Daily Inspiration: Meet Kasey Stewart

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kasey Stewart.

Kasey, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
In 2016 I was living in Austin, Texas working long days and nights in advertising. On my way into work one morning, my entire body started to swell and broke out into a rash. For the next few years this would happen sporadically, but there wasn’t a single doctor that could provide me with a clear diagnosis. I decided to try and fix the problem myself by adjusting my diet, sleep patterns and stress levels. One of the main things I discovered since my first outbreak is that my body is really sensitive to sugar, which is a problem because I’ve always loved candy.

In 2019 I was walking through the aisles of Whole Foods with Tiana, my girlfriend and also the Co-founder of Suckerz. When looking for a healthy treat, we realized we couldn’t find any hard candy that tasted great but wasn’t loaded with sugar. We had always talked about launching a business together when the time was right. When we got home that night, we started looking at domains and saw Suckerz.com was available for resale. We split the cost and bought it on the spot so we felt committed to starting the business. Tiana has been an entrepreneur for almost a decade. She spent five years running an influencer marketing and fashion-tech company prior to finding her passion in the CPG space. She’s helped multiple celebrities launch both digital and retail brands over the past four years. Our skillsets and experience are very complimentary, so we decided to take the plunge and start Suckerz together.

Two years later, we are excited to announce the launch of Suckerz- the world’s first all-natural ball lollipop with 67% less sugar than leading brands. We’ve combined delicious flavors and healthier ingredients to create a new spin on this nostalgic treat. Our pops use all-natural flavors, no sugar alcohols, and are vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free and non-GMO.

It’s our vision to reinvent classic sweets with a healthy twist. Look out for our hard candy pieces launching this Spring.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Our first step back in 2019 was to find a hard candy formulator to help us create a low-sugar, great tasting lollipop. This was easier said than done. At the time, we knew nothing about candy formulation or better for you ingredients. A cheat code to make almost any candy sugar-free is to use sugar alcohols, but we made a commitment not to go down this path as there are downfalls of using them. After some extensive online searching for the right formulator we were introduced to Judy Cooley, our now formulator, friend and 2012 National Candy Hall of Fame Inductee. Judy’s known as the Queen of Hard Candy and used to work for Hershey’s, specifically on the Jolly Rancher. We worked with Judy for over a year and a half to make a low sugar formula without sugar alcohols that had never been done before. We must of went through almost ten rounds of testing before we got it right.

From there, it took us almost a year to find a manufacturer that would let us try our new formula on their machines. We reached out to almost 100 different manufacturers from around the world and received the same response over and over – “Your MOQ’s are too low, you’re too new a company, your formula won’t work and will break our machines”. But Tiana and I were resilient in our search to find a manufacturer and eventually found a great partner to give us a shot this past winter.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I spent 15 years in digital marketing and advertising. The majority of this was spent as the VP of Creative at Razorfish overseeing our Samsung North America business. We were responsible for the digital content strategy & production for Samsung’s mobile and wearable launches. I’ve produced the strategy and creative behind almost every type of brand you can think of- big, small, fashion, beauty, adventure, travel, etc. My superpower is content & branding, so when we first thought of Suckerz my head started spinning of all the possibilities we’d have when it came to marketing candy.

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Don’t give up! Persistence is the #1 trait in all successful entrepreneurs. You’re going to face multiple run-ins where you’ll think this isn’t going to work but keep going. Surround yourself with advisors who are smarter and more experienced than you. They’ll help you avoid mistakes before you make them and reignite the fire along the way when the going gets tough.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: Suckerz.com
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/suckerz
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SuckrzCandy
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/suckerzcandy
• Other: https://tiktok.com/@suckerz.com