People Lining up to get Toasted

“Oh my gosh, what do we do now?”  Tricia Arce recalls her initial thoughts she had on the day that her business, Toasted Mallow, went viral.

Tricia told me she remembers the exact moment, that it had been a slow day in the shop so she had been experimenting with creating vegetarian marshmallows.

She heard the jingle of bells on the front door.  She heard it once, twice, soon eight times, and then she noticed a line that went out the door and seemed to have no end.

Tricia has come a long way from where she started in the corporate world to where she is now, creating new marshmallow flavors on a regular basis.

(Display of marshmallows and treats inside Toasted Mallow)

That day of the non-stop door bells and crazy long line, Tricia realized they had been featured on Insider on Facebook.

She told me that back then they closed their shop at six in the evening however that particular evening they closed around eight.  She recalls coming into work the next morning and seeing the line wrapped around the building before they had even opened for business.

Tricia told me it felt intimidating at first because they felt so limited in what they had as far as supplies.  Their popularity pronounced itself quickly to which she was thankful that customers were in support of small businesses.  She noted that customers were understanding in times where they had to stand in long lines or the occasion when they would run out of certain treats; and that customers only had words of encouragement when that happened.

While visiting her uncle in Peoria one 4^th of July holiday from New Mexico, her uncle bet her $100 she would never move to the valley.  She took him up on that bet and made the move to Arizona at the age of 23 (and we in Arizona are so lucky because now we have her marshmallow creations right down the road!)

The Woman who Inspired it all

One thing that really stood out and touched me while sitting down with Tricia during our interview is that she said her favorite part of running her business is talking about her (departed) grandmother with people because she feels her grandmother is close by in the shop.

(Tricia’s grandmother, who has her own spot in the shop)

Toasted Mallow’s horchata flavor is the one that Tricia says reminds her of her grandmother.  She says whenever she has one (toasted, of course) or when someone orders one it makes her feel like her grandmother is nearby.

Tricia and her two siblings were raised by their grandmother growing up.  In her grandmother’s later years, Tricia was the primary care taker for her grandmother who suffered from dementia.  In 2012 at the age of 84 Tricia’s grandmother devastatingly passed away and left her with an empty feeling.

Still emotional speaking of her grandmother, Tricia says it feels like it was just yesterday.  She said she had a hard time going from filling her days with caring for her grandmother to not knowing what to do.

In the process of grieving she found something that peaked her interest, a cooking contest.  Can you guess what the contest’s secret ingredient was?

Marshmallows of course.

Creating the First Toasted Mallow

When Tricia found out the secret ingredient was marshmallows she had no idea what she was going to do with them.  She had never worked with them before because she did not like them.  (Wait, the creator of Toasted Mallow doesn’t like marshallows?!)

The cooking contest became a challenge for her as she went home trying out different recipes in attempt to create a marshmallow she would actually enjoy.  She said that the ones in the store were too ‘dense’ and ‘flat’ and that it wasn’t until she attempted to make them with egg whites that she found one she liked.

It was the recipe she found in Shauna Sever’s book “Marshmallow Madness” that inspired her original creations.  She spent time tweaking the recipe until she found something she was happy with.

(Tricia showing me how the marshmallow fluff is made)

Marshmallow Therapy

“There are up to 30 flavors at a time in the store,” Tricia told me as I asked how many flavors she has created up to this point.  “When you’re used to being tasked with something daily and lose it, you go crazy.  I took that void I felt from losing my grandmother and filled it with marshmallows.”

Tricia has produced everything from a marshmallow that tastes like gummy bears to a lavender peanut butter infused marshmallow.  She is of course always looking for the next idea and finding inspiration from customers.  I dropped the idea of a pickle flavored marshmallow (who’s with me on this one??) and she hinted at a Mountain Dew Cheeto combination for fellow gamers to enjoy.

Leaving Corporate; Discovering Creativity 

Up until 2014 Tricia was still working a corporate day job that consisted a lot of analytical work.  It surprised me to find out that she said she felt she was never a creative person until her grandmother passed away.  “I didn’t even know I could draw until then,” She told me.

Tricia Arce is a big believer in signs.  She says her manager calling her into his office to let her know he was writing her up for something presented her with two paths she could go.  She had been wanting to turn her marshmallows into a business for a while before that but said she kept putting it off.  She took this moment with her manager as a sign and left that job.

“I put in my notice, pulled out my 401k, and went to Disneyland with my family,” Tricia told me with a smile on her face, “When we got back we hit the ground running.”