco Wholesale raise money for Children’s Miracle Network the month of May 2009. Susansnaps had a booth at Costco, in which 25% of all sales went to Children’s Miracle Network. Susansnaps also were seen at The Metropolitan Entertaining & Cooking Show in West Palm Beach, Florida with Bobby Flay and Pat & Gina Neely (all (from the Food Network). Bobby Flay used Susansnaps as part of his desserts during his cooking shows. As he said to us, “Keep on baking. Your cookies are delicious.” Bobby Flay proceeded to tell his audiences, “There is no need to bake cookies when you can buy Susansnaps!” Susansnaps also continues to support our foundation, The Susan Carver Foundation for cancer research and patient gifts. The Susan Carver Foundation donated 175 bags of Susansnaps to cancer patients on Christmas Eve. Susansnaps have also been seen as the party favors at The St. Joseph’s Hospital Mercy Ball, which is a huge fundraiser for the hospital where my husband, Ken, and Susan were treated.
TalkingWithTami: Your branding is dynamite! Tell people out there that may be starting a company, why that is so important?
Thank you! We do receive great compliments on our branding and overall look, which like you said is very important. Having a strong brand helps differentiate your product from other products. It creates a way for people to easily recognize and connect with your product. And overall, having a certain look and feel about your product helps keep thing simple with a clear focus.
TalkingWithTami: Where would you like to see Susansnaps go in the next 5 yrs? Perhaps a storefront?
Over the next five years, we hope to continue to grow and reach a larger customer base, which we have realized comes most directly from word of mouth and media attention. We hope to gain more corporate clients for the Holidays. We would like to continue to grow in order to donate more to our foundation to spread smiles and perhaps one day maybe have a store front, but that is a ways down the road! In the meantime, we are growing as we have added two new flavors of snaps-we now bake original, cocoa, and citrus. We have also designed two new lines of packaging: Nurse Ginger for get well gifts and June Bride for bridal showers, reception party favors, and gifts for wedding guests, etc. We have found these new flavors and line of packaging have really created a wide variety of options for our customers.
