ASU alumnae Lindsay and Stephanie Esparza hit it big with the success of their Scottsdale bakery Cupcakes and are set to open a new location in Tucson in the next two weeks.
The sisters have only been out of college for a combined nine years, and neither has a business degree, but they aren’t amateurs when it comes down to business after meeting their goal of franchising a new location after opening the first two-and-a-half years ago.
“We knew from the beginning that we would eventually want to franchise and open more locations,” Stephanie Esparza said. “We wanted to challenge ourselves and take a risk, and those are still our goals.”
Stephanie Esparza graduated in 2003 with a degree in family studies and Lindsay Esparza graduated in 2006 with a criminal justice degree.
After graduating, the pair worked for a few years before they began planning the business, which has proved to be more work than they expected.
Lindsay Esparza described how they initially wanted to open a clothing store, but the market was already saturated with garment retail so they instead turned to an old pastime: baking.
“Linny always liked baking,” Stephanie Esparza said.
“We also thought that cupcakes were the new and upcoming thing,” Lindsay Esparza said.
With no business experience, they made more than just cupcakes from scratch, and opened after putting together a business plan of more than 50 pages together over two months.
After Cupcakes opened in 2007, the women realized owning a business is a life commitment and recommend that other ASU graduates research and focus on their passions.
“I have learned that it takes money to make money,” Lindsay Esparza said. “And I am so glad that I love what I’m doing because the business has consumed my life.”
The economic downturn was one challenge the Esparzas didn’t expect initially, but business has done well through the economic challenges, they said.
Now, they’re working to open the Tucson branch of Cupcakes.
“We pretty much have everything we need here at the Scottsdale location to run smoothly,” Lindsay Esparza said. “We are hoping it is the same down in Tucson.”
Former Cupcakes employee and business communications sophomore Veronica Aguilar said the Esparza sisters helped her to realize what owning a business is like.
“I actually had to do a scholarship activity for the Rotary Scholarship,” Aguilar said. “I was supposed to make my own business and Linny and Stephanie helped me out so much. I learned how much time and energy owning your own business really is.”
Working at Cupcakes helped her learn about the business world, she said.
“Working there helped me realize how important the dollar is, especially in this current economy,” Aguilar said. “Being able to receive money for something that I earned just made me appreciate it more.”
The Esparza sisters divide their daily duties: Lindsay spends more time in the kitchen, while Stephanie works out front behind the counter.
“We have faced many challenges and are excited that we’ve come this far,” Stephanie Esparza said. “In the future we hope to continue franchising. We want to keep taking it to the next level.”
Reach the reporter at tnowen@asu.edu.
