Ashli | Brown Butter Creations

Ashli Esteves-Nelson, Marika Esteves-Smith, and Reggie Nelson are the co-owners of Brown Butter Creations. This tremendous trio came together as a family unit to bring their vision and dream to life, fusing the culinary expertise of Marika with the business savvy of Ashli and Reggie. Our guest, Ashli is a graduate of Hampton University and worked for Pratt and Whitney for over 15 years before deciding to leave corporate America to establish this Legacy Hustle with her co-owners. She’ll share the journey Brown Butter Creations is a bakery in Glastonbury, CT that specializes in custom cakes, homemade desserts, and breakfast pastries. The business began in 2018 as an online bakery and over the years experienced significant growth through their pop-up shops. Recently they transitioned into a brick-and-mortar store that opened at the end of 2021. Brown Butter Creations is located at 353 New London Turnpike, Glastonbury, CT Find Brown Butter Creations Online: Brown Butter Creations' Website Brown Butter Creations' Instagram Cool stuff discussed during the episode that you should further explore: The Amistad Center for Art & Culture – A dope museum in CT that anyone in the area should check out. This was where they got their start in June of 2018, at the Juneteenth Gala there. reSET – This is a food incubator program that the Brown Butter Creations team participated in. They are based out of the Hartford area and are focused on this region. If you aren’t in CT, but interested in a food business, be sure to Google “food incubator programs” to see what’s near you. Hands on Hartford – As the Brown Butter Creations team shared, they started online and due to CT regulations needed to bake their goods in a licensed kitchen, Hands On Hartford had a licensed shared use kitchen that they were able to leverage during the time before they had a brick and mortar location, where they would pay for the use by the hour. Cottage Food License – In some states, like CT, they may allow certain food businesses to operate out of a home, when the pandemic struck Brown Butter Creations was able to stay afloat by operating out of their homes. The link takes you to CT, but be sure to look online for one pertinent to your state you want to operate in. Pitch Competitions – By participating in a pitch competition, Brown Butter Creations received a lot of resource guidance from the hosting org. They shared a lot of grant opportunities. Tool: Square – Brown Butter Creations leverages Square for a number