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What the heck is a kurtosh? It is a a traditional Hungarian street food that is pastry perfection. Why have we never heard of it? Because it's hard to make and hard to keep fresh. It's an old-fashioned baked good like your Grandma used to make (if she was Hungarian!).
Nicole Shaw fell in love with the street food pastry kurtosh, also called a "Chimney cake," when her husband's job took their family to Budapest for four years and she decided to learn how to make it, not an easy feat! She has now baked about 10,000 pastries and has a brick and mortar store in Nutley NJ, in addition to having a thriving catering business. She has served these delicious pastries for people at Google, Citibank, and at the Hungarian Embassy in Washington D.C.
She offers her customers an experience, a discovery, a way of eating that you can feel good about. And like a lot of entrepreneurs I meet, she is about much more than just having her business and having lots of customers. She wants to show people how to enjoy being together and enjoy eating something that is a delicious experience. She wants to spread happiness, one kurtosh at a time!
Her words of wisdom? The Golden Rule. Treat others the way you yourself would like to be treated. Simple wise words. Nicole lives them.
Read Nicole's story here:
https://kurlykurtosh.com/from-the-heart/
Her company website:
https://kurlykurtosh.com
More coverage:
https://abc7news.com/hungarian-chimney-cakes-kurly-krtsh-hungary-europe/6363883/
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Original music "Saturday Sway" by Brendan Talian
Sun, Jun 5, 2022 · 11:39 PM
51:47
Owner: Lynne Thompson
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
eat, hungarian, business, treat, traveled, pastry, big, bakery, love, feel, hungary, shop, nutley, sugar, bake, experience, nutley new jersey, nicole, food, medicine
1
Speaker 1
0:25
Hello and welcome to the Storied Human. I'm Lynne Thompson and today I'm going to bring you the story of Nicole Shaw. She owns the Kurly Kurttosh bakery in Nutley, New Jersey. It's a boutique bakery featuring a Hungarian pastry most of us have never had the pleasure of eating, because it's kind of labor intensive. And it goes against what we usually do here in America. But Nicole lived in Hungary for four years and got exposed to this pastry and just became obsessed with it and learned how to make it and decided to bring it to America. And she opened a catering business. And then a brick and mortar bakery. Her vision is to spread happiness and awareness and enjoyment and have people eat something and still feel good after they eat it. So we had a great chat. And Nicole describes her goal as making the world a happier place. And I think it's about a lot more than the pastry. And I loved hearing her whole take on it. I got to meet Nicole because she was at a networking event with my niece, Regina. And I interviewed Regina who has the tiny candle, tiny kitchen Candle Company. And she was in episode five of the story of human from teacher to entrepreneur. And we talked about how she also has this vision of bringing something beautiful to people and experience. It's a lot more than selling candles. It's bringing this whole beautiful, almost spa wellness experience to people. And so now Nicole, met Regina, and Regina is going to do a candle inspired by the Kurly Kurtosh so I just love this whole thing. I love this generation of entrepreneurs, I love talking to them and hearing about their vision. And I sure love talking to Nicole. So welcome with me, please, Nicole Shaw
2
Speaker 2
2:20
are the big things I truly believe is that there's not a lot of transparency and honesty in society. And so everyone, like sometimes I'm like, This is so hard and someone's like, you shouldn't tell people that, you know, don't let them know how difficult it is. And I'm like, But why? Like why? Like everyone's like, I make a great product, like you should have a line out the door. No, I don't have a line out the door. I know a lot of businesses that do have a line out the door. And two years later, they're closed. I'm not trying to get a line out the door, I'm trying to build a movement, I'm trying to build like a community. And to do that, you just don't have a line out the door. It takes businesses that are here 10 and 15. And 20 years later, they didn't necessarily start with a line out the door. But ultimately, they got people to believe in their bigger vision and purpose. And that's what I want to do. So yes, you can drive past my shop and not see a line today. But I can tell you in a year or two, like you will see the people come and those are people are diehard fans, so it's all about what people want to build. But I like go completely against mainstream because I think a lot of us are indoctrinated with a lot of ideas from a young child, you need to look a certain way you need to act a certain way. You need to have money pretty, like that's why the divorce rate is so high. Right? Like, why is it if if the way we live our life is so great. Why is it divorce rates so high? Why because people are focused on the wrong thing. When they look for life partners, and and then you build then you raise these children in these environments that are dysfunctional, then you have these dysfunctional people. So I'm just like, if that's what you believe to be the truth, I believe on what like I actually see. And my biggest goal is to be one of the happiest people on the face of the earth. And I've been around enough people to recognize what are the characteristics and the requirements to achieve that. Then having lots of money is not and being famous is not one of them. In fact, it's
1
Speaker 1
4:10
probably a recipe for disaster. Right? My mother used to say the thing is people are pretty miserable.
2
Speaker 2
4:18
I mean, yeah, I mean, you see them committing. You see them in depression, talking about all these disorders, and then they're also committing suicide. And that has to be really serious. So you know, I know exactly what the formula is. And that's what I follow. And it's the steady slow that you have to you know, it's like the hare versus the rabbit.
1
Speaker 1
4:38
Yeah. So how did you get like this because you're very practical, and very realistic.
2
Speaker 2
4:43
Um, well, a, I'm very fortunate to be raised in a family. Like my parents. My mom was born in a very small island in the Caribbean. And so it's 5000 people and almost everyone knows each other and the other half is just all related. And so she always had this sense of like caring for one another. And I learned that at a very young age, like you care for everyone, like everyone matters, you don't care where people come from, you don't care, she was never. And this is not the case for a lot of people they didn't, she didn't care about looks, and you know, who was wearing word or who had money, like, like, there's parents that really raised their children, like, oh, this person looks cute and look at this, and, and they get that into their children's head at a very young age. We didn't do any of that. And so for me, it was just all about embracing everyone and having a good time. And, and then I just always, my mom's from the Caribbean. So I would travel a lot there. And I just love to travel. My father is huge into traveling. So then I got that piece from him. So then, like when I was in college, I ended up going. And I was in college, I ended up living in Spain with a family. And I didn't speak English fluently, but I didn't speak Spanish fluently. I mean, I was probably intermediate. But I would hang out with them because I wanted to really learn language, so I would hang out with them, I would meet some other people that really spoke Spanish. So then I got really, you know, got a good glimpse and a different culture. Then I graduated college, and I ended up working in internal audit where I traveled to over 30 countries, and would stay in those countries two to three weeks at a time. So we would really become connected with a lot of the people we worked with, because we're almost there one month with them in some cases, you know, and then I had a lot of work one on one for audit purposes with some of the people. So I learned a lot about the different cultures. You know, like I learned so much about the Philippine Philippines. And Filipinos come here all the time. And I'm like, you know, I'm half Filipino. Like, what do you mean? Half my employees, if you're looking, you know, you guys come on. And I worked there for like three weeks. So I'm completely like, engaged with the community. And I really understand. And I just, and I think the cultures and different people, and then we moved to Hungary. And then I lived in Hungary for 40 years, we went to my kids went to a British school. So I met tons of different cultures versus going to the American School where you would go with Americans, and then you would be with people who wanted to be simulate with Americans. You know, but when you go to a different experience, yeah, you go to the British, but everyone's like, I'm from this country. They're very proud of it, they stand out. They're not trying to like assimilate and into the American culture. And I became really good friends with someone who was Turkish, so and like, we went to Turkey and stayed with her for a week, my kids went to sailing camp in Turkey, you know, so like, just the experiences that I've had, you just all in your eyes just always constantly open. You're just,
1
Speaker 1
7:49
you're Yes, I love that. Because you're open, right? You've had all these experiences, the travel helps tremendously connecting with people like that. But you're also very well rounded, like all these different experiences, it makes you well rounded, it makes you able to relate to lots of different people in lots of different situations.
2
Speaker 2
8:10
Right, thank you. I mean, I. So first of all, I traveled over 30, I've traveled to, I guess you would say I traveled to every continent. I guess not Antarctica,
8:25
but you got to put that on the list.
2
Speaker 2
8:28
Beyond that, I've been to every continent like I was went to Africa, stay there with a month with my, you know, with my best friend. And so and then like the Spanish I had a stint in Costa Rica, then I was in Spain. So like, anybody can walk in here. And then I used to travel, obviously, everyone travels to Western Europe. And then I lived in Central Europe, and I traveled to Eastern Europe. And then I've been to the Middle East. And I've been to Australia. So anybody can come in here and I can find something.
1
Speaker 1
9:00
That's so cool. I know it would be hard to be in a business and not be an open person open minded. You know, I just don't how do you make that work? Right? Because lots of people, you're dealing with all kinds of people.
9:15
Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of people, I don't think a lot of people are open minded, though.
9:18
I think well not like you
2
Speaker 2
9:21
think a lot of people, I think we're just I just believe that we are truly indoctrinated at a very young age. Do you have some fundamental beliefs? And I think, as I get older, I see that they're not true. I mean, I see what my own eyes like if you travel, you see that the things that you're told, are not true. And I think one of the big things for me is I got really really sick with my health and when I begin to dig deeper into like, why am I this sick? I begin to realize it's the food and the lifestyle. And I then see how that's communicated through society. And like it really bad. And I think from that I just feel like I have to be the change that I want to see. And the change that I want to see involves educating people. And it involves making people feel great because everything out there is making people feel bad marketing, I was told was to make people feel undesirable about their current situation, to encourage them to purchase what you have to offer.
1
Speaker 1
10:23
Fear sells. Yes, fear. It's all about fear. You don't smell right. You don't look great. Your teeth aren't wide enough, right? If you're not, if you're not fearful, there, it doesn't work. The advertising doesn't work. Yeah. It's so weird that we're talking about this, because I have an episode on his book called Love is letting go of fear. And it's by Dr. Gerald Blonsky. I read it like a million years ago, and it came back to me recently and reread it. And it's literally so simple, but so good. You can't feel love and fear at the same time, you always have to choose one. So if someone comes at you, accusing you or angry, they're really fearful underneath it. All right? All right, all right. And you can choose to be fearful back or you can take a moment, and be loving back and just say, this person's got this having a hard day, this person's going through some tough times. And just that just changed my whole mindset about, you know, we have to try to be loving, it's such a basic, simple thing. But the more I did it, the better my life got, the more I did it, I You can literally change a transaction with someone. But you're right on about marketing, it's like, it's scary. They, they rely on you being afraid and not feeling good about yourself.
2
Speaker 2
11:37
I mean, first of all, life is so simple. Like it's so simple, but it's me to be so complicated to have people completely confused. Yeah. And I used to say, people, there's so many miserable people out there. So that's why I created this business. Because even though I sell Kryptos, I'm really in the business of spreading happiness. And so people come in here we embrace them, we welcome everybody, I don't care, like what your story is, I look at the character for the person who they are. But when you really dig deeper, I was like people are not miserable. People are actually hurting,
1
Speaker 1
12:12
right? Big difference, you
2
Speaker 2
12:16
are suffering from some sort of trauma, which nine times out of 10 came out of childhood, whether it be their parents didn't treat the right, whether it be the kids at school treated them wrong, or whether it whether it be that they were just teens, that society, put all this pressure on them to be this or look this or at that. And from that experience, they've carried it with them, then what you give us what you get. And so as a result, they get all that negative energy. So then they just become an overall negative person. I've had so many, I've had a handful. I mean, we attract a certain group of people, but I've had people come in here, very like, oh, no, we're just looking, they're not interested. They just want to kind of see what's going on. They don't want to chat. And by the time like, I chat with them, and I introduced like they're like hanging out smiling. I had someone who had like, some anxiety, and she just came in and she was like, we're just looking. And there just is three of them. They just walking around, they're not really talking. And then eventually I started asking them some questions. And she just opened up. And she was just like, you know, I'm so happy. No one's here. And I'm like, Well, why are you happy? No one's here. Like, I'd like for people to be like, I suffer from anxiety. And I was like, Oh, don't worry. So no, we can talk about it. And then she like kind of cleans up. But by the end, she sat down there were some people in here, she didn't leave. And then she came over to me and she was like, thank you so much. You know, like people just want to feel that someone cares about them.
13:47
It's pretty simple. Yeah,
13:48
those it like we have to
1
Speaker 1
13:49
love each other and take care of each other. Yes. But we forget that or we're afraid to remember that or we're conditioned, some family.
2
Speaker 2
14:00
Some people are not trained, some people are taught that everyone's out to get you. And so you need to protect those who's trying to take something from you.
1
Speaker 1
14:08
I would say like I live in New Jersey and you live in New Jersey, right? I would say North Jersey is really like that. It's just more like, you know, it's more big time more people live closer together. There's a lot, a lot more towns a lot more stuff happening. And I have definitely seen when people move here because we're more in more rural, central but rural New Jersey. I've seen here, people come here with a different attitude. And we have to say like, look, chill out, like, we're not trying to, you know, we're not trying to like get anything, not that everybody here is great. We're not but there's that stress, you know, in certain like populated areas where people just think, you know, I'm gonna get mine.
2
Speaker 2
14:48
And I've done events in Bergen County, Essex County and Union County. So I was always just a Bergen County. Like I've never really went into the other counties for much. And I can tell you there's a complete difference. To the different count, you can feel it. Hands down, I would just like I don't like I kind of know what it is. But you know, you need to do a little bit more research before you start making some claims.
1
Speaker 1
15:11
Right, right. I don't want to say too much, right? But come out to Hunterdon County and tell me what you think.
2
Speaker 2
15:17
Yeah, it's a very different, different environment. When you go to these different counties.
1
Speaker 1
15:25
I remember getting lost on the way to some mall like years ago, and I pulled off the highway. And instantly I felt because I'm really sensitive to whatever, you know, and I felt this tension like this instant tension. And I said, Oh, I forgot what it's like, to be in a city like I, you know, I went to Brunswick, you know, it's like a whole different feeling. You have to have your blinders up, you have to be, you know, be protective of yourself. But there's also that tension that people learn to live with.
2
Speaker 2
15:56
very unhealthy, it's very, it's very bad for you, you go into the city, I'm like, Whoa, like, as soon as I drive into the city, the traffic, the cars, the people walking, honking, people like going cutting in front of you. I'm like, this is really intense.
1
Speaker 1
16:13
It is. And if you live with it all the time, it's bad for your health. Definitely
2
Speaker 2
16:17
so bad. And people don't your body talks to you. So when you need all these medicines, you're going to the doctor, you're sick, your blood pressure's high, your body is talking to you, I got really sick in my late 20s. And it wasn't until it wasn't until I got sick, that I had to look and be like, what's going on? And then I begin to listen to my body and really understand how the body operates. I was on for hypertension medicines in my late 20s. And the doctor, was it like, I didn't have any, like physical attributes that someone would be like, Yeah, we could understand. Doctors could understand they labeled it as it's hereditary. That's just what happens. And I said, this can't be the case. Like there's no, and it's not, we're so young. Right? That's crazy, right? And then it's when I begin to look at my diet and my lifestyle, that I begin to realize this is not right. And then if you take me that was 27, almost 20 years later, I am literally off of all the medicines, my numbers are phenomenal. And I would have been off the medicine earlier, if I had known that I should have been being weaned off of it. And that's another thing like the whole medical profession, like it's just, it's very, very, it's not easy, it's complex. But I should have never been on medicine till this point. And I had to figure it out on my own. And now I have actively worked with a doctor to be weaned off of the last 10 milligrams that have been taken for the last five years that I did not need, you know,
1
Speaker 1
17:48
so good. That's really good. But we're not taught those things. You're right. And we're not taught to look like I mean, some doctors are cool. We're getting more doctors that are more holistic, more osteopathic doctors, whether they'll actually look at your situation, or they'll ask you, you know, do you exercise? Or is there stress at work? Or they're, they really do try to look at the whole person. But when I was young, it was just take this pill, you know?
2
Speaker 2
18:15
And there's so many people sitting on medicine. I mean, yes, some people are not trained or have the willpower or the interest to try to get off the medicine because it definitely, like I have to completely cleanse my palate. I ate sugar like it was like water, like I would just eat like bags of Skittles. I would eat drink juice, like I literally would like use sugar. I mean, I'm probably addicted to it. And then it's once I took that out my palate, like everything just completely changed, but no one's educating people to that extent. And well, it's addictive so that if you can get people addicted to something that they'll buy almost. And then you just have a complete revenue stream in eternity. But just to kind of let people know Do you want to explain what I do for
1
Speaker 1
18:58
just I would love to explain what you do because your story is wild. I love it.
2
Speaker 2
19:02
So I am the owner of Kurly Kurtosh. And it is a boutique. It's an experiential boutique bakery located in Nutley New Jersey. I used to we specialize in Hungarian, Kurdish kolache, which is also known as chimney cakes. It's a popular street food. It's a cross between a hollow churro and a doughnut. It's it's baked on what looks like a rolling pin, a sweet dough, and we roll it bacon in a rotisserie oven. And then we customize it. I lived in Hungary for four years, I was completely fascinated by the street food particularly because I've lived in Spain, traveled to over 30 countries from my job and I'm from the New York City area. So I truly believed at some point I should have heard about this or actually tasted one and never in my life. Had I had that experience and then when I was in Hungary Not only was it really good, there's a whole culture behind it. And it symbolizes like the essence of joy and happiness. So I, you know, I can't eat sweets in the United States because they're overly sweet entirely process ate these without any problems whatsoever. And this was my sweet treat. And I realized when I was going to leave, what am I going, I'm going to be leaving soon what's going to be planned? Like, what am I going to do? Like where's my country. And that's when I decided to bring it back to the United States. It's obvious that no one knows about them here because it's very hard to make it a business. So I did the research to understand why. Because my background is business. I am a former CPA, I studied accounting, I was a financial analyst, I went to business school. And then I came, graduated business school and went into marketing. And I worked on really large global brands like air wick and Lysol. So I really completely under understand the business side. So I said, we're gonna bring this to the United States. But I'm going to bring it in a way that makes it a sustainable business. And that's why we make it an experience. So people come in, we really touch upon hungry, you really see the process. And I use 100%, the purest ingredients in the world, I worked with a spice purveyor out of New York City or flowers getting sourced from Europe, we use a French style butter. So we really tried to make it cover every facet from like the taste from the when you walk into the shop, the experience, and then really just this whole intangible sense of discovery that people truly enjoy when they learn about something new. And so I present it in a way that no other food is truly presented. And I layer it with, you know, just having different items. But they're the best of the best, because I want to make sure that people are enjoying something that their body recognizes, I recognize that a lot of the food we eat in the US is processed and overly sweetened. And the a place that parents and kids both alike can go and truly enjoy.
1
Speaker 1
22:08
I love that whole concept. And you reminded me of something my friend Christina told me when she was traveling a couple years ago. They have she has her husband has relatives in Switzerland. And she said she has trouble eating bread here. Right. But in Switzerland, and Italy, she ate bread the whole time. And it was fine. So there's something that we're doing here that they're not doing there.
2
Speaker 2
22:34
So I did a little bit of research to understand why because I have that same thing people can our flowers coming from Europe, and people are able people who are non celiac gluten sensitive are able to eat these pastries without any issues. So my first question is why? Yeah, so after doing some research, I found out that the wheat that's coming from Europe, particularly mine is a traditional wheat going through the traditional million process, and it doesn't go through the crossbreeding and hybridization like the wheat in the United States. So if you were to take a step back, you would actually see that if that is truly the case that people who are gluten sensitive can eat my pastry, they're actually not allergic to the gluten, they're allergic to the processing.
1
Speaker 1
23:16
Yeah, they're having powerful processing.
2
Speaker 2
23:19
And so I have to notify everyone that it has gluten. But I share with people that this is a there are people who are gluten sensitive, non celiac gluten sensitive, and can eat these without any issue. And then they have to make the decision to themselves for themselves. And they taste it and they sample it for see if they have any reaction and they don't have reactions.
1
Speaker 1
23:42
It's kind of powerful. And I don't know how we got down that road in this country, but it's not good. What we're doing with wheat and other hybrid, you know, overly processed grains and food, just not good for human bodies.
2
Speaker 2
23:57
No, it's not I like when you eat here, your body recognizes what you're eating. But the reality is if you store most of the food are in boxes, and they are you can eat them for weeks and months later, which means we're actually consuming edible items not food. And your your body actually needs food with the nutrients, not edible items for you to just kind of sustain
1
Speaker 1
24:23
it although it's a lot more than a pastry shop. You're offering a lot more than than just this wonderful thing you found in Hungary. I love that you're offering something you feel good about, and something that people can can tolerate. And it's not bad for them.
2
Speaker 2
24:38
Right and then they leave just feeling good overall because, you know, I work with staff, I select staff that embody and embody this whole sense of joy and happiness. And they believe in my vision. Yeah.
1
Speaker 1
24:53
So that's also common among entrepreneurs who do really well and feel really good about what they Do is that they're offering something unique. They're offering an experience and something they really believe in. And it comes from a deeper part of them. You know, they're not just selling things like you said before. We were talking before. It's much deeper than that. You know, and you're very connected to what you're doing. And it all happened. It all started when you eat street food and hungry. I just love that. What a story.
2
Speaker 2
25:22
Yeah, I mean, we've even trademarked the word desert tainment because the business really started off by doing catering. Because the reality is, no one knows what this is, if you open up a shop, is it the right location, no one's gonna. And then you're just going to close down. So I said, Let's do the pop up. Let's do the catering. Let's go out to these different places and see what the traction is. Within the first year, Bank of America actually selected me as a 2019 business woman spotlight feature. So I was on their website for one year. Then I started partnering with Bloomingdale's, William Sonoma, Lord and Taylor, I would pop up in those shops, and then people would see curly Kryptos. And then they would hire us for events. And so that's where we trademarked the word dessert. tainment because we're half dessert, half entertainment, because when you go to most parties, you chat with people. And then it's kind of like, that's it. But when we show up, there's like, what is going on? Right there, then you tasted it tastes like a French bakery shop, like right before your eyes, we and we set up and then we just pack up and we disappear. So um, so yeah, so we did it as catering. And then catering pretty much stopped. Right after we had just finished going to Citigroup global headquarters, and then COVID hit. And so we ended up going into a storefront to test the location. Because we said, there's no catering. Let's see what happens if we set up a shop, we ended up on CHANNEL SEVEN NEWS, people started coming. So I said, Okay, I know that people will come, I just need, you need to make sure I deliver something that people are willing to come for, you know, package it in a way. And then that's how we ended up in opening up the shop. And then just last week, we were at Google catering for them at their office.
1
Speaker 1
27:09
That is so cool. How did that go? Oh, it
2
Speaker 2
27:13
went fantastic. They loved it, they actually want us to do to come on a regular basis at some point.
1
Speaker 1
27:19
I love that that really says says it all that that somebody that big wants you to come back on a regular basis. There's an excitement there, and you have something very unique.
2
Speaker 2
27:29
Yeah, what's nice about it, we can always change it up so we can change the flavors. With ice cream, we can make it savory. Like for Memorial Day weekend, if all goes as planned. I plan to actually get little pets where you put like, you can you know when people have to cupcakes and they have a little drop in them. I'm partnering, I love to partner and I love to partner with other small businesses. We're gonna feel the pets with this artisanal, salted caramel whiskey. It's like one of his mind. And we're gonna use that to put on the ice cream. And we're gonna use a memorial date flavor cone, colored cone. So we're always coming up with like, I just sit here and think of new ideas and hear what what my you know, my guests tell me and I just create things. And it's fun. And it's fun to do new things that are good. And you can feel good after you eat. Oh,
1
Speaker 1
28:20
yes. So tell me about the embassy gig. I was pretty impressed with that. How did that come about?
2
Speaker 2
28:26
Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. So. So to me, yes, I did. I baked for the Hungarian embassy two years, I was invited to bake for them two years in a row before COVID. And, and before I had the shop, and I think that embodied my fundamental belief that you need to be kind to everyone. When I was in Hungary. I had just moved there. I went to a school meeting and someone was like, I need boxes. And I was just like, I have tons of boxes. I just moved here. Come get every last one if you want. Like why break them down, throw them away if they can be repurposed. I'm huge into repurposing. I mean, like, massive into repurposing. So. So she was like, come on over. So she was like, great, she got all my boxes. She's like, thank you so much. She's like, I'm gonna show you how to make palate changes, which are Hungarian crepes, and we just became friendly over the next four years. Well, you fast forward, I was moving back to the United States and her husband was appointed as the ambassador of the Hungarian embassy in DC. So to the United States. And so she knew that I was working on this business to make the Kritische collage. And then when she got here, she said, every year the Embassy has an event where they open up their doors to the general public. And she said, the Czech Republic was making the Kurdish and she was just like, but that's Hungarian. Like we should have that at our why do we have that? She was like I would love to sample your product. And you know, let's taste and then maybe you can come. She sampled it, she loved it. And that's how it happened. But it just shows you like if you treat everyone what you give us what you get. And you know, I created this relationship four years later, we were still friendly, because it all was based on that one thing that I did for her that cost me literally nothing. And I was just so happy to be of service to someone that it ended up you know, in that and that's even how I got Google Google I posted. And Google the, the individual who invited me, his wife had been following me and she was just like, I've been watching you forever. And she was like, I hope that this lives up to my expectations. Because I'm super excited. And I was like, no problem. And I just was chatting with her because I treat everyone in my shop the same. I don't care if you're like some executive, I don't care. If you're just someone who's you know, does has a more simpler job. I don't care who you are, where you're from how you look, as long as you're respectful, and you are going to you know, be caring to everyone else around you. I'm going to embrace you chatting with her husband was like, oh my god, I would love to bring this into my company. But it's not healthy because it's sweet. And I was like, It's not healthy. I was like, well, let's define what healthy is. Yeah, really? Well, you have to eat sweets, number one. And number two, if you're eating sweets that are loaded with low fat, sugar alternatives, like your body doesn't even recognize those things. So yes, they're low in sugar, but you're consuming something that your body like literally cannot process. And I said, but this is like grandma's baking. And it said half cups of flour is four tablespoons of sugar. So I was just like, How is this not healthy, every ingredient that I use is a pure it is coming from the source. So like our raspberry, it's a crushed, dehydrated, dehydrated, crushed raspberry. And we add some sugar. Most fruit flavor, most fruit items that you eat are flavorings. They're not the actual true for not even the real fruit. Right? So so it's just a flavoring of the fruit. So I was just like, how, you know, is that not healthy? And then he was just like, I'm so old.
1
Speaker 1
32:12
Yeah, it's like people don't realize, right? You explained it. Right. So can you know, we're talking about this, and I'm looking at that picture behind you. And I'm looking, I've looked at the video how you make it, but people are gonna want to know more about can you describe what it's like, like, describe what we're talking about?
2
Speaker 2
32:29
Yeah, so um, so like, so I was saying before that you roll it on what looks like a rolling pin. And then we allow it to rise. So it has really like, I guess you could say three rising periods. First, you have to make it that it needs to rise. Then you once it does that, then you put it onto a spit, because they use Basedow and we use in refrigerated Kiki's like I learned in Hungary on the streets with the locals. And I've learned from someone who received the Mastercraft award for making one of the best in the country.
1
Speaker 1
33:02
And you said it was over charcoal. I read in one of your interviews, it was over charcoal fires on the street.
2
Speaker 2
33:07
Exactly. So in Hungary knighted states, we do it on a infrared burner. So we just do it on like toaster type ovens. And so you roll the dough onto the spit, then you allow it to rise. So that's the second rise after it's risen once and then you bake it into the oven and in the last bake, it's gonna rise one more time, right because the yeast is beginning to grow with the heat. And then when it comes out the oven, we coat it and this is where it gets really fun because you can sprinkle any type of flavor on there. So you can do the cinnamon you can do our Raspberry we also do an edible glitter, which is a hot you know it's a it's not sprinkles sprinkles is a waxy sugar inside of a waxy coating shell. This is just like a higher end, um, sugar and it's crunchy. And so again, it goes back if you were overly sweet because it's not fake. It's just crunchy. And then you can do a lot of different toppings the Hungarians typically like walnuts, they like to coconut flakes. Because we work with a spice purveyor, our coconut flakes are coming from Southeast Asia and they're maintained in the fridge not sitting on the shelf. Our walnuts are freshly harvested from California. And we keep those in the fridge as well. Whereas most of the things that you see sitting on the shelves, they're they're really stale. You know, like you've been treated and then they can just sit there for eternity. And then we also do Oreo because that's America's favorite cookie.
34:36
And then we sounds amazing. And then we make
2
Speaker 2
34:38
it in the shape of ice cream cones. I mean, the options are endless. Eventually we're going to make them make them into little Cinnabons. Like cardamom buns. Yeah, I learned about how to make that from a Swedish Baker. So the ends are that the options are endless. We're gonna make Avery and Phil Fill them with savory items.
1
Speaker 1
35:01
Oh, great idea. You know, my stepson is Hungarian and I said, Did you eat these when you went over there? And he goes, Oh, yeah, they're the best. Yes, I was gonna be interviewing you. So there's a lot of excitement about it, when people understand how special it is, and just excitement because they've never had it before. And you're bringing something like you said something that's healthy in that old fashioned way, like something that your grandma could have made if she was Hungarian?
2
Speaker 2
35:27
Absolutely, Hungarians are actually astonished at how like, they're like, these are really, really good.
35:33
Oh,
2
Speaker 2
35:35
they come in, they buy like one or two and then like, we're fine. They sit down to eat it. They're like, we need more. It's an experience
1
Speaker 1
35:40
you I think you convert people definitely when they come in your shop. So Can people order them online too?
2
Speaker 2
35:48
Is that Yes. So I do. I do this because I love it. I don't do it to create the next Dunkin Donuts. Is this man hate to talk to me because I like a business man or woman. But it's primarily men that say this, but they're like, you can open up another location. You can franchise this, you can do this. Yeah. I mean, the reason why I created this is because there are so many franchises. And they're not the franchises are not producing top notch quality. I mean, I've yet to have someone show me a franchise that it's like creating like grandma's baking. No, they may have a few locations, but they're not a franchise with like hundreds and hundreds of locations. The reason why I created this is because I can't find anything that truly produces great food. So I was once told I you know, you tend to go to a higher end bakeries, but even some of those are questionable. And I had my palate is very sensitive. So I can eat something from anywhere. But I can tell you immediately if it has processed and yeah, and some of the Pyron bakeries are cutting corners, like I know one that was told one guy, it's a French bakery, they make these cheese cakes. But what they do is they get the they they serve cheesecakes. And what they do is they get the cheesecake from Costco, but they put a really nice chocolate really nice fruits on top. And they say Americans can't tell.
37:10
Like, you know,
2
Speaker 2
37:13
so but for someone like myself, who's very sensitive to all those ingredients that would be in a Costco cheesecake, I can tell you right away, I'm like, I could feel this. This is not right. And so I just don't eat a lot of this food just because I started feeling funny. And if we all paid a close tension, if we cleaned, cleansed our palate, and paid really close attention to when we have these like bloating or headaches, you'll realize or you get sleepy, you'll realize it's tied to the food that you're eating. And starting to
1
Speaker 1
37:43
connect, you can connect that if you if you take your time. You know, it also reminded me of I had a German great grandma. And she used to bake like, oh my gosh, I miss it so much. And I would bake with her. We come from like a baking family. And you're reminding me of how fresh all that stuff was like you had to eat it right away. Right? There were no preservatives. And I remember my mother being so sad when she lost her grandma. And she said, Oh, we never got the recipe for one of the things she made was cherry custard pie. And my mother said, but I guess it doesn't matter because we don't have a cherry tree. You know, she got the cherries from a cherry tree. She goes, she used lard in the in the crust. So we don't have that. And she said, No, we don't have fresh milk from the farmer down the street. So we couldn't recreate it if we tried it. Right.
2
Speaker 2
38:33
That matters. Yeah, I mean, and so that's why, you know, that's why we're very selective on who we reach out to because it's not for everyone. It's it takes a lot of resources and money to deliver a product like this. And so it's really for people who love this sense of discovery. And who could even tell like there's some people who just like, I don't know what the big deal is, but people who eat this type of food can tell like this is really curated ingredients. But even from the ice cream, we work with a small ice cream shop in Hillsdale, who makes small batch ice cream and ice cream pairs so amazingly, with our pastry because it's really curated.
1
Speaker 1
39:16
There is a difference and it's wonderful when people could tell and your body can tell as you pointed out, so can they order online if people show your website? Yes,
2
Speaker 2
39:26
so you can order online but we do not ship? That is the big question. Do you ship do you ship do you ship? Oh, maybe we do not ship because it really shouldn't be eating the same day I will turn away business if people are like I'm gonna deliver it four or five days later. I'm just like, This is not that type of thing. And so So yeah, that's kind of that's kind of you can order it we have delivery. It has to be within a certain radius from Nutley and we like essentially bar Are all the DoorDash drivers. So you ordered through my website and DoorDash will deliver it to you. So that
40:05
works. Yeah, I'm gonna have to come to Nutley. I know I do. I think it's like an hour and a little bit. Not that far.
2
Speaker 2
40:14
But that's like a field trip. But some people make this. You know, they get in there. I just had like Hungarians that came from Brooklyn, in like an hour and a half as well. Unfortunately, The Crypto Show we're not making or making those more to order. Because Americans are ordering the the the cones, the ice cream cones. Oh, they like the cone shape. Yeah, so we just make those in abundance because that's what everyone's really getting. It's hot out so it goes nice with the Eagles nice with the pastry of ice cream does sound
1
Speaker 1
40:47
amazing, though, with that really high quality ice cream. So I love what you're doing. And I love that you're very sure about what you're doing. That's what I really love. It's like, you know, you're I have this idea, I'm going this place, I don't need to you know, franchise or go crazy or have a line out my door. I'm focused on the quality. You're following your your your truth, right. And I do love that. I just the reason I'm doing a podcast is I was in this amazing podcasting class with this amazing podcaster. She's, her name is Kathy Heller. And she's super successful. She interviews like everybody famous that you can think of. But what she talks about is it's not about your numbers. It's not about growing this huge audience, although she has that now. But that's never what it was about. In the beginning. It was about growing the right people, you know, getting the right quality and, and I'm like that too. I'm just like, I'm just enjoying myself. I like to learn from people. I like to give people a spotlight. And I think you have the right idea. You know, you have integrity. You have integrity about how you're doing it. So yeah, I'm really hungry now.
42:00
What do you see far to get a current job? And we're not even here.
1
Speaker 1
42:04
But that's okay. I'll make the drive. How far are you from
42:07
mountainside?
1
Speaker 1
42:09
I'm about 40 minutes. 45 minutes?
42:12
Because that's where I'm going today, which is still far.
1
Speaker 1
42:14
We're going well, we're far from everything, but that's okay. All right. So I'd love to put that video on the on the shownotes. Like when I upload the episode so people can see how the dough is, you know, wound around the fit the dowel? Yeah, it's so cool. Yeah, the Dow, that it tastes wonderful. It's like the way I love that you are showing people this is like a thing, you know, like three times we have to rise it and it's like a production. And I think people love that, you know, and, again, you're reminding me of my great grandmother, because she would sit there and roll out the dough with me and make the apple tart probably the way they've made it for hundreds of years. Yeah, it's a great thing to restore that, that quality and that and that respect.
2
Speaker 2
43:03
Yes, we call it feel good indulgence, because you're guaranteed to eat it and not feel yucky. Like anyone who's ever eaten and been like, oh, because the portion sizes correct the items like we don't put cupcakes on it and cotton candy and Twizzlers and kick cats and popcorn and everything else you can find. Yeah.
1
Speaker 1
43:25
Because the original thing is good. So you don't have to load it up with all that yucky stuff.
2
Speaker 2
43:29
Yes, so probably coming. Maybe at the end of the summer, I'm going to do a big push on our curly classic, which is the traditional Hungarian version, which doesn't have anything on it. Americans automatically need to put cinnamon and Oreo and edible glitter and everything on it. And I want to bring to light, the pure plain one and show people. You don't even need to do all of that. And you could really really enjoy it still love it. Yeah, you'll love it. Like I think we just have this idea that everything is encoded and filled and dipped and this and that. And it's like no, it doesn't have to be that way. We do overdo. Yeah, yeah, I do want to and then the people who buy it now all diabetics, like only people who are diabetics like because I don't have no other option, but I think it could be for everyone. So I have a lot planned and then we're gonna have a candle made by your cousin. My niece. Yeah. Regina, so I'm super excited. by that.
1
Speaker 1
44:30
I love that. I just and I do love the way you you all support each other the women entrepreneurs, it's just excellent. And I love her product. Yeah, it's I just ordered some meadowlark. I ordered three Meadowlarks
2
Speaker 2
44:42
you know, the funny thing is I'm not into candles, but I was just like, I like her story. I like the quality and I think a candle would be like beautiful like what she does is amazing. And the wick fractals so I was like, oh my god, I'm gonna go like bananas on that.
1
Speaker 1
45:00
When you remind me of each other this, would you like people to have an experience? Yes, not just buy a thing, but have an experience.
2
Speaker 2
45:07
And I believe that there's a guy called Gary Vaynerchuk. And one of the things he always says is, there's two ways in which you can build the biggest business, he's just like, you can actually just build a business, you know, and do what you're supposed to do and grind, and you'll grow big, because you put in the hard work, and you dedicated your life to the purpose, or you can crush all the other businesses around you, and then you'll be the biggest. And so I believe on the first option, where we all grow together, we can all grow big. And obviously, whoever works the hardest, and you know, is able to capitalize on the different opportunities that are put in front for the front of them, they're able to grow the biggest, but the idea is we all should grow together. And if we all grow together, then you create a community of all happy people. And then it helps me get to be one of the happiest people on the face of the earth. Because if we have a community of happy people, you can only be happy.
1
Speaker 1
46:03
Yeah. And you can sleep at night. I wonder how some of these people who sell this stuff that really isn't good for people, how they sleep at night, you know, I love talking to you. Is there anything else you would like to share with us about maybe a bit of wisdom that you've picked up through this whole journey?
2
Speaker 2
46:20
Yes, I truly believe that. People should be kind to everyone and follow one simple rule. And that would be to treat people the way you want to be treated. And if you do that, you will see that you will get double the returns. Because people just want to be everyone wants to be treated well, even the people who treat people bad.
46:47
Yeah, it's so true.
2
Speaker 2
46:50
You can only win if you treat people well. And just think of every time I do something, I'm like, if I was in their shoes, how would I want to be treated like the other day, the FedEx guy, he parked in front of the driveway for me to get in. Now I was just like, I know for a fact that he would hate to be me trying to get into the parking lot. And I can't get in because the FedEx guy is disappeared. I know he would be angry. I know for a fact he would be angry at him. And I was just like, it was probably a little bit snarky. Like completely insane that there's an opening for him to actually park where he wouldn't have had to block the parking lot. So then I was just like, you thought that was a good idea.
3
Speaker 3
47:35
It was a bit snarky, but it was just like, the only thing you should really say is,
2
Speaker 2
47:40
you know what, she's snarky, but she's right, right, like a big FedEx truck in front of the parking spot. Because I know for a fact he would be upset if that happened to him. Right, like you're trying to, you're trying to get in and you have a big FedEx truck, and there was no one parked anywhere else and there's an opening for him to access all the doors further down the street, but he parked in the parking lot. He got mad at me.
3
Speaker 3
48:04
And I was just like, how's it how do you get mad? You're the one person has turned to the parking lot.
2
Speaker 2
48:12
And so for me, I would have never even parked there because the first thing I would have thought is and it wasn't like a two second drop off he had to walk down the corridor and come back. But um, yes, you probably thought no one was going to show up in time. But um, but I would never I would never do that because my first thing is if I covered the parking if I you know prevent people from accessing the parking lot and I was the one trying to get in I'd be angry.
1
Speaker 1
48:38
Yeah, definitely if you have that focus it really helps you get through things and not be overly snarky yeah
2
Speaker 2
48:47
I just I just thought it was like you're a drought your your job is a driver Your job is to like access be a non inconvenience to the people around you as a drive thru. I'm a truck, a big truck, you know, but But that's I just I just want everyone to as they navigate life, just you know, every time you do something, think of yourself as being on the other end and how would you want to be treated and life becomes a breeze
49:13
that does work the Golden Rule
2
Speaker 2
49:15
Yes, that is my massive treat my where I treat my work employees really good like we've in the back of my shop is really nicely the furniture I put back in there or like the equipment like I don't have iron shelves in the back with the ideas in the front and he's look 3d in the back is just where we work. But I'm like I want to work where it's nice. You know, like, I want to work where it looks good. So I really took the time to make sure the front end and the back are desirable. So that's that's my just treat people the way you want to be treated. It will come back tenfold. You will be happy the people around you will be happy and it'll equal a recipe of being one of the happiest people around.
1
Speaker 1
49:55
I love that. You know it is it's almost magical when you start living that way. That's it is And I feel that about you. So I can't thank you enough for coming on as usual. You entrepreneurs are so much more than your business, you just have this whole approach. The kind of people that do do a business with integrity, it's just so cool to find out who you are impressed with this woman. Not only did she learn an ages, age old method of making a pastry in a foreign country and bring it back to this country, but she opens a business that she fills with her ideas of how the world should be, which is, you know, treat people fairly. Be open to different kinds of people, make them feel welcome. Give them an experience, source your materials so that what you're feeding people are pure. It was just a delight to hear the details about this wonderful woman and her business. And I wish we all could have a kurtosh right now, but we have to go to Nutley New Jersey if we want one. But that's okay, because that's the way it should be. It should be fresh and real. Like Nicole is so I want to thank Nicole's so much for sharing herself and her story. And until next time, the Storied Human says goodbye.
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Lynne Thompson
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Nicoleinterview
Sun, Jun 5, 2022 · 11:39 PM
51:47
Owner: Lynne Thompson
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
eat, hungarian, business, treat, traveled, pastry, big, bakery, love, feel, hungary, shop, nutley, sugar, bake, experience, nutley new jersey, nicole, food, medicine
SPEAKERS
Speaker 2 (71%),
Speaker 1 (27%),
Speaker 3 (<1%)
1
Speaker 1
0:25
Hello and welcome to the Storied Human. I'm Lynne Thompson and today I'm going to bring you the story of Nicole Shaw. She owns the Kurly Kurttosh bakery in Nutley, New Jersey. It's a boutique bakery featuring a Hungarian pastry most of us have never had the pleasure of eating, because it's kind of labor intensive. And it goes against what we usually do here in America. But Nicole lived in Hungary for four years and got exposed to this pastry and just became obsessed with it and learned how to make it and decided to bring it to America. And she opened a catering business. And then a brick and mortar bakery. Her vision is to spread happiness and awareness and enjoyment and have people eat something and still feel good after they eat it. So we had a great chat. And Nicole describes her goal as making the world a happier place. And I think it's about a lot more than the pastry. And I loved hearing her whole take on it. I got to meet Nicole because she was at a networking event with my niece, Regina. And I interviewed Regina who has the tiny candle, tiny kitchen Candle Company. And she was in episode five of the story of human from teacher to entrepreneur. And we talked about how she also has this vision of bringing something beautiful to people and experience. It's a lot more than selling candles. It's bringing this whole beautiful, almost spa wellness experience to people. And so now Nicole, met Regina, and Regina is going to do a candle inspired by the Kurly Kurtosh so I just love this whole thing. I love this generation of entrepreneurs, I love talking to them and hearing about their vision. And I sure love talking to Nicole. So welcome with me, please, Nicole Shaw
2
Speaker 2
2:20
are the big things I truly believe is that there's not a lot of transparency and honesty in society. And so everyone, like sometimes I'm like, This is so hard and someone's like, you shouldn't tell people that, you know, don't let them know how difficult it is. And I'm like, But why? Like why? Like everyone's like, I make a great product, like you should have a line out the door. No, I don't have a line out the door. I know a lot of businesses that do have a line out the door. And two years later, they're closed. I'm not trying to get a line out the door, I'm trying to build a movement, I'm trying to build like a community. And to do that, you just don't have a line out the door. It takes businesses that are here 10 and 15. And 20 years later, they didn't necessarily start with a line out the door. But ultimately, they got people to believe in their bigger vision and purpose. And that's what I want to do. So yes, you can drive past my shop and not see a line today. But I can tell you in a year or two, like you will see the people come and those are people are diehard fans, so it's all about what people want to build. But I like go completely against mainstream because I think a lot of us are indoctrinated with a lot of ideas from a young child, you need to look a certain way you need to act a certain way. You need to have money pretty, like that's why the divorce rate is so high. Right? Like, why is it if if the way we live our life is so great. Why is it divorce rates so high? Why because people are focused on the wrong thing. When they look for life partners, and and then you build then you raise these children in these environments that are dysfunctional, then you have these dysfunctional people. So I'm just like, if that's what you believe to be the truth, I believe on what like I actually see. And my biggest goal is to be one of the happiest people on the face of the earth. And I've been around enough people to recognize what are the characteristics and the requirements to achieve that. Then having lots of money is not and being famous is not one of them. In fact, it's
1
Speaker 1
4:10
probably a recipe for disaster. Right? My mother used to say the thing is people are pretty miserable.
2
Speaker 2
4:18
I mean, yeah, I mean, you see them committing. You see them in depression, talking about all these disorders, and then they're also committing suicide. And that has to be really serious. So you know, I know exactly what the formula is. And that's what I follow. And it's the steady slow that you have to you know, it's like the hare versus the rabbit.
1
Speaker 1
4:38
Yeah. So how did you get like this because you're very practical, and very realistic.
2
Speaker 2
4:43
Um, well, a, I'm very fortunate to be raised in a family. Like my parents. My mom was born in a very small island in the Caribbean. And so it's 5000 people and almost everyone knows each other and the other half is just all related. And so she always had this sense of like caring for one another. And I learned that at a very young age, like you care for everyone, like everyone matters, you don't care where people come from, you don't care, she was never. And this is not the case for a lot of people they didn't, she didn't care about looks, and you know, who was wearing word or who had money, like, like, there's parents that really raised their children, like, oh, this person looks cute and look at this, and, and they get that into their children's head at a very young age. We didn't do any of that. And so for me, it was just all about embracing everyone and having a good time. And, and then I just always, my mom's from the Caribbean. So I would travel a lot there. And I just love to travel. My father is huge into traveling. So then I got that piece from him. So then, like when I was in college, I ended up going. And I was in college, I ended up living in Spain with a family. And I didn't speak English fluently, but I didn't speak Spanish fluently. I mean, I was probably intermediate. But I would hang out with them because I wanted to really learn language, so I would hang out with them, I would meet some other people that really spoke Spanish. So then I got really, you know, got a good glimpse and a different culture. Then I graduated college, and I ended up working in internal audit where I traveled to over 30 countries, and would stay in those countries two to three weeks at a time. So we would really become connected with a lot of the people we worked with, because we're almost there one month with them in some cases, you know, and then I had a lot of work one on one for audit purposes with some of the people. So I learned a lot about the different cultures. You know, like I learned so much about the Philippine Philippines. And Filipinos come here all the time. And I'm like, you know, I'm half Filipino. Like, what do you mean? Half my employees, if you're looking, you know, you guys come on. And I worked there for like three weeks. So I'm completely like, engaged with the community. And I really understand. And I just, and I think the cultures and different people, and then we moved to Hungary. And then I lived in Hungary for 40 years, we went to my kids went to a British school. So I met tons of different cultures versus going to the American School where you would go with Americans, and then you would be with people who wanted to be simulate with Americans. You know, but when you go to a different experience, yeah, you go to the British, but everyone's like, I'm from this country. They're very proud of it, they stand out. They're not trying to like assimilate and into the American culture. And I became really good friends with someone who was Turkish, so and like, we went to Turkey and stayed with her for a week, my kids went to sailing camp in Turkey, you know, so like, just the experiences that I've had, you just all in your eyes just always constantly open. You're just,
1
Speaker 1
7:49
you're Yes, I love that. Because you're open, right? You've had all these experiences, the travel helps tremendously connecting with people like that. But you're also very well rounded, like all these different experiences, it makes you well rounded, it makes you able to relate to lots of different people in lots of different situations.
2
Speaker 2
8:10
Right, thank you. I mean, I. So first of all, I traveled over 30, I've traveled to, I guess you would say I traveled to every continent. I guess not Antarctica,
8:25
but you got to put that on the list.
2
Speaker 2
8:28
Beyond that, I've been to every continent like I was went to Africa, stay there with a month with my, you know, with my best friend. And so and then like the Spanish I had a stint in Costa Rica, then I was in Spain. So like, anybody can walk in here. And then I used to travel, obviously, everyone travels to Western Europe. And then I lived in Central Europe, and I traveled to Eastern Europe. And then I've been to the Middle East. And I've been to Australia. So anybody can come in here and I can find something.
1
Speaker 1
9:00
That's so cool. I know it would be hard to be in a business and not be an open person open minded. You know, I just don't how do you make that work? Right? Because lots of people, you're dealing with all kinds of people.
9:15
Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of people, I don't think a lot of people are open minded, though.
9:18
I think well not like you
2
Speaker 2
9:21
think a lot of people, I think we're just I just believe that we are truly indoctrinated at a very young age. Do you have some fundamental beliefs? And I think, as I get older, I see that they're not true. I mean, I see what my own eyes like if you travel, you see that the things that you're told, are not true. And I think one of the big things for me is I got really really sick with my health and when I begin to dig deeper into like, why am I this sick? I begin to realize it's the food and the lifestyle. And I then see how that's communicated through society. And like it really bad. And I think from that I just feel like I have to be the change that I want to see. And the change that I want to see involves educating people. And it involves making people feel great because everything out there is making people feel bad marketing, I was told was to make people feel undesirable about their current situation, to encourage them to purchase what you have to offer.
1
Speaker 1
10:23
Fear sells. Yes, fear. It's all about fear. You don't smell right. You don't look great. Your teeth aren't wide enough, right? If you're not, if you're not fearful, there, it doesn't work. The advertising doesn't work. Yeah. It's so weird that we're talking about this, because I have an episode on his book called Love is letting go of fear. And it's by Dr. Gerald Blonsky. I read it like a million years ago, and it came back to me recently and reread it. And it's literally so simple, but so good. You can't feel love and fear at the same time, you always have to choose one. So if someone comes at you, accusing you or angry, they're really fearful underneath it. All right? All right, all right. And you can choose to be fearful back or you can take a moment, and be loving back and just say, this person's got this having a hard day, this person's going through some tough times. And just that just changed my whole mindset about, you know, we have to try to be loving, it's such a basic, simple thing. But the more I did it, the better my life got, the more I did it, I You can literally change a transaction with someone. But you're right on about marketing, it's like, it's scary. They, they rely on you being afraid and not feeling good about yourself.
2
Speaker 2
11:37
I mean, first of all, life is so simple. Like it's so simple, but it's me to be so complicated to have people completely confused. Yeah. And I used to say, people, there's so many miserable people out there. So that's why I created this business. Because even though I sell Kryptos, I'm really in the business of spreading happiness. And so people come in here we embrace them, we welcome everybody, I don't care, like what your story is, I look at the character for the person who they are. But when you really dig deeper, I was like people are not miserable. People are actually hurting,
1
Speaker 1
12:12
right? Big difference, you
2
Speaker 2
12:16
are suffering from some sort of trauma, which nine times out of 10 came out of childhood, whether it be their parents didn't treat the right, whether it be the kids at school treated them wrong, or whether it whether it be that they were just teens, that society, put all this pressure on them to be this or look this or at that. And from that experience, they've carried it with them, then what you give us what you get. And so as a result, they get all that negative energy. So then they just become an overall negative person. I've had so many, I've had a handful. I mean, we attract a certain group of people, but I've had people come in here, very like, oh, no, we're just looking, they're not interested. They just want to kind of see what's going on. They don't want to chat. And by the time like, I chat with them, and I introduced like they're like hanging out smiling. I had someone who had like, some anxiety, and she just came in and she was like, we're just looking. And there just is three of them. They just walking around, they're not really talking. And then eventually I started asking them some questions. And she just opened up. And she was just like, you know, I'm so happy. No one's here. And I'm like, Well, why are you happy? No one's here. Like, I'd like for people to be like, I suffer from anxiety. And I was like, Oh, don't worry. So no, we can talk about it. And then she like kind of cleans up. But by the end, she sat down there were some people in here, she didn't leave. And then she came over to me and she was like, thank you so much. You know, like people just want to feel that someone cares about them.
13:47
It's pretty simple. Yeah,
13:48
those it like we have to
1
Speaker 1
13:49
love each other and take care of each other. Yes. But we forget that or we're afraid to remember that or we're conditioned, some family.
2
Speaker 2
14:00
Some people are not trained, some people are taught that everyone's out to get you. And so you need to protect those who's trying to take something from you.
1
Speaker 1
14:08
I would say like I live in New Jersey and you live in New Jersey, right? I would say North Jersey is really like that. It's just more like, you know, it's more big time more people live closer together. There's a lot, a lot more towns a lot more stuff happening. And I have definitely seen when people move here because we're more in more rural, central but rural New Jersey. I've seen here, people come here with a different attitude. And we have to say like, look, chill out, like, we're not trying to, you know, we're not trying to like get anything, not that everybody here is great. We're not but there's that stress, you know, in certain like populated areas where people just think, you know, I'm gonna get mine.
2
Speaker 2
14:48
And I've done events in Bergen County, Essex County and Union County. So I was always just a Bergen County. Like I've never really went into the other counties for much. And I can tell you there's a complete difference. To the different count, you can feel it. Hands down, I would just like I don't like I kind of know what it is. But you know, you need to do a little bit more research before you start making some claims.
1
Speaker 1
15:11
Right, right. I don't want to say too much, right? But come out to Hunterdon County and tell me what you think.
2
Speaker 2
15:17
Yeah, it's a very different, different environment. When you go to these different counties.
1
Speaker 1
15:25
I remember getting lost on the way to some mall like years ago, and I pulled off the highway. And instantly I felt because I'm really sensitive to whatever, you know, and I felt this tension like this instant tension. And I said, Oh, I forgot what it's like, to be in a city like I, you know, I went to Brunswick, you know, it's like a whole different feeling. You have to have your blinders up, you have to be, you know, be protective of yourself. But there's also that tension that people learn to live with.
2
Speaker 2
15:56
very unhealthy, it's very, it's very bad for you, you go into the city, I'm like, Whoa, like, as soon as I drive into the city, the traffic, the cars, the people walking, honking, people like going cutting in front of you. I'm like, this is really intense.
1
Speaker 1
16:13
It is. And if you live with it all the time, it's bad for your health. Definitely
2
Speaker 2
16:17
so bad. And people don't your body talks to you. So when you need all these medicines, you're going to the doctor, you're sick, your blood pressure's high, your body is talking to you, I got really sick in my late 20s. And it wasn't until it wasn't until I got sick, that I had to look and be like, what's going on? And then I begin to listen to my body and really understand how the body operates. I was on for hypertension medicines in my late 20s. And the doctor, was it like, I didn't have any, like physical attributes that someone would be like, Yeah, we could understand. Doctors could understand they labeled it as it's hereditary. That's just what happens. And I said, this can't be the case. Like there's no, and it's not, we're so young. Right? That's crazy, right? And then it's when I begin to look at my diet and my lifestyle, that I begin to realize this is not right. And then if you take me that was 27, almost 20 years later, I am literally off of all the medicines, my numbers are phenomenal. And I would have been off the medicine earlier, if I had known that I should have been being weaned off of it. And that's another thing like the whole medical profession, like it's just, it's very, very, it's not easy, it's complex. But I should have never been on medicine till this point. And I had to figure it out on my own. And now I have actively worked with a doctor to be weaned off of the last 10 milligrams that have been taken for the last five years that I did not need, you know,
1
Speaker 1
17:48
so good. That's really good. But we're not taught those things. You're right. And we're not taught to look like I mean, some doctors are cool. We're getting more doctors that are more holistic, more osteopathic doctors, whether they'll actually look at your situation, or they'll ask you, you know, do you exercise? Or is there stress at work? Or they're, they really do try to look at the whole person. But when I was young, it was just take this pill, you know?
2
Speaker 2
18:15
And there's so many people sitting on medicine. I mean, yes, some people are not trained or have the willpower or the interest to try to get off the medicine because it definitely, like I have to completely cleanse my palate. I ate sugar like it was like water, like I would just eat like bags of Skittles. I would eat drink juice, like I literally would like use sugar. I mean, I'm probably addicted to it. And then it's once I took that out my palate, like everything just completely changed, but no one's educating people to that extent. And well, it's addictive so that if you can get people addicted to something that they'll buy almost. And then you just have a complete revenue stream in eternity. But just to kind of let people know Do you want to explain what I do for
1
Speaker 1
18:58
just I would love to explain what you do because your story is wild. I love it.
2
Speaker 2
19:02
So I am the owner of curly Kirk dos. And it is a boutique. It's an experiential boutique bakery located in Nutley New Jersey. I used to we specialize in Hungarian, Kurdish kolache, which is also known as chimney cakes. It's a popular street food. It's a cross between a hollow churro and a doughnut. It's it's baked on what looks like a rolling pin, a sweet dough, and we roll it bacon in a rotisserie oven. And then we customize it. I lived in Hungary for four years, I was completely fascinated by the street food particularly because I've lived in Spain, traveled to over 30 countries from my job and I'm from the New York City area. So I truly believed at some point I should have heard about this or actually tasted one and never in my life. Had I had that experience and then when I was in Hungary Not only was it really good, there's a whole culture behind it. And it symbolizes like the essence of joy and happiness. So I, you know, I can't eat sweets in the United States because they're overly sweet entirely process ate these without any problems whatsoever. And this was my sweet treat. And I realized when I was going to leave, what am I going, I'm going to be leaving soon what's going to be planned? Like, what am I going to do? Like where's my country. And that's when I decided to bring it back to the United States. It's obvious that no one knows about them here because it's very hard to make it a business. So I did the research to understand why. Because my background is business. I am a former CPA, I studied accounting, I was a financial analyst, I went to business school. And then I came, graduated business school and went into marketing. And I worked on really large global brands like air wick and Lysol. So I really completely under understand the business side. So I said, we're gonna bring this to the United States. But I'm going to bring it in a way that makes it a sustainable business. And that's why we make it an experience. So people come in, we really touch upon hungry, you really see the process. And I use 100%, the purest ingredients in the world, I worked with a spice purveyor out of New York City or flowers getting sourced from Europe, we use a French style butter. So we really tried to make it cover every facet from like the taste from the when you walk into the shop, the experience, and then really just this whole intangible sense of discovery that people truly enjoy when they learn about something new. And so I present it in a way that no other food is truly presented. And I layer it with, you know, just having different items. But they're the best of the best, because I want to make sure that people are enjoying something that their body recognizes, I recognize that a lot of the food we eat in the US is processed and overly sweetened. And the a place that parents and kids both alike can go and truly enjoy.
1
Speaker 1
22:08
I love that whole concept. And you reminded me of something my friend Christina told me when she was traveling a couple years ago. They have she has her husband has relatives in Switzerland. And she said she has trouble eating bread here. Right. But in Switzerland, and Italy, she ate bread the whole time. And it was fine. So there's something that we're doing here that they're not doing there.
2
Speaker 2
22:34
So I did a little bit of research to understand why because I have that same thing people can our flowers coming from Europe, and people are able people who are non celiac gluten sensitive are able to eat these pastries without any issues. So my first question is why? Yeah, so after doing some research, I found out that the wheat that's coming from Europe, particularly mine is a traditional wheat going through the traditional million process, and it doesn't go through the crossbreeding and hybridization like the wheat in the United States. So if you were to take a step back, you would actually see that if that is truly the case that people who are gluten sensitive can eat my pastry, they're actually not allergic to the gluten, they're allergic to the processing.
1
Speaker 1
23:16
Yeah, they're having powerful processing.
2
Speaker 2
23:19
And so I have to notify everyone that it has gluten. But I share with people that this is a there are people who are gluten sensitive, non celiac gluten sensitive, and can eat these without any issue. And then they have to make the decision to themselves for themselves. And they taste it and they sample it for see if they have any reaction and they don't have reactions.
1
Speaker 1
23:42
It's kind of powerful. And I don't know how we got down that road in this country, but it's not good. What we're doing with wheat and other hybrid, you know, overly processed grains and food, just not good for human bodies.
2
Speaker 2
23:57
No, it's not I like when you eat here, your body recognizes what you're eating. But the reality is if you store most of the food are in boxes, and they are you can eat them for weeks and months later, which means we're actually consuming edible items not food. And your your body actually needs food with the nutrients, not edible items for you to just kind of sustain
1
Speaker 1
24:23
it although it's a lot more than a pastry shop. You're offering a lot more than than just this wonderful thing you found in Hungary. I love that you're offering something you feel good about, and something that people can can tolerate. And it's not bad for them.
2
Speaker 2
24:38
Right and then they leave just feeling good overall because, you know, I work with staff, I select staff that embody and embody this whole sense of joy and happiness. And they believe in my vision. Yeah.
1
Speaker 1
24:53
So that's also common among entrepreneurs who do really well and feel really good about what they Do is that they're offering something unique. They're offering an experience and something they really believe in. And it comes from a deeper part of them. You know, they're not just selling things like you said before. We were talking before. It's much deeper than that. You know, and you're very connected to what you're doing. And it all happened. It all started when you eat street food and hungry. I just love that. What a story.
2
Speaker 2
25:22
Yeah, I mean, we've even trademarked the word desert tainment because the business really started off by doing catering. Because the reality is, no one knows what this is, if you open up a shop, is it the right location, no one's gonna. And then you're just going to close down. So I said, Let's do the pop up. Let's do the catering. Let's go out to these different places and see what the traction is. Within the first year, Bank of America actually selected me as a 2019 business woman spotlight feature. So I was on their website for one year. Then I started partnering with Bloomingdale's, William Sonoma, Lord and Taylor, I would pop up in those shops, and then people would see curly Kryptos. And then they would hire us for events. And so that's where we trademarked the word dessert. tainment because we're half dessert, half entertainment, because when you go to most parties, you chat with people. And then it's kind of like, that's it. But when we show up, there's like, what is going on? Right there, then you tasted it tastes like a French bakery shop, like right before your eyes, we and we set up and then we just pack up and we disappear. So um, so yeah, so we did it as catering. And then catering pretty much stopped. Right after we had just finished going to Citigroup global headquarters, and then COVID hit. And so we ended up going into a storefront to test the location. Because we said, there's no catering. Let's see what happens if we set up a shop, we ended up on CHANNEL SEVEN NEWS, people started coming. So I said, Okay, I know that people will come, I just need, you need to make sure I deliver something that people are willing to come for, you know, package it in a way. And then that's how we ended up in opening up the shop. And then just last week, we were at Google catering for them at their office.
1
Speaker 1
27:09
That is so cool. How did that go? Oh, it
2
Speaker 2
27:13
went fantastic. They loved it, they actually want us to do to come on a regular basis at some point.
1
Speaker 1
27:19
I love that that really says says it all that that somebody that big wants you to come back on a regular basis. There's an excitement there, and you have something very unique.
2
Speaker 2
27:29
Yeah, what's nice about it, we can always change it up so we can change the flavors. With ice cream, we can make it savory. Like for Memorial Day weekend, if all goes as planned. I plan to actually get little pets where you put like, you can you know when people have to cupcakes and they have a little drop in them. I'm partnering, I love to partner and I love to partner with other small businesses. We're gonna feel the pets with this artisanal, salted caramel whiskey. It's like one of his mind. And we're gonna use that to put on the ice cream. And we're gonna use a memorial date flavor cone, colored cone. So we're always coming up with like, I just sit here and think of new ideas and hear what what my you know, my guests tell me and I just create things. And it's fun. And it's fun to do new things that are good. And you can feel good after you eat. Oh,
1
Speaker 1
28:20
yes. So tell me about the embassy gig. I was pretty impressed with that. How did that come about?
2
Speaker 2
28:26
Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. So. So to me, yes, I did. I baked for the Hungarian embassy two years, I was invited to bake for them two years in a row before COVID. And, and before I had the shop, and I think that embodied my fundamental belief that you need to be kind to everyone. When I was in Hungary. I had just moved there. I went to a school meeting and someone was like, I need boxes. And I was just like, I have tons of boxes. I just moved here. Come get every last one if you want. Like why break them down, throw them away if they can be repurposed. I'm huge into repurposing. I mean, like, massive into repurposing. So. So she was like, come on over. So she was like, great, she got all my boxes. She's like, thank you so much. She's like, I'm gonna show you how to make palate changes, which are Hungarian crepes, and we just became friendly over the next four years. Well, you fast forward, I was moving back to the United States and her husband was appointed as the ambassador of the Hungarian embassy in DC. So to the United States. And so she knew that I was working on this business to make the Kritische collage. And then when she got here, she said, every year the Embassy has an event where they open up their doors to the general public. And she said, the Czech Republic was making the Kurdish and she was just like, but that's Hungarian. Like we should have that at our why do we have that? She was like I would love to sample your product. And you know, let's taste and then maybe you can come. She sampled it, she loved it. And that's how it happened. But it just shows you like if you treat everyone what you give us what you get. And you know, I created this relationship four years later, we were still friendly, because it all was based on that one thing that I did for her that cost me literally nothing. And I was just so happy to be of service to someone that it ended up you know, in that and that's even how I got Google Google I posted. And Google the, the individual who invited me, his wife had been following me and she was just like, I've been watching you forever. And she was like, I hope that this lives up to my expectations. Because I'm super excited. And I was like, no problem. And I just was chatting with her because I treat everyone in my shop the same. I don't care if you're like some executive, I don't care. If you're just someone who's you know, does has a more simpler job. I don't care who you are, where you're from how you look, as long as you're respectful, and you are going to you know, be caring to everyone else around you. I'm going to embrace you chatting with her husband was like, oh my god, I would love to bring this into my company. But it's not healthy because it's sweet. And I was like, It's not healthy. I was like, well, let's define what healthy is. Yeah, really? Well, you have to eat sweets, number one. And number two, if you're eating sweets that are loaded with low fat, sugar alternatives, like your body doesn't even recognize those things. So yes, they're low in sugar, but you're consuming something that your body like literally cannot process. And I said, but this is like grandma's baking. And it said half cups of flour is four tablespoons of sugar. So I was just like, How is this not healthy, every ingredient that I use is a pure it is coming from the source. So like our raspberry, it's a crushed, dehydrated, dehydrated, crushed raspberry. And we add some sugar. Most fruit flavor, most fruit items that you eat are flavorings. They're not the actual true for not even the real fruit. Right? So so it's just a flavoring of the fruit. So I was just like, how, you know, is that not healthy? And then he was just like, I'm so old.
1
Speaker 1
32:12
Yeah, it's like people don't realize, right? You explained it. Right. So can you know, we're talking about this, and I'm looking at that picture behind you. And I'm looking, I've looked at the video how you make it, but people are gonna want to know more about can you describe what it's like, like, describe what we're talking about?
2
Speaker 2
32:29
Yeah, so um, so like, so I was saying before that you roll it on what looks like a rolling pin. And then we allow it to rise. So it has really like, I guess you could say three rising periods. First, you have to make it that it needs to rise. Then you once it does that, then you put it onto a spit, because they use Basedow and we use in refrigerated Kiki's like I learned in Hungary on the streets with the locals. And I've learned from someone who received the Mastercraft award for making one of the best in the country.
1
Speaker 1
33:02
And you said it was over charcoal. I read in one of your interviews, it was over charcoal fires on the street.
2
Speaker 2
33:07
Exactly. So in Hungary knighted states, we do it on a infrared burner. So we just do it on like toaster type ovens. And so you roll the dough onto the spit, then you allow it to rise. So that's the second rise after it's risen once and then you bake it into the oven and in the last bake, it's gonna rise one more time, right because the yeast is beginning to grow with the heat. And then when it comes out the oven, we coat it and this is where it gets really fun because you can sprinkle any type of flavor on there. So you can do the cinnamon you can do our Raspberry we also do an edible glitter, which is a hot you know it's a it's not sprinkles sprinkles is a waxy sugar inside of a waxy coating shell. This is just like a higher end, um, sugar and it's crunchy. And so again, it goes back if you were overly sweet because it's not fake. It's just crunchy. And then you can do a lot of different toppings the Hungarians typically like walnuts, they like to coconut flakes. Because we work with a spice purveyor, our coconut flakes are coming from Southeast Asia and they're maintained in the fridge not sitting on the shelf. Our walnuts are freshly harvested from California. And we keep those in the fridge as well. Whereas most of the things that you see sitting on the shelves, they're they're really stale. You know, like you've been treated and then they can just sit there for eternity. And then we also do Oreo because that's America's favorite cookie.
34:36
And then we sounds amazing. And then we make
2
Speaker 2
34:38
it in the shape of ice cream cones. I mean, the options are endless. Eventually we're going to make them make them into little Cinnabons. Like cardamom buns. Yeah, I learned about how to make that from a Swedish Baker. So the ends are that the options are endless. We're gonna make Avery and Phil Fill them with savory items.
1
Speaker 1
35:01
Oh, great idea. You know, my stepson is Hungarian and I said, Did you eat these when you went over there? And he goes, Oh, yeah, they're the best. Yes, I was gonna be interviewing you. So there's a lot of excitement about it, when people understand how special it is, and just excitement because they've never had it before. And you're bringing something like you said something that's healthy in that old fashioned way, like something that your grandma could have made if she was Hungarian?
2
Speaker 2
35:27
Absolutely, Hungarians are actually astonished at how like, they're like, these are really, really good.
35:33
Oh,
2
Speaker 2
35:35
they come in, they buy like one or two and then like, we're fine. They sit down to eat it. They're like, we need more. It's an experience
1
Speaker 1
35:40
you I think you convert people definitely when they come in your shop. So Can people order them online too?
2
Speaker 2
35:48
Is that Yes. So I do. I do this because I love it. I don't do it to create the next Dunkin Donuts. Is this man hate to talk to me because I like a business man or woman. But it's primarily men that say this, but they're like, you can open up another location. You can franchise this, you can do this. Yeah. I mean, the reason why I created this is because there are so many franchises. And they're not the franchises are not producing top notch quality. I mean, I've yet to have someone show me a franchise that it's like creating like grandma's baking. No, they may have a few locations, but they're not a franchise with like hundreds and hundreds of locations. The reason why I created this is because I can't find anything that truly produces great food. So I was once told I you know, you tend to go to a higher end bakeries, but even some of those are questionable. And I had my palate is very sensitive. So I can eat something from anywhere. But I can tell you immediately if it has processed and yeah, and some of the Pyron bakeries are cutting corners, like I know one that was told one guy, it's a French bakery, they make these cheese cakes. But what they do is they get the they they serve cheesecakes. And what they do is they get the cheesecake from Costco, but they put a really nice chocolate really nice fruits on top. And they say Americans can't tell.
37:10
Like, you know,
2
Speaker 2
37:13
so but for someone like myself, who's very sensitive to all those ingredients that would be in a Costco cheesecake, I can tell you right away, I'm like, I could feel this. This is not right. And so I just don't eat a lot of this food just because I started feeling funny. And if we all paid a close tension, if we cleaned, cleansed our palate, and paid really close attention to when we have these like bloating or headaches, you'll realize or you get sleepy, you'll realize it's tied to the food that you're eating. And starting to
1
Speaker 1
37:43
connect, you can connect that if you if you take your time. You know, it also reminded me of I had a German great grandma. And she used to bake like, oh my gosh, I miss it so much. And I would bake with her. We come from like a baking family. And you're reminding me of how fresh all that stuff was like you had to eat it right away. Right? There were no preservatives. And I remember my mother being so sad when she lost her grandma. And she said, Oh, we never got the recipe for one of the things she made was cherry custard pie. And my mother said, but I guess it doesn't matter because we don't have a cherry tree. You know, she got the cherries from a cherry tree. She goes, she used lard in the in the crust. So we don't have that. And she said, No, we don't have fresh milk from the farmer down the street. So we couldn't recreate it if we tried it. Right.
2
Speaker 2
38:33
That matters. Yeah, I mean, and so that's why, you know, that's why we're very selective on who we reach out to because it's not for everyone. It's it takes a lot of resources and money to deliver a product like this. And so it's really for people who love this sense of discovery. And who could even tell like there's some people who just like, I don't know what the big deal is, but people who eat this type of food can tell like this is really curated ingredients. But even from the ice cream, we work with a small ice cream shop in Hillsdale, who makes small batch ice cream and ice cream pairs so amazingly, with our pastry because it's really curated.
1
Speaker 1
39:16
There is a difference and it's wonderful when people could tell and your body can tell as you pointed out, so can they order online if people show your website? Yes,
2
Speaker 2
39:26
so you can order online but we do not ship? That is the big question. Do you ship do you ship do you ship? Oh, maybe we do not ship because it really shouldn't be eating the same day I will turn away business if people are like I'm gonna deliver it four or five days later. I'm just like, This is not that type of thing. And so So yeah, that's kind of that's kind of you can order it we have delivery. It has to be within a certain radius from Nutley and we like essentially bar Are all the DoorDash drivers. So you ordered through my website and DoorDash will deliver it to you. So that
40:05
works. Yeah, I'm gonna have to come to Nutley. I know I do. I think it's like an hour and a little bit. Not that far.
2
Speaker 2
40:14
But that's like a field trip. But some people make this. You know, they get in there. I just had like Hungarians that came from Brooklyn, in like an hour and a half as well. Unfortunately, The Crypto Show we're not making or making those more to order. Because Americans are ordering the the the cones, the ice cream cones. Oh, they like the cone shape. Yeah, so we just make those in abundance because that's what everyone's really getting. It's hot out so it goes nice with the Eagles nice with the pastry of ice cream does sound
1
Speaker 1
40:47
amazing, though, with that really high quality ice cream. So I love what you're doing. And I love that you're very sure about what you're doing. That's what I really love. It's like, you know, you're I have this idea, I'm going this place, I don't need to you know, franchise or go crazy or have a line out my door. I'm focused on the quality. You're following your your your truth, right. And I do love that. I just the reason I'm doing a podcast is I was in this amazing podcasting class with this amazing podcaster. She's, her name is Kathy Heller. And she's super successful. She interviews like everybody famous that you can think of. But what she talks about is it's not about your numbers. It's not about growing this huge audience, although she has that now. But that's never what it was about. In the beginning. It was about growing the right people, you know, getting the right quality and, and I'm like that too. I'm just like, I'm just enjoying myself. I like to learn from people. I like to give people a spotlight. And I think you have the right idea. You know, you have integrity. You have integrity about how you're doing it. So yeah, I'm really hungry now.
42:00
What do you see far to get a current job? And we're not even here.
1
Speaker 1
42:04
But that's okay. I'll make the drive. How far are you from
42:07
mountainside?
1
Speaker 1
42:09
I'm about 40 minutes. 45 minutes?
42:12
Because that's where I'm going today, which is still far.
1
Speaker 1
42:14
We're going well, we're far from everything, but that's okay. All right. So I'd love to put that video on the on the shownotes. Like when I upload the episode so people can see how the dough is, you know, wound around the fit the dowel? Yeah, it's so cool. Yeah, the Dow, that it tastes wonderful. It's like the way I love that you are showing people this is like a thing, you know, like three times we have to rise it and it's like a production. And I think people love that, you know, and, again, you're reminding me of my great grandmother, because she would sit there and roll out the dough with me and make the apple tart probably the way they've made it for hundreds of years. Yeah, it's a great thing to restore that, that quality and that and that respect.
2
Speaker 2
43:03
Yes, we call it feel good indulgence, because you're guaranteed to eat it and not feel yucky. Like anyone who's ever eaten and been like, oh, because the portion sizes correct the items like we don't put cupcakes on it and cotton candy and Twizzlers and kick cats and popcorn and everything else you can find. Yeah.
1
Speaker 1
43:25
Because the original thing is good. So you don't have to load it up with all that yucky stuff.
2
Speaker 2
43:29
Yes, so probably coming. Maybe at the end of the summer, I'm going to do a big push on our curly classic, which is the traditional Hungarian version, which doesn't have anything on it. Americans automatically need to put cinnamon and Oreo and edible glitter and everything on it. And I want to bring to light, the pure plain one and show people. You don't even need to do all of that. And you could really really enjoy it still love it. Yeah, you'll love it. Like I think we just have this idea that everything is encoded and filled and dipped and this and that. And it's like no, it doesn't have to be that way. We do overdo. Yeah, yeah, I do want to and then the people who buy it now all diabetics, like only people who are diabetics like because I don't have no other option, but I think it could be for everyone. So I have a lot planned and then we're gonna have a candle made by your cousin. My niece. Yeah. Regina, so I'm super excited. by that.
1
Speaker 1
44:30
I love that. I just and I do love the way you you all support each other the women entrepreneurs, it's just excellent. And I love her product. Yeah, it's I just ordered some meadowlark. I ordered three Meadowlarks
2
Speaker 2
44:42
you know, the funny thing is I'm not into candles, but I was just like, I like her story. I like the quality and I think a candle would be like beautiful like what she does is amazing. And the wick fractals so I was like, oh my god, I'm gonna go like bananas on that.
1
Speaker 1
45:00
When you remind me of each other this, would you like people to have an experience? Yes, not just buy a thing, but have an experience.
2
Speaker 2
45:07
And I believe that there's a guy called Gary Vaynerchuk. And one of the things he always says is, there's two ways in which you can build the biggest business, he's just like, you can actually just build a business, you know, and do what you're supposed to do and grind, and you'll grow big, because you put in the hard work, and you dedicated your life to the purpose, or you can crush all the other businesses around you, and then you'll be the biggest. And so I believe on the first option, where we all grow together, we can all grow big. And obviously, whoever works the hardest, and you know, is able to capitalize on the different opportunities that are put in front for the front of them, they're able to grow the biggest, but the idea is we all should grow together. And if we all grow together, then you create a community of all happy people. And then it helps me get to be one of the happiest people on the face of the earth. Because if we have a community of happy people, you can only be happy.
1
Speaker 1
46:03
Yeah. And you can sleep at night. I wonder how some of these people who sell this stuff that really isn't good for people, how they sleep at night, you know, I love talking to you. Is there anything else you would like to share with us about maybe a bit of wisdom that you've picked up through this whole journey?
2
Speaker 2
46:20
Yes, I truly believe that. People should be kind to everyone and follow one simple rule. And that would be to treat people the way you want to be treated. And if you do that, you will see that you will get double the returns. Because people just want to be everyone wants to be treated well, even the people who treat people bad.
46:47
Yeah, it's so true.
2
Speaker 2
46:50
You can only win if you treat people well. And just think of every time I do something, I'm like, if I was in their shoes, how would I want to be treated like the other day, the FedEx guy, he parked in front of the driveway for me to get in. Now I was just like, I know for a fact that he would hate to be me trying to get into the parking lot. And I can't get in because the FedEx guy is disappeared. I know he would be angry. I know for a fact he would be angry at him. And I was just like, it was probably a little bit snarky. Like completely insane that there's an opening for him to actually park where he wouldn't have had to block the parking lot. So then I was just like, you thought that was a good idea.
3
Speaker 3
47:35
It was a bit snarky, but it was just like, the only thing you should really say is,
2
Speaker 2
47:40
you know what, she's snarky, but she's right, right, like a big FedEx truck in front of the parking spot. Because I know for a fact he would be upset if that happened to him. Right, like you're trying to, you're trying to get in and you have a big FedEx truck, and there was no one parked anywhere else and there's an opening for him to access all the doors further down the street, but he parked in the parking lot. He got mad at me.
3
Speaker 3
48:04
And I was just like, how's it how do you get mad? You're the one person has turned to the parking lot.
2
Speaker 2
48:12
And so for me, I would have never even parked there because the first thing I would have thought is and it wasn't like a two second drop off he had to walk down the corridor and come back. But um, yes, you probably thought no one was going to show up in time. But um, but I would never I would never do that because my first thing is if I covered the parking if I you know prevent people from accessing the parking lot and I was the one trying to get in I'd be angry.
1
Speaker 1
48:38
Yeah, definitely if you have that focus it really helps you get through things and not be overly snarky yeah
2
Speaker 2
48:47
I just I just thought it was like you're a drought your your job is a driver Your job is to like access be a non inconvenience to the people around you as a drive thru. I'm a truck, a big truck, you know, but But that's I just I just want everyone to as they navigate life, just you know, every time you do something, think of yourself as being on the other end and how would you want to be treated and life becomes a breeze
49:13
that does work the Golden Rule
2
Speaker 2
49:15
Yes, that is my massive treat my where I treat my work employees really good like we've in the back of my shop is really nicely the furniture I put back in there or like the equipment like I don't have iron shelves in the back with the ideas in the front and he's look 3d in the back is just where we work. But I'm like I want to work where it's nice. You know, like, I want to work where it looks good. So I really took the time to make sure the front end and the back are desirable. So that's that's my just treat people the way you want to be treated. It will come back tenfold. You will be happy the people around you will be happy and it'll equal a recipe of being one of the happiest people around.
1
Speaker 1
49:55
I love that. You know it is it's almost magical when you start living that way. That's it is And I feel that about you. So I can't thank you enough for coming on as usual. You entrepreneurs are so much more than your business, you just have this whole approach. The kind of people that do do a business with integrity, it's just so cool to find out who you are impressed with this woman. Not only did she learn an ages, age old method of making a pastry in a foreign country and bring it back to this country, but she opens a business that she fills with her ideas of how the world should be, which is, you know, treat people fairly. Be open to different kinds of people, make them feel welcome. Give them an experience, source your materials so that what you're feeding people are pure. It was just a delight to hear the details about this wonderful woman and her business. And I wish we all could have a kurtosh right now, but we have to go to Nutley New Jersey if we want one. But that's okay, because that's the way it should be. It should be fresh and real. Like Nicole is so I want to thank Nicole's so much for sharing herself and her story. And until next time, the Storied Human says goodbye.
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