Meet our Empresarios: How Sweet It Is
Hacienda CDC’s Empresarios programming supports entrepreneurs to start, grow, and scale their businesses. Read more about our featured Empresario and learn about our amazing community of small business owners.
Name of Business: How Sweet It Is
Country of Origin: California, United States
Significance of Name: The name was selected with the idea of having a broad spectrum of products vs being tried down to a specialty product. With a broad range of skills and recipes, the owners plan into venturing to other products such as pastries and deserts. Ultimately, the name was selected through trial and error and a lot of deliberation.
Goals for Business: Bryan and Pilar want to focus on expansion and partnerships with major retailers. Currently their focus is to survive past COVID-19, and to continue to grow their small shop located at Multnomah Village French Quarter, once businesses can safely open up again. To survive, they are selling through their shop online and through other vendors, while still offering custom orders with local delivery.
Pilar and Bryan’s Story
Meet Pilar and Bryan Vocker they are the owners of How Sweet It Is—a candy shop company in Portland, Oregon. They have been married for thirteen years and have four kids. About three years back they began contemplating the idea of opening a candy shop and utilizing their skills. What was then simply an idea, quickly turned into a reality when Bryan lost his job.
Bryan is a candy maker with about ten years of experience, and a graduate of culinary school. His path to this carrier began while working restaurant jobs in his youth which eventually led him to venture into jobs at bakeries and similar shops. In search or a new discipline, he reached out to the old candy shop Preston's Candy and Ice Cream, in Burlingame, California to learn the tradition. There he learned many original recipes which he would later fuse with his own ideas to create new and traditional products.
Pilar comes from a family in the upholstery business, so her entrepreneurship spirit is something she inherited. Being the resourceful person that she is, she began looking for help on getting this business started after her and Bryan hit the green light in moving forward with the idea. With the knowledge of programs such as La Cocina, in California, they sought after help from non-profit organizations here in Oregon until eventually learning about the Portland Mercado. She reached out to be part of the Empresarios Bootcamp but missed the enrollment date. They would apply a year later and entered with an already established company with the hopes of expansion. There they learned about to how structure their company and other technical business details.
Together, Bryan and Pilar are a power couple that will stop at nothing to continue their growth. Although, COVID-19 has impacted them greatly, they are currently focused on their digital contact with their clients. They are also currently looking to enter retailers or digitals shops. They are also currently offering products to order and through their shop on their website. Delivery to your doorstep is also available within in Portland, Oregon so give them a call
About How Sweet It IsHow Sweet
It is, is a husband and wife owned, small batch, handcrafted confectionery company. They create and sell a variety of candy, chocolates, cookies, caramel corn, and other seasonal sweet treats.
With a small shop at the Multnomah Village French Quarter, they have offering fresh made products up until their temporary closure due to COVID-19. Currently you can place a custom order or shop through their website. Each batch is made fresh with local ingredients and lots of love. They live by the idea that behind every sweet treat, there is a story to tell. Whether a treat takes you back to grandma's kitchen or if you have memories with a friend while on vacation—memories are the foundation of their recipes and business!
Learn more about our Empresarios program and other businesses at the Portland Mercado.