Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathy Aponte.
Hi Kathy , so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
In 2018, my husband Rick and I got married in Savannah. We put our honeymoon off until 2019, when we went on an amazing Alaskan cruise. It was truly an amazing trip. Not one to put off a chance for a last minute adventure we had time to kill until our flight after we got off the cruise. We rented a car and ended up at a farmers market in Anchorage. Walking around, we came across a young guy with a tent, a donut machine, cinnamon sugar, playing music and absolutely killing it. He had a line through the market. His donuts were simple, delicious, and he made it look fun.
We came back to real life, but talked and talked about this guy and his business. In the last few months of 2019 we researched and planned, wrote out business plans and supply lists, visited the ONE similar mini donut place near us, at Renniger’s in Mt Dora.
In February, Nonni’s Mini Donuts officially opened and we did our first events. It was so much fun to be out in the community, meeting other vendors, making donuts and smiles all around. I was sill working my very full time Publix department manager job.
And then Covid came. Our events virtually shut down overnight. It was such an uncertain time. Working 50 hours a week, not knowing if we were safe. Seeing a line outside for toilet paper when I unlocked the doors in the morning. That time put a lot of things in to perspective for me. Continuing events and my job, eventually I decided it was time to step down and put all I could in to Nonni’s.
Our first year was working in a tent. For a 5 ft 2 girl, tent life is not ideal. Seeing that we couldn’t get in to “food truck” events in a tent, I searched marketplace looking for a pop up camper to convert. This became a family project that took a few weeks. We stripped it, painted it, ran electrical and redid the floors. The best part was it was something I could manage on my own…. that meant Rick was able to go do an event in the tent and I would go do another in the popup. We were able to work those food truck events and build our brand.
We’ve done so many events in so many communities in 6 years. It’s a lot of early mornings and late nights, but there are so many rewards. Watching people hold their kids up to the window, smiling and watching the donuts being made, explaining how the machine works. Hearing people’s family stories of donut memories and seeing their eyes light up remembering someone special. The other side is our vendor family. We have watched brands grow alongside us. We’ve sat in coffee shops, planning, teaching, and dreaming alongside them. It’s truly the sweetest!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We opened in February 2020 and Covid shutdowns started in March. While it was not ideal, I’ve always said it gave us a slow start, but the opportunity to figure out what we were doing and how we wanted to do it. The realization of going from a corporate job to something that is solely dependent on you, your actions, and your knowledge or lack thereof is always present even 6 years later. It always feels like doing too much at once while not doing enough.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
There have been lots of mini donut trucks to pop up after us. They add extra menu items to try to compete, they alter what they do to try to get ahead. We’ve always done what we do, and did it well. We use quality ingredients, make our own toppings, and rotate out a seasonal menu to have something new also.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
The last few years the event landscape has drastically changed. Event fees have doubled and tripled in some places. We continue to evaluate what makes business sense for us. Unfortunately that means less of the smaller community events that we have enjoyed for years and travel to other areas.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nonnisminis.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nonnisminis
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nonnisminis
