234. From a Broke College Student to a $500K/Year Pop-Up Food Business

0:00Most people only eat funnel cake once or twice a year, usually at a fair or a concert. But Cheyenne loved them so much in college that she would literally buy tickets to events just so she could get one. Eventually, she thought, why should this only exist at festivals? So with a makeshift setup, almost no money, and a lot of self-doubt, she started selling funnel cakes with her family. Today, that small idea has turned into Fundiggity, a home-based dessert business bringing in close to half a million dollars a year in revenue. I'm Ryan Atkinson and you're listening to the Healthfoot Podcast where we interview entrepreneurs to hear their advice on how you can start a business too.

0:39So today, I'm super excited to welcome Cheyenne, the founder of Fundiggity on this podcast to talk about the funnel cake business, which is so cool. So Cheyenne, thank you so much for being here.

0:49Cheyenne:Thank you so much for having me, Ryan. I'm super excited. I'm excited for you as well. So let's talk about Fundiggity first. If someone's hearing about you and Fundiggity for the first time, give us the quick 15-second pitch of what Fundiggity is. Okay, so Fundiggity Funnel Cakes is basically a pop-up shop that I created in 2016. And our overall goal is to connect families through Funnel Cakes. Previously, like how you kind of said is, you know, you always have to wait for a trip to an amusement park or wait for a seasonal fair. in it. So I wanted to change that and make FunnelCakes more accessible and affordable.

1:23Nice. I like it. And so I alluded to the intro, but half a million, almost like half a million dollars a year in revenue. What exactly like have you guys done in revenue just to give the scope of like how big this business is?

1:35Cheyenne:$350 ,000. That's insane. That is a very legit business and it all comes from FunnelCakes. So we're going to dive into that. Well, let's go back to your origin story on that. So because you were actually involved in pageants and you even became Miss Compton, which is cool, before starting the business. I mean, take us back to early day Cheyenne. Like what was life like before Fundiggity? Well, actually, I was in the 12th grade, senior, and I decided to enter this pageant that came to the community called the Miss Compton Pageant. This pageant, the mission, the overall mission is basically to change the negative stereotypes attached to the city of Compton.

2:08Cheyenne:You know, being from the inner city or a city like Compton, we have great and talented people that come out of here, but oftentimes it's overlooked with all of the negative. So the pageant is really here to just make a positive impact in the community. So I ended up winning the title in 2014. So I was Miss Compton 2014. And during my reign, I realized not only, yes, I love the glitz and the glam, right? But it was more so like, I love my community and I love going to these community events, being a public figure, speaking to the youth, all of these things. And so my reign was over after that year.

2:44Cheyenne:I'm like, Like, what can I continue to do to be a blessing to my community, to bring something different to my community? And so now I'm in college going into my freshman year. And I'm like, man, every time after midterms, I find myself traveling outside of my community just for a funnel cake experience. That's crazy. Yeah, it got so costly. I'm a struggling college student. I don't have much money. I'm driving so far outside like 30 plus miles to an amusement park waiting in a long line and all of these things and I say you know what I'm gonna try to start make your pillow cakes at home on my stove totally got into YouTube University found a little bit of information that was available then on there started practicing as much as I can and then I pitched the idea to my mom Sharon and she loved the idea she was the first one to open up her wallet to me and allow me to start this business And then we launched it right on our street in front of our home.

3:42Cheyenne:It was actually a busy main street. So like people can smell the funnel cake in the air. Brings back that nostalgic memory of the fair and things like that. And that's what led me to start Fundickity in 2016. So it started as a pop-up shop, but now we are now a retail brand as well. So that's how I'm able to also bring in all of this revenue. Yeah. And we're going to talk about that expansion. I do want to stick with this origin story here as well, because it sounds like, again, it was YouTube at university, how you got started. And I love that entrepreneurial spirit there. Let's talk about like the conversation like you had with your mom when you first pitched through the idea of like, hey, you know what?

4:16I want to like sell funnel kick. Like take us to that like moment in that conversation because it's such a unique idea. And I like absolutely love the idea. So take us to that moment with your mom.

4:26Cheyenne:Interesting enough, there was actually a few other minority owned pop-up shops going around LA. It was like during like right before the pandemic there was like this boom of you know black and brown people who wanted to start businesses of their own so I was actually going to get their food and was inspired by them originally they were doing everything from tacos to barbecue you know more savory foods but I realized like I love funnel cakes like I would literally drive so far I'm I don't even like rides after an amusement park so funnel cakes was my thing always have been since I was 10 years old.

5:02Cheyenne:So when I pitched this idea to my mom, I literally walked into her room and I'm like, mom, I have an idea. I think I want to start a business and I want to do funnel cakes. And she already knows my love for funnel cakes. So it wasn't really surprising to her, but she started grilling me. Like, what is it going to cost to start? What are you going to name the business? You know, just grilling me and grilling me. And I didn't have any of these answers yet. I just knew that I had an idea in my brain and I wanted to kind of bring it to her attention. And so she told me, better try to learn how to make funnel cakes and figure it out.

5:35Cheyenne:So I tested for like five months before I even just got confident enough to do it. So then I do want to paint the picture of what this first like pop-up shop looked like. And of course, we don't have like visuals or anything to throw up, but give us like the description of like, what is this first pop-up shop like look like here? So it actually happened on the 4th of July, which happens to be my mom's birthday. So my mom's birthday is on the 4th of July. So we always have a lot of friends and family who come over to celebrate. So I knew this would be a day where like I can get the opinions of others and those close to me.

6:08Cheyenne:So we threw this party and it was right in our front yard. I just had a tent, a couple tables, a funnel cake fryer, and some chairs just laid out. And my first banner that I got printed at Staples. And I literally just went from there, allowed everyone want to try them. We actually started at$5 for funnel cakes. So it really helped me in the beginning. It was a very low cost. Now looking back, considering, you know, the cost of goods and things like that, but it really helped me get my name out there. And people started to like, be like, wow, I can get a funnel cake for$5 and it's the best funnel cake I've had, you know?

6:46Cheyenne:Yeah. Oh yeah. I mean, a homemade funnel cake goes like a long ways. I feel like that would be like so good. I mean, what was that first day like for you? I mean, it's 4th of July, it's$5. People are probably in a good mood. I mean, do you remember what you like did in revenue that day? Oh, I am not sure what I did in revenue that day. But all I know is that I'm a college student and I made some money, you know, so it felt good. And I was like, you know what, I can keep on doing this. So it was just a mixed shift setup. Nothing spectacular. I love to tell people just start with what you have. We already had those tables.

7:15Cheyenne:We had a few chairs and I just bought a tent and a fryer. And that was the humble beginnings of fun diggity. That's what I wanted to bring up there. Like what I love about this story is like true entrepreneurial spirit. Like you just launched essentially. And like looking back on it, you might like cringe or you probably like laugh at it. But like, that's really how like entrepreneurs get started. Sounds like the advice that you're given there as well. Absolutely. And I have to thank my mom for that because there were moments that I faced a lot of self-doubt, even though I felt like I had a decent recipe.

7:43Cheyenne:But my mom was the one that just pushed me out there. You know, you're either going sink or you're going to swim. And we made a lot of mistakes that day, but no one knew, you know, so just go for it. You're never going to have everything set in stone at the beginning ever. I love it. And so talk to us about that as well. You know, like the imposter syndrome, is it something that you dealt with like early on, like launching a company? Like, was it your mom that helped you push through or talk to us about like imposter syndrome and like how you approach that early on and like, what do you know now?

8:13How do you advise other entrepreneurs to deal with that?

8:15Cheyenne:Yeah. So I think a lot of us, whether you're an entrepreneur or not, may face imposter syndrome. And I think it's something that I dealt with very early on in my youth as well. I think these things stem from not only the city that I'm from, Compton, California, but also just the circumstances that I was dealt. I come from humble beginnings. We struggled growing up, all of these things. And I think it kind of caused a lot of self-doubt, especially around money. Growing up, I realized that, you know, my mom would be struggling here and there, you know, as a single mom after divorcing my father. And I just really wanted to be responsible with my money and learn how to handle money well.

8:57Cheyenne:So I think a lot of my imposter syndrome, it stemmed from like my relationship with money. And so once I was able to break free from that, I think my confidence just skyrocketed. And again, being a pageant queen, that was one of the main benefits of being in a pageant is that it really brung out that confidence in me, allowed me to be a better speaker, talk to people from all walks of life, and just be more relatable and understanding to other people in their situations. And yeah, that's kind of how I overcome my imposter syndrome. So to anyone who is facing imposter syndrome, I think you should just, first you have to understand what you're facing, right?

9:35Cheyenne:You have to like look at it head on and be like, okay, you know what? maybe I have a fear of this or I doubt myself when it comes to this. Just acknowledge it first. I think that's the first step. Once you acknowledge it, then you can start to correct it every time it starts to come up in your life. And so that's kind of what I did. I'm really big on self development. And so over the years, I've really been able to just work on my self development. Are you ready to launch, grow and scale a business? Inside the Uplip Academy, you'll get a complete roadmap to shortcut your success with 25 plus step-by-step programs taught by active business owners, not gurus, who share their step-by-step blueprints, plus ongoing live workshops, skills training, a business idea database, and community to share resources and celebrate your wins.

10:23Click the link in the description below to join the FWIP Academy today and start surrounding yourself with the people and tools that can change everything for your business. I love that mindset there. That is so great. But I know the listeners are also curious like funnel cake, like how the heck do you like differentiate yourself? And like for you, like you focus on like three things, it's presentation, texture and taste. Like how do you dial like those three in and like how is that your differentiator?

10:46Cheyenne:My mom told me at the beginning of this, you have to solve a problem or a need in the community. And I knew I had this problem. My problem was I'm tired of driving outside of my community. It's too costly. Like, it's not affordable for real. Like, a funnel cake, most people end up sharing as a family because they just cost too much. And so I wanted to change those three things originally. So once I figured out, like, what is the need in my community? And then also being from the inner city, we don't have funnel cakes accessible to us. It's really hard to have a funnel cake experience. And so I really wanted to focus on presentation because oftentimes I would find I would get a funnel cake and it doesn't look that appetizing.

11:28Cheyenne:Even though I know how it's going to probably taste, you know, I can smell it. I've had it before. The presentation was never that great to me. And then two, the texture. Oftentimes I would go to an amusement park, craving this funnel cake for months. I finally get there and I only end up eating the top of the funnel cake because the rest of it is just too doughy, too dense and doesn't hold up. So presentation, texture, and then taste. I wanted a funnel cake that was lightweight, have that nice vanilla flavoring to it, stays crispy on the outside, moist on the inside. So these are the things that I focus on.

12:03Cheyenne:And I thought that amusement parks and places that are familiar to where you would get a funnel cake were not doing. And so that's kind of how my social media blew up as well is because I focused on presentation. And my presentation really changed the game for how a funnel cake looks. the way we stack the ice cream on top of the fruit and the whipped cream and drizzle the syrup. It's an art. So I think of funnel cakes as an art. That's a phenomenal bridge. And I appreciate that because I actually wanted to ask you about social media next. So talk to us about the role social media has played in your growth.

12:36And have you spent anything on paid marketing? And then talk to us about like how social media has blown up your brand.

12:40Cheyenne:Believe it or not, again, at the time when I created Fundiggity, I was a college student, so I didn't have money. And at that time in 2016, ads wasn't even as big as they are now. Paid ads wasn't nearly what it is today. So believe it or not, I had never advertised or run any ads in the beginning of my company. I literally just started with an Instagram page and posting daily on there. And word of mouth is what got me to where I am today. So I like to always tell people, don't think you need to spend a lot of money on advertisement to get your name out there. Again, start with what you have. Use social media platforms and I wasn't shy to being in front of the camera.

13:21Cheyenne:So I think that saved me a lot. And also with me already having a reign as Ms. Compton, I already had a following, you know, I already had a follower base. My community already knew me. So it was easy for them to like know my story already and want to support me, not only just because I'm selling funnel cakes, but because I am who I am and they know where I come from, where I started and they wanted to support. So social media, literally Instagram at the beginning. That was all I had. Totally took my business to the next level. People love to like interact with like food posts and stuff. And we even see that with our own channel with like Uplip and everything.

13:55So for you, like, is there like a framework of like, you know, was it just consistency or like what's your secret sauce essentially to social media? That's what I'm asking.

14:05Cheyenne:Again, no one has really seen the process of funnel cakes, right? Like you go to an amusement park, you know what it is, but you've never truly seen the process of it. So that was number one. I was showing the process, letting them see the fryer, letting them see how I poured the batter, how I make the batter, showing them a different side of it. Again, not even knowing I'm setting them up to be confident enough to possibly make funnel cakes on their own. And then two would be, I would just literally make videos. So I think it had a lot to do with being personable. So I would just make videos.

14:42Cheyenne:Hey guys, it's Cheyenne. Fun diggity. We're open at 3 p.m. today. Come see us. This is the menu. You know, I would make videos like that a lot. So it was constantly me in their face. So those were the two things that I think really allowed the traction to come was personalized videos in real time saying I'm open today or this, this and that. And even the bad stuff. When bad things would happen with the business, I'd be like, guys, my tent blew away today. You know, literally that happened before. So I would show them everything in real time. And then on the flip side is the process of how I make the funnel cakes, what my grease looks like, the kind of ingredients we use, the decorating process.

15:22Super good. A question that comes to mind here as well. You got opportunities serving people like Kendrick Lamar at like a Kendrick Lamar event. Like that is so cool. Like how did something like that come about? Because that has to be such like a great revenue driver.

15:35Cheyenne:OMG so like seriously OMG that was like a dream come true because Kendrick Lamar is part of the reason why I joined the pageant as well when he first dropped his first album Good Kid Mad City on the album his mom talks about give back to your community and do it with your words of encouragement and teach these young black and brown kids that they can do anything they want to do that stuck with me and so years later now here I am I'm very community based I'm in the community. It was just really the right opportunity. What really happened is I ran into the wife of TDE, which is the record label, at Raising Canes.

16:13Cheyenne:And I was just doing my regular entrepreneur stuff. I'm just passing out flyers. I'm passing out flyers because of new Raising Canes had opened out here in Los Angeles. So I'm in there in the line. I said, I might as well pass out some of my flyers. I ended up giving her a flyer and she came to try the funnel cakes. And she, through word of mouth, told them about me. And we've been like this ever since. So I do the TDE toy giveaway every year. They throw a huge concert in the inner city for anyone to come to where they bring all of their roster of artists. And it's a free concert. All you have to do is bring a gift.

16:49Cheyenne:And I'm able to be there the next day when they give those toys and gifts to the children in the community free of charge. They get shoes, clothes, toys, and funnel cakes. So it's really been a blessing to be able to be a part of that because that's why I do it, right? It's like to connect families and that's the ultimate event for me. I want to connect that with our audience as well, like how that like all happens and stuff. It's so cool to like just hearing this conversation with you is like a lot of your why it seems like is like very community driven, which is just like such a cool like story to have, especially as you're like coming on podcasts and like talking You really are like community driven with this business.

17:27Cheyenne:I really am. And I think that's why I've had success too, because it never started like me doing this for money. It truly started for me wanting to provide a service to my community that we did not have, you know? And I wish when I was growing up and I was a 10 year old little girl, I can go down the street in my community and have a funnel cake experience. So my pop-up shop has kind of become a safe haven, a fun activity for parents to bring their kids too. And just a nice out and where you don't have to go so far outside of your community or spend a lot of money and we can break bread together.

18:00Let's fast forward a little bit because as I understand, you guys have like a retail shop now. So tell us more about like opening that, like when did the retail opportunity come up for your team and why'd you do it?

18:09Cheyenne:In 2016, I started the pop-up. So I've been doing that now. It'll be 10 years in July. So I can't believe I've been doing this for a decade. I know. It's so crazy to even think about. Like I literally started this in college. I'm 32 now. So it's very crazy. So I've been doing the pop-up for going on 10 years, but I went through a transition and my first pivoting moment in 2020 during the pandemic. I had never pivoted my company before. We started to struggle. The cost of inventory went up. I'm serving funnel cakes out of my house and now it's a pandemic. People can't come to my house like that anymore.

18:43Cheyenne:So things got really scary for me, honestly. It was a tough time. And so I found myself pivoting my company. And then that's when I had the bright idea. What if customers can make funnel cakes at home? So that's how it came about during the pandemic. So I did again back to YouTube University. I'm a self-taught entrepreneur. I didn't really have any mentors. There's businesses around me and different programs I'm thankful to have been in now. But before then, I was fully self-taught. So I'm teaching myself like about manufacturers, about how to create a product line. all of these things, formulas, everything.

19:19Cheyenne:And I found a really great manufacturer that happens to be woman-owned. So I was like, wow, woman-owned? And they knew what I was doing and they wanted to support me. They allowed me to do my first run for a very low amount of units than they regularly would do. Like, I don't know if the audience is aware, but most runs for a product is like 10 ,000 units and up. They let me slide for much lower than that just because they believed in my story and the way that I picked to them. And so we came up with the formula. I went through the entire process. I wanted to be very hands-on because I needed the funnel cake mix to taste exactly like the product I've been serving.

20:02Cheyenne:I didn't want to compromise quality, taste, any of that. And so it took me a while to do that. And then in 2021 is when I launched Fun Diggity Funnel Cake Mix, started my online business. And yeah, that's how I got to the Funnel Cake Mix. And it's really been taken off and really has allowed me to create more strings of income out of just a pop-up shop. Let's hammer home again. Give us like the 22nd of what Fun Diggity is. So it's a funnel cake mix that people can like order from the retail shop and make their own funnel cakes. I want to clarify that for the audience. So Fun Diggity Funnel Cake Mix connects families through funnel cakes by providing a nostalgic funnel cake experience from the comfort of your own home.