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>> Nels: Hi,
I'm Nels Jensen
with The
Business Press.
We're here at the 2010 Spirit
of the Entrepreneur Awards
and we are now joined
by our Emerging Entrepreneur
winners from Brandini
Toffee
in Rancho Mirage,
Leah and Brandon Weimer
.
So amazing night,
what do you think?
What's your first reaction,
Leah?
>> Leah: We were completely
shocked I mean completely blown
away; then when we started
seeing the other people
presenting and accepting
and giving speeches we were
really nervous
because we hadn't prepared
anything we didn't expect to win
but we're very blessed
and are having a great time.
>> Nels: So what does this mean
when someone says emerging?
I mean, Brandon,
that's got to be a real honor
in the sense
that someone sees big things.
>> Brandon: Well,
it definitely is for us
because I think
in any community you notice a
lot of emerging businesses
and that's actually a majority
of businesses and the ones
that make it wouldn't be
considered emerging,
so for us I think
that being an emerging business
and for winning it is really a
big thing because we're --
it kind of sets us apart,
I guess, that maybe hopefully
we're now not borderlining
as much emerging especially
since I think the bracket was 5
years and we're
at 4 years right now,
so for us that's the biggest
honor is that hopefully we've
surpassed the emerging business
and -- .
>> Nels: So what does
that mean then as a business?
What is the next steps
for your company?
You're a 4 year old company,
you know, are you
on a solid growth pattern now is
it just -- what does it
really mean?
What's next for Brandini Toffee?
>> Leah: Last year we opened our
first retail facility
and we do ship internationally
over our website
but now we're just trying
to work on our brand name
and brand recognition.
So while we do have our own
store we're trying to get
into other stores and just try
to become a household name.
We have a lot of predictions
for our company
and we're very involved
and very supportive
of everything going
on so we're really excited
to see how far our company can
actually make it.
>> Lens: Well there's a lot
of fantastic winners
of this award
so you guys should be very
honored it's great
to see young folks
such as yourself off
to a real good start
with a business.
>> Brandon: Thank you very much.
>> Leah: Thank you.
>> Nels: You know,
really what's your reaction?
Has it sunk in yet?
>> Brandon:
To go along
with Leah I think we both
obviously we've been away
at school and dealing
with our own lives
and we're here today.
On our way here we all took a
limo; this is a big deal
for our families
because we're just a small--
time business
and we're sitting here saying,
wow, what if we do win
and then we get to go, you know,
we get a little confident
and then we watched the videos
and you see
who our competitors are
and it's like,
this is a really legitimate
competition
and when we won I really --
my heart was pounding and it was
like the biggest relief ever.
I mean I still --
I'm not an emotional person
but going up there
on stage was -- it was touching.
It was a huge thing.
>> Nels: Well good for you.
Well, congratulations
to Brandini Toffee,
Leah and Brandon Weimer.
>> Leah: Thank you.
>> Brandon: Thank you.
>> Nels: Congratulations, again.
I'm Nels Jenson
with The Business Press.