We had the good fortune of connecting with Tawnya McKenney and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Tawnya, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Success is a peace of mind. It is setting attainable goals that push you outside of your comfort zone and force you to be the best version of yourself. My criteria is writing down my goals daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. Every New Year I create a vision board, one for my personal life and one for my business. As long as I am actively working towards my goal, I know I am successful.
Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Wafflerita is a brand new concept that serves stuffed waffles. We stuff our waffle creations with sweet or savory ingredients. All of our waffles are made to order so guests can customize their waffles based on their preferences. We are known for our “wafflerita” which is a stuffed waffle on a stick however we also offer Belgian sized stuffed waffles too. I am most proud that we have been profitable and successful in two different countries over the last five years and that we have set a new standard for the traditional waffle. It has not been the smoothest road, I have faced many challenges with introducing a brand new concept to two different markets, nobody knew what a stuffed waffle on a stick was. So I had to show them. I had to restructure the traditional concept of a waffle because many people associate waffles for a breakfast food only, so I introduced the Pizza Waffle, which is a waffle stuffed with pepperoni, mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce. I have also had to adjust my ingredients based on the demographics of the people I am serving. For example, while operating in Mexico, I tailored my waffles to the local palette, which meant adding some spice. While here in the US not many people were a fan of the spice, but I got a lot of requests for bacon. So now, I have bacon on my menu. It’s constant research and development to tailor the perfect waffle to my clients.
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
When I have visitors coming to Denver I always take them to LoHi. We usually start at Postinos, then move to Avanti and usually to Linger as well. I am big in to outdoor recreation so we try to squeeze in a hike or two also. My go to hikes are St. Mary’s Glacier and Little Park out past Morrison. Both are a quick drive and easy for my friends to adjust to the elevation. If it is concert season Red Rocks is a must. And if it’s snow season Beaver Creek is our favorite mountain to snowboard at. Not as many tourists and beautiful terrain.
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I can attribute a lot of my success to my boyfriend, Apolo. He has been supportive since day one. And not only in positive ways, he always tells me exactly what he thinks coming from a business and finance background. Sometimes the truth isn’t what I want to hear, and that is why he is my biggest supporter and fan.
Website: www.wafflerita.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wafflerita/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/wafflerita
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wafflerita
Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/wafflerita-walking-waffles-denver-2
Image Credits
Katie Truong Photography