Sweet sensation
Collierville kid creates delicious treats for teachers
Kiya Anderson knew she wanted to do something new, and she knew she wanted to work for herself — no answering to the man for her. She thought about a specialty cleaning business.
“I thought about washing bikes and even scooters, but then I changed my mind,” she said.
She turned to a trusted adviser for counsel, and mom Dominique Anderson suggested they noodle around on Pinterest for some ideas. That was when Kiya, 7, decided she wanted to be in the candy business.
“I just thought, ‘I want to have a business,’ and so we found one and the day after that, I just started it,” the second-grade student at Sycamore Elementary said.
Teacher Treats is what Kiya called her business for the clear reason that she makes treats for teachers.
Among her specialties are chocolate-dipped marshmallows, giant ones, dusted with graham cracker crumbs. “It’s a s’more,” she explained. There are sparkle marshmallows, decorated with glitter sugar.
And dipped Oreos, decorated with icing, candies — or whatever.
Bunnies are big right now, with Easter on the way.
“We decorate it with anything the orderer wants,” Kiya said.
With help from her mom, Kiya, who lives with her parents in Collierville, set up an Etsy page and launched the business from there. She was able to get the word out before the holidays, fulfilled orders and decided to keep it going.
Last month she was recognized for starting a business at such a young age. The Shelby County Schools office has ordered candy from her, but her home district paid her a little respect.
“She was honored at the Coll ier vi l le School Board,” said Dominique. “She got to go to the business meeting and they called her up.”
Besides running her new business, Kiya is a pretty typical kid. She likes her Wii, particularly the Just Dance game.
“I try to do better every time,” she said. “If you reach the top, it’ll say, ‘On Fire!’ I got that last night.”
She likes board games such as Scrabble (“Well, we kind of forgot how to play it”), Hungry, Hungry Hippos, Candy Land and Doc McStuffins Operation.
“I don’t like playing the other one,” she said. “It scared me with the buzzer.”
But she’s always had the entrepreneurial spirit, her mom said, coming up with ideas here and t here, before actually starting Teacher Treats.
“It’s because she’s so smart,” said grandmother Charlotte Anderson. “She came here smart and she just got smarter. She’s always reading.”
Kiya jumps in with names of her favorite books, such as “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” and “Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy.”
But then she gets down to what really matters: Her favorite candy.
“Dum Dums,” she said. “I like them all except the chocolate ones.”
“It’s not chocolate,” her mother corrected her. “It’s root beer.”
“Right! That’s the one I don’t like.”
But li king all the others inspired her favorite item in her product line: A lollipop bouquet.
“We get a foam ball and stick suckers all in it until it’s completely covered and you don’t see anything but the suckers, not the ball,” she said. “Then we’ll put pretty ribbons on it and stuff like that.”
“We” includes her mom, who helps out.
“She’s strictly the boss, though. I just do what she says,” Dominique said.
Next up: Candy buffets for birthday parties and other events.
Like the bouquets, Kiya likes them because they’re pretty.
“So first you get to look at it, and then best of all, you get to eat it.”
Want to order Teacher Treats? Go to etsy.com/shop/TeacherTreatsStore or send an e-mail to teachertreatsstore@gmail.com. You can also follow her on Facebook at facebook.com/teachertreats and on Twitter @sweettreats4tch.