Andrea Lacy of Luv’s Brownies: 5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Food Line or Specialty Food
An Interview With Vicky Colas
You must LUV what you do. My business was exclusively online for 24 years. Due to so many factors, my business was losing steam. I revamped the business with a Dessert Truck and a new line of products. I’m part Cuban and decided to offer a new line of business. We are showing up at Farmers’ Markets selling fresh hot brownies, Cuban coffee drinks, and ice cream. Our products include house-made waffle cones, bowls, caramel, heart-shaped marshmallows, and more. You must have the grit to push through and alternatively knowing when to stop. The first step is to do your research, know your market, and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
As a part of our series called “5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Food Line or Specialty Food”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Andrea Lacy.
Andrea (pronounced Aundrea) Lacy was born in San Francisco and raised in the Bay Area. While attending San Jose State University, she struggled with algebra classes. She failed the same math class five times. Her counselor advised her to work with the Disability Resource Center and get tested for a learning disability. During her first semester at SJSU, as a thank you gift she baked a friend some brownies. At the time she noticed the dough was thick but baked the brownies anyway. After she was diagnosed with dyslexia, she revisited the brownie recipe and realized she transposed the recipe without knowing she had dyslexia. Aundrea’s belief is that some detriments are true blessings in disguise.
SJSU presented her with two awards: Outstanding Academic Achievement and Outstanding Alumni. She will always hold a special place in her heart for the university, which changed her life.
She named her bakery after her childhood doll named “Luv” and opened its online store in 1996.
A few times a year, you can catch her on the SJSU campus speaking about overcoming her disability or teaching a course within the Classes Without Quizzes program. She has been a mentor for over fifteen years. She holds a Bachelors’ degree in Journalism and an MBA.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?
When I was 2 or 3 years old, my parents gave me a doll. I did not know how to spell Love. So, I named her LUV. I used to take her everywhere. She would even have a seat at the dinner table. I would feed her real food and change her diapers. I still have her.
Can you share with us the story of the “ah-ha” moment that led to the creation of the food brand you are leading?
When I was growing up, I always wanted to work at Hewlett Packard. While at SJSU, I baked some brownies for a friend who helped me land a job at HP. I have always adored chocolate and I wanted to try out a recipe. My ah-ha moment came when I realized a lot of people liked them and making them into a heart. I was at the beginning of the Internet age. I was the first bakery online. I could not believe anyone thought of putting a brownie into a heart shape. I named my company after my childhood doll named Luv.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting?
I doubled the chocolate by accident without knowing I had dyslexia. I was using the wrong baking spray. Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that? I learned that some detriments are true blessings in disguise.
What are the most common mistakes you have seen people make when they start a food line?
Not charging enough. Know your numbers.
What can be done to avoid those errors?
Use software or an Excel spreadsheet.
Let’s imagine that someone reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to produce. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?
You must LUV what you do. My business was exclusively online for 24 years. Due to so many factors, my business was losing steam. I revamped the business with a Dessert Truck and a new line of products. I’m part Cuban and decided to offer a new line of business. We are showing up at Farmers’ Markets selling fresh hot brownies, Cuban coffee drinks, and ice cream. Our products include house-made waffle cones, bowls, caramel, heart-shaped marshmallows, and more. You must have the grit to push through and alternatively knowing when to stop. The first step is to do your research, know your market, and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
Many people have good ideas all the time. But some people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. How would you encourage someone to overcome this hurdle?
When I first started in 1996, a mentor through the Small Business Association/Chamber of Commerce told me my idea of heart-shaped brownies was not a viable business. No one will order heart-shaped brownies except for Valentine’s Day. He was wrong. Heart-shaped brownies are a perfect gift for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Earlier this year, I was interviewing SEO companies. One agency CEO, said/verbatim my scholarship foundation was not a good idea. He continued to say how a dessert truck just for brownies, coffee, and ice cream was lame. My first pop-up was an hour. I wanted to test out operations, production, etc. In an hour, I made $800. Be careful of the folks you let in your life and the advice they are offering. I would encourage entrepreneurs to do their own research and if you believe in your business, you can make it happen.
There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?
It depends on the type of business. When I first started, I talked to consultants. None of them provided any encouraging advice. Every entrepreneur should trust their gut. Every time I didn’t trust my gut, I regretted the decision.
What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?
This is my 25th year in business. I never took venture funding. I have learned so much from watching Shark Tank and Marcus Lemonis from the TV show The Profit. From afar, I have implemented processes from both TV shows. The best way to decide is to know your numbers and your business.
Can you share thoughts from your experience about how to file a patent, how to source good raw ingredients, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer or distributor?
I don’t have any patents. I own trademarks, LLC, and a 501 © (3) I have found my retailers by researching what store would be the best fit. Know your business and price points to understand whom to approach.
Here is the main question of our discussion. What are your “5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Food Line or Specialty Food” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
- LUV what you do
- LUV what you do
- LUV what you do
- LUV what you do
- LUV what you do
I have had many weekends, nights, holidays I have been baking or delivering. If you don’t LUV what you do, it will be challenging doing so much work.
Can you share your ideas about how to create a product that people really love and are ‘crazy about’?
Tie your content into your SEO
Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
I use my success to continue to build my community. That is why I developed the scholarship foundation “The Grit Scholarship.” Specifically, for shown tenacity in overcoming challenges, and who now want to build on their success by pursuing higher education or vocational training.
https://www.luvsbrownies.com/scholarship A portion of all sales goes to this foundation
You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Raise the awareness of Scholarship awareness month. It in November. But gets overshadowed by the holiday season. For so many students looking for money, there are so many resources to assist. But so many students don’t know about various foundations.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
I would like to meet three people:
- Oprah
- Marcus Lemonis
- Tyler Perry
All the above mentioned have shown grit, determination, and always willingness to help others. They have been vulnerable and willing to share their stories to help others. I was adopted and I understand their journey.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
About The Interviewer: Vicky Colas, Chef Vicky, is an award-winning chef in the Caribbean food arena. In 2012, Chef Vicky was awarded a silver medal for Caribbean Chef of The Year at the Taste of the Islands completion hosted by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association. She was called to represent her country and be a part of the Culinary Team Haiti as a Culinary Chef Ambassador competing with 10 other Caribbean nations. The team was also awarded a silver medal for the Caribbean Team of the Year and received an Award for “Best Team for Taste of the Islands”. A published nutrition researcher, her study was selected in 2013 in the International Journal of Child Nutrition. Her recipe and interview have been featured in Essence Magazine online, Island Origin, and most recently the cookbook Toques in Black: A Celebration of 101 Black Chefs in America. In 2019, she was nominated in the “40 under 40” class of Legacy Magazine as one of South Florida’s “Black Leaders of Today and Tomorrow”.
Most recently, Chef Vicky was selected as one of twenty women candidates awarded for the 2019 James Beard Foundation Women Entrepreneurial Leadership (WEL) fellowship and is also part of a selective group of talented Chefs in the James Beard Foundation local food advocacy training programs. She is a wife, a proud mother of 3 boys, a business, and a food influencer in her community. Chef Vicky has been featured in her local news stations such as WSVN CH 7, Deco Drive, WPLG Local 10 News, 6 on the mix CH 6 and Good Morning Miramar.
Vicky is also a subject matter expert in the Hospitality, Culinary Arts, Restaurant Management, and Public Health (Dietetics and Nutrition) arena. She is a graduate of Florida International University (FIU) and Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts.
