We were lucky to catch up with Michelle Collins recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Michelle, so happy to have you with us today and there is so much we want to ask you about. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others developed certain skills or qualities that we are struggling with can be helpful. Along those lines, we’d love to hear from you about how you developed your ability to take risk?
Being an entrepreneur is inherently risky. There are so many unknown quantities. It takes courage to venture out into the unknown. It is very high risk, high reward. I learnt about “intuitive hits.” This is when a thought comes into your head and you are compelled to act on it. There something bigger than you that propels you forward. You have to have faith to trust that voice.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am the Founder and CEO of Chelle’s Cutie Pies. We specialize in Japanese sweet potato pies that are 100% vegan and gluten free.
My company was born by sheer accident. In December of 2019 I was making a sweet potato pie for Christmas dinner. It was vegan and gluten free as my friend’s daughter suffers from Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), a chronic disease of the the esophagus. When I peeled the potato, instead of it being orange inside, it was white. Growing up in the Caribbean, I was familiar with the white sweet potato. I repurposed the recipe and the white sweet potato casserole was a hit at two households that night. I realized that night that I had something special. I went about creating a white sweet potato pie.
Since then, we have gained several retail partners in Miami and have been a part of a few local farmer’s market where we have gained traction. In November 2022, Time Out Magazine named our pie company one of the best in Miami.
We are started a new phase of our business where we focusing on Corporate catering. Some of our clients include Target, We Work, and the NBPA ( National Basketball Player’s Association). Our new business model is to focus on more Business to Business opportunities.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The most important qualities that I have gained throughout my entrepreneurial journey are resilience, patience and determination. You will have more losses than wins. I learned this very early on in my entrepreneurial journey. This is crucial to remember, No just means “next opportunity.” When the hits come, take a moment to regroup and look lesson in the experience.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
Corporate Catering is the future of Chelle’s Cutie Pies. We are looking to partner with local, regional and national brands that require corporate catering. We’d love to work with business looking to do social events from lunches, dinners, happy hours, product launches, internal trainings. We can cater up to 250 people.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.chellescutiepies.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chellescutiepies
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chellescutiepies
Image Credits:
Denis Moro