CLEVELAND — A northeast Ohio woman is turning her lifelong love of candy into a side hustle.
“I like to do kind of a rainbow, so I start with a pink or a red and I start kind of in the corner,” said Taylor Caruso.
Caruso has a sweet side business, laying colorful candies piece by piece onto small bamboo trays.
“I love the fact that they’re biodegradable, so assuming you eat all the candy in them, there’s no waste,” she said.
She started making Tay’s Sweet Trays while on maternity leave. Her daughter was born in March 2021.
“I told myself, ‘I’ll only do this when my daughter is napping,’” she said. “To never take away from that time with her.”
She posted a photo of one of her confectionary creations on social media.
“As soon as I got on Instagram, it sort of blew up, surprisingly,” Caruso said.
She used the platform to connect with other entrepreneurs for promotions and support.
“It’s really nice to see people who want you to be successful in Cleveland and beyond, too,” she said.
She is taking a twist to the charcuterie trend by making individual personal-sized trays.
“I have a full-time job. I have a baby. I have a baby on the way,” she said. “I want to see where it takes me, honestly.”
And she’s sharing her love of candy along the way.
“I just love making people happy and what better way than sweets?” Caruso said.
