Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimmie Brooks and Sandy Sego.
Lisa Brooks was a born entrepreneur with big dreams and her husband Aaron was the support system to help turn them into reality. Armed with a single cotton candy machine and a converted basement, the couple founded our company. They named it Sakida after their kids: Sandy, Kimmie, and Danny.
Through Lisa’s sales prowess, Sakida right away landed small and large accounts including theme and amusement parks. As word-of-mouth spread, we ventured into the world of popcorn and continued to grow. After Lisa passed away too young, Sandy and Kimmie joined forces to run the company as COO and CEO. Aaron and Danny play supporting roles while continuing their own careers.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
In 2013, Lisa Brooks passed away after a four-year battle with cancer. It was a staggering loss that impacted everybody in the company. The difficulties of learning to run a company while grieving were exacerbated by the fact we had just moved into our first production warehouse. Our increased capacity was met with an unprecedented growth in sales, which compounded the growing pains of our new environment and entrepreneurial structure.
Please tell us about Sakida.
Sakida is a family owned and operated business that produces 17 flavors of cotton candy and dozens of flavors of popcorn. Unlike most snack companies, all of our products are made-to-order so our customers get the freshest taste possible without preservatives. We sell our products in individual, bulk, and wholesale quantities and offer a variety of gift options. Our clear, unprinted packages are easily customized for a variety of purposes and can fit into any setting.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
While expanding our product offerings, we attempted to service every aspect of the concessions industry. We became a distributor of supplies for items like snow cones and caramel apples, and even did equipment rentals and BBQ & fun foods catering for a period of time. We had a lot of unique experiences and made countless memories but if we had to start over we would stay focused on what we do best: making the best cotton candy and popcorn products around!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sakida.com
- Email: Kimmie@sakida.com
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/SakidaCandy
Image Credit:
Zachary Locker of Random Hero Design
