Conversations with the Inspiring Deviny Shenise

Today we’d like to introduce you to Deviny Shenise.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Deviny. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’ve always been someone to experiment in the kitchen since I can remember. My dad would buy me practice ingredients every Sunday & I would make anything I could out of what I had. I didn’t go to culinary school like I had wanted to, I ended up becoming a medical assistant & phlebotomist, I didn’t care for either. Years later, I gave that up & just made the leap to start a business. I kinda just fell into it, I didn’t have a plan, I just went with it. I had got laid off at my laboratory job, I had bills piling up & needed to pay for them. I was looking for jobs & felt so miserable at the thought of being in the medical field again. My boyfriend suggested I’d bake something & sell it, at first I was going to do fancy dog snacks but it turned into macarons. I experimented for months before I ended up creating my own recipe. I then ordered boxes, bags, made social media pages, registered my business, got all my licenses, found a commercial kitchen to rent, got in insurance, etc. My sales since then just naturally grew, I took nice photos of everything I made, even if they were practice orders just to give away. I wanted my social media to look aesthetically pleasing & look like a magazine all while displaying my hardships because no one is perfect & people need to see that. My sales now have been mostly word of mouth. I have a ton of repeat customers along with lots of businesses who buy from me on a monthly basis. I have pop-ups at stores, malls, breweries, bars, etc. I love how I haven’t forced anything with my business. I just let it happen. A few months ago I because a full-time entrepreneur & it’s been stressful & exhausting but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I was working a part-time companion job a few months back & it was so inconsistent I was putting my business on the back burner, which wasn’t okay with me. I finally just made the decision to go all-in & only focus on my business & I’m happy I did. I’m such a sleepy person but sleeping around 5 hours now is the normal, it’s a different kind of tired because it’s my business & there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for it to succeed. I plan on having a storefront in the next five years, I have a notebook where all my ideas go. It’s exciting to have something big to look forward to. I think if you’re unhappy doing something, just leave & change it. I wish I would’ve started this years ago when my gut told me to do something outside of the medical field.

Has it been a smooth road?
Not at all. All the licenses were confusing, the free help I did get was so inconsistent I ended up just calling everyone & every place to get answers & finally just doing things myself. Even now learning to do my monthly taxes has been confusing. I’m such a nervous person I had a hard time talking to people without my voice shaking, now I love talking loud in a group. It’s like my confidence naturally built itself. My advice is to do what makes you happy, regardless of how it looks to other people. I have lost a few friends during this process & I felt they weren’t genuine so I actually benefited from it. I’ve noticed some people try to bring me down, because I’m a competitor to them. Which I don’t understand because we’re all doing something different, but it happens & the best thing is to just ignore it because it’s just a sign you’re doing great when people try to take you down. I know that’s not professional to say but it has happened numerous times since I started & now I laugh because if I had let them get under my skin I wouldn’t be as successful as I am now. I’ve been doing this just over a year now & I thought it would’ve taken me five years to get to where I am now.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into The Macaron Shoppe story. Tell us more about the business.
I specialize in unique flavored macarons, all colorful & extra large in size. I hate tiny macarons, they’re like a tease. I charge what I would personally pay for a product, I wish I could charge $50 a dozen but I want everyone to be able to afford my macarons. I also make giant soft cookies, creme brûlée & pana cotta. I love when my customers ask me for things that aren’t on my menu, I always tell them I can create anything just give me a general idea. I’ve made some really amazing friendships with some of my customers, and they’re all so supportive & send other people to buy from me. I am not a business where the “customer is alway right”. If you are talking down to me, I will not sell to you, I will stand up for myself & my business. I know that’s not the norm but at the end of the day this is my business, I can refuse to sell to anyone who is disrespectful to me. I will refer you to a list of other bakers I love. I go above & beyond for my customers, most of them I chat with on a normal basis so I will not waste time on mean people.

Looking back on your childhood, what experiences do you feel played an important role in shaping the person you grew up to be?
My dad was the cook of the family so he was always teaching me how to make everything, we always researched spices & techniques for food & desserts. I had always had a natural niche to be in the kitchen creating things. I’m not a recipe follower, I’m a recipe creator.

Pricing:

• $25 for 1 Flavor Dozen
• $30 for featured monthly dozen
• Buy 10 dozen & get 1 dozen free
• $10 additional per dozen for airbrushing

Contact Info:

• Email: macaronshoppedenver@gmail.com
• Instagram: @macaronshoppedenver
• Facebook: Facebook.com/macaronshoppedenver

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