The Hustle
Years in Tampa Bay
30-plus years. Clearwater native. The hustle has been going on for about 2 years.
Hustle (job)
Owner and Creator, Psalms Gourmet Brittle
What do you do?
We are gourmet brittle candy makers. Our flavors range from pecan, peanut, mixed nuts, banana walnut, almond chocolate coconut and more. All of our products are plant-based, non dairy.
Why do you do it?
We do it first because we love making brittle. Secondly, we do it for our fans who love brittle but want to eat more teeth-friendly brittle.
What was your Catalyst? (How did you get started?)
My son Carlton encouraged me to start the business after I retired in the area of education administration.
What’s a common misconception or unknown aspect of what you do?
Well, most people think we make the regular good old hard-to-eat brittle candy. It’s not until they try it is when they discover an entirely new brittle eating experience. So everyday we are breaking down these misconceptions around brittle candy textures.
What’s the most challenging part of your Hustle?
Besides trying to keep the candy stocked in all of our 40-plus retail partners locations, it is trying to figure out how to scale to impact more people without losing the mystique of it being made with love and attention.
What’s the most valuable piece of business advice/insight that’s helped you?
Listen to your customer! When we first started we only did peanut brittle as the one and only flavor. It wasn’t until we had a customer ask and request for us to do pecan brittle that our business took off. Pecan became our top selling and most high demand product to date. If we did not listen and were not flexible to try new things, we would have missed the blessing.
