Confections, community, and cotton candy | An infectious brand loyalty strategy.

Community is unity.

And one thing that makes Durham

so sacred is the amount of.

Human beings that, want

better for our world.

You know, there's so many

freedom fighters here.

There's so many people here that

are creating those spaces for,

black and brown small businesses,

and there are so many people

who are, fighting for, small

businesses and curators to get

those resources so we can be

successful in this late stage

capitalist white supremacist world.

You're listening to Honey

and Hustle, a video podcast

that inspires the dreamers,

creators, and hustlers to make

a business from their passions.

I'm Angela Hollowell, and I'm a

visual storyteller Based in Durham,

North Carolina, I sit down with

creative entrepreneurs, nonprofit

founders, and small business

owners as they share their stories,

the lessons they've learned

throughout their careers and how

they've worked to make a positive.

Hey everyone.

My name is Angela Hollow.

I am your host here at Honey and

Hustle, and today I am joined

by the magical furries princess

herself, Jackie of Wonder Puff.

Jackie, thank you so much

for being here with me today.

Hey

girl.

I'm good.

I am good.

So me and Jackie ran each other a

very, very long time ago at one of

my favorite places in Durham, which

is um, Queenies and King Fisher.

\ Um, and she has been

spreading her magical fairy

tale dust all over Durham.

But for people who don't know and

who are curious about the Durham

versus everybody's shirt, can you

tell us a little bit about There it

Oh

I feel Of course.

Of course.

Um, yes.

Can you tell people a little bit

about like, how Wonder Puff got

started and why that feels so akin

to like who you are as a person?

Yes.

Yes.

Well, I'd love to start

off by saying thank you

for sharing space with me.

Honey and Hustle have been.

You know, you have been connected

with really profound, wonderful,

loving entrepreneurs in Durham

and beyond, and, um, very proud

of you and wishing you so much

success in your podcast, and

I'm really very, very grateful.

To share space with you today

because I feel like we've been

trying to do this for like the past

80 years and now we're here today.

Um, like Angela said,

my name is Jackie Morin.

I go by she, her, and I am,

um, half of Wonder Puff.

I, um, established this

small business of sugary

confection with my business

partner and husband, uh, Reem.

And yeah, we love Durham.

We love the bull city.

And Wonder Puff could

not exist in a place.

Other than this wonderful

city, um, I was introduced to

cotton candy over a decade ago.

Uh, me and re we were, we

grew up in South Florida.

Uh, he's from Miami and I'm

from Broward, uh, which is

next door to each other.

So I just tell people I'm from

Miami because they wouldn't know

where Miramar or Pembroke Pines is.

You are familiar

with South Florida.

Uh, and so I was introduced to

a cotton candy company when I

was volunteering at a nonprofit

organization with my baby

sister, who's now a wonderful

chef living in Asheville.

Shout out to Jasmine.

Shout out to dream vote for just

being radically her and wonderful.

And I remember no one

touching this cotton candy.

I'm just like, it's

after 12 o'clock.

I haven't had my sugar

fixed for the day.

No one's touching this cotton

candy machine, so I'm gonna go

ahead and play with it myself.

And so I poured this pink,

extravagant, electric pink

sugar into the machine.

Press the button, press the

heater, and sugar just flew out.

And I'm just like,

this is a whole vibe.

And I just started spinning

and twirling and the moment I

started spinning and twirling

the cotton candy, the families

of the nonprofit that was there

started to like form a line.

All the kids were just

like, oh, it's cotton candy.

And I did some research

extensively and, saw.

that Cotton candy was becoming

a super hot commodity for

private events such as weddings

and birthdays, and people

from all over the world were

creating their own small, sugar

confection in their community.

And I'm just like, this will

be Very wonderful to do.

Just not in Miami.

And so when we moved to Durham

seven years ago, me and Reem, we

knew that it was time to bring my

sugary dreams to the bull city.

And so we've been spinning

cotton candy for the past

six years, ever since.

And it's been pretty wonderful.

Yes,

we definitely wanna give Reem

his flowers because first of

all, he was not excited to meet

me, but you know, that's okay.

No, that is just, that's

just a water sign,

Pisces, uh, man for you.

They are just calm and

cool, wavy in the water.

So I hope you did not

take offense to that.

Not at all because he created

is my favorite flavor, which

is the Jasmine Tea, which

I love and highly encourage

anyone to try if they're in

that area or to buy online.

And it just kind of speaks to

like your palette and like a

little bit of like how you bring

your personality into the flavors

that you guys have created.

Can you talk to me a little bit

about like how you come up with the

flavors and like how you've kind

of molded wonder puff into your

own custom confectionary business?

Yeah,

so one thing that we really pride

ourselves in when it comes to

our sugar is that it is vegan,

artificial free, artificial

ingredients, like coloring.

We, it's just, yeah,

it's just pure.

Cane bone, char vegan bone,

char free vegan sugar, and As,

and as also our ingredients.

And so when we are making our

flavors, uh, Reem likes to

move extremely intentional.

He is an audio designer,

sound engineer, a producer,

musician, and so that, that,

that need for perfection.

Um, Has really oozed into

our business when it comes

to our actual product.

And if it wasn't for him, um,

y'all would just be getting

regular st bar cotton candy,

uh, sugar if it was for me.

So I'm very grateful that,

uh, ream, um, you know, is

the scientists when it comes

to creating sugar, and it's

all about, you know, what is.

Different and unique.

So when we first started our first

couple years of operating Wonder

Puff, um, we started off with like,

Some simple, basic flavors that are

still a staple to our menu today.

So salted caramel is

a banger, uh, mango.

Uh, everyone loves raspberry

mojito, even though that's not

really, uh, a regular, uh, flavor.

Um, but we kind of

really go in and.

We just move with

a lot of intention.

Um, and so we're not really

just grabbing things and

mixing them together.

we're thinking about things that

we've experienced in real life,

like what, we eat that we like,

and try to, find inspiration.

Through that.

for example, we used to sell a very

popular flavor alongside with the

Jasmine flower, is orange cardamom.

And that was curated by

my sister, Jasmine, who.

Like we wanted to pay homage

to our culture, because we're

West Indian and we, you know,

cardimum is a very important

spice in our household.

And then we, have also

Haitian cake, which represents

our Haitian culture.

Uh, and that is butter, vanilla

rum, and another rest, another

ingredient that Rem would know.

So, um, you know, my bad, I

don't know what's all in the

Haitian cake, but everyone

loves it and it's one of my.

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

uh, that's how we get inspiration

through our sugar making.

Lovely.

I love it.

And a lot of your, you know, taste

testers, your first, you know, um,

people who experience your cotton

candy, you see them in person.

I believe you started with popups

and doing like, you know, popups

at events before going to, you

know, Focusing on the e-commerce

store during the pandemic.

So can you talk to me about kind

of like those first kind of like

customer interactions and like

how that helps you curate kind

of the events that you went to

and then how you shifted to,

you know, kind of how you can

create that experience that you

know, people love and enjoy to

that online shopping experience?

I know that was like a big

question, but it kind of

No, no.

Yeah, I hold space for it.

Um, yeah, so when we started

Wonder Puff, we did lots of

free events, mostly, um, with

black and brown curators.

Uh, we gave a lot of our services

to, um, either black or brown

curators or black and brown spaces.

And that's how we really,

uh, we were able to get

our business out there.

Um, kind of leaning on the.

Uh, you know, word of

mouth kind of experience.

And so we would truck along

with our cotton candy cart

and ask people like, Hey,

can, can, can we vent here?

Um, and this was like, right,

this was like on the rise of like,

you know, marketings and markets

before you had to spend hundreds

of dollars to, to be a vendor.

Um, since we've been doing this

for such a long time, we, I

would, you know, ask businesses,

can I share space with.

And they would say yes, and I

would give of our services for

free or um, charge little, very

little, uh, to the patrons who

would partake in our cotton candy.

And that really helped open

the door, um, in connecting

with other black and brown

businesses and curators.

And, you know, if I'm

gonna give anything.

For free, it might as

well be cotton candy to

my black and brown people.

So that was very important,

uh, for us to do.

And then slowly but surely, We

started getting asked to do vegan

markets and regular local markets,

and that's how we were able to

connect with our community members.

Uh, that's when many people, uh,

discovered that they can have

cotton candy in their offices,

in their weddings, and so that's

how we were able to have you.

Clients we're, we're through

those markets and like a lot

of, many small businesses,

um, who, who are vendors.

Uh, and so I think

that's pretty cool.

Uh, we also started to do,

um, We also started to vend

in much more larger scale.

So, you know, we would

go to Atlanta and do

Afropunk a couple times.

Uh, we would go to New York

cuz I just love New York.

She's like, you know, next to

Durham, you know, actually New

York was my first love, but,

uh, Durham is my true love.

And uh, I would ask Reem

like, Hey, can we drive?

Cuz you know, from North

Carolina to New York.

Is literally a half day's trip.

And so we would pack up our

car full of sugar in the cotton

candy machine and we'd just go

to the city and, you know, bring

our sugary magic to, to the big

apple, which is really cool.

Um, and that's where we started

to realize, wow, we have a really

awesome product and there's a

potential opportunity to like,

maybe we can make this bigger than.

Marketing outside of

birthdays and weddings and

vendors, markets and stuff.

Yeah,

that is crazy.

Did not know you went to Afropunk.

So shout out to Afropunk

for having your girl.

Um, yes, we're not

gonna get into that,

but I am excited to hear about

like, how you took it from

like these sizable cities.

I mean, if we're talking Miami,

Durham, Atlanta, New York,

these aren't like small places.

So you're getting.

Market of people at one

time with each event.

And so I love how you realize

some people still do this and

consider that to this day.

Like, oh, we went the old

way of, of word of mouth.

But like word of

mouth is evergreen.

That's everlasting.

That is the past, the

present in the future.

That's really the best way.

You know what I mean?

Because it's like not only people

who follow you on Instagram

and maybe bought from you

on Instagram one time, it's

like, no, I met this person.

I got to actually get

a feel for who she is.

Like, you know, it's a different

experience when you actually

meet someone in person and

can vouch for their brand from

like, you know, versus like

Instagram, like, oh, I tried it.

You know, it, it was fine.

But you know, you don't have

a personal connection to

the people who created it

cuz you're just not there.

Um.

So again, going back to that

like, you know, obviously over

the pandemic weren't a whole

lot of events to be vending and

you guys kind of switched to,

um, I wouldn't say switch, but

like obviously had to focus on

maybe more e-commerce sales.

And I know you made some

kind of new products for,

um, people buying online.

Can you tell me a little bit

about how you guys kind of like,

again, are continuing to like

grow and progress and like meet

the needs of your customers?

Right.

Yeah.

So we all know that 2020 was, yeah.

And um, you know, Aside from

the world, viscously violently

changing cuz of covid, uh, small

businesses took, took such a huge,

major hit while, you know, our

politicians and big banks were

getting p p P loans and it's

just like, okay, well what

about the small businesses

who have been doing this

for, for decades and who.

Are trying to keep their employees.

Like what, what

happens to, to, to us?

And, and, and while so many

businesses were being closed

in 2020, other businesses like

myself, were going all the way up.

Because everyone was at home.

So because everyone was at

home, uh, they had a lot of

time to buy cotton candy.

So we were making cotton

candy by the hundreds, if not

thousands, um, every month.

And it was incredible.

Uh, it did stop once everyone

went outside, but, um, To

receive so much support,

uh, during the lockdown, uh,

of 2020, it really helped.

Um, one not only drives drive

our sales, but created, uh,

sus sustainability in a way

that we've never seen before.

Uh, and we were able to afford

housing and, you know, that

was very, very important to us.

And, um, still one of.

Most fondest memories when it

comes to entrepreneurship and,

and seeing how people were so

intentional with, with, with

consumerism at home and, and

intentional with, with supporting

black and brown businesses.

And not only that, people

really loved our products.

I really, I do wish that

energy still exists because.

It's day and night now from

2020 during, lockdown to now,

the way people are consuming

is very, very different.

I would say unfortunately

that many people, they forgot

about small businesses and,

you know, that is unfortunate.

And, we, also took a hit,

After all that, after all those

wonderful sales, you know, it's

kind of like the whole Black

Lives Matter movement and,

corporations kind of capitalizing

off of that and, you know,

trying to rise, you know, raise

black and brown people's voices.

But I guess it was

no longer trending.

And so people just kind of went

back to their everyday program,

which is something that we're

seeing now at our present day.

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Yeah.

Yeah, a thousand percent.

I mean, like, it's very unfortunate

because like at the end of the day,

sometimes the best thing you can

do for your small business is to

get a job, but like when you don't

feel like welcome and supported

in that job, then it just makes

it like twice as hard because then

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

supported as a small business

owner, and now I don't feel sup,

feel supported in the workplace.

So, Something's gotta give,

like, you know what I mean?

In order to have like a sustainable

income either way, you know?

Right.

Right.

Exactly.

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

now we're filming this in April.

Um, you got a space at Fox

Chart R T P, which was finished

over the pandemic, I believe.

Um, talk to me a

little bit about that.

Cuz Boxed RTP is kind

of a different retail.

Yes.

Yes.

So, uh, box yard, R t p

is a shipping container,

food court space.

So it's an outdoor food court.

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

yard at the end of 2019 and didn't

really move into our space until

2021 because of the pandemic and.

are neighbors to awesome Black

and brown other retailers.

So there's Meet and Grace

Aya, who's my sweet sister.

I love her so much.

And then there's Karina

from Honey Press, uh, and

she is South Asian owned.

And, um, it's, the community

in Vard is, is phenomenal

because we're all small business

owners and majority of the,

the majority of the owners.

Are in the space every day.

You know, we're really, we're

really there in the trenches

with our employees and, um,

it has been extremely unique

to open up a storefront during

the pandemic because 2021,

we're still in a pandemic.

2022, we're still in a

pandemic and 2023 right now,

COVID is, is still here.

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

know how we did it and I don't

know how we're doing it, but by

the mercy and love of the universe,

we um, you know, we have a small

team of cotton candy connoisseurs

and we still keep the lights on

and I think, um, this is probably.

Our best work yet is creating

this, you know, sacred

disco space full of sugar.

And we are really thrilled to have

our own physical space because

not many small businesses are

granted that opportunity because

everything is so expensive and

it's just not there for us.

Um, and so, yeah, uh,

we've been there this

July with Mark two years.

And it will also mark the last

month that we will be at Boxy Yard.

Um, as much, as much magic as

we we created in the space, we

are ready to expand and, and

do big, big, bigger things.

And, um, yeah, we'll be closing

the store in July 31st in.

Oh man.

Yeah.

That's a beautiful run though.

A two year run, which

is technically four

years in the making.

If we're starting back 2019.

So, Been a long time coming.

That's a long time to think,

you know, it's a long time to

like try it out, see how, see

how the clothes fit on in a

commercial space and then kind of

see like, okay, what do I like?

What do I not like?

What do I want next to look like?

Right.

Um, So talk to me a little

bit about what you and Ream

have cooking up, because just

even since I've known you and

known about Wonder Puff, like

you guys have been really

successful in the online space.

You guys have the little glitter

bonds for your champagne.

You guys have, you know,

containers that people can get,

and then of course I see you

around town at pop-up events.

So like what, what new experiences

are you hoping to curate for.

Right.

So, uh, July would mark, so

not only does our shop close

in July, but it marks six

years that we've been making

cotton candy in the triangle,

uh, especially, particularly

the wonderful will city.

Um, I'm, I'm gonna

keep it real with you.

I have no idea what's next.

I don't know what the

hell we're gonna do.

And I'm, and, and, and

I'm surrendering to it.

Um, and, and, and being gentle

and kind with myself and

realizing like, it's okay if we

don't have all the answers, even

though we live in a capitalist

world where we need to be

productive every day to survive.

Um, I know that when we close the

shop, wonder Puff will continue

to operate in a smaller scale and.

You know, I don't know exactly

what, where we'll be going next,

but I do know that the goal is

to go back to e-commerce one,

to, you know, wholesale and,

and, and bring our cotton candy

into, into retail spaces, because

that's something that I've wanted

to do for such a long time.

But everything is

so bloody expensive.

So it's all about asking for.

And utilizing and exhausting

all of our resources.

And I plan to do just that.

Um, when, when we close the shop,

um, leaning on my community, asking

people for resources and, and, and

getting the ball rolling and, you

know, taking wonder, puff in, in

a different, different direction.

Yeah.

That's beautiful.

I think this last, I guess question

slash comment I have is just

based on, um, something I heard

a business owner say

on a documentary that

I was working on and.

He said, I don't think we get

anywhere without community.

And he was speaking to, you know,

the small business community,

the local community of creators,

but then also the people who

are coming in and just kind

of learning and moving here

and really like recognizing

the community that's here and

wanting to contribute to that.

You know, as you know, an

amplifier, as a consumer, as

a creator, all those types of

things, like, and again, ending

on your Durham versus everybody's

shirt, like you definitely

have an affinity to Jerem and

the community that Sierra, can

you talk a little bit about

why the Durham small business

ecosystem is so special and so

unique and has really provided

the playground for you to like

try all these different things?

Right,

right.

Yeah.

Community is unity.

And one thing that makes Durham

so sacred is the amount of.

Human beings that, want

better for our world.

You know, there's so many

freedom fighters here.

There's so many people here that

are creating those spaces for,

black and brown small businesses,

and there are so many people

who are, fighting for, small

businesses and curators to get

those resources so we can be

successful in this late stage

capitalist white supremacist world.

Um, Durham is the reason why

Wonder Puff exists, and I

really don't see Wonder Puff

ever being anywhere else.

And if she was to go somewhere,

You know, the, the headquarters

will forever be in the Bull City

and you know, it, it wa it was

Durham and, and everyone else

outside of this wonderful city

that helped funded our Kickstarter

for when we opened our store.

And I'm forever grateful for

people, you know, not only,

um, people in Durham, but

people everywhere who have

shared the Wonderf wonder

Puff experience with us.

You know, just

giving us a space to.

Covered in sugar and giving

us their hard dollars so

we can stay sustainable.

I think there's so much beauty

in that because people don't need

to spend money on cotton candy.

You know, they don't need

to share space with us.

But, but they do, and they have

for the past almost six years,

and we don't take that lightly.

Um, we hold every supporter,

every client, every customer.

We hold them very near and dear

to our heart because this world

needs so much radical love.

And so we, we gotta do

it together as a people.

And that's something that

Wonder Puff really focuses on

is not only being a sustainable

business through sugar, but

you know, how can we make this

world a safe space, um, when

there's so much pain, you know?

Yeah.

That's so beautiful and I think

that is just like a beautiful

note to end on because we all

need our happy place and whether

that is your physical business,

whether sure.

Home, whether that's your

circle of friends and family and

loved ones, like it's so valid.

It's so needed, and it's so

important for you to be able

to thrive in any environment.

So thank you so much

for sharing that.

Thank you so much for being

here with me today, and

I really appreciate it.

Thank you, girl.