Wedding Planner and Photographer to S’mores Cart Entrepreneurs: Meet Elyse Rowen and Kelley Williams of San Luis Obispo, California
In this episode, host Jenny Dempsey sits down with Elyse Rowen and Kelley Williams, two unstoppable entrepreneurs who both run their own individual companies of planning weddings and capturing moments behind the camera to creating a luxury dessert experience with The S'mores Cart in San Luis Obispo, California.
It all started with a lightbulb moment during a road trip to Disneyland. But turning that idea into a successful business wasn’t all marshmallows and chocolate. Elyse and Kelley share the highs and lows of building their dream, from their first disastrous event to crafting unforgettable s’mores experiences for their customers.
These two best friends prove that with passion, resilience, and a sprinkle of creativity, failure is just fuel for the fire. Their story is packed with inspiration for anyone thinking about flipping careers, starting a business, or simply chasing a dream.
Takeaways:
Connect with The S'mores Cart
Don’t miss this inspiring episode filled with grit, gooey marshmallows, and the magic of friendship!
Jenny Dempsey (00:00.278)
And honestly, there's something really beautiful and scary about needing to make it work. So almost like not having that security blanket or that cushion and just it lights this fire under you that you literally have to keep going and make it work. So I've always really loved that mentality of failure is not an option. And if it's something that you're passionate about, it will eventually work out. You're going to find a way to make it happen.
Welcome to the Career Flipper, the podcast that gets real about career changes. Each week, I sit down with people from all over the world, from all kinds of industries, to explore how they make the leap from point A to point B and everything in between. We have a lot to learn from one another, and we'll dig into the twists, turns, wins, and yes, the occasional glass explosion along the way. Okay, don't worry, everyone's all right, and that will make a lot more sense later.
I'm your host, Jenny Dempsey. After an unexpected pivot on my own career path, I couldn't stop wondering how and why people actually change their careers. And that curiosity turned into this podcast. So if career stories inspire you, or you're thinking about making a change yourself, hit subscribe. New episodes drop every Thursday. Today we're chatting with two natural born entrepreneurs, Elise Rowan and Kelly Williams of San Luis Obispo, California, who've turned their passion for creativity
and tasty treats into something seriously sweet. Elise runs her own wedding planning company, Elise Events, and Kelly has her own wedding photography business, Kelly Williams Photography. They both met at, as you can guess, a wedding industry event, instantly becoming best friends. And on a road trip to Disneyland, the idea for the s'mores cart, a luxury dessert experience, was born. They thought getting it all set up would be smooth sailing, but the journey got a little toasty.
But here's the thing about these two. Failure is just fuel for their fire. They refuse to settle for anything less than success, learning from every bump in the road and roasting up even better ideas. In this episode, they share how their drive, friendship, and love for a good challenge turn their business into something great. We'll also talk about their creative process. Yes, there is a s'mores tasting party involved. Count me in. And the mindset that keeps them pushing forward
Jenny Dempsey (02:26.686)
no matter what. So grab a snack and join us for this deliciously inspiring chat that might just light the fire to your own career flow. So I've always been the type of person with the s'mores that I like the marshmallow really, really grilled. Like I want the grilled marshmallow and a lot of people think that is gross, but I am not weirdo. I don't know. Do you ever find people like asking for the charred marshmallow or
Because I look at the picture and beautiful, but the way I like it, it's not a beautiful marshmallow. That's actually a challenge that we've run into because I'm also a person who really loves to have it like just give me as charred and as black as you can get it. But it's we can't blow it out. So it's actually like a health code violation. If it catches fire, we can't blow on it and serve it.
The things you learn starting a business with s'mores. I'd to say they're perfectly toasted. There you go. beautiful golden, golden toast. I love it. I love it. I'm so glad to have you both here talking about delicious s'mores, but also you've started a business with this and flipped your careers to make it happen. Elise, Kelly, thank you so much for being here from the s'mores cart. Tell everybody about you both.
Yeah, thank you so much for having us. My name is Elise. Yes, and I'm Kelly. And we both actually met in the wedding industry. So we had both had our separate businesses. Mine was Elise Evans. I'm a wedding planner. And then Kelly is a wedding photographer. We met at like a
a training for a wedding expo that we were both gonna do. And we were the only ones eating food. We gravitated towards each other. And we very quickly became best friends in the wedding industry. Exactly. We were both like sitting in the front and I always love someone who's just in the front. I'm a sit in the front type of girl as well. And yeah, we were the only ones eating food. And I'm like, I like this girl already. I don't know her.
Jenny Dempsey (04:46.895)
We're like, we allowed to be eating? We're the only people eating. So we bonded over food. But yeah, we became best friends and we had talked about always having a business together because we just thought we're both like badass female entrepreneurs and we can totally do this. And for us starting our, you know,
our businesses individually, seemed like, I mean, for me at least, and I think it was the same for Kelly, it was kind of like cake. Like it kind of just fell into place and, you know, so we thought, oh, this will be so easy for us to do this together. And we had absolutely no idea what we were getting into.
It was literally the day before my birthday, we were driving to Disneyland and I was telling Kelly, I'm like, you know what, bookings have been kind of slow. We need to have some kind of like side hustle. And I had this kind of crazy idea. I don't think I'm going to do it, but I was kind of thinking about having like a s'mores car. And it was just like this random.
idea that I brought up to Kelly. We always talk about like a random idea that we bring together. And she was like, I'll go in on it with you. And I was like, what? And she was like, all in, like from the time I brought it up. And I was like, oh my God. And got so excited. And literally the whole rest of the trip, we talked about our ideas for the s'mores cart.
Yeah, absolutely. And I think especially being entrepreneurs in our own businesses, I think we always knew we would like do a business together. I think once you have your first business as an entrepreneur, it literally like spirals like, then it's not as hard, right? Once you take that first leap of starting your own business, starting another business does not seem as like, I don't know, arduous, I guess. And yeah, when she had the idea and like, this is amazing. I love it.
Jenny Dempsey (06:56.804)
especially being already kind of in the wedding industry, our idea at first was like the cart can be used for like weddings, but also can be used for anything. We actually do a lot of corporate events as well. So it was just, I don't know, such a good idea. I love this lady. I was like, love you too. And also too, like because we're at weddings all the time, we saw kind of this need for, you know, there's really been a shift towards unique dessert experiences at weddings and events.
And so many of my clients would want to do s'mores, but there either wouldn't be a fire pit or they didn't want to have to bring all the supplies. It's messy. It takes people away from the dance floor. And I was like, what if we just had a cart where we're roasting the s'mores, we're serving them up and people can just literally come grab one and we provide everything. So you don't have to worry about the mess. You don't have to worry about, you know, like, is it, is there a fire pit on site? Do we need to bring something in? It's just like.
easy. It's more of like a luxury dessert experience. And it's never been done before, which in the beginning we were like, my gosh, how has no one thought of this? And then as we're going through the process, we were like, this is why they don't exist. I can't wait to get into more of that. Not to change the conversation, but I want to ask a couple of questions because
So you both were in the wedding industry. What were you doing before that? Did you have other types of jobs before? Like, how did you get into the, how did you both get into the wedding industry before that? I'll say, do you me go first? So I had actually a very corporate job. went to, my undergrad is in environmental science. My master's is in urban planning. I was working for the California High Speed Rail Authority and I hated my life.
And I always pursued, like photography was a hobby. My grandfather was a wedding photographer. And so I like grew up with cameras, especially film cameras. Like it was just always just like this creative outlet. And I think also for my grandfather, his like horror wedding stories, it was just like, don't do this for a living basically. So I was in California and this job that I hated, also I'm from the East coast. So I had like moved to the West coast and
Jenny Dempsey (09:17.702)
didn't know anyone at this job I hated and I just started pursuing like photography is just like this creative outlet like just you know like back to your roots of like what makes you happy what makes you feel good and I literally was just like finding random strangers on Craigslist to take their photo not safe probably but I'm okay I'm alive.
It's a very like safe sleepy area. So I felt very safe. But anyway, so yeah, I started doing that. And then I was like at a breaking point of my job where it was truly like a Wednesday. And I told my boss like, I'm quitting like today's my last day. Like I didn't even give it to Friday. Like that's how much I hated this job. Like I was having like panic attacks. Like I couldn't sleep. It was horrible. So.
I remember my boss was like, how much money can we offer you to stay? And I was like, there is literally no number you can give me that would make me at this shop. So yeah, I quit. But then obviously I had the, I guess, panic of like.
Oh shit, like I have bills, like what am supposed to do? And my husband was just like, why don't you try like charging people? Like you've been taking pictures for months now, like just doing it for free. And you love it. Like what if you just charged people? And I was like, no one is going to pay me a dollar to like photograph for them. But he suggested it. I put like, once again, an ad on Craigslist. Shout out to you Craigslist, not sponsored. I put up an ad for like a hundred dollars and this
A lovely lady hired me to photograph her and her kids as they explored the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Because she was like, I'm a single mom, I never get photos of my kids. So it was this beautiful experience. And then I shot my first wedding six months after that. And then the maid of honor from that wedding hired me for her wedding. And it just snowballed and fully changed my life for the best.
Jenny Dempsey (11:22.876)
Something I love about Kelly is that he just goes for it. And she's such a, it's so her personality to just show up to work one day and be like, I'm quitting. Like she just, she, you know, does not care. Like she'll just burn a bridge and move on if it's not good for her, which I love. I love it so much. One is to suffer one day of moving on.
And I guess for myself, I grew up with two parents who were entrepreneurs. So I kind of came out of the womb knowing I was going to do my own business. Cause I saw that they had, you know, the flexibility and you know, you're just able to advance so much further when you have your own business and work for yourself. And I was like, that's just what I'm going to do eventually.
I studied psychology and I just loved it. I knew for what I wanted to do, I didn't necessarily need a degree, but I did think that the college experience was important, something I wanted to do, but I really just had a passion for psychology. thought at some point I might be a therapist, my mom, my aunt are both therapists. I quickly learned that that was not the route for me. And I wanted to be with people on the happiest days of their lives instead of the worst.
So I, right after graduating, I got hired on with some local hotel in the area and I was doing all of the weddings and events for that hotel. I absolutely fell in love with it. And the only experience I'd had prior to that was assisting a local wedding planner on like two weddings. And I just absolutely fell in love with it. And I was like, this is literally what I need to be doing. And I, you know, right after college, was fortunate enough to get hired on.
They promoted me to a sister property four months later. And then eventually I started asking for more money and they were like, no. And I was like, that's fine. I'm going to go do my own thing. So basically I'll give you guys six months because I wanted to still finish out the season. And then when it came time for me to leave, they were like, you were serious.
Jenny Dempsey (13:35.239)
And same with Kelly. They're like, we can offer you more money. We can give you a job. It'll change. And I was like, I've already been building it. Like I'm out. So I just left before I had like one booking. Like I literally had one booking when I left and everyone thought I was insane. They're like, are you, how are you going to pay your bills? Like, what are you going to do? What's your plan? And I, there was never a doubt in my mind, which like is kind of weird because most people that you talk to, feel like.
They're like, so scary. Like you didn't know what the future was going to hold. And for me, I just had this like completely delusional mentality that I was like, it's, just going to work out. It's going to be fine. Like I have no qualms. Everyone's freaking out for no reason. And it just worked out. So I don't know if that was like manifesting or what, but I started getting bookings and yeah, I just fell in love with it. it's, it's been really fun, but I, I mean, I
lemonade stands when I was a kid, we would sell old Halloween candy like we were host from day one. So my gosh, I love that hearing both of your backgrounds and then you meet at an event and you're both the only ones eating and you connect instantly. I love that a good connection over food. I am with you and I would front row to I'm sitting in that front row as well. And and then you're driving to Disneyland and
At least like, did you love s'mores? Like how did that idea kind of pop in your head initially? Like, is that your favorite like dessert or where did that come from? Everyone who knows me knows that I have an actual addiction to sugar. Kelly's laughing, she knows. Chocolate is like my thing and I have loved s'mores always.
But the thing about s'mores is it's not something you can really just go buy already made. Like you've got to make it yourself. And if you don't have like, you know, a stove that's got fire, like I have an electric stove, so I can't roast s'mores. I would literally be like putting things in the oven trying to get the same effect.
Jenny Dempsey (15:42.411)
So s'mores is just something I always loved and it was something that didn't exist already because you know, there's donut carts, there's ice cream trucks, there's all that. And I was like, there's no s'mores, there needs to be s'mores. How come this isn't a thing, you know? And Kelly was just so all in, like no questions asked. She was like, I'll do it with you. And we were just so excited and it just completely snowballed. Literally, my birthday is January 24th.
So this was January 23rd, we had the idea of driving to Disneyland. And by February 1st, we had the business license, the LLC, the domains, the insurance. Like it was a fully formed business within like a week. Wow. Wow. I feel like that really shows our personalities. It was thought of and like became real in a week. It is very much like our personalities and probably why we're such good friends.
yeah, we'll send each other like 15 minute long voice messages back and forth. there were days where we were literally just on the phone with each other the whole day, like doing stuff for the business. We had this spreadsheet going and we were like, we can do this in our sleep. We already started businesses, but because it's food, it's so different. And we literally had no idea. Like looking back on it now, it's so funny because we were so naive to think like, we can just put like
2500 each into this business and it'll be up and going within like three months. So like it'll be fine. And then fast forward, it took us from January until September to actually get it operational because there was so much involved, which like Kelly said, it's our personalities to be working on it constantly, just make that within a week, it was already a business. So the fact that it took us nine months to actually get it operational just kind of shows.
how many obstacles there were along the way. Wow. Yeah. And especially with like the fire. So like our cart has an actual like fire pit. Like we are roasting like s'mores in our very easy, like transportable cart. And we're like, Oh, like no other sports company has like real fire, like a fire pit. Like ours is going to be so cool and so unique. It's like, well, there's a reason that a lot.
Jenny Dempsey (18:08.779)
There's something about a real fire pit. It's just like even like the materials bring you figuring out which like glass to get like you want a glass that like won't shatter. It needs to be like fireproof to a certain temperature degree. It also has to be sturdy because it was like being moved. It's a mobile cart.
Um, I don't know. At least do you want to share that story of like our first event? Yeah, let's hear it. I still have not recovered. That was, that was over a year ago and I'm still not okay thinking about that. We, so, you know, Kelly and I were so excited to finally get this event or to finally get the cart like up and going because the building process was just truthfully such a bitch. And it was so much money. Like we dumped so much into this and then between like
you know, the health permits and just all of the different hoops we had to jump through and thinking about, transportation, how are we getting this thing to events? Because it's not a truck that can drive itself. So we went through trying to do a trailer. That didn't work. We went through having to purchase a van to transport it. And so we put so much into this and we were like, well,
finally happening. We have this great event. It was actually an event for skateboarders and it's like professional skateboarders, amateur skateboarders, skate safari. And it's this really amazing event. We were so grateful that they wanted us to be part of it and kind of showcase our cart for the first time, but it's a massive event. So we were prepared for like 400, 500 people. We had three girls staffed. We had
you know, like all of the ins and outs of how are we refrigerating everything because we're dropping it off the day before and how are we making sure like the chocolate doesn't melt and how are we fresh and we couldn't drive right to the site where it was. The girls had to basically hike in with all the supplies and Kelly and I actually both had weddings on that same day. So we were both at weddings during all of this and we're just trying to like check in with them over the phone.
Jenny Dempsey (20:18.005)
Our manager, Lauren, also works for me. She's my project coordinator with Elise Events. So she's talking to them and all of a sudden I look over and I see Lauren on the phone and her face just drops. And she's looking at me. We make eye contact from across the room and I'm like, my God, something happened. Because there was so much pressure on this event and we put probably like $1,000 worth of like supplies and preparation just into this event.
And I see that something is like drastically wrong. So I go over to Lauren and mind you, this is in the middle of the wedding that we're planning. And I go over to her and she says, the glass shattered, like it exploded. And my heart sank into my stomach because they hadn't even been serving for more than 10 minutes. And we were like, my gosh, what? And my first question I was like, are the girls okay? Like how bad is it? What happened?
You know, and the pictures that we got were so, I mean, it looked like it had hailed glass everywhere. It was covering everything. It was in the food. It was like on the ground everywhere. And I just was like, what are we going to do? Because we've put so much into this, but I was like, it's a safety hazard. We can't have the girls keep going. So literally after 10 minutes of them being there, they had to pack everything up.
and leave and I was like, just leave the cart. Kelly and I will get it tomorrow. Just leave, you know, leave everything. Just take the food and you guys can go. But it was so heartbreaking. And then I had to call Kelly and I was texting her. I'm like, we need to talk. When are you free? When are you going to be eating dinner? And then I called her and I was like, are you sitting down? And Kelly was like, Elise, you're scaring me.
My first thought was like, everyone's dead. Like, I thought like, okay. Like, they died. Morris disaster. Oh my god. And I was like, the glass exploded. She's like, are the girls okay? I'm like, yes, they're okay. Thank God. Like, I don't know how because the girls don't wear goggles. We're not anticipating glass exploding. And people come right up to the cart and be like watching it. The fact that no one was injured. was like...
Jenny Dempsey (22:36.449)
But it was so scary because we realized in that moment, like, this is such a massive liability because we're dealing with propane, we're dealing with fire, we're dealing with the girls driving a van, like the glass, you know? So then we had to, we basically realized that we had the wrong type of glass, even though we were told that that glass would be fine. We have learned through trial and error.
that there is a type of glass that you can use for this sort of situation. And we've since had that glass, but even just getting the new glass, like, that glass is more breakable. So they shipped it to us three different times. It broke all three times. Like we've had to change the design. It's been, it's been a process. Wow. And that's a lot. Like thank goodness Snowbone was her, but I could see why you haven't forgot about that. I would
My heart is like, my gosh, but that's, you know, you're, you're new to the scene. You got this big event and then this happens. How did you keep going despite this? Like what was in your like hearts and your souls and your minds that said, keep going despite these really big, clearly huge obstacles that you had never faced before. Lots of time, lots more money than you expected. What kept you going?
That is a really great question. That's a good question. I mean, Kelly and I must have asked ourselves that like, what, how many times Kelly throughout the process, did we down and be like, do we just... It was especially after that, like that event was so... A loss because like, not only just like the financial loss, but like the emotional loss, because like, like Elise said, like, you know, we were thinking this thing would be ready by like...
March, April, and then it got pushed to May and then June and then July and then just kept getting pushed, pushed, pushed. was like our first event and a really big event. We were the only dessert vendor at the whole place. So we're like, my gosh, we're going to be like, this is going to be so successful. And I think the loss of it, the
Jenny Dempsey (24:49.719)
It also brought the fear of how Elise was saying, like, oh, this is like an actual liability. Like, people could have really got hurt. And, you know, like, we wanted to sing at, like, kids' events. We're like, could you imagine if we were at a kids' event and, this exploded on all these children? You know, it's just, it was really scary. And I think, especially at that point in time, I think also this is very much more Elise's personality than mine, because that's why she's a wedding planner. She's very problem-solved. Like, okay, this happened. How do we fix it? How do
I probably cried. think I just was like, handle emergencies so differently, which is in our day to day life. But I think at that first moment, wasn't, I mean, yes, of course we had the idea of like, should we just quit? But also we were like, there's so much invested in this business and it hasn't even had its first event. Like, I feel like we couldn't, we couldn't let it go because it hadn't even started. And that's like what really kept us going was,
how much we had invested because like I said, we thought in the beginning this would take like $5,000 between the two of us. And now here we are multiply that by like so much. We can't pack it up. It would have been for nothing. Like we have to keep going. But it was definitely, that was the first moment where I think we both really sat down and we're like, are we gonna continue doing this? Like we were like, is this a sign from the universe with every obstacle we've hit? We're like,
Is this the universe trying to tell us that this is a really bad idea, that something horrible is going to happen? We've just been hit with every single roadblock. And I'm like, we have to keep going. We have to see this through. We can't stop now. And we were so excited about it. But at that point, it had almost become this great burden also because
All of our friends and family knew that we were starting this cart and so many people in the wedding industry knew because we're a very tight knit community on the central coast. So people would come up to us at events and be like, how's the s'mores cart going? And they'd be so excited and Kelly and I, it's just like the light has left our eyes. like, there's no more joy in this because it had just been so hard. And fortunately we've gotten that back because
Jenny Dempsey (27:03.785)
we did make it onto the other side. But there were definitely a lot of points where we were like, this could have just been a really terrible idea. Yeah. I think also, because we are entrepreneurs, we understand, which I think for a lot of people, this was our first venture into entrepreneurship, I think it would have been a different story. But I think because...
We already like our entrepreneurs already have our own businesses. This is our this is like our second business and supposed to be like this side hustle like Our perspective was like we got to give it a chance and I really praise Elise for that because there were times I was like Elise honey, like we like I don't know. I don't know if I can keep going and she was like What if this is like our million dollar idea? Like what if this is it? We just have to get through all the
you know, all the kings, which is true. Like we had to figure out the glass, we had to buy a van so we can transport it and like all these things like, which in reality now looking back at it, that was just like the cost of doing business, right? Like the cost of figuring out something that has never been done before. It takes time and unfortunately it takes money. But being the other side of it, the light has come back. I love it again. But it was a process.
think too, like, yeah, I didn't want to look back on it and be like, what if we had been this close to it making it? You know, like I would always regret it. would be like, we never saw what it could be, you know? And so now like, I think we both had so much hope for what it could be, because we had this vision of what we wanted it to look like, and we're still well on our way. Like I said, this is a very new business, but you know, we had so many plans for it.
I'm like, we can't give up on our side, baby. you kept going and you didn't give up. You had that belief, even though all of these hurdles and roadblocks and looking back now, you're like, yeah, like we figured it out. That's who you both are. And you both work together so well to figure out the problems, all the ups and downs. And now how many events in are you and
Jenny Dempsey (29:26.621)
and the light is back in your eyes and you're enjoying it. So how is it going with everything? And then also, side question, how do you balance your own independent businesses and, you know, this side hustle problem child, but also had its glow up and is doing amazing. So how do you juggle it all? Two questions there. Do you want me to start,
So Kelly and I knew from the beginning that that was going to be like our greatest hurdle in all of this was, you know, we're both very committed to our individual businesses and we don't have the time to be running this other business as well. So we knew from day one that we needed a manager.
We both have always adored my project coordinator, Lauren. She's incredible. We say she's our hero. She's our everything. And we were like, Lauren, we're starting this business. We have this idea. Would you want to be the manager? Because she's fully capable. We have 100 % trust in her. And she's truthfully probably the only person I would have trusted with that role. And Kelly knows her too. We love her the same way.
she was on board and that's been such a huge game changer is having the manager. So, know, Kelly and I are really like the investors and we're the directors of everything and we're, you know, making sure everything's staying on track. But with Lauren, she's the one who's communicating with clients. She's the one scheduling the cart tenders, ordering supplies. Like she's doing all
the businessy stuff and we're just kind of like in the background supporting at this point, which is really what we wanted it to get to. We wanted to be able to be hands off. We can still go work it a time or two if we want to. Like Kelly and I just worked it together at a wedding expo and that was really fun. But for the most part, we wanted it to basically be able to run itself with really good employees. And that's really how we're able to balance it now. When we were getting it started, it was a lot.
Jenny Dempsey (31:31.815)
because there was so much more work involved from the two of us, but now we are able to be more hands off, which is such a blessing. Yeah, for sure. I think having a team and not trying to just like run it ourselves has been the best thing ever. And, you know, we, hard finding the right people and we're so fortunate that we got Lauren when we did. And I also think it helps having a third person, right? So it's like me and Elise, obviously we're like,
50-50 co-owners of our business. But sometimes you just need a third person to break a tie or add a different perspective and opinion. And Lauren is someone that we trust so much and she has such a great perspective on the business as well. We always value her opinion and her insight. I couldn't even tell you how many events we've done so far, but it's definitely been a lot. I don't even have a number. I'd say a couple of months.
Right? least a couple of months. Sometimes there's three in a month. And I think what was surprising for us is that we really went into this thinking this was going to be like weddings, birthday parties, know, like celebration kind of events. And we've really done a lot of corporate events, like, you know, and wineries have had us out there and we've done, you know, a lot of stuff that's not in the wedding industry, which is funny. Like we have done a lot of weddings, but it's kind of pivoted to more being corporate, which is
really cool because that's something that we weren't originally thinking. But yeah, we have done quite a bit of events. In our first year, we definitely did more than we were anticipating. So we're hoping that that will just kind of keep on going. Yeah. And we've had some destination events like in LA where our team has gone and stayed overnight, had a great hotel. it's- At Early Hills, they were- were loving it. Yeah. So this idea-
that came into your mind and you brought it up on the ride to Disneyland has now turned into something that had a lot of ups, a lot of ups and downs, a lot of glass, but here we are and you're thriving and you're bringing so much joy to people through something. It's a completely unique experience. Like, I mean, I've worked in the customer experience industry for, for many, many years, and that is what it's all about. Doing something that's really going to like,
Jenny Dempsey (33:59.876)
provide a very unique experience, at the same time s'mores are such a nostalgic food and they're such a wonderful treat. I mean, I've looked at your, you know, your website and I see the different kinds. How do you come up with them? Do you both do it together? Do you have like tasting parties? Like how does that work? need to know. It's exactly as adorable as you would envision. Yeah. Kelly.
I think we, especially as the business has grown, we kind of like just changed how, because we always want to be gourmet, right? It's like a gourmet luxury dessert experience. And I think we first started just like thinking of cute names or like our s'mores that could go with each of the months of the year. So we had like, obviously for November, like maybe a fun pumpkin-y one and a peppermint one for December. So it kind of started there. And I think we just,
grew from there of different ingredients and we try to fit a lot of different palates. We have, you like a more savory one or a more sweet one, like our favorite is the lemon meringue. my gosh, that sounds like, all the marshmallows are like handmade by a local, baker. So they're so fresh, so delicious. So that one is like a lemon marshmallow with white chocolate, honey graham cracker.
with whipped cream and then like yellow sprinkles. Stop that sounds insane. Yes, we do have tasting parties. We do because we had to try them. We're like, is this actually good or are we just coming up with things that we think sound good and then they're terrible? We would taste test everything at my house and it was yeah, that was kind of we would tweak the menu. We've tweaked the menu a lot. Actually, we've added on different flavors like we've got one that's got cookie dough chunks in it.
But it's fun and it's cool seeing people get excited about it too because no one's seen anything like that. So whenever it's at an event, people like light up. They're just like, my gosh, s'mores. It's different flavors. Like people just get so excited and that's really cool to see too. Yeah. And we do still keep the OG. The OG of just like the Hershey's chocolate, marshmallow, graham crackers is always on, it's gonna always be on the menu. It's called our OG.
Jenny Dempsey (36:24.654)
And but it's so fun to like explore different flavors and we have like gluten free options for like allergies. Like it's so great. And smoreo bites. We added smoreo bites too. my gosh. That's amazing. How fun. I, I love this. I love this. And for anyone listening, please definitely go look at the types that they have. Like
Just when you see it, it's just like, is a completely unique experience and they are just like amazing. They're beautiful. And how can people, how can people find you? Because you, you really do lend to so many different experiences, whether it's corporate, whether it's wedding, whether it's a birthday party or who knows what, how can people find you, bring you to their event and really up level their s'more game.
You can find us on Instagram at the S'mores Cart and on our website the smorescart.com. And if you want to email us and email Lauren, she's the one who handles it, but you want to email Lauren, we're just info at the S'mores Cart.
our Instagram is very active, but yeah, our website has all the details on pricing and you know, all the different flavors. We try to be very transparent and you can also get favors as well. So even if you don't want to have the cart service and you just want to have some cute stocking stuffers or it's someone's party or you want to have favors that like a bridal shower or something, you can just get the favors and we'll come like drop them off. So
That's another option too. We're just constantly expanding with all the different ideas. But yeah, our Instagram, our website at the s'mores cart. Um, so we would love to work with anybody who's interested. love it. I love it. And you know, your story really sums up for me, just the, the power of, of continuing and to keep going. Even when things get real ugly, real shitty and you kept going. And I'm curious if you,
Jenny Dempsey (38:27.394)
either of you or both of you have any last pieces of advice for someone who might be listening right now, who might be going through all of the shit, like trying to figure it out. Maybe they're thinking that they shouldn't keep going. What advice do you have for them? I, for me, I think just having the mentality that failure is not an option. So I think that's been something for both Kelly and I is that we kind of burned the bridge and we were like, we
to make it work because there is no other option. So I think a lot of times people that I've talked to, they will wait until they feel like they're ready or they're financially stable enough to take the leap. And honestly, there's something really beautiful and scary about needing to make it work. So almost like not having that security blanket or that cushion and just, it lights this fire under you that you literally have to keep going and make it work.
I've always really loved that mentality of failure is not an option. And if it's something that you're passionate about, it will eventually work out. You're gonna find a way to make it happen. And if that's not your personality, maybe it's not for you. But most entrepreneurs that I've met, they have this passion for it. And that's what I would say. Yeah, I love that. I was gonna say about the passion. that...
If there's a time where you're obviously like going through it and you just need to take a break, like sometimes you need to like reset, right? like step away, refresh, come back to it like passionate because there were definitely times where I was like, least I need to like not talk about the s'mores cart for a little bit like, because I want to burn it down. So don't want to burn it down. need to like take break and come back. So yeah, giving yourself that permission to like take five.
come back stronger and refreshed. It could be so helpful. Take five or 10. Kelly and I would literally have, we're like, okay, we're not going to talk about this. Like we cannot speak about the s'mores cart for a week and then we'll revisit this when we're not angry or sacked. And yeah, also I think too, you know, having my individual business, it's been so fun and such a dream come true, but doing this with Kelly, I'm going to get emotional.
Jenny Dempsey (40:48.908)
you. Freemason Kelly has been so fun and so many people warned us about going into business with a friend, but truthfully, like she is my soulmate and I love her so much and I feel like we both bring out the best in each other and we both have qualities that make this work and doing this with Kelly or it's just been so cool. I just love her so much. Look at, she's gonna cry.
I feel the same way. love Elise so much. this is, I know we're running over, but this is something that was in our contracts, like when we formed our LLC and like our business was that we'd rather bring this business down than our friendship. Like we love each other so much. And that was always like the core and most important thing for us. And I love you so much. I'm going to cry. I'm already crying. my gosh. I love this. I think that's, that's incredibly.
Beautiful the way that you both found each other and the way that you started this I mean nothing tests a friendship more than trying to start a business that literally had you know blows up like I mean like Yeah, I want everyone to know that Kelly and I are both in tears right now. Yeah But it's true I think it's it's made us stronger and that that's the thing too like if you're
wanting to do it with a friend that you love too. There's something really cool about that, but definitely have systems in place. What are you willing to sacrifice? What is a line that you're not willing to cross? Because that was something we established very early on. We're like, our friendship is more important than this business. So we've said, if it ever starts getting ugly, we're going to burn it down or sell it or something. So I think having the...
rules for yourself going in is really helpful too. But it's been such an incredible experience. We're very grateful to have found each other and started this together. I love that. you two are so great. I have loved this time talking. Thank you so much for sharing your stories and how this came to be. And I hope that everyone listening goes and checks it out because
Jenny Dempsey (43:01.402)
You both are amazing and have really created something wonderful that brings so much joy to the world. So thank you so much again for being here. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of the Career Flipper podcast. Be sure to connect with Elise, Kelly, and the S'mores Cart using the links in the show notes. If you enjoyed today's Career Flip story, share it with a friend who could use a little motivation with their own career change.
And don't forget to subscribe to stay up to date on future episodes. And one more thing, if you have a minute, leaving a review helps the show reach more career flippers around the world. If you have a career flip story of your own, I'd love to hear it. Visit thecareerflipper.com to learn more on how to submit your story for a future episode. And if you're possibly looking for someone to speak at an event about career changes and making that leap, think of me.
I love sharing these stories and giving others the courage to take their own first steps. Drop me an email to hello at thecareerflipper.com. Keep going, my friend. You never know where that next step might take you. What's the best that could happen?