I enjoy interviewing professionals and mom bosses about their line of work or side hustles. Today, I am sharing an interview with a family-owned small business in Colorado, Daddy’s Homemade Syrup, that makes natural syrup.
Introduce yourself, who is the mom behind the biz?
My name is Amber, the mom behind Daddy’s Homemade Syrup. I am a Colorado native, grew up with my mom and dad owning their own businesses, went to college and received a business management degree and took over my dad’s landscaping business after his passing in 2007 that he had since I was 2. You can say the entrepreneurship spirit has always run through me and has been something I have enjoyed. I made the tough decision to let go of that business and let it dissolve about 4 years later when I decided to start a family with my husband and made the decision to work for someone else to ensure I had the health insurance benefits and paid time off that comes with working for someone else.
As a mother of three young kids and a proud small business owner, I never could have imagined that creating some homemade syrup for our breakfast foods for our family would lead to the creation of Daddy’s Homemade All-Natural Syrup. What began as a simple experiment in our kitchen has blossomed into a heartfelt mission that resonates with families far and wide.
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What inspired you to launch Daddy’s Homemade?
My husband had some health issues, and we started taking a closer look at the ingredients we were putting in our bodies. We used to buy big jars of syrup for our pancakes and breakfast foods from Walmart. One day, we realized how much high fructose corn syrup, artificial ingredients, and preservatives there were in it, so he decided to put it back on the shelf and decided he could make his own without all that junk. He did, and he experimented with Vanilla and Maple for 2 years before our friends and family convinced us to turn it into a business when I was pregnant with my third kid after selling out our first jars at a garage sale we had.
What makes Daddy’s Homemade unique?
Not only is it natural-based with just pure cane sugar, water, and natural extracts, but it is an incredibly versatile product. Not just for breakfast foods (which is how it started for our family), but it is used to elevate coffee, cocktails, cooking, and more! Not only do we offer classic flavors, but we also offer flavors that can’t be found anywhere else.
Describe what you do and what you sell for those of us not familiar with the product.
Similar to a simple syrup, we offer natural syrup that is not just for breakfast foods; it is used to elevate coffee, cocktails, cooking, and more! We have an explosion of flavors from classics of Vanilla and Maple to top sellers like Lavender and Cinnamon Vanilla or seasonal favorites like Pumpkin Spice and everything in between.
How does the Daddy’s Homemade help reduce the mental load of motherhood?
As a busy mom of 3, I understand there are endless amounts of stress and anxiety we put on ourselves, and so does our society. Just one of a million top concerns constantly on our minds is what I am feeding my kids. Sometimes, just getting them to LIKE something is frustrating enough, let alone trying to make sure they are getting enough of the good things and limiting things that aren’t so good. Not to mention if you have more than one kid and are trying to get them to agree on anything! That’s why Daddy’s Homemade Syrup is free from artificial ingredients, preservatives, and high fructose corn syrup. That is also how we ended up with a flavor explosion! We are all about bringing back the joy, fun, creativity, and simplicity in your life. We provide a good quality product that not only tastes good but that moms can feel better about giving their kids (in moderation, of course) or themselves to enhance their food or beverage recipe without spending more time or energy on something “homemade.” There are so many products out there that have so many artificial ingredients or chemicals in them, and that is not something I want our kids growing up with, which helps reduce my mental load when it comes to at least that part of what I am giving the kids. If I can reduce that by even a little bit for others, too, then it is well worth it!
Tell us about the decision to leave your career
After working full-time during the week and selling at farmers’ markets on the weekends for 2 years, in Nov 2022, I was laid off from my full-time job of about 10 years. We had already been building our brand and business so we decided at the time it was “now or never!”
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What are some of your favorite things about running your business?
The journey this business has taken me on has become one of my favorite things about running my own business. Somewhere along the way, the journey went from selling a delicious product to a journey of self-discovery and growth that I am not even sure how to describe. I have also found that we have been inspiring others through our business, which is a feeling like no other. Being able to inspire others and set an example for our kids that despite the chaos of the world, there are still good people, and sometimes the smallest of things can have the biggest of impacts.
What are some challenges you ran into when starting your business?
Not only did we have normal challenges of starting a business that everyone runs into – everything from trying to figure out packaging and labeling, where to sell, how to get the word out, financing, structure of the business, and all the things it takes to start a business but we had to be a little more creative about it because of the pandemic that shut everything down just a few short months after we officially turned it into a business. Plus, I was working full-time and pregnant with my third kid when we started the business.
Any advice you want to give fellow working moms?
Find community and support. I was raised that I can always do anything I put my mind to and that was the mindset I went into owning my own business. There comes a time and a place as you grow that you learn that you can only do so much on your own, and it is so much better with community and support from other fellow working moms. Being a mom is a full-time job in itself and can be a long, lonely road if you let it. With support from others it can be fun and the most rewarding thing you ever do. Along the way, don’t forget to celebrate the small wins!
“Successful moms are not the ones that never struggled. They are the ones that never give up despite the struggles.” – Sharon Jaynes
“Being a mother is learning about strengths you didn’t know you had, and dealing with fears you didn’t know existed.” – Linda Wooten
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For someone interested in what you do, can you share what to expect as far as earning potential and effort?
For someone interested in starting a small business, I will be brutally honest – if you think it’s a way to get rich quick with minimal or no effort, please don’t start a business! It is something that takes a lot of time, patience, and consistency, and there has to be a “hard why” for what you are doing. Your “hard why” is going to be what makes you get up on the bad days and continue pushing through. There are no guarantees in a small business, just like in life, but along the journey, the rewards as you grow are ones that can never have a value put on them. The amount of earning potential will depend on the passion and effort you are willing to put into the business, how much investment you are willing to put in, and how you decide to grow the business. Of course, you would want to be in a business to make money or at least be on a path to profitability…but for me, the journey and the rewards along the way of self-discovery and growth have so much more value to them and are priceless.
What does it take for someone to get started with their own side hustle in your line of work?
Getting started is the easy part. Find something you love or enjoy doing or making and sell it! It can be as easy as slapping some homemade labels and prices on it and selling it at a garage sale! There are so many myths about how you have to know everything about starting and owning a business when you first start. If you want to start a side hustle, just do it! Get a minimum viable product (MVP) out there, and don’t worry about it being perfect!
If you want to learn more about Daddy’s Homemade Surup, contact Amber at her website.
www.daddyshomemadesyrup.com | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | LinkedIn
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