Today we’d like to introduce you to Lynn Lafferty.
Hi Lynn, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My husband, Phil, and I are a husband-wife team who started Gimme that Sugar. Phil and I met in 1997 when we were just 18 and 17 years old. We both graduated from college and left our homes in WV for the big world in 2003. Our after-college travels took us to the Boston area (it was too cold), South Carolina (didn’t pay teachers well enough), and finally Atlanta in 2005.
While we established teaching careers, we also established roots in Georgia with our two sons, Liam (13) and Maddox (4). We now live in our second home, which is in Cobb County.
Lynn grappled with finding a new normal after the death of her mom in 2016. Though it was a lifelong dream to become a teacher, she decided to walk away from the classroom in 2019. Death has a way to make you look at your life and wonder “what next?” My mother died tragically by suicide, so the intense feelings of her death put many aspects of my life into perspective. I knew that I was comfortable in life, but I certainly wasn’t living my best life. So, in an attempt to work on myself and my mental health, I walked away from it after 15 years.
I started working on my PhD in Education in 2019 because I was determined to do better and be better.
On my path to rediscover who I was, Gimme that Sugar had transformed from an idea to a reality. I had found that if I kept my focus on something, I felt better. I was happy because I was building something that made other people happy, too.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road has absolutely been quite bumpy! Honestly, though, we’ve just come to expect the hoops and obstacles at this point. If the road hadn’t been bumpy, we wouldn’t be learning along the way, so we try to embrace the learning experiences.
Some of the struggles have been learning the ropes of a food truck and getting permitted by the health department. We were lucky enough to have great support along the way in terms of getting our health permits, so we’re thankful for that!
Other minor bumps include some wear and tear on the truck after we bought it. The truck was fleet maintained, so it was in great condition. But, it was also 15 years old and hadn’t been run enough. We also had to learn how to make cotton candy, mix new flavors, and bother our friends with trying out the flavors.
One of my biggest challenges is my own self-doubt. This has been helped tremendously by the positive support we’ve had over the last year or so. Our final challenge is that Phil is still teaching. He spends quite a bit of time working on our business, but he’s also driving to and from school to support us as we grow. We’re looking forward to the day that we can both say that we are working full time on our business!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Gimme that Sugar is a gourmet cotton candy spinnery! What does that mean? We are a cotton candy shop, with 22 flavors, on wheels. We specialize in cotton candy, but we also carry other sweet treats and candies, plus popcorn and slushie drinks. It was our intention to serve fresh, hand-spun cotton candy on a cone because, well, where else can you buy fresh cotton candy in flavors other than pink or blue?
We wanted people to fall in love with cotton candy again!
With our truck, we can serve parties, corporate events, festivals, schools, churches, you name it. We also sell favors like cups of cotton candy or cotton candy glitter bombs! We like to keep other options like cake pops or chocolate covered Twinkies, so those can be found on the menu.
The name Gimme that Sugar came from Lynn’s childhood memories of her grandma asking for some “sugar,” which meant to give a “kiss.” I liked the play on words with sugar meaning either kisses or literal sugar from candy.
We bought our truck in 2019 to begin converting. The truck (who we now call Candy Truck) is a former Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicle that was part of a fleet bought for disaster response after Hurricane Katrina. Candy Truck was in perfect condition, with only needing some minor repairs and a deep clean. There was already a serving window, we just needed to transform the inside and outside. Once we were happy with our branding, we had the truck wrapped, which completely transformed her look.
We’ve literally built our entire brand: the name, the logo, the packaging, the menu, etc… We built it from the ground-up. Every choice that we’ve made has been to make Gimme that Sugar better each day. Our goal was to deliver smiles to people and that’s exactly what we do. When we pull up and watch people stare with wide eyes, and they smile, wondering “what is that?” Then they come over to talk to you and they just love it. It’s the best feeling.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
We grew up in West Virginia, so we both grew up in that quiet mountain life. We ended up in GA by chance (it was literally mentioned to me in a casual conversation with a colleague that Atlanta was paying their teachers well). We chose to stay here because we fell in love with it. The metro Atlanta area became home to us as we settled into our careers. We bought a home, had our children, and we built our lives and friendships here. I love it now because it’s home.
We fell in love with it because there are so many things to do for kids and families. Whether you’re looking for a concert, a ball game, or a festival, the metro-Atlanta area has it. The zoo, aquarium, and other venues are great teaching tools for kids. The kids’ festivities around the holidays are wonderful memories for them. I love that we can give that to them.
Traffic is the #1 downfall of the metro Atlanta area. People love it and they keep moving here!
Pricing:
- $4 – cotton candy cone
- Parties start at $220
Contact Info:
- Email: info@gimmethatsugar.com
- Website: www.gimmethatsugar.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialgimmethatsugar/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gimmethatsugarofficial
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChOr0nImE3r3R5PIrp3dE3Q
Image Credits:
Lyndsay Jakse, personal friend
