Ever since I can remember, my Mom made Christmas Caramels. They were amazing and cherished because she only made them at Christmas. When I got married, I wanted to gift them to friends for Christmas – so she taught me how to make them. I’ve been making them ever since – over 20 years. It was always only at Christmas though! Then my daughter requested Pumpkin Spice Caramels for fall – so I created my own recipe and she loved them. She requests them every Fall and it has given me the encouragement to create other caramel flavors.
Over the years, many friends and family suggested I sell them, but I was working full time and didn’t have time to even think how that would work.
After the sudden passing of my Mom in 2014, the thought of her legacy kept nagging at me and began thinking strongly about how to start my own business selling caramels, but I was still too busy and had no idea how to make any of it work. A few years later, in a random twist of fate, I suddenly found myself sitting in a hotel lobby waiting on a meeting with my corporate bosses. My coworker came out of her meeting and informed me that the bosses were in town to let us go. We were losing our jobs, that day. As I sat and waited for my turn, my phone dinged a calendar reminder that my Mom’s birthday was the next day. I felt it was her way of telling me things would be alright and that better things were yet to come. Sort of her way of nudging me. But it was still a scary thought.
When I began working at a little home decor shop in Meridian, it was just coming up on fall and Pumpkin Spice everything was everywhere. My daughter requested her favorite fall caramels – and since she only eats a few here and there, I had a whole bunch left over. So, I brought some in to the shop to share with the other gals. The owners ended up loving them and asked if I would make some for them to buy and give to their customers.
