Professional Growth

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Professional Growth | SUCCESS | What Achievers Read

“Build a duck.”



Those three words sound simple enough, but when I look at the six Lego pieces in front of me—two square, one with an eye, another rectangular and two flat red pieces—I pause. How could I make a duck out of these seemingly irrelevant shapes? And then, I think to myself, “What would Salvador Dalí do?”



The question wasn’t completely out of left field. I was, after all, sitting in <a href="https://thedali.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Dalí Museum</a> in St. Petersburg, Florida, joining about a dozen other professionals in “Introduction to Creative Thinking,” one of the courses hosted by <a href="https://thedali.org/programs/innovation-labs/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Innovation Labs at The Dalí Museum</a>. Led by Kimberly Macuare, director of education and co-director of Innovation Labs, we were on a mutual quest, seeking inspiration from the surrealist that we could take back to our places of work.







<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-dali-in-the-business-world">Dalí in the business world</h2>



Unsurprisingly, the idea of the Innovation Labs came from Dalí himself.



“Hank Hine, the executive director of The Dalí Museum and the founder and co-director of the Innovation Labs at The Dalí, very early on saw the potential in the way that Dalí approached problem-solving, how he approached looking at the world, both in terms of understanding things that other people didn't seem to understand because he was looking at it through different eyes, and then his ability to just take off the brakes in terms of what might be possible solutions for anything that he was thinking about,” Macuare says. “And that could have been from creating another masterpiece to he once sat down and spent an hour thinking about what were all the ways that he could use a gift that he had been given of a whale vertebra.



“As soon as Hank was thinking in this vein, it was really clear to him right away how this might have applications in a business context,” she adds.



And it’s not only Hine who believes <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/3-genius-tactics-to-drive-your-next-creative-breakthrough/">creative thinking</a> can benefit the business world. In its 2023 Future of Jobs Report, the World Economic Forum cited creative thinking as one of the top 10 skills on the rise, increasing in importance between 2023 and 2027.



Inspired by Salvador Dalí’s wild imagination, mastery of illusion and perception, the Innovation Labs are designed to open participants’ eyes and imaginations, pushing the limits of their creativity. During the sessions, the program’s expert facilitators lead attendees through unexpected training exercises that both expand their minds and develop talent in new and exciting directions.&nbsp;



This one-of-a-kind program carefully combines more than 60 years of research on creativity and creative problem-solving with a generous dash of Dalí’s philosophy and methods to help businesses see the world in new ways.



Throughout the five-hour course, Macuare led our group through conversations and activities that challenged our ways of thinking, encouraging us to get as far out of the box as Dalí. She walked us through one way to rethink, well, the way we think—her five secrets of the creative process, which she gleaned from Dalí’s 50 Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship:



<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li>Setting the scene: You must prepare the ground for creativity</li>



<li>On the Cloud game: Recognize that seeing is a generative act</li>



<li>Multiple perspectives: Value of connecting the dots</li>



<li>Cultivate curiosity: Ask questions; look longer and pay more attention</li>



<li>Be yourself: What’s your mustache?</li>
</ol>



In essence, think like Dalí when he said, “Everything alters me, but nothing changes me.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-going-on-a-flanerie">Going on a flânerie</h2>



After speaking at length about the artist’s <a href="https://catalogues.salvador-dali.org/catalogues/en/heritageobject/533-2265/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea Which at Twenty Meters Becomes the Portrait of Abraham Lincoln (Homage to Rothko)</a> and how viewers’ perceptions of the masterpiece change depending on their physical perspectives, Macuare broke us into small groups and asked us to go on a flânerie (a walk or wander guided by a random principle) through the galleries, just as Dalí and his contemporaries did during their time in Paris.



For our flânerie, we chose to focus on a color to find throughout the art, but found ourselves evolving our sightlines to find sets of three, which we realized were prevalent in Dalí’s works. That realization is one we may not have noticed if we hadn’t taken the time to really look.



“Kim is an expert at weaving personal and professional development skills with art history and art,” says Beth Miller, Ph.D., executive director at the <a href="https://www.creativeeducationfoundation.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Creative Education Foundation</a>. Miller brought Macuare in to kick off the Florida Creativity Conference. “Innovation Labs present a lively and interactive way to experience The Dalí that provides meaningful self-reflection while cultivating interpersonal skills and development. Forging meaningful connections between the arts and skills development illustrates how art can both inspire and activate understanding and implementation of new skills.”



Gathered back together, and thinking with a Dalí mindset, Macuare walked us through FourSight, a problem-solving system that encourages teams to think creatively and <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/8-tips-to-improve-team-collaboration/">work collaboratively</a> to find innovative solutions to complex challenges. According to research shared by FourSight, solving a complex problem requires four types of thinking: clarifying, ideating, developing and implementing. Essentially, everyone is capable of all four types, we just have preferences as to the type of thinking we enjoy.



About a week before our session, we were asked to complete some homework, a questionnaire about how we work best. Looking at my FourSight results, I wasn’t surprised to learn that I’m an implementer—I’m all about getting things done—with a fairly neutral reading across the other three types. Learning about the other ways of thinking, and the way we can all collaborate, was informative and beneficial, and gave me better insights on how to be a stronger team player, in both my work and personal lives.



Like Miller says, “The Innovation Lab inspires and activates personal and professional development.”



In addition to “Introduction to Creative Thinking,” the Innovation Labs also offers courses like, “Introduction to Creative Problem-Solving,” “Saving the World From Chaos: Advanced Strategies for Creative Thinking &amp; Problem-Solving” and “The Secret Life of Your Organization,” which are customized to meet businesses’ specific needs.



Back to my duck. After a moment’s pause, I shifted into a Dalí state of mind and started to build.



I think I would have made the surrealist proud.



Photo courtesy of The Dalí Museum

Learn how to think like surrealist painter Salvador Dalí and explore ways you can apply this unique creative perspective in the workplace.

Explore ways you can apply this unique creative perspective in the workplace.

How to Get Creative Like Salvador Dalí | SUCCESS

Getting Creative at Work With Salvador Dalí

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Business &amp; Branding

Business &amp; Branding Archives

Stay ahead in business: strategies and insights for success

Tia Mowry jumped onto the pop culture scene in the mid-’90s when she starred in Sister, Sister, an ABC sitcom. In the years that followed, she went on to produce and act in myriad TV shows and movies, including The Game and Netflix’s Family Reunion—the latter won two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Children’s Program.



In addition to publishing several books, including her cookbook <a href="https://amzn.to/4fviP7Q" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Quick Fix Kitchen</a>, Mowry also hosts a YouTube channel that she launched seven years ago, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqPtuBGeIZVuFyqEi8WxZlQ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tia Mowry’s Quick Fix</a>. More than 957,000 subscribers have tuned in to watch her quickly answer life’s little questions. And then there is her new reality show, Tia Mowry: My Next Act, which premiered in October 2024 on WEtv and has been nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Reality Program. On top of all of that, Mowry is the mother of two children: a 13-year-old son and a 6-year-old daughter.



Though she continues to enjoy immense success in her three-decade career, there is one thing that Mowry has longed to be since she was a teenager: an entrepreneur.



“I’ve always wanted to be one, ever since I knew what the word meant,” she says. “I remember I discovered the word when I was in high school. I didn’t even know how to pronounce it.”







<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hair-care-with-community-in-mind">Hair care with community in mind</h2>



Not only did Mowry learn how to pronounce <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/10-aspiring-entrepreneurs/">entrepreneur</a>, but she also found success right out of the gate. She launched <a href="https://4ubytia.com/">4U by Tia,</a> a high-performance natural hair care brand for curly and textured hair, in 2023. The brand is available at Walmart, Amazon, select CVS stores and on the brand’s website.



To Mowry, though, success as an entrepreneur is not just about the products she launches.



“I feel that when one is an entrepreneur, they connect with community,” she says. “It’s about leadership. It’s about development and offering a need that seems to have some sort of void in place. And I feel like those qualities, when it comes to the definition of an entrepreneurship or attributes [of an entrepreneur], remind me of myself.



“I absolutely love community,” she continues. “I love building, I love growing, I love inspiring, I love creating and I love leadership. And I love the process, meaning I realized at a young age that I loved what happens between coming up with an idea and then seeing it to fruition…. I enjoy the process. I enjoy finding the manifesto. I enjoy finding the purpose all for a greater cause. I think that’s what excites me about being an entrepreneur.”



When asked what inspired her to create 4U, Mowry first points to her passions in life, which she refers to as pillars: wellness, <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/jairek-robbins-on-the-importance-of-building-a-community/">community</a>, accessibility and family.



“I felt like there was—and is—a void when it comes to textured hair and our community,” she says. “Growing up as someone who has curly hair, as a young girl, I was always… forced to choose something that wasn’t necessarily right for me [or] out of my price range. And that didn’t really work for my hair because there just weren’t many options out there…. So I wanted to fill a need in the curly hair texture community by creating some products.



“When I mentioned wellness, I’m very passionate about what I put in my body [and] what I put on my body,” she adds. “And I just felt like when I was doing some research about what was a great option for me and my family when it came to our textured hair, there weren’t any products out there that really catered to or that were honest when it came to natural ingredients at an affordable price.”



After that, Mowry got to work. She collaborated with a team of scientists to create a clean, plant-based formula that includes ingredients consumers recognize at an affordable price so that 4U is more widely accessible.



“It’s science-backed [and] there’s efficacy with all-natural ingredients that are at an affordable price,” she says of her products.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fewer-bottles-means-greater-sustainability">Fewer bottles means greater sustainability</h2>



In addition to making a natural and affordable line of products, another of Mowry’s intentions with 4U was to create simple routines for people with curly and textured hair.



“I have different curl textures and patterns than my daughter and my son… [and] I would have all of these different products in the household,” she says. “What I love about 4U is we were able to come up with a formula that works on hair textures from 2A to 4C. So instead of getting all of these different products coming in and out of the house, we can simplify the whole thing. And basically, the whole family can use the products—it works on their hair textures as well as mine.



“[It’s] not only that the ingredients are clean—I trust that I can use it on my children and myself,” she adds.



Because the products in the 4U line work on different hair types, families need fewer bottles of product in their homes, which speaks to Mowry’s mission of keeping the hair care line sustainable. Not only are the products’ ingredients clean, plant-based and sourced from suppliers who prioritize ethical and sustainable harvesting practices, but the bottles and packaging are sustainable too.



“My goal with 4U is to think about the consumer [and] their needs,” she says. “I know that, including myself, we’re wanting to be more conscious about what we buy from all different angles, from our wallet[s] to the ingredients that we’re using. And then also, how is this making an impact?



“When it comes to our environment and waste,” she continues, “I think this is what… makes 4U just stand out from a lot of other products that are out there. And there’s a community of people that think this way, and I felt like there was a void, and I wanted to meet that need.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-accessibility-4u">Accessibility 4U</h2>



Another of Mowry’s passion pillars is accessibility, which played a big part in the development of 4U by Tia.



“It is and was definitely a reason and a goal of mine to have clean, natural, high-quality ingredients that are accessible to everyone,” she says. “I feel like great products shouldn’t just be catered to one socioeconomic group, and I feel like [for] women and diverse communities, it’s time that they don’t have to be forced again to choose products that are toxic just because it reaches their price point. So that was definitely a goal of mine….



“I think the accessibility… [was] one of the main reasons why I was excited about our partnership with Walmart,” she adds. “Walmart is known, of course, for their great prices.”



The full-size cleansing, conditioning, nourishing and treatment products in the 4U hair care line are priced at $11.99 and $12.99 each.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-success-requires-a-community-mindset">Success requires a community mindset</h2>



Even with the success Mowry has enjoyed with the launch of 4U, she is quick to point out that it did not happen overnight. In fact, it took about two years to take her concept from ideation to reality.



“I say that 4U is like my third baby,” Mowry says. “It takes a while for your ideas to evolve, and that is the approach that I am taking with this brand. People forget that the [tortoise] won the race. For me, it’s more about quality, it’s more about building community, it’s more about authenticity, and that takes time.”



Mowry is fortunate to have surrounded herself with like-minded people to help her not only launch 4U but grow it too. After she shared her idea with her agent, she was introduced to people who were interested in partnering with her—and from there, she built her team.



“We all came together, and we just started to talk about our ideas and flesh things out like what is needed,” she says. “There was a lot of work that was put into it.



“That’s what I was saying I love about being an entrepreneur,” Mowry continues. “This is the part of the process that I enjoy, and… a lot of people, they don’t know that’s the process—they just see the end product or the launch. But there’s just so much that goes into it.”&nbsp;



She also says that reaching out to others guided 4U’s development.



“[What] was also extremely beneficial, when it came to having my ideas come to life, was not being afraid to reach out to other people… [and] to the community,” she says. “This is a community-based brand, and I think that… what has been so amazing about the whole process is really understanding the audience, really understanding the community, really understanding the void and what [the needs are]. We’re constantly asking those questions.



“We have some cool new products that we will be launching soon, and what I’m most excited about is [that] these are products that the community has wanted and has been asking for,” she continues. “So for us to give back in this way—I just can’t wait.”



Barnes is a Florida-based independent journalist and entrepreneur with a passion for travel, wellness and the environment.



This article originally appeared in the March 2025 <a href="https://mysuccessplus.com/shop">issue of SUCCESS+ magazine</a>. Photo of Tia Mowry courtesy of ©Adam Rindy.

Learn how Tia Mowry started her clean hair care brand 4U, why she loves community, and what success means to her.

Learn how she started her hair care brand, why she loves community, and more.

Tia Mowry on Entrepreneurship, Community, and More | SUCCESS

Tia Mowry on Embracing Entrepreneurship and Creating Community

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Learn how Tia Mowry started her clean hair care brand 4U, why she loves community, and what ultimate success means to her.

Lifestyle

Lifestyle Archives

Elevate your lifestyle for success and happiness

When she made her first appearance on on Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, a popular MTV reality show in the mid-2000s, Kristin Cavallari was only a teenager. Over the course of the decade that followed, she appeared on a few other reality TV shows, authored an autobiography and a trio of cookbooks (all of which are bestselling), married an NFL quarterback and had three children.



In 2017, with three toddlers under the age of 5, Cavallari founded <a href="https://uncommonjames.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Uncommon James</a>, a lifestyle brand that offers jewelry, skin care line called <a href="https://uncommonjames.com/collections/uncommon-beauty?srsltid=AfmBOoqZzIq1puaQ-buQZRPHpo3CMEtEYXPi_4R9bW0D15f--EXpG-b6" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Uncommon Beauty</a>, apparel, accessories and home decor. It has four brick-and-mortar boutiques in Nashville, Dallas, Chicago and Charleston. This summer she also introduced <a href="https://uncommonjames.com/products/hard-feelings-fragrance?srsltid=AfmBOoqS9zYDER8gtrjxgW2C3ntkUmC7XNMDrPaqt34J5Jo8S1vbFe6f">Hard Feelings</a>, the first fragrance under the Uncommon James umbrella. An entire slate of new skin care products is on tap as well.



In addition to being the founder, CEO and creative director of Uncommon James, Cavallari hosts <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSJqT36l3imYtr_QF6LFNXA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Let’s Be Honest With Kristin Cavallari</a>. This podcast highlights everything from dating and relationships to health and wellness and what’s really going on behind the headlines. New episodes drop every Tuesday.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-learning-to-trust-her-instincts">Learning to trust her instincts</h2>



“I didn’t have a business plan. I didn’t think about the company in a year or five years,” Cavallari says of launching Uncommon James. “I’ve always been someone who runs off of gut, and I just go. I get an idea, and it’s like, ‘Boom, let’s just make it happen.’



“I’ve always taken the stance that if you’re passionate about something, if you have a great work ethic, a lot of drive—that can’t be taught,“ she continues. “If you have those things, you can accomplish anything, no matter what.... When we overthink things, we let fear creep in, or we start to second-guess ourselves. Just starting is half the battle.”



We asked Cavallari how she creates a <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/9-habits-that-support-a-work-life-balance/">work-life balance</a> that works for her with a family, a thriving business and a successful podcast. “It was really difficult,” she responds without hesitation. “There was a period where I had just launched Uncommon James, was working on my second cookbook and filming Very Cavallari, my reality show that I had on E!, while raising three little kids, and my marriage was falling apart. I think I was doing all of the things to try to distract from [this].”



During this time, she was also traveling to Los Angeles to host E! red carpet pre-shows. “I was completely maxed out, and I knew that that wasn’t sustainable,” she recalls. “I think COVID really... put things in perspective for me. Like everyone else, it forced me to slow down.”



During the divorce process, she and her now ex-husband split custody of their kids 50-50. She considers this a positive outcome.



“It actually forced this perfect work-life balance on me,” Cavallari says. “The weeks that I didn’t have my kids is when I would work. And the weeks I had my kids, I was a mom—that was it. I wasn’t working.... I really enjoyed that life—instead of... feeling like I was always spread thin and I was never 100% present with whatever I was doing.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-balancing-family-and-work">Balancing family and work</h2>



Though the custody arrangement has since changed and her kids are with her more, they are now all in school. This affords Cavallari the time she needs to maintain her work-life balance. She <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/the-best-time-management-strategies/">prioritizes her time</a> and the things she needs to finish while her kids are at school.



“My day ends when my kids get home from school,” she says. “I don’t want to be working when my kids are home.... I want to be there making dinner and doing all the things. My kids are always my priority.“



“I know when I look back in 30 years of my life, being at every football game for my boys and picking my daughter up from horseback riding camp is what’s going to matter,“ she adds.



On the career side of things, Cavallari records and edits her Let’s Be Honest podcast in her dining room, and she can work on her designs for Uncommon James from anywhere. “I’ve been lucky enough to sort of be able to curate my career to be able to do it from my house,“ she says. “I feel very lucky that I’ve been able to get to this point.“



Another move that she made to create more of a work-life balance is hiring a <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-get-into-the-c-suite/">C-suite</a> to help her lead Uncommon James. Getting to that point did not come easily, though. She was always under the impression that if she wanted something, she was going to have to do it herself.



“It was really hard for me to delegate,” Cavallari explains. “When I hired my COO, CMO and CFO... I had to just trust and let go. And it’s been the best thing that I’ve ever done. My C-suite team is incredible. “They’re running the ship, and they tell me what I need to know, and they don’t bother me with the things that I don’t need to know anymore.



“I went from having a hand in every facet of the company and quite literally doing everything at one point to [being] the sole designer,“ she adds. “I have a hand in marketing, and I’m just really doing the creative part that I love, and [it] feels really good to be able to get to this place.“



She’s carried the idea of asking for help into her personal life too. When her assistant of a few years moved away in December, Cavallari took back the responsibilities she’d delegated. “I’m the kind of person who[’s] like, ‘I’ll do everything myself. It’s fine, it’s fine—I’ll just do it,’” she says. “And I’m realizing I can’t do it all.”



She later hired a new assistant to manage her time and ensure that she’s on top of everything so she doesn’t become overwhelmed. “We have to be able to lean on other people and ask for help,” she says. “It doesn’t make you less of a person to ask for help.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-prioritizing-self-care">Prioritizing self-care</h2>



When asked what she would recommend to others with busy lives to achieve work-life balance, her tip is really quite simple. “I just started doing this a couple months ago, but... I’ve started putting [into my Google calendar] on certain days, ‘Keep Empty,’” Cavallari says. “It’s always a day when I actually have the house to myself. Maybe I’m going to work out, maybe I’m going to go to the grocery store—whatever. But [I do something] so that I feel like I can take care of me.



“I think prioritizing yourself is actually really important so that you don’t get <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/9-things-to-do-when-youre-feeling-burned-out/">burnt out</a>, especially as a mom,“ she adds. “Because if you have nothing to give, or, you know, if your tank is empty, you’ve got nothing to give your kids. So I do believe... [that] making yourself the priority is the best thing you can do for the kids, for your husband, your boyfriend, whatever it is. I have found that just scheduling those days periodically for myself makes a huge difference.”



Photo by Dennis Leupold



This article originally appeared in the November <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/subscriptions/">issue of SUCCESS+ digital magazine</a>.

Kristin Cavallari shares how she balances motherhood, business and self-care. Learn her top tips for achieving effective work-life balance.

Kristin Cavallari shares how she balances motherhood, business and self-care. Learn her top tips for achieving effective work-life balance. | SUCCESS

A Balancing Act: Kristin Cavallari's Guide to Achieving Personal and Career Success

A Balancing Act: Kristin Cavallari&#8217;s Guide to Achieving Personal and Career Success

Kristin Cavallari's Guide to Achieving Work-Life Balance | SUCCESS

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Portrait of Brandi Shelton owner of just add honey

In a time before Starbucks and independent coffee shops popped up on every street corner, Brandi Shelton found herself connecting with her hometown of Atlanta and destinations around the world through tearooms.



“I loved to travel, and I drank tea; I found it to be a great connector when I was traveling,” says Shelton, a wardrobe and prop stylist. “It was just something I enjoyed.”



Though she registered the company name <a href="https://justaddhoney.net/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">just add honey</a> in 2003, it took a few years for her to build upon the idea. Like many entrepreneurs, Shelton’s business began as an experiment in her home.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-brandi-shelton-s-calling-for-tea">Brandi Shelton’s calling for tea</h2>



In the mid-2000s, after her mother passed away from breast cancer, Shelton bought her first home. Looking for a way to cope with the loss of her mother and inspired by the tearooms she visited locally and on her travels, she began mixing and blending teas she bought at local herb shops and gourmet grocers.



“I have an engineering background, so math is huge for me,” says Shelton. “I love the endless combinations of tea and that they can create a mood or take you out of one. I enjoy doing the math and mixing and matching one part of this and two parts of that—[the tea blend] tastes completely different with varying ratios.”







Not long after she began blending her teas, Shelton taught herself calligraphy to make her own labels and create packaging; she also hired a designer to build a website.



After talking with a friend and colleague, Shelton learned about a local makers and doers market. That conversation coincided with someone asking to buy some of her tea blends, and she realized, “OK, so I really do have a business.”



“I was launching this company, but I did not tell one person about it,” she recalls. She officially started her business in 2006.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-getting-started-and-building-momentum-for-just-add-honey">Getting started and building momentum for just add honey</h2>



In August 2006, with a basement full of materials and teas, she joined Beehive Co-op, now known as the beehive.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“I started with four blends, and from there, I started doing markets,” says Shelton, who learned about more selling opportunities from the other women in the co-op community.



Shelton extended that sense of community to her house.



“I thought I would plant a community garden and teach kids about herbs, osmosis and where tea comes from,” she explains. “I had all these ideas of what tea would do, and it was just fun.”



In 2014, while continuing to work as a wardrobe and prop stylist, Shelton opened her first just add honey brick-and-mortar shop. To entice investors to the then-overlooked Sweet Auburn neighborhood, an economic development organization offered $500 grants and three months of free rent to would-be business owners who wanted to open a retail location there.



Shelton applied for the grant and was offered a location.



“I applied, and they offered me a store, but I said, ‘That’s not actually what I want. Thank you,’” she remembers. “I turned down the grant because I didn’t like the location. I thought it was a great opportunity but not worth the time, so I moved on with my life.”



Shortly thereafter and now married, Shelton and her husband were in San Diego taking hang gliding lessons when she received a call. The grantors said they had found another space: “It’s exactly what you want, but you have to be open within a week.”



“A trip to IKEA and a couple of Coronas later, <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-start-a-business-in-a-day/">we were open</a>,” Shelton says with a laugh. “And it was exactly what I wanted; it was a great experience.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-her-passion-for-tea-and-community-continues-to-grow">Her passion for tea and community continues to grow</h2>



When the initial three free months of rent ended, Shelton decided to keep going. This year marks 10 years in brick-and-mortar retail for just add honey. In the years following the first shop opening, she added new locations and pop-ups around Atlanta, including a tearoom in the museum where she and her husband were married.



In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Shelton closed several locations and focused on expanding production, specifically online sales, wholesale offerings and her work with partners.



It’s been nearly 20 years since Shelton launched just add honey. Her passion remains, and she continues to cultivate a sense of <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/the-importance-of-community/">community</a>.&nbsp;



“I still love it, and I still have a passion for it, and that shows in the way we blend our teas, the ingredients we use, how we talk about it and who we hire,” she says.



Shelton is proud of just add honey’s hiring and retention program, explaining that one of her main ideals is to foster a space in which everyone feels welcome, from her team in the tearoom to the vendors she represents. To ensure that representation, she and her team follow a vendor checklist when considering new products to bring into the retail café, focusing on female-, LGBTQ+-, BIPOC- and veteran-owned independent businesses.



“We aim to be good stewards of the responsibility we have,” says Shelton.&nbsp;



To that end, two years ago she implemented a program at just add honey that donates 1% of all sales to nonprofit organizations of the employees’ choosing; a different nonprofit benefits each month.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-the-future-holds-for-just-add-honey-and-brandi-shelton">What the future holds for just add honey—and Brandi Shelton</h2>



Not one to rest on her laurels, Shelton is opening a second tearoom this spring, right across the street from the retail café.&nbsp;



“It's a completely different concept,” she says of the new space. “It has a little bamboo garden and a koi pond, so it's more Zen-like than the one we have now, which I refer to as Teavana with tables.”&nbsp;



The new tearoom, tentatively called Bambō House, can be rented out in its entirety and will offer community classes. Shelton is also implementing “Silent Tuesdays,” during which people can come in, drink their tea, and enjoy the space in complete silence.



“I'm 46, and these are things I wish I had for myself in my twenties that I didn't know I needed; they’re also the things that I want now in my forties,” Shelton explains about her concept for Bambō House. “It’s a nice little <a href="https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/whoosah/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">whoosah</a> as we transition back to the hustle and bustle of life. You have this one little reprieve you can spend a moment or all day in if you want to.”



“The first several years of business are like half doggy paddling, half underwater,” she explains. “But now that I can breathe, I realize [just add honey] has really been an outlet for me. Tea has endless possibilities.”



Photo courtesy of just add honey

Brandi Shelton cultivates a sense of community with her tea shop, just add honey. Learn more about her path to success in our latest.

Brandi Shelton cultivates a sense of community with her tea shop, just add honey. Learn more about her path to success in our latest. | SUCCESS

Spill the Tea: Atlanta-based Tearoom just add honey Welcomes Conversation and Cultivates Community

Brandi Shelton's just add honey Tearoom Cultivates Community | SUCCESS

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One of Maureen Cacioppo’s first forays into entrepreneurship was as a junior high school student in Long Island, New York.



“I would save all the candy from Halloween, and when my classmates ate all theirs, I would bring [mine] to school a few weeks later and sell it to them. They were used to having candy and sugar, and once they ran out, there was no more supply—except me,” Cacioppo shares with an infectious laugh.



When Cacioppo moved to Florida 13 years ago, she combined two of her passions by working in nonprofit outdoor education and navigating the state’s natural waterways and coastlines. About eight years ago, she became curious about <a href="https://www.floridapureseasalt.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">making salt</a>, and a hobby began.



“I started in my backyard with a crab boil pot and a burner and experimented with solar evaporation on glass pans. I started really teaching myself high school chemistry and nerding out on the history of salt and the whole process from start to finish,” recalls Cacioppo, adding that she took notes and ruined several pots along the way.



“I made some really terrible salts, but it was so fascinating to me—the process and enjoying the learning and failing and seeing if I could actually come up with something that was safe and tasty,” she adds.



Eventually, Cacioppo’s experimentation paid off and she realized she was no longer making terrible salt.



“I started making something consistent and briny and delicious and using it at home,” she says, adding that she gradually started gifting her homemade salts to family and friends.



<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/5-steps-to-turn-your-passion-into-your-profession/">This backyard hobby</a> eventually became Florida Pure Sea Salt.



<h2 id="h-from-hobby-to-full-fledged-business">From hobby to full-fledged business</h2>



Just how did Cacioppo’s salt-making hobby become the St. Petersburg, Florida-based Florida Pure Sea Salt, a full-time business complete with staff and corporate clients that launched seven years ago?



“I was leaving the state of Florida a lot for work, and we couldn’t move on with our family goals. At that point, we decided that we needed to either redefine our family goals, or I could change jobs so I would be home more,” Cacioppo explains. “We started talking about what the next phase of our lives might look like. That’s when I thought, Hmm, maybe there is a potential to <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/5-questions-to-help-turn-your-passion-into-profit/">make this into a business</a> and make a little bit of money.”



<h3 id="h-florida-pure-sea-salt-s-foundation">Florida Pure Sea Salt’s foundation</h3>



When she decided to <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/11-game-changing-tips-for-small-business-owners/">embark on this new venture</a>, Cacioppo knew that she wanted to incorporate her love of outdoor education and “build it into the business somehow.” She also wanted to weave in her love of simple, quality ingredients—a passion she developed from her grandparents, who would carefully pick and prepare ingredients from their garden.



“Everything was cooked low and slow, and you could taste the love that went into every dish,” Cacioppo says, adding that no matter how busy her childhood home was, everyone gathered around the table nightly for dinner to reconnect with each other.



That desire for connection and simplicity <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/representation-matters-5-tips-for-creating-a-business-worth-supporting/">became her business’ foundation</a>.



“We put together a great, solid team, knowing that we were going to be affecting our environment and the community, and wanting to make sure we are effective in the most positive way,” she explains.



That started with celebrating what makes each person unique.



“<a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/bringing-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-into-the-workplace-with-dr-tina-opie/">Diversity and inclusion</a> are part of our foundational principles that guide how we build our team and continue to grow our company,” Cacioppo explains. “Diversity fuels innovation and drives us forward every day. <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/if-you-think-youre-unbiased-youre-wrong/">As an inclusive workplace</a>, our employees are professionals who are comfortable being their pure, <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/3-key-behaviors-for-bringing-your-whole-self-to-work/">authentic selves at work</a>, and we wouldn’t want it any other way.”



<h2 id="h-florida-pure-sea-salt-started-with-a-simple-ingredient">Florida Pure Sea Salt started with a simple ingredient</h2>



An early decision that has served Cacioppo well is the focus on simple, clean and local ingredients, with an emphasis on quality water. Her salts are small-batch and free of any bleach, anti-clumping agents or other chemicals.



“[Natural] salt has one ingredient, so if you get bad water, you get bad salt,” she explains. “We’re constantly doing things to make sure our efforts aren’t wasted, because ours is a very long and caring process.”



In addition to testing, filtering and boiling the salt water, which is pulled directly from the Gulf of Mexico, Cacioppo accesses the expertise of material scientists and organizations that serve as watchdogs for Florida’s waterways. The result: clean finishing salts.



She also partners with small-batch makers around the world to source salts that complement those available from Florida Pure Sea Salt.



“As a company people can rely on for really good salt, we started diversifying our offerings a few years ago. We can only create one type of salt here [in Florida] because we have one type of water,” she says. “For example, sea salt from Cyprus has different minerality, so it can create huge flakes. Or, red Hawaiian sea salt has a lot of red clay in it after it evaporates, so the minerals are really rich on the back end and almost make the salt a little bit bitter. They have all those beautiful minerals in sea salt that our bodies need. And now we have a lot of options from different parts of the world.”



<h2 id="h-listening-and-learning-from-others">Listening and learning from others</h2>



When developing her business plan early on, Cacioppo accessed resources through the Small Business Association and became involved with The Greenhouse in St. Petersburg, a local organization that “provides business owners and entrepreneurs with the education, resources and assistance needed to thrive in the local economy,” according to its website.



“The Greenhouse was big, for sure,” Cacioppo says. “Tapping into the wealth of knowledge of local business people and family and friends and learning from them.”



Over the years, she also participated in the <a href="https://www.thecge.net/institutes-initiatives/the-usa-women-entrepreneurship-cooperative-usawec/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">USA Women Entrepreneurship Cooperative</a> (USAWEC), a five-month initiative through The Center For Global Enterprise, which she calls “an incredible experience.” Cacioppo says she is fortunate to have connected with so many female business owners through both The Greenhouse and USAWEC. “Especially the female business owners in the area,” she says. “They’re so willing to share their stories and what they’ve learned. It’s been really wonderful.”



When she launched Florida Pure Sea Salt in 2016, Cacioppo engaged people at farmers and makers markets, teaching them about pure, natural salt and its benefits so “they could make better decisions for themselves about what they’re putting into their bodies.” She also welcomed feedback and suggestions from her customers on anything from packaging to flavors. The flavors maple bacon, habanero and garlic (now a bestseller), among others, are direct results of customer feedback.



<h3 id="h-creating-strategic-partnerships">Creating strategic partnerships</h3>



“I also went to one of the best restaurants in Tampa. They had just received their first James Beard nomination, and I wanted their feedback. I wanted to go to the best,” Cacioppo says of meeting the team behind Rooster &amp; the Till. “We sat down and they were really curious about what we were doing. They source locally, and they’re curious people about food and how people connect with it. They had not heard of anyone local making sea salt and had a couple of suggestions.”



One of those suggestions was to make a larger flake to use as a finishing salt. Cacioppo took the suggestions to heart and went back to her cutting board. A week later, they met again, and the Rooster &amp; the Till team ordered two pounds of salt.



“They’ve been our customers ever since, and as they’ve grown, they buy more salt from us,” Cacioppo says. “It’s been <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-create-strategic-partnerships/">a wonderful partnership</a>.”



In addition to Rooster &amp; the Till, <a href="https://www.floridapureseasalt.com/find-us-collaborations" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cacioppo has collaborated</a> with other independent restaurants and makers, including a chocolatier, brewery and coffeehouse.



Cacioppo also approached a local specialty shop early on and asked what it would take to get on the store’s shelves. That’s when she learned about sell sheets and UPC codes.



“I went home and Googled ‘What the heck is a sell sheet,’ and ‘What the heck is a UPC code,’” she recalls with another laugh. “I returned a week later and he [the shopkeeper] tried the salts, and there was an instant connection. He gave us a lot of shelf space and carried multiple salts. It was a great first lesson on how to get on store shelves.”



Outside of markets, specialty shops and collaborations with independent restaurants and makers, Florida Pure Sea Salt is available in <a href="https://www.floridapureseasalt.com/find-us-locally" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">myriad Florida stores</a>. Their complete line of salts is also available on the company website and can be shipped throughout the U.S.



<h2 id="h-looking-to-the-future-for-florida-pure-sea-salt">Looking to the future for Florida Pure Sea Salt</h2>



That’s not to say Cacioppo’s resting on her laurels. Rather, she is working to expand Florida Pure Sea Salt’s reach into the Midwest and the Northeast and is setting her sights on more of a presence nationwide. She and her team are also aiming to expand into more health and wellness food markets.



Staying true to her passion for outdoor education, Cacioppo is also growing her business on the production side in a way that will provide more community outreach opportunities.



“We are expanding to include a solar evaporation process for educational purposes [as well as some production],” she says. “We’re teaming up with a farm in Tampa and will use the solar platform to teach and connect people with their food.”



She adds that the teaching opportunity will also provide the platform to talk about the history of salt in Florida and the importance of being stewards of the Earth, not to mention scientific teaching moments.



The solid foundation that Cacioppo established in her first year of business not only set her up for success but also helped her get through the pandemic when farmers and makers markets were shuttered.



“The decisions we made in year one have gotten us to where we are now, nearly seven years later,” she says. “We have a team to support, and we’re supporting their families. I’m never taking that lightly.”



Cacioppo is as grateful today for the support of her customers and community as she was the day she sold her first jar of “delicious, healthy, simple salt.”



“It’s taken off because it’s an awesome product,” she says. “You can put it on the rims of your cocktails, use it as a finishing salt or in the cooking process.



“The most humbling thing, from the first day it happened to me still to this day, is it’s so incredible when people choose to share our hard work with their family and friends. When they put it on their dinner tables, for their families and their kids to use,” Cacioppo continues. “This is what it’s been about: connecting with our food sources, connecting with people. And I think it is so unbelievably beautiful when people choose to perpetuate that vision that I had very early on.”



This article originally appeared in the March/April 2023 <a href="https://store.success.com/by-media/success-magazine-mar-apr-2023-lewis-howes.html">issue of SUCCESS magazine</a>. Photos by Florida Pure Sea Salt

Maureen Cacioppo took Florida Pure Sea Salt from backyard hobby to a full-fledged business. Here's how she did it.

Maureen Cacioppo took Florida Pure Sea Salt from backyard hobby to a full-fledged business. Here's how she did it. | SUCCESS

How Florida Pure Sea Salt Went from Hobby to Full-Time Business

Florida Pure Sea Salt: From Hobby to Business | SUCCESS

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Susan B. Barnes

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