Inspiring Conversations with Nikiah McCullen of kandiedbykiah

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nikiah McCullen

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
The story behind how I started my own business was one day I was just scrolling on social media and i kept seeing videos of candied fruit so I made a poll to see who would buy it if i started selling it because it seemed to be pretty popular and i didn’t know anyone else in my city who was making it.I made my first batch, priced them and sold them and they sold instantly. At this time i was a junior in highschool and so most of my sales were to people i went to school with because that is the main group of my consumers. After people bought their candy fruit and realized that they liked them they started posting their order on their story and tagging me so my buisness would grow . I’ll never forget the people who supported me from the beginning and have seen my progress from the start to the beginning. After about a week I noticed more and more people were wanting to buy from me so I told my parents more about what i was doing and they played a big part of getting my buisness started. They were telling their co workers about it and family friends. My family has been such a big support for me and my close friends that i’ve kept in the loop about my business idea the whole time. At a certain point i realized i was getting a lot of orders that i wasn’t prepared for so i had someone make a website for me and i paid her to do it because honestly i don’t think i could’ve had the skills she had to make that website. Ever since then i got business cards created and started giving them out. Soon enough after people started posting me on their stories more people from around the kc area started ordering. When i noticed that it was more than just people from my city i was so happy to see that my buisness is truly expanding. I’ve reached people in different states and hit almost every city in Kansas City. I couldn’t have done it without people telling others about my buisness and reposting my content. I think i’m at a good place today. but i know i still have lots more room for improvement.

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?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road i feel like nothing is ever gonna come too easy.Me being 17 has played a big role because i still have another job and it was hard to free up time. Plus being in school made it harder because my education always comes first but it was difficult to time manage . Some other struggles I had were people who try to get stuff for free or complain about the price even though i feel i charge a very reasonable price. I always appreciate the help from my family but at times it felt like i was only getting help because they wanted something back in return. There was people constantly doubting me saying what i was doing was stupid and wasn’t gonna last long. People who thought i was doing too much or bragging when the whole time i was just proud of myself. There will always be people like that but i think deep down they just envy people who can start something on their on so they put down other people because they can’t do it themselves. Some other struggles were people not respecting my time by not coming to pick up orders or picking up orders and then not paying but i have found a way to stop that now. Something else that i feel like doesn’t get talked about a lot is the times where you feel unmotivated. There was days where i didn’t want to keep going and felt like giving up because buisness was slow or i didn’t feel like doing it. But that’s just the down sides of entrepreneurship.

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?
I make candied fruit that ranges from pineapples , grapes and pickles. I also make chocolate covered strawberries. But i mostly specialize in candy fruit more specifically grapes. What sets me apart from other is the detail i put into orders and how i treat my customers. I’m very understanding and lenient when it comes to being late to pickup orders or not being able to pick it up because they’re low on money. At the end of the day we’re all human so i treat people with respect and grace. Things happen and i hear people out every time. I’m mostly proud of how far i’ve came with progress of my work . I look back at old pictures and videos and think it looks horrible but back then i thought it looked good . that’s how you know you’re growing. I want people to know that I have a variety of flavors and even sour sauces you can dip your candy fruit in . A lot of people. don’t know i also make chocolate covered strawberries but i do and offer a variety of different chocolates and there’s more to come as they get more popular. I’m located in lees summit/greenwood missouri and orders are pickup only

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
What i can say for this is just get online and follow those candy fruit pages and join the groups that talk about it. Seeing other people helped me tremendously and when i had questions the answers were usually in those groups. The biggest help i had skill wise was never from people i knew personally just people online who also make the same things i do trying to help others.

Pricing:

• •24 candied grapes -$20
• •12 candies grapes -$10
• •4 candied pineapples -$10
• •4 pineapples and 12 grapes -$20
• •dozen of chocolate covered strawberries-$25

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bakesy.shop/b/kandiedbykiah
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kandiedbykiah?igsh=MXo5NWw1NGNpa2w2