GE 190: How Miss Nevada Lisa Song Built a $2M/Year Alcohol-Infused Cupcake Empire (podcast)

Hey everyone, in today’s episode I share the mic with Lisa Song Sutton, founder of Sin City Cupcakes, 5x entrepreneur, real estate investor, writer at Forbes, TV host, and Miss Nevada 2014.

Listen as Lisa shares how the right partner collaboration (and being Las Vegas’ only alcohol-infused cupcake truck!) led to their first 1,000 customers, how her business got press coverage by Fox News just 4 months into operation, the importance of being responsive to your inbounds, and all the other successful entrepreneurial projects she is working on (like being an investor in the world’s first light-emitting plant!).

Download podcast transcript [PDF] here: How Miss Nevada Lisa Song Built a $2M:Year Alcohol-Infused Cupcake Empire TRANSCRIPT

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:08 – Eric introduces Lisa
• 01:30 – Lisa talks about her background in education, work experience in Las Vegas, and her first entrepreneurial endeavor, Sin City Cupcakes
• 01:58 – Four months into operation, her business was covered by Fox News International
• 02:20 – They are the only bakery that specializes in alcohol-infused cupcakes in Las Vegas
• 02:42 –Lisa and her partner were skeptical of the email from Fox, but they decided to reply anyway and their quick response got them the coverage
• 03:50 – Majority of their clientele are tourists, but they also had the opportunity to work with corporate clients such as Playboy, Golf, Zappos and Twitter
• 04:42 – Gross sales of the company last year reached over $2 million
• 04:54 – “You’ll get diabetes before you get wasted!”
• 04:59 – Alcohol is added into the filling after the cupcake is baked
  • 05:07 – A competitive eater once filmed himself in their store to see how many cupcakes it would take before he got wasted: 26 standard sized cupcakes
• 05:42 – The cupcakes are sold for $36/mini-size dozen and $46/standard-size dozen
• 06:29 – Lisa has four companies that she co-founded and is an investor and advisor for several others such as Elite Homes US, Liquid and Lace, Brand Bridge and Gleaux
  • 08:04 – Lisa is also a part of Youngry
• 08:10 – Lisa likes being a part of startups and helping entrepreneurs because she also gets a chance to learn
  • 08:27 – She looks at who the founders are, who is backing them, the support system, and the members of the team
• 08:56 – She is inspired by the process of building and selling companies, while real estate is her legacy company
• 10:00 – Another factor for Sin City Cupcakes’ growth was their collaboration with Fuku Burger in 2012
  • 10:57 – The food truck opened opportunities for wedding, events and conventions
  • 12:14 – The key to partnerships and collaborations is to bring different items to the table
  • 12:40 – You want to tap into a market that already knows your partner and introduce them to your product, too
• 13:05 – Lisa’s focus is to not do everything on her own, but team up with the right people
• 15:30 – In the beginning, Lisa struggled to introduce the cupcakes to consumer, and now she’s working on scaling the company
• 17:24 – All of Lisa’s partners are her friends
  • 18:07 – Since they were friends prior to being partners, Lisa knows how they react to different situations and what their skills are
• 18:36 – Lisa’s background in law helps her in her business
• 19:42 – What’s one big change you made in your life, positive or negative, that’s really impacted you?
• 19:50 – Realizing that she can do something outside of her business
  • 20:05 – When she won Miss Las Vegas and then Miss Nevada, she had over 500 community appearances in 18 months
  • 20:55 – She learned that she can pursue things other than her business and it would still grow because people will see you
• 23:32 – What’s one piece of advice you’d give to your 20 year old self?
• 23:37 – Don’t be so worried about choosing one path.
  • 24:45 – Lisa speaks at schools and she shares the same advice with them
• 26:25 – “Every new level of your life would demand a new you”
• 26:56 – What’s one new tool that you’ve added in the last year that has made an impact?
  • 27:05 – Lisa’s tool that she utilizes is having a virtual assistant from Uassist.ME
  • 28:03 – Charlie app helps Lisa on-track with her meetings
• 28:24 – What’s one must read book you’d recommend?
  • 28:33 – A Shark Never Sleeps by Drew Rosenhaus
  • 28:56 – Lisa just finished reading the book Contagious about why things go viral
  • 29:24 – Lisa’s pleasure reading is Stephen King books
• 30:04 – What’s one publication or blog you tune into everyday?
  • 30:10 – Lisa follows to NPR, EOFire and Eric’s blog, Growth Everywhere
  • 30:33 – Find Lisa at her website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

3 Key Points:

1. It is important to have good people on your team as you cannot do everything.
2. You can be business partners with your friends, as long you lay everything on the table and have frank conversations with each other.
3. You can pursue other things outside of your business—it can actually improve your visibility.

Resources From This Interview:

• YEC (Young Entrepreneur Council)
• Lisa Song Sutton
• Sin City Cupcakes
• Elite Homes US
• Liquid and Lace
• Brand Bridge
• Gleaux
• Youngry
• Fuku Burger
• Study: If You Want to Succeed, Don’t Work With Your Friends
• Bill Campbell
• Uassist.ME
• Charlie app
• Must-read books:
  • A Shark Never Sleeps by Drew Rosenhaus
  • Contagious by Jonah Berger
• Must-read blogs:
  • NPR
  • EOFire
  • Eric’s blog Growth Everywhere
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

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