Rosie O'Neill: Co-Founder of Sugarfina

Rosie has always been on the creative side. When she was younger, she would make friendship bracelets and sell them to others. This helped her learn about the basics of entrepreneurship, but she was unsure on whether it was something she wanted to spend the rest of her life doing. In 2012, Rosie co-founded the company, Sugarfina, a luxury candy store featuring the finest confections packaged beautifully in the brand’s signature blue Bento Boxes with her fiance, Josh. She has been named Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People” for her work with Sugarfina. 

When was a time you wanted to give up, and what made you persevere through it? 

There were lots of days when I wanted to give up, and it is very common for people who are starting and are running a business. You really need a lot of willpower to keep pushing through, especially on those days when everything is going against you. I overcame the obstacles I faced when starting Sugarfina by looking ahead and painting a positive picture on what the outcome might be. Instead of focusing on what could go wrong, I would think about what could go right.

Who do you look up to?

I greatly admire all women entrepreneurs as they all make very bold moves and really have been trailblazers. Specifically, both Sarah Blakely and Alli Webb are huge inspirations for me because of how they have persevered and believed in themselves. I have so much respect for women that go into careers that are traditionally dominated by men, such as computer engineering. It takes some real guts and confidence and those women are strong role models for girls around them.

What is your personal recipe for confidence?

Confidence is a mindset. Do not be critical of yourself. We are so harsh on ourselves, but we are so uplifting and confidence building to our friends. One good exercise to do is when you are feeling down or need a confidence boost, pretend you are giving advice to your friend but give it to yourself. Just say things out-loud like, “You can do this!” or “You are so capable of doing this.” Just saying this aloud really will adjust your mindset. You do not wake up with confidence already inside of you. It is something you need to work at. 

When was a time you failed, and what did you learn from the experience?

I have had a lot of failures, and I have learned that failures are so much more valuable than successes. Do not be afraid of failure and do things that push you out of your comfort zone. If you will fail, then learn to fail quickly, learn the lesson quickly, and evaluate what you learned from the failure. Failure really shapes you as a person and makes you better in multiple ways.

What inspires you to do what you do?

I had always wanted to pursue careers that reflected on my childhood passions. Before Sugarfina, I used to be the director of marketing at Barbie at Mattel. I loved Barbie when I was growing up, so to have a grown-up job for something I loved as a kid was amazing. I always had a huge sweet tooth, so I love that I get to work in this industry. The inspiration for Sugarfina really started when Josh, my co-founder and fiance, took me to see Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory on a date. We started talking about what would eventually become Sugarfina. We were talking about things like, 'What happened to candy?’ It used to be so magical growing up but now candy feels kind-of junky.  There is nothing high-quality or gourmet. Around two years after that date, we launched our company.