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\u201cYou gotta make a buck\u201d is the driver for entrepreneurs in Hannah Jodoin\u2019s view. Her parents were always involved in restaurants and loved food, and always took the family to popcorn and kettle corn booths for snacks so popcorn became a family staple. Then, a friend suggested that popcorn wasn\u2019t that hard of a way to make a buck as a side hustle, and that spurred her on to set up a kiosk in a local mall. With an small, electric movie-style popper, it took two batches to fill a bag, so it was a terrific lesson on how important production was to a business and its revenue. They then moved up to festival sized equipment with propane heat and started serving their popular treats on a large scale, making more revenue and profit in a shorter time frame. This led to their first breakthrough, the Portland Farmer\u2019s Market. There they developed a loyal clientele and also a big buy in from the community who gave them great suggestions on new flavors, which the family, in turn, produced. Miss Hannah\u2019s Gourmet Popcorn took off. As we have mentioned many times before, our host Sarah Masoni had a hand in helping the company get off the ground with her advice and wisdom. Early on, Hannah\u2019s parents took some of the popcorn to Oregon State University\u2019s Food Innovation Center of which Sarah is the Director to get her opinion on the commercial appeal of their product. Sarah\u2019s positive review and encouragement was pivotal in the company having the confidence to dream bigger. Hannah\u2019s involvement has been from the beginning, obviously, but there was a detour in her life. Her college degree was going to lead to a profession in the Christian ministry, but she came back to work in the business for a summer and that led to a unique job title for her. She was in charge of figuring out how the business could operate without a family member always being present to produce and sell the popcorn. At the time, their storefront was a kiosk and Hannah put together all the procedures and training so that employees could operate the kiosk successfully and free up the family members to work on marketing and sales. They now are focused on opening up distribution on more grocery stores to keep spreading the brand name. Along the way, Hannah has dug into how popcorn is grown and become somewhat of an expert as to the pollination of the crop and how large popcorn is developed. You can buy Miss Hannah\u2019s Popcorn at their storefront in the high-end Bridgeport Village in Lake Grove, Oregon, or their manufacturing facility in Newberg, Oregon, also the heart of Oregon\u2019s wine country. There also are various retailers across the Pacific Northwest, including our sponsor Market of Choice. For those not in the area, order online. And their gift boxes really are a work of art so think about Miss Hannah\u2019s for a special surprise present. Website: https://www.misshannahspopcorn.com/contact, Twitter - @Hannahspopcorn, Instagram - @misshannahspopcorn, Facebook - @misshannahspopcorncorn, Our hosts: Twitter - @sarahmasoni and @spicymarshall, Instagram - @masoniandmarshall