Rising Stars: Meet Mercedes Johnson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mercedes Johnson.

Hi Mercedes, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in the Philippines and moved to the United States when I was six years old. My mom had a bakery and I grew up learning the tip and tricks when she would create these delicious desserts. My mom told me, “one day, all the things I taught you and will teach you, you will use in your future”. Well.. She was totally right. I have so much passion for cooking and especially baking. Trying out different recipes and using all the things she taught me growing up. To this day… She still teaches me a thing or two.

Last November, I decided to make Filipino desserts: pastillas (milk candy), crema de Fruta (fruit graham cracker cake), ube (purple yam) cookies & brownies. These were just for fun until a lot of my mom’s Filipino friends bought some from me. I thought, hmm maybe this could be a great business to start – and so I did!

My brother and I, when I was younger, would make Oreo truffles – aka Oreo balls dipped in chocolate. I thought I would remake it and decorate for fun. Well, along with the Filipino desserts. I started to sell the Oreo truffles and they were a huge hit. Ever since I started selling more Oreo truffles and created different types of truffles such as Golden Oreo Truffles & Nutter Butter truffles. Even though I do not sell the Filipinos desserts as often as the truffles, they are still available for purchase.

I enjoy making these truffles and will find all the toppings and designs I can do to make sure that I can sell my desserts to my customers. I have help from my family and friends as my taste tester and also my husband as being my partner in helping me create dessert orders. I never thought my business would be this big after only 7-8 months. I definitely cannot wait to put more out there, create more orders, and hopefully cater more events!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
For the most part, it has been smooth. Yes, there are times when business is slow and it’s very hard to put my business out there. But I’ll find ways around the internet and my surroundings to spread the world. These truffles are delicious and I pride myself in making these because they do take time but are also very addicting, haha.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Aside from having my small business, MJ Sweet de Leche, I also work a full-time job as a receptionist at an accounting firm. I love my job, but I graduated college with a bachelor’s degree in Health Care Coordination. So hopefully, years from now, I get enough office experience to work at the healthcare field, doing the most I love: helping people.

I also think I am creative… my business is a dessert business and that helps me create the most beautiful desserts, I do photography on the side (only for few people, mostly family and close friends). I’m proud that I specialize in different things and what sets me apart from others? is that I enjoy being able to do different things that I enjoy. Not a lot of people enjoy many things at once, but I do.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Good luck: Growing my business faster than expected, loving my job even though its not my dream job, meeting new people because of my business, bringing me closer to family and friends, experiencing new things.

Bad luck: Pandemic (I think everyone went through this bad luck), negative people, health problems, financial issues.

Pricing:

• 15 Pieces of Truffles of your choice ($18-22)
• 24 Pieces of Truffles of your choice ($24-30)
• 35 Pieces of Truffles of your choice ($40-45)

Contact Info:

• Email: businessbymercedes@gmail.com
• Website: mjsweetdeleche.square.site
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mjsweetdeleche/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mjsweetdeleche

Image Credits
@tkoch_photography @stephaniekellyphoto @mckayanddiannafilm