Inspiring Conversations with Heather Yoder of Divine Sugars & Spices

Today we’d like to introduce you to Heather Yoder.

Hi Heather, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m what some might call a serial entrepreneur. I have had several small businesses ranging from wedding photography to office supply delivery, to crafting supplies. This business combines so many aspects of everyone I’ve had prior! Divine Sugars and Spices started when my husband and I got hitched.

Ever gone to a wedding and they give you a little favor, a momentum of some sort, and you think… well, it’s cool, but what am I gonna do with THIS?’ We didn’t want that to happen, so we came up with this fantastic idea to give our guests flavored sugars and smoked salt, instead of a little bell or a coaster or… something they wouldn’t LOVE.

Five years later, guests were still asking us if we had any more of that Vanilla Sugar and Mesquite Smoked Salt because they loved it so much. They were putting the sugar in their coffee and tea, on their cupcakes and desserts, and on their oatmeal.

The salt went on steaks and burgers, bacon, and guacamole and we knew we were onto something. And Divine Sugars and Spices was born – so that whosoever of the world could enjoy Flavored Sugar and Smoked Salt as much as our wedding guests.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I don’t know that any road for anything in our lives, is ever really smooth! Being a one-woman show and keeping up with all the things I’m not the best at doing is a consistent struggle. Appropriately balancing my work-life with my family life and all the other parts of my life is challenging.

I don’t know if balance is even the right word – rhythm seems to fit better. I have tried several different small businesses prior to Divine, and trying to get traction or visibility seemed to be much like pushing a rope up a muddy hill. Gobs of ad spend and no results; following (expensive) marketing classes with no ROI; late nights producing content and crickets.

I’ve just had to learn to be accustomed to being uncomfortable and to use my own doubt to ask better questions of myself. In the course of following one marketing guru, I had a small burst of success – 24 people in just a handful of hours had taken my quiz. Eureka! (I don’t know that I’ve ever actually used that word aloud…) So I was invited to be a panelist at the live event to share my success, and I was thrilled.

I was thrilled until the moderator of the panel asked me how many people took my quiz after that initial fury of submissions – because the answer was zero. The moderator wasn’t expecting that as a response, and I didn’t know how to respond to no response. It was embarrassing, but in that moment in front of hundreds of people, I was honest and transparent about where my business was (and wasn’t).

That was a tough moment for me personally, seeing people I looked up to as well as a room full of peers, be unimpressed and underwhelmed, and disinterested in what I was aiming for. It’s quite a skill to have thick skin and a soft heart.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Divine is a young business, and I love collaborating with other small businesses here in KC and throughout the U.S. of A. I specialize in flavored sugars made with natural flavors, smoked and blended salts, as well as seasonal deliciousness like spiced cocoas, infused and whipped honey, flavored sweet tea mixes, and my Divine Sugar Cookies.

There are two comments my customers make most frequently: this flavor is really subtle and SO good; well that’s easy, to just sprinkle this stuff right on top of whatever! The flavor is subtle because it’s not chemically ‘enhanced’ and it’s designed to bring a level of complexity and intrigue to whatever you’re putting it on or in. I’m not a fan of the punch-you-in-the-mouth level of sweetness you get from some recipes or sellers of baked goods!

And it is as easy to use these sugars – a spoonful in your coffee or a sprinkle on that 99-cent brownie mix you just pulled out of the oven! One customer said ‘I can do that I think, just sprinkle it on… I mean I’m no Bobby Flay but I ain’t Chef Boyardee neither!’

When I tell people about Divine and what I offer (insert elevator spiel here), nine times out of 10 they say they’ve never heard of flavored sugars but that they sound amazing, and that the smoked salts smell heavenly. It’s fantastic to see people’s eyes light up as they come up with their own ideas on how to use the sugars and salts, or who to gift with honey or cocoas.

I enjoy that so much, seeing my customer’s creativity come alive as they tell me about their aunt’s famous ‘orange stuff’ at Thanksgiving and how good the Kona Pineapple Sugar would be atop it, or about the time they went to Maine and had smoked fish and the best family reunion ever.

Some of the recipes customers have shared with my sound so amazing… smoked chipotle salt in guac, wild blueberry white chocolate ganache, chocolate chocolate chip cookies sprinkled with bacon salt.

Currently, Divine is carried in several local shops, working on partnerships with more. I ship to those who purchase from the website! On occasion, I do wedding favors out of the salts and sugars, and I love doing that because that’s where this all started!

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Mentors make a tremendous difference. And there’s a tremendous difference between a mentor and a well-meaning advice-giver. Different mentors are needed in different seasons, for different reasons! I’ve been mentored in a group setting by people who are excellent at serving customers based on data, creating content that customers are drawn to and compelled by, and curating products for a niche of customers.

It’s not easy to find mentors – do a lot of listening and reading. YouTube is jam-packed with people with crazy expertise, but it can be overwhelming to figure out who’s right! Personally, I’ve had several business mentors and very few personal mentors. But the few personal mentors have been in my life for 20+ years. Currently, I’m (gratefully) working with Jennifer Allwood as part of her Mastermind group, and it’s been a high-caliber experience!

Her business and my business are not even in the same industry, but I really admire how she does business and how she’s put in the hard work to excel personally in her own business. So for me, finding a business mentor this season has meant finding someone who is maybe on step 72 along the way, whereas I’m at step 3.

Pricing:

• 4 oz resealable pouch $11
• 3 x 4 oz resealable pouch $27

Contact Info:

• Email: heather@divinesugars.com
• Website: https://www.divinesugars.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/divinesugars
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/divinesugars