We recently connected with Svetlana Clarke and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Svetlana, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
I remember growing up and whatever idea I got into my head, I applied myself until it was a reality. When my family moved into a new apartment, there was a young girl playing cello a floor above us and I used to listen to her everyday. I told my mom that I wanted to play, her response was: music is not a career. I was stubborn and was not thinking of it as career at that moment. I wanted to experience what she was experiencing so I went to a music school and enrolled. I finished music school. Then attended 4 year of college and was accepted to the conservatory. I still have my cello, didn’t have the heart to part with it and still practice from time to time and it always takes me back to my childhood and my husband loves to hear me play.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I worked in a restaurant and catering business for many years as an Human Resource/Payroll manager & a floor supervisor. We used to do many events including weddings, sweet 16, quinceaneras, where chocolate fountain was the one thing that guests were always excited to see. When my husband who was a Detective retired, we relocated to Florida. I started working full time from home as a payroll manager but wanted to open a chocolate fountain business, which would include full service to make sure our customers had the best experience possible. But first thing first we had to think of a name for our company. My husband who is very supportive, came up to me one day and blurted out Lotta Fun CoCo with a high pitched voice at the end which made me laugh, I wasn’t really receptive of it at first but he said: don’t worry baby it will grow on you, and it did. We’ve done many social and corporate events and all the guests loved the name and were always surprised and excited to see a chocolate fountain just like before. One day I decided to make artisan chocolate Bonbons to treat our neighbors and friends at a Christmas party, they thought I bought them from a known local chocolatier. When they learned that I was the one who made them, everyone suggested that I should be selling them and that’s how the idea was born. I started researching everything about couverture chocolate, fillings, storage, equipment, many different molds, because you can never have enough molds. In the beginning I had only a couple of flavors that neighbors and friends were volunteer taste tester, my husband would then bring them to the people at the gym to get their opinion. With the feedback we grew into 10, to 15 and now we have about 30 different flavors and still growing. But not everything was smooth, one of the first and hardest obstacles that we encountered was where to make our company boxes. It took us about 6 months of searching, deciding on color, logo, size then negotiations and production. We chose purple because it has a calming affect, it’s sensitive and compassionate, understanding and supportive, thinking of others before yourself. After a long wait the boxes finally arrived and we couldn’t be happier.
One day another vendor that I met at the quinceanera EXPO who became my dear friend Lennette, the owner of Sweets by Linus who is herself an amazing artist, her cakes and desserts are stunning, she called me and said that “there was this Viral Dubai Bar that’s everywhere on TikTok and Instagram and everyone is going crazy about it so if anyone can do it you can” . After I did my research, I brought all the ingredients and got to work and I’m proud to say that it has become one of our fastest selling product, our customers love it so much that I can’t keep it in stock. Now we came out with the second flavor of the Viral Dubai Biscoff Bar and it’s a total hit.
I’ve always had an artist side in me. Previously a cello player I love music, art and everything beautiful. I love designing bonbons, play with colors, shapes, create different fillings and combinations. I still have so many creative ideas and flavors in my head that makes it an exciting journey everyday. Every time I tap out my bonbons, I get that excitement like a kid opening a present. Of course there are also challenges that I constantly face and a lot of chocolatiers, I’m sure face it as well is humidity. OMG living in Florida heat and humidity is the chocolate’s constant enemy. I have to run my dehumidifier for at least an hour or more before I start working. High humidity levels will cause moisture damage to chocolate, which will lead to sugar bloom, discoloration and mushiness as the result that will make you cry. All the hard work, money and time wasted.
Currently our business is small and growing which we don’t mind the slow but steady growth, we have our loyal customer base already, so it’s important to us to maintain our quality and attention to detail. Our plans for the future is to grow but maintain the beauty, quality and amazing tasting Bonbons, different flavor chocolate bars and more. Our hope is to become a household name here in Florida. if we can accomplish that, then sky is the limit.
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?
My journey through life working in a catering business taught me quality of the food, presentation, customer service, interaction with guests and consistency are some of the most important tributes.
Be persistent in what you want, do not give up, believe in yourself, always do your best.
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
Even though I knew for the longest what I wanted to do I couldn’t find courage. My husband helped me overcome my fears. He is one of the smartest and calmest people I know who encourage and support me in all my ideas, well almost all. Sometimes I tend to overwhelm myself with too many ideas and he reins me back in. LOL
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lottafuncoco.com
- Instagram: @lottafuncoco
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