Stephanie Stuckey is on a mission to revive her family’s brand. Started by her grandfather, W.S. “Sylvester” Stuckey, Sr. founded Stuckey’s as a roadside pecan stand along Highway 23 in Eastman, GA. Stuckey’s eventually became a roadside empire with its peak in the 1960s. With 368 stores in over 30 states at its height, Stuckey’s was known for offering kitschy souvenirs, clean restrooms, and its famous candies.

I spoke with Stephanie to learn more about her personal journey to restore her family’s legacy, how she has refocused the brand, and the opportunities she sees for the future.

Can you tell us the story of your entry into the business and what it has taken so far to start to bring Stuckey’s back?
I had a full career doing things other than food and the family business. I was a state representative for 14 years. I’m an attorney. I was a public defender for over a decade. I practiced environmental law and headed up sustainability for the city of Atlanta. And the last chapter of my career, I thought, would be environmental advocacy.

Then I got a completely unexpected opportunity to buy my family’s failing business. And it had been out of our family’s hands for a long time, and frankly was six figures in the red when I bought the company. We didn’t own or operate any restaurants, we only had a handful of licensed locations. We had a dusty rented warehouse full of merchandise that hadn’t turned in while.

So it was a challenge, but what I bought was a brand and it was a brand that I believed then, and definitely believe now, has sticking power. And so that’s what I believed in when I made the investment. My life savings are all sunk into reviving this brand.

In a little over two years, we’ve turned it around from $2.4 million growth in sales to over $12 million gross in sales and in the red six figures to a little over a million net profit, all of which we’re reinvesting in the company. And the way we have turned it around is through food and manufacturing.

We really went back to our roots. We started as a pecan stand on the side of the road. And so we went back to that. We bought a candy plant, a pecan-shelling plant, and a fundraising business. And the majority of our profit is being driven through the sale of our snack pecans, our in-shell pecans, our candies that we manufacture ourselves now and shell ourselves. And we’re selling to retail outlets from a mom and up store, like a gift to grocery chains and convenience store chains all over the country.

The future is bright for us. We’re looking at investing in a distribution facility that we will own instead of renting and we are expanding our candy production with new equipment and new space.

In your social media content, you really emphasize both the history of Stuckey’s and also the history of a lot of roadside stops and interesting historical brands along the way. Why is history so important to you and to the Stuckey’s brand?

I have a nostalgic brand, and I firmly believe in embracing what you truly are. And I’ve gotten all sorts of advice about how you manage nostalgic brands. But I went back to my roots in politics, which is you start with your base. The first thing I had to do was to shore up our base. We have generations of people who stopped at Stuckey’s on their road trips as kids. And those people are not only still alive, but they’re successful and have money to spend.

So I went after that demographic and those folks want to hear our story. They want to hear the history. I’m not selling to everyone everywhere, and it’s not just selling our product. It’s the story. And it’s creating a community and engaging.

I would put out the stories and I look at the analytics and I look at who engages and it’s working. So if something works, you do more of it. For example, my post today on LinkedIn was about the Big Texan Steak Ranch, because I literally had 20 people reach out to me and say, have you ever been to the Big Texan Ranch? I had about 20 people ask me if I have been to The Big Chicken in Marietta, Georgia, the Kentucky Fried Chicken. So I put that out yesterday and it got crazy engagement because that’s what people told me they want to hear.

Sales and marketing is a two-way street. It’s not just you. Family businesses that have persisted, the ones that are still around into the third generation and beyond, are the ones that get that.

Has there been a favorite memory since you came into the business?

There have been so many, but I’ll pick one, which I like to call my Scarlet O’Hara “I’ll never go hungry again” moment. It was right after I bought the company, and I decided to embark on a road trip because I realized that is what this brand is really about.

And so I started my road trip and I stopped at Stuckey’s, of course. And I went to this one store that looked terrible. It was in Marion, Arkansas. It literally had a hole in the roof from a tornado. And I just sat in the parking lot crying. I just could not believe that that is the condition of the wonderful company that my grandfather built and put his life’s work into.

I finally like forced myself to go into the store and that didn’t look much better, I’ll be honest. But what gave me hope was that there were people in the store. And they actually seemed pretty happy to be there! And I just thought, wow, if this brand can translate past generations where people still remember our good days, and they’re still incredibly loyal despite the downfall, what if we actually had the stores looking good? What if we actually had great products to sell, because our products had been outsourced for decades and frankly, the quality had suffered. So that gave me hope. It made me think, okay, this brand actually has sticking power.

Now in full disclosure, I have yet to get the financing I need to start owning, operating and renovating stores. I get people messaging me every day saying, “Oh, I’m really sorry to tell you this, but I went to one of your stores and it looks terrible.” It’s not a big news flash. If someone wants to give me a million dollars, I’d happily do that. But right now we are focusing on what we can do right now to drive profit, which is through manufacturing.

What would you like to be remembered for?
The road trip. Professionally, I want my legacy to be about celebrating the joy of exploring America, and not just the big cities, but the small towns, by car.

This is Women’s History Month, so is there a woman in your life who’s made a big impact on you who you want to acknowledge?
I know people always say their mothers, but that is because it is true. My mom gave me a great gift. When I bought the company, she had six boxes of archives that my grandfather had left my dad, her husband, and that was just an incredible gift.

And then I had this point early on when I was deciding whether or not to buy the company. And there’s a moment of tough love. My father is a wonderful man and I love him, but we’re not perfect. And he sat me down and he said to me, “You have never even run a lemonade stand. What makes you think you can run Stuckey’s?” And I was just struck by that. Suddenly I had all this lack of confidence. He was right. I’d never run a business, not even a lemonade stand. So what did make me think I could do this?

And my mom is the one who said, “You can do this. Look through these archives, look through these boxes, read how this company was founded. And guess what? Your grandmother did a lot of it. She just never got the credit.”

So I think too often when we tell the stories of family businesses, you read about Sam Walton and Colonel Sanders. You don’t read about the wives, but guess what? A lot of times, the wives are just as involved, just as critical. They just didn’t get the credit. So all these women who never got the credit, who were in these major businesses that I admire in food, they’re the ones who I think should get a shout out.

Stephanie Stuckey is the CEO of Stuckey’s, a family-owned roadside chain offering motorists a friendly stop where they can relax, refresh, and refuel. Stuckey’s is known for its Southern hospitality and candies, especially its world-famous pecan log roll. To learn more about Stuckey’s, visit their website: Stuckeys.com

Shobha Patel is the founder of Gharana Foods, a manufacturer of authentic ethnic snacks that focuses on premium, clean label snacks with no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives. ​​She started Gharana Foods with just one snack – chakri – making it in her kitchen.

As word of mouth spread about the quality and flavor, the business grew as well. 18 years later, Gharana Foods is now a thriving business with a large production facility, and the next generation, led by Shobha’s son, Amit, has entered the business to help scale the operations and help their parents take a step back.

Shobha shared her remarkable story as a woman who never had any aspirations to start a business, but through commitment, determination, and dedication has built a strong premium brand that is sold in ethnic food stores all over the country.

How did Gharana Foods get started?
There were such limited food options when we immigrated to America in the 80s. Communities would always form to help give a sense of home and support however we could. We were selling different types of food to local families and the one small local Indian store. In 2004, my husband was laid off. We started the business as a need to support our family.

Did anyone else in your family ever start a business?
I grew up in a small village and my father owned a small tobacco farm. It was enough to support the family, but wasn’t very big. After I got married, my brothers took over and grew it into a larger successful business that now supports the entire town and the subsequent generations.

Did you ever think about starting a business yourself when you were younger?
Older Indian culture is very male-centric. I remember thinking growing up that I didn’t want to have to rely on someone for money or support. I never thought to myself that I would start a business, but I know I always wanted to be able to do something myself.

What has been your proudest moment since starting the business?
We started the business in a 1,000 sq ft retail space with no expectations in 2004. In 2011, we moved into a 4,000 sq. ft warehouse space. The day we moved in, I couldn’t believe it. It was such a sense of pride to be able to see something that I built grow into something this big. We’re now in over 8,000 sq. ft. and looking to expand again.

What has been the biggest lesson you learned along the way?
I never worked a job before starting the business. I knew it would be hard, but I didn’t realize how hard each stage of the business would be. There are three things I personally learned – keep yourself calm as much as possible when dealing with employees, never panic in the face of challenges, and, most importantly, never give up. There were days I would wake up and just want to stop, but I pushed through by believing in myself and having my faith.

What would you like to be remembered for?
When we came to America, we didn’t have much money, but we survived. Growing up, I wanted to do something. I didn’t know what, but I wanted to accomplish something that I would be able to give to my kids. I’m proud that my son, my daughter, my son-in-law, my daughter-in-law, and, now their kids, are involved and running the business. It’s a dream come true.

This is Women’s History Month, so I’m curious if there has been a woman in your life who’s made a big impact who you want to acknowledge?
Unfortunately, I do not. In my head, I wanted to prove myself and do something in my life. I was blessed to be able to get the chance and be successful.

PHOTO: F. MARTIN RAMIN/ THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, FOOD STYLING BY KAITLIN WAYNE, PROPS STYLING BY JUDITH TREZZA

The Patel family owns and operates Gharana Foods, a premium snack company that manufacturers authentic Indian snack foods from recipes developed by Shobha Patel. The company is widely known for its chakri, a uniquely shaped snack recently featured in the Wall Street Journal. To learn more or purchase snacks, visit gharanafoods.com.

Diane Sauvage is the director of INTERVAL, an export sales company headquartered in France that represents twelve French dairies, exporting their cheese and dairy products all over the world. Originally from Paris, Diane worked at Interval for thirteen years before taking a three-year hiatus, after which she and her husband purchased the company last summer.

I spoke with Diane to learn more about her journey and the future she sees both for the primarily family-owned dairies Interval represents, as well as her new global family business.

What has your professional journey been like? How did you end up in the cheese industry?
My journey has been in food my whole life. I knew from a very young age that I wanted to work in food because that’s my passion. I wake up each morning thinking, “What am I going to eat today?” I had the opportunity to start working for a large chocolate company, the first producer of chocolate in France. I joined the company to do their export in Ukraine and the United States. And I really loved it. After three years I wanted to be in the US because I really loved doing business with the US. I was able to get an 18-month contract through a program in France called VIE, which helps French companies develop their exports. The only one that was offered in New York that was not in finance was Interval, in the cheese business. I was one of the last ones to apply, and I gave everything to get it. And that’s how I ended up in the cheese industry.

Are you happy with the way it worked out?
I am very happy in cheese. The big difference between cheese and chocolate is I can eat cheese at every meal! But really it is the stories of the producers behind the cheese that I Iove the most, the stories about the producer of milk, and why each cheese was created. These stories are the best part for me.

What is the biggest lesson you have learned along the way?
Humility, definitely. And to have a good vision of where you want to go, who you are to begin with, and why you do this – because the why makes you really do it every day. For us, the why is that we really want the family businesses that we represent to stay independent. For these businesses to create value, export is a very good option. So we have a big role in helping them create value, and to keep the production of cheese where it is right now, and not only in big companies. So that’s our why.

Can you tell us about the moment in which you have been the proudest of what you have accomplished so far?
It’s funny but I was really proud when I did my goodbye party at Interval. I did a goodbye and then a hello again three years later when we purchased the company. So it’s very interesting. At the goodbye party, all the nice words that I got from our producers, our customers, it was really wonderful. I felt I made an impact and I did a good job. You don’t really feel that very often. So that was a moment where I really felt that. And that’s what matters for me. I want to make sure I bring what a customer needs and do a good job for them and for our dairies.

What was your dream profession when you were a child?
Maybe being a chef. Or an opera singer, but I didn’t know how to sing! I grew up in a family where food was at the center of our life. It was always the food for me. My grandma always said that as long as you work in a bank, you’re fine. But I knew that was not my thing. I need to taste what I sell, like what I sell, and enjoy it every day. So for me, I’m really where I am supposed to be.

Did you have a favorite meal growing up that still makes you think of your childhood when you eat it?
My favorite meal is roasted chicken. That’s a very traditional meal every Sunday, a whole roasted chicken. That would be my last meal also. With cheese, of course!

What is your vision for Interval’s future?
The future is to expand our sales and have offices in other countries other than in the US. Right now we just have two in the US, but we will be expanding to a more global presence.

This is Women’s History Month, so I’m curious if there has been a woman in your life who’s made a big impact who you want to acknowledge?
I would say the women in my family because when I think about it, all the women in my family were/are very strong women. My sister is an everyday support, my mom was an inspiration of hard work and my grandmother was an example of generosity and warmth.

My grandma on my mother’s side worked in a nonprofit her whole life, and she was the president. She would go to the hospital to make children smile. She was one of those grandmothers that go and play with the children that have cancer. That made a big impression on me because I was going with her, and sometimes it would be very hard to see kids like that. She kept on going until she died actually. It was pretty impressive.

My mom also was a very hard worker and had so much courage. She was never afraid of climbing the big mountains. She would just go for it. She created two businesses from scratch, and still found time to be a mother. I grew up with a mother and a business owner, so that also made a big impression on me.

Last but not least my sister is the best family manager I know – she holds everybody together with grace… including me. Her advice is just the best for me, it helps me to always see the glass half full.

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Diane and her husband Nicolas are the directors of INTERVAL, an export agency and ambassador of French regional dairy products. They lead a team of multicultural, passionate experts in the export of French cheese. Since 1981, INTERVAL is the export department of 12 French dairies, all specialized in terroir products. INTERVAL exports nearly 5,000 tons of French cheeses, butter, and creams, to North America, Europe, and Asia. If you want to learn more about INTERVAL, please visit their website: intervalexport.com