Exploring Life & Business with Nichole Williscroft of mochi donuts

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nichole Williscroft.

Hi Nichole, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
Backstory Owners: Nichole Williscroft & Brian Motoyama and Rebeckah Lee & James Villaroman.

In the early days of the pandemic, I was laid off from a company that left me feeling like I had nothing left to give. Rebeckah, my sister, and her husband, James, saw mochi donuts were trending near their home in California and brought the idea to the table. Brian and I spent so much time building other people’s kingdoms and decided it was time to build something for our family. We had the opportunity to license/franchise with another brand but decided wanted more control of our product so, with no restaurant experience, we spent the last 2.5 years researching, learning, and building mochidot donuts.

We want everyone who walks through our doors to have an experience with our storefront, our people, and of course the product! We’ll be offering a monthly rotating menu featuring traditional flavors like chocolate and peanut butter to Asian-inspired flavors like ube and inejolmi. Online ordering will be available in April along with catering options.

We also have retail niches featuring local artists and business owners to represent our love for the community.

Currently, Ellery Mae Candles and Leah Hope Photography. We’re excited to take root in our new home on 10th Street and Camelback.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Launching anything new always comes with challenges and requires lots of grit. Our story started with job changes and Covid which brought what felt like endless hurdles with our lease, construction, permitting, materials, cost, labor shortages, etc. It was truly a new era of life… but we persevered.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about mochi donuts?
Our primary product is mochi donuts. They are made with rice flour and when fried it creates a lightly crispy exterior and a soft-chewy pillow-like interior. Our icings are made in small batches, all from scratch so lots of love goes into cultivating our monthly rotating menu and flavor profiles.

Our brand/shop is minimal, elegant, and urban.

Our goal is to offer an elevated experience… when people walk through our doors we want them to have an experience with our shop, our people, and our product!

We will be adding mochidots (mochi donut holes) to our menu and down the road Korean corndogs.

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Community is important to us so building bridges and relational capital is a natural byproduct of what we are living out. We’re just making friends!

Pricing:

• Single mochi donut $3.00
• Half-dozen $16.50 (price drops to $2.75 per)
• Dozen $30.00 (price drops to $2.50 per)

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mochidot.com
• Instagram: @mochidotdonuts
• Facebook: @mochidotdonuts
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mochi-donuts-dogs-llc/?viewAsMember=true
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mochidot-donuts-phoenix

Image Credits
Nichole Williscroft and O’Shea Tometi