What’s Chef Farrell’s Why? Creative Freedom: Finding Joy and Purpose in the Culinary Arts

February 16, 2024 | By ICIC

It’s a chilly morning in Cleveland, but the cold does not hinder Chef Saidah Farrell. After checking off a list of business meetings and press engagements, it’s time to get to work on what she’s been looking forward to all day: creating delicious treats for her business, Olivia Rose Confections, most widely known for their Marshmallow of the Month Club. In the kitchen, Chef Farrell explores new ideas for her custom s’more survival kits that are shipped out monthly to customers. The s’mores kits include chocolate bars, a house-made gourmet hot chocolate mix, freshly baked graham crackers, and the marshmallow of the month. Made from the freshest ingredients, Farrell has crafted 50 different flavors of these fluffy, pork-free, artisan marshmallows, spanning from traditional favorites like lemon, chocolate, and strawberry to decadent combinations like butter brandy, ginger cinnamon peach, and raspberry lime prosecco. The unbridled creativity that the business offers Chef Farrell resonates deeply with her. She expressed, “My why is freedom. I love having the freedom to create what I want, when I want, and not needing to ask for permission from anyone but myself.” The creative freedom that she experiences as the founder, CEO, and owner of her company is the reason she stays in business and the motivating factor for her success.

“My why is freedom. I love having the freedom to create what I want, when I want, and not needing to ask for permission from anyone but myself.”

Embracing Change

Farrell is no stranger to adapting to life changes. Raised as the daughter of a military professional, she learned how to adjust to new circumstances quickly. This skill was particularly useful when she was laid off from her corporate job during the 2008 recession. Instead of panicking, she pivoted and enrolled in a local culinary academy, where she discovered her passion for pastry arts. After completing the program, her delectable desserts quickly became customer favorites at the restaurants where she worked as the pastry chef. However, her creativity was limited as her menu items required approval from the owner or head chef. Upon realizing the profits that her employers were making from her creations, she decided to take a leap of faith and start her own business.

The business grew steadily after her launch in 2013, and she proudly began selling her tasty treats at her own storefront. While her product grew in popularity, earning the title of Best S’mores Bar in Cleveland from Scene Magazine, the business struggled. Farrell lacked a firm understanding of the expenses required to run a successful brick-and-mortar, and this, combined with being under-capitalized, led to the difficult decision to close the store.

Chef Farrell swiftly made another pivot, becoming a chef instructor. A section of her course was on entrepreneurship. As she taught her students the basics of business, she began to reimagine her own small business journey. She realized that her idea for a s’mores survival kit could work by eliminating the overhead of renting a location and the related financial responsibilities. In 2019 she relaunched her company as the Marshmallow of the Month Club, a subscription box service that ships products to customers across the United States.

Support and Guidance from a Community Built for Black Women, by Black Women

Farrell, like many small business owners, had to figure out how to run her company on her own. She learned through trial and error until she discovered accelerator programs. Eager to expand her business knowledge, she completed a few programs before learning about Goldman Sachs’ One Million Black Women: Black in Business. She soon realized that this program was different from any other program she had participated in before.

“I’m still speechless about the Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women: Black in Business program. The one-on-one meetings with my business advisor were all very personalized. She was intentional about holding me accountable to my smart goals, and she didn’t just give simple or general advice.”

The program, for which ICIC is the national outreach and selection partner, brought together 150 Black and woman sole proprietors. Over the course of 12 weeks, the women participated in an all-expenses paid orientation at Goldman Sachs headquarters in New York City, learned from modules designed specifically for early-stage Black- and woman-owned businesses, and received tailored mentorship from a business coach. “I’m still speechless about the Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women: Black in Business program,” shared Farrell. “The one-on-one meetings with my business advisor were all very personalized. She was intentional about holding me accountable to my smart goals, and she didn’t just give simple or general advice. For example, when I needed to create an email marketing campaign, she was literally telling me what to include in the campaign. So, it was not a cookie-cutter program at all. It was a highly personalized experience.”

Farrell also found that being in a program built for Black women, offering a curriculum developed in partnership with 1863 Ventures – a Black-led national business development nonprofit accelerator and venture capital fund – fostered an environment where she could be present as her unguarded self. In this community, she witnessed levels of creativity and drive that she had not experienced in any other program. As a result, she was motivated to match her peer’s energy, increasing her own degree of dedication to standard and innovative business practices.

Growth, Goals, and Looking Ahead

A key insight from the program was understanding what it means to be the CEO of her business. “I never wanted to take on the title of CEO because I didn’t understand what that really meant. Now I understand there’s a difference between being the CEO versus Chief Marshmallow Maker. The role of the CEO is to grow the business, and if I’m in every other role, then my business is just going to be flat.”

After graduating from the third cohort of Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women: Black in Business, Farrell went on to accomplish a goal set at the start of her culinary path. Her cooking arts classes were held in the same building as the seminars for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. At the time, she did not know much about the program, but she heard enthusiastic reviews from participants and decided she would one day complete it. A decade later, having applied the lessons learned from Black in Business, she became a Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses alumna.

Utilizing the tools and community gained from these two programs has resulted in increased growth opportunities for her business. Chef Farrell has expanded from solely shipping her creations via the subscription box to retail sales of packaged products. She launched with her first partner, Meijer, in early 2024 at their Fairfax Market location in Cleveland, Ohio, and is excited for additional retail partnerships in the future.

Farrell has three pieces of advice for fellow small business owners: delight your customer, borrow money before you need it, and enjoy the journey of entrepreneurship. While she learned the first two points along the way, she has always maintained a positive attitude and enjoyed the process of building her business from the start. Today, she is grateful for the guidance and support she received from working with ICIC to complete the Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women: Black in Business and the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses programs. With ICIC’s help, she has the foundation needed to keep her business open and the freedom to continue creating delicious treats.