020: Amanda Pizarro (Co-Founder, The Salty Donut)

Amanda Pizarro on Innovation City

“Any obstacle that comes my way, I analyze it now, and I’m like, ‘Obviously this is showing up for a reason, I need to fix something or improve something.’” —Amanda Pizarro

Welcome to Innovation City—powered by Venture Cafe St. Louis and Venture Cafe Miami—where Tyler Kelley and Michael Johnson, Co-Founders of SLAM! Agency, interview innovators, creators, and disruptors to discover how business is evolving in the modern world.

Innovation City gives you a behind-the-scenes look into the next generation of world-changing organizations. As business and culture continue to change at an extraordinary pace—thanks to increasing diversity and inclusion, greater connectivity, and heightened creativity—you can stay ahead of the curve, find out what’s coming next, and who’s going to bring it to market.

On today’s episode, Tyler and Michael are at the eMERGE AMERICAS conference, recording at the University of Miami booth. They talk to Amanda Pizarro, Co-Founder of the Salty Donut. Amanda opened the Salty Donut, Miami’s first gourmet donut shop, in 2016. She was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2018, The Salty Donut was selected to be part of the South Beach Food and Wine Festival in 2016, and they won The Cooking Channel’s 2016 Sugar Showdown. Find The Salty Donut on Instagram at @TheSaltyDonut.

They discuss:

• Amanda’s start as an accounting student and her switch to marketing
• How The Salty Donut was born as a school project for her first marketing course
• Rice vs. Pasta
• Creating a business plan and finding funding
• The anxiety of getting started, needing to make their mark on the food scene
• Starting with a pop-up shop in an Aljoa Camper
• Signing a lease in the Wynwood Arcade
• Doing whatever it takes
• Managing the brand vs. franchising
• Opening a second location
• Being careful about picking partners
• Being more than just a donut shop
• Using The Salty Donut as a stepping stone to bigger projects in the food industry
• The importance of having a good team
• Growing from 3-40 employees
• Saving money on marketing by giving customers something they want to share on social
• The success of the mango swap
• The importance of organic ideas vs. planned ideas for social media marketing
• Doing as much research as you can before you start
• No regrets, just learning experiences