Daily Inspiration: Meet Frank Gatlin

Today we’d like to introduce you to Frank Gatlin.

Hi Frank, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We have close friends in Florida that purchased a freeze-dryer and decided to make some freeze-dried fruit and treats and they sent us a few bags to try. We fell in love with it and decided to send them an order for some random bags of whatever they wanted to send to us. We finished those bags and then ordered about $300 worth wholesale from them to take to a market to see what kind of response we would get from local people. When we discovered that almost no one in Arizona had even heard of freeze-dried candy or tried it, we decided we needed to get a freeze dryer and grab these customers before anyone else did so they could share our love of this awesome new way to enjoy candy, That is when Bellas Candy Shoppe was born. We named the company after our granddaughter, Isabella. Our goal is for this little home-based business to grow so it can be passed down to her and provide her with a future she will be proud to have. We ordered a machine and then had to painstaking wait about eight weeks for it to be built and shipped to us.

Our freeze-dryer is Teal in color so we named her “Rosie” after the robot on the Jetsons. When it arrived the fun began. We researched and asked our friends in Florida for guidance and began to freeze-dry as many different kinds of candy as we could. Not all of the candies worked but those that did, we decided to add to market inventory. We started this new business venture in July of 2020 and thanks to all of our wonderful market and online customers, in January of 2021 we were able to order a new machine. We also went from Bellas Candy Shoppe being a DBA to incorporating it under Lil Bellas LLC. When the new machine arrives in the spring, we will be able to create even more freeze-dried candy for all of our loyal online and Farmers Market customers to enjoy. The name of our new machine will be Mr. Belvedere. We don’t have a brick and mortar store yet but we do call the Arrowhead Farmers Market our storefront. You can find us there every Saturday during normal market hours. We are trying to expand into other farmers markets across the valley. We can be reached via a Facebook message or drop us an email at info@bellascandyshoppe.com if you are interested in us participating in your market.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Our biggest hurdles were finding the right candies to freeze-dry because not all candies work and those that do require different temperatures and times to create a presentable and yummy product. On a bright note, even our mistakes are tasty.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Frank has never been afraid to step outside of his comfort zone and do new things. He earned a bachelor’s degree in the computing field while driving a truck. After graduating Suma Cum Loudi he went on to earn a Master’s Degree in Marketing and he secured an IT administration position at one of the largest education companies in the country. His love of people and his sense of humor provides him the ability to communicate his love of freeze-dried candy to those around him and is the reason why we go to our local farmers market so he can interact with hundreds of people on any given weekend.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Frank used to play bass in a country music band in Alabama and has played with some professional country music artists just for fun.

Pricing:

• Each bag is only $5.00 per bag

Contact Info:

• Email: info@bellascandyshoppe.com
• Website: https://bellascandyshoppe.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bellascandyshoppe/
• Facebook: https://business.facebook.com/bellascandyshoppe/