Meet Lawdie Pahlavan | Candy Shop Owner & Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lawdie Pahlavan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lawdie, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I was working as a studio film exec for almost a decade before I was laid off right before the writers strike happened. With the whole industry on hold and no job opportunities available I started catering dinners for friends to keep myself busy and creative. As one dinner turned into many a few of my friends encouraged me to start my own line of food based products. After trying my hand with a few homemade snack products I decided my favorite snack of all was, and is, candy. Why not start a candy shop with curated high quality candies that I grew up loving? The research was incredibly fun—who wouldn’t want to taste test candies??— and I enjoyed making the mixes. I knew that my passion for gummies was something I wanted to share with people. Now that I’m back to my regular career it’s nice to have something that is all my own. I’ve discovered that there are few things as rewarding as starting your own business in something you love.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I work in film and have had a very conventional trajectory. I attended grad film school then worked at an agency then later developed movies at studios and so on. When I was faced with a layoff and no job prospects I had to get creative, I was uncomfortable career wise for the first time in my adult life. Starting this candy shop has been an exercise in self motivation and confidence. And while working in film has enormous risk, I’ve never felt more risky than when I started my own business. It’s been a satisfying and has emboldened me to try things and not sweat the things out of my control.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My entire family, especially my sister, Dorianne’s who has been such a help and support system as I navigated uncharted territory after my layoff. She is also such a helpful source of creativity for me and always has been. My parents and my friends have all been such positive impacts on me as I built a business, some by helping me with my designs, others by simply purchasing and telling their friends. My friends Drew and Ty also started their own food company, Cahoots, at the same time as me and they’ve been a great soundboard as the three of us figure out how to sell and promote our brands. My boyfriend, Ryan, was the first person to push me to draw my own logo and kept nudging me through the whole process of starting my own candy shop. His encouragement means the world to me and having someone behind me telling me to “keep going” was huge motivation.

Website: https://lawdiescandy.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawdiescandy/profilecard/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Image Credits
Me