Hi Tara and Danielle! Where are you both from originally and how long have you lived in town?
(Tara) I am from Astoria Queens originally and moved to Cresskill in 1994. I have lived in various Bergen County towns but now live in Westwood for the last 4 years.
(Danielle) I grew up in Dumont, and now live in Hillsdale for the last 12 years.
Do you have any kids?
(Tara) I have one son who is 6 months old.
(Danielle) I have 3 daughters and 1 son, ages 12, 4, and two 3-year-olds.
What’s your favorite thing to do with them?
(Tara) Since my son is still so young, we are really just enjoying these first few months watching him grow and start to show his little personality. Becoming a parent has been the most rewarding experience and the title, “MOM” is by far my favorite one of all.
(Danielle) Our children love to play outside, and in the summer, months being at the beach is the perfect place to let them enjoy the sun, sand and the water. But the weather doesn’t deter us from getting ice cream together any day of the year!
Are you involved in a business venture? Please share!
We are the founders of Curbside Confections, a company we started in 2017. We met in healthcare and became fast friends almost 20 years ago and knew that someday we wanted to have our own business. While planning Danielle’s wedding and falling short of the perfect after-party idea, Curbside Confections came to fruition. We custom built and designed our very first food truck and set out to our first event in June 2017. Since then, we have completed almost 3,000 private events and celebrated with so many new friends, families, and communities all over the tri-state area. Our fleet now consists of 8 vehicles, one of which being a gourmet cotton candy truck which serves handspun cotton candy in over 80 of our signature flavors!
Over the last year we have expanded our footprint, and not only opened a brick-and-mortar Gift Shoppe located at 130 Kinderkamack Road, Park Ridge, but launched our franchise program which will allow us to celebrate in states country wide. By end of 2023, we plan to independently operate locations in North Carolina and Florida.
That’s awesome! Why is this so important?
Our mission is to be the leader and must have candy truck in the event space, known for our unwavering commitment and dedication to quality and customer service by delivering a unique event experience that will be remembered long after the celebration ends. We pride ourselves on professionalism and excellence and strive to bring people together for all occasions as the “Original Party on Wheels.” These values will help to change the event and party industry and also help like-minded individuals attain their goals of entrepreneurship and business ownership through our franchise program.
What sets you apart?
We are committed to delivering the ultimate guest experience by providing a legendary customer service experience in EVERYTHING that we do from our private events to our Gift Shoppe experience. We are focused on being a partner in the communities we serve, paying it forward to others and joining them in their causes. We strive to lead by example, not only in our industry by raising the bar for exceptional service and quality standards; but most importantly for all girls and women who want to be a leader one day.
We are the original candy and snack truck and take tremendous pride in being innovative and creative as we have established an entirely new category in the mobile event space. We are continuously developing and trialing new ideas to bring to our clients and finding ways to say YES.
If you could give one tip to fellow moms, what would it be?
We pride ourselves in supporting and encouraging other women and women owned business. Our best advice would be to take a bet on yourself no matter how scary it may seem. We often look back and say that we wish we would have left our full-time careers sooner. Let the fear fuel your passion.
What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
People are always surprised that we fully own this business and have no investors. Between the two of us, we each maintain our own roles and responsibilities to operate our business and then collectively make decisions.
How has this community been instrumental in getting you to where you are now?
We truly value the support and loyalty we have received from the Bergen County Community, and beyond! The friendships we have also made have continued to encourage us to keep doing what we are doing. Our philanthropic values of giving back through fundraisers at the local schools and donations of services and proceeds to organizations. Since moving to Park Ridge, the community has really welcomed us with open arms from customers to fellow neighboring small business owners. We are looking forward to some of the exciting collaborations and supporting the local girl’s softball team this season!
