Meet Chelz Bowen

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Chelz Bowen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chelz below.

Chelz, so great to have you with us and thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with the community. So, let’s jump into something that stops so many people from going after their dreams – haters, nay-sayers, etc. We’d love to hear about how you dealt with that and persisted on your path.

I built Top It OFF, Funnel Cakes from a roadside cart and a rented U-Haul I sometimes slept in. I did it during a season when my father offered no support and I’d been no-contact with my mother for over six years. So I know what it feels like to pursue a dream without a safety net,or a cheering section. The doubt around me sounded like: “Funnel cakes are just fair food.” “You should’ve stayed a deputy.” “It’s too late to start over.” I kept going because I learned to separate noise from assignment.

My persistence has a recipe:
1. Know your why. My why is joy and impact,using a simple dessert to create jobs, teach students, and pour into my community. When people questioned me, that vision was louder. It’s why I still say, “We put the FUN in funnel cakes,” even on hard days.
2. Faith + discipline. I pray, plan, then execute. I treat excellence like ministry,clean trucks, tight SOPs, consistent pricing, repeatable systems. Discipline carried me when motivation didn’t.
3. Do it scared, then do it better. I was terrified to drive my first truck and used to turn down events more than 20 miles away, now I’ll back a rig into a tight school lot at 6am and have a line by lunch. Reps built confidence the critics couldn’t touch.
4. Alchemize losses into lessons. 2024 was my worst year, lost $25K in a failed food hall, took a $50K loan with nothing to show, and almost lost my home. I audited everything, menu, margins, staffing, routes,and rebuilt with new streams: school programs, corporate events, and our proprietary dry batter mix developed with UGA’s Food Product Innovation Center. I didn’t hide the L’s; I leveraged them.
5. Let community prove the critics wrong. A few weeks ago in Barnesville, my generator wouldn’t start at the top of shift. Two men from the community jumped in and got us running, and then it felt like everyone came out to support. Moments like that remind me: the people I serve are louder than the people who doubt.
6. Create your own media. I show up online daily,sharing flavors, behind-the-scenes, student programs, and the “Granny Gang.” Consistency turned strangers into customers and customers into advocates (and yes, landed me on podcasts and local news). When you build your own microphone, you don’t need permission.
7. Protect your peace. Coming from family relationships that weren’t nurturing, I had to build boundaries and a chosen family, my team, students, and partners. Not everyone earns front-row seats to my process.
8. Keep the vision bigger than the moment. I’m building toward licensing, franchises, and youth re-entry/empowerment programs. When the vision is generational, a hater is just a speed bump.

So how do I persist? I convert pain into purpose, turn doubt into data, and let service be my clap-back. Every funnel cake we serve, whether at a school, a corporate campus, or a small town like Barnesville , is proof that you can start with nothing, be counted out by people you love, and still build something sweet enough to feed a community.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

At Top It Off Funnel Cakes, we don’t just make desserts, we create experiences. What started as a simple funnel cake cart on the side of the road has transformed into a brand that’s redefining what it means to gather, celebrate, and indulge. Our slogan says it best: “We put the FUN in funnel cakes.”

Every funnel cake we serve carries nostalgia, culture, and creativity. It’s more than powdered sugar on fried dough, it’s the feeling of being back at a carnival, the joy of seeing kids light up as they choose from over 40 unique flavors, and the pride of knowing we built something that connects people across generations. From Peach Cobbler Funnel Cakes in the Peach State to Banana Pudding, Strawberry Shortcake, and Apple Caramel Crunch, we’ve created a menu that allows customers to “top it off” their way and make every visit personal.

What excites me most is the community we’ve built around this brand. We’ve been blessed to partner with schools, nonprofits, and local businesses, and even create educational programming that teaches kids culinary arts through our Sweet STEM initiative. We’re not just serving food, we’re inspiring future entrepreneurs and proving that something as simple as a funnel cake can open doors of opportunity.

Looking ahead, Top It Off is expanding with more trucks, carts, and pop-ups so families all over Georgia (and beyond) can experience what we’ve built. Whether it’s a festival, corporate event, school fundraiser, or a neighborhood pop-up, we make sure every funnel cake is memorable.

If you love fun, flavor, and a little nostalgia served on a plate, Top It Off Funnel Cakes is where you’ll find it.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1. Creativity – Our whole brand is about putting the FUN in funnel cakes, and creativity is at the heart of that. From unique toppings to interactive ideas like DIY Thursdays, thinking outside the box keeps things exciting for our customers. My advice: let your personality shine through your work and don’t be afraid to try new ideas, you might just create something unforgettable.

2. Customer Service – Beyond the funnel cakes, it’s the experience that keeps people coming back. A smile, a kind word, or going the extra mile makes all the difference. My advice: treat every customer like family, and always aim to make their day a little brighter than when they walked up.

3. Community Service – Being involved in the community has been one of the most rewarding parts of this journey. Supporting local events and showing up where people gather makes us more than just a business, it makes us a part of something bigger. My advice: give back whenever you can, because strong community connections are the foundation of long-term success.

At the end of the day, those three things: creativity, customer service, and community service, are what keep our brand growing and our customers smiling.

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?

When I feel overwhelmed, I remind myself that I’ve already overcome some of the toughest moments in both life and business, sleeping in U-Haul trucks, pushing through debt, losing everything in a failed food hall, and still choosing to keep going. Those moments built my resilience. My strategy is to pause, breathe, and reframe the pressure as fuel for growth. I lean on prayer, my community, and my team, but I also get resourceful, whether that’s figuring out how to start a broken generator with the help of strangers in Barnesville or finding a new way to market when sales are down. Overwhelm will come, but I treat it like a signal that I’m stretching into my next level. My advice: don’t run from it, use it to refine your vision and prove your strength.

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