We had the good fortune of connecting with Gabriela Shanklin and Tywan Shanklin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gabriela and Tywan, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?

Tywan: I’ve always wanted to own my own business, in college I pursued a degree in business administration and some of my favorite classes were the entrepreneurship classes. At an early age I saw the value of ownership. My mother is a business owner and we would often talk about expanding her business and building from what she has started. It was always a desire of mine so when I noticed my wife’s baking talent I encouraged her to start selling her desserts.

Gaby: Honestly I was inspired by my husband. Anytime I would make a dessert he would say “babe we could sell these” so with enough persuasion, I decided to give it a try. The funny thing is when I was a teenager I would make desserts with my mom and sell them to friends, family and at church. Somewhere around college I lost sight of that and years later I found a passion for baking again and I started to sell some desserts to friends and family again. In 2020 I challenged myself to learn to make donuts, so one day while at a thrift shop Tywan found a mini donut maker and we decided to buy it and try it out. That led to a lot of trial and error to get the recipe just right but once the recipe was good, we knew we had something special. Selling all the other desserts was ok, but in mini donuts I found my lane, I found the product that I can build a business around.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?

We are the owners and operators of Lil Shanklin’s Donuts which is a home-based mini donut shop. We specialize in custom made mini donuts for all your needs including special events, corporate events, caterings, gatherings, gifts, and much more! We also participate as vendors at local farmers markets and other vending pop-up events. We spread love through our mini donuts! What sets our mini donuts apart is that they are custom made. At our vending pop-up events we make the donuts fresh on site and the customer gets to pick their toppings from our menu. For special events we customize donuts to match the colors or theme of an event. One of the things we are most proud of is our customer service, we want to spread some love through our mini donuts so we treat everyone kindly and try to have fun as we serve our customers.

While we are still a very small business we have big goals and aspirations. While we grow we remember to always remain coachable. We pay attention to other businesses, to their leaders, we seek counsel and ask A LOT of questions, and we pay attention to our customers. We’ve had many growing pains, we are trying to balance our personal lives, professional lives and trying to build a business so things can get chaotic for us. But when we are on the same page about our goals and what we are working towards we can overcome whatever hurdles come our way.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
This is an interesting questions for us because we moved back to the Louisville area about a year and half ago after living out of the area for about 10 years. So honestly we have been slowly rediscovering the city ourselves. We may be able to answer that better in a couple more months. When we are not working we mostly hang out with our kids!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

Gaby: I want to dedicate my shoutout to my parents, Ricardo and Evelyn. They were the ones who first invested in any of my interests as a child. When I said I wanted to learn to bake they took me classes, they bought me equipment, and my mom spent time baking with me. They supported my interests at an early age! I will also dedicate it to our own “Lil Shanklin’s” our 3 kids Valery, Camila and Gianni who our business is named after.
Tywan: I want to dedicate my shoutout to my daughter Valery. She has exposed me to a world different from my own. She’s taught me love differently, to see the world differently and she is a drive of motivation for me on a daily basis.

 

Instagram: https://instagram.com/lilshanklinsdonuts?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lilshanklinsdonuts

Image Credits
Photographer Kyle Gordon, Best Dad Media

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