Today we’d like to introduce you to J. Benjamin.
It’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
We started Poplife as a side hustle to get extra money for cruises. My wife and I are big cruisers and this was the perfect way to pay for excursions and extra spending money on the ship. But the response we got from our early customers was so positive and supportive we knew we had something special. After bout a year and a half I was laid off from my full time job due to the pandemic. After getting laid off, we turned things up to full time and things have been great ever since.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Because we started at such a slow and steady pace we were fortunate to not have some of the road blocks and financial issues that most small businesses face. We were able to reinvest most of the money we earned right back into the company. So getting everything up and running and getting established was fairly easy. Now that we’ve reached the level we are now, we have started to run into a few obstacles. Things like expanding into new areas, finding employees too keep up with demand and sourcing cost effective materials are a few of the challenges we’ve faced this year.
As you know, we’re big fans of Poplife Popping Company. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about the brand?
We specialize in popcorn, kettle corn and gourmet popcorn. Most people think there’s no difference but they’re all very different. When people think of popcorn they usually envision a retiree with a couple of flavors selling at a farmer’s market. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that but we wanted to do something different. We wanted to give people the flavors they love while creating new and unique flavors. Flavors like our lemon lime kettle corn that combines a very sweet lemon with a very tart lime that’ll keeps your taste buds guessing with every bite. Or our very popular movie butter popcorn made with no butter at all. With over 35 flavors, we are constantly creating new and exciting ideas while improving on classics.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc.?
I could go on for ours talking about the apps we use to help us manage our business. If I could recommend a few, it would be our shared calendar to organize events, sales and markets between the team. Instagram for communicating with customers and colleagues. And MeisterTask for organizing and completing short and long-term goals. My favorite book is Stephen King’s The Stand. Not much of that really applies to our company but its a really good book, lol.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poplifepoppingco/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/poplifepoppingco
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@poplifepoppingcompany?_t=8Viraxr4znC&_r=1
