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08 | <strong>01907</strong><br />
FALL <strong>2019</strong> | 09<br />
"I think it's always a risk when you open up<br />
a business — it's a financial risk," McCormack<br />
said. "Obviously, you want to be successful and<br />
you want to make sure you're using your time<br />
and energy in the best way possible to grow<br />
and maintain your business."<br />
Calvo-Bacci, 48, got her start in 2003 by<br />
taking over Chocolate Truffle, a retail store<br />
in Woburn that she eventually sold. She then<br />
rebranded the manufacturing company Bacci<br />
Chocolate Design into its current incarnation,<br />
CB Stuffer, which has an online retail<br />
component and sells its products in specialty<br />
stores across the country.<br />
CB Stuffer is known for its peanut butter<br />
cup, which is the largest in the market and<br />
available in some 18 flavors.<br />
Sixteen years ago, Calvo-Bacci was a young<br />
mom itching to go back to work. When she<br />
saw the opportunity to take over the Woburn<br />
store, she thought it would be easy. But its<br />
location was terrible and the store was losing<br />
money.<br />
The awful site was a mixed blessing. She was<br />
able to connect with another female business<br />
owner in the building who taught her the value<br />
that mentorship could bring. Her success is due<br />
to connecting with other women, she said.<br />
Three years after starting in Woburn, she<br />
moved to a better location in Reading. A year<br />
later, she launched Bacci Chocolate Design<br />
in Swampscott. That evolved into CB Stuffer,<br />
named after husband and business partner<br />
Carlo Bacci, the company's Peanut Butter<br />
Production Chief and the most important<br />
person in her life.<br />
Making enough money to pay the bills and<br />
keep the business going was a major challenge.<br />
It took years for the couple to see a profit and<br />
reap the rewards. Calvo-Bacci remembers the<br />
stress financial difficulties brought.<br />
"There were many days when I really didn't<br />
know how we were going to be able to get<br />
through the night, how bills were going to be<br />
paid," Calvo-Bacci said. "I'm proud that we're<br />
actually still here, still around and actually<br />
successful."<br />
She worked to meet payroll even as business<br />
slowed during summer months, an off-season<br />
for chocolate sales. She faced the choice of<br />
laying off staff and running the store herself to<br />
cut costs or selling the Reading store. Calvo-<br />
Bacci chose the latter. That's when she started<br />
CB Stuffer.<br />
Financial challenges weren't the only ones<br />
Calvo-Bacci stared down and conquered.<br />
When she was breaking into a maledominated<br />
field of manufacturing, she found<br />
that some men didn't take her seriously,<br />
comparing the experience to a young girl<br />
walking into the advertising agency on the TV<br />
show "Mad Men."<br />
Erin Calvo-Bacci is the owner of CB Stuffer, which has<br />
an online retail component and also sells its products in<br />
specialty stores.<br />
Calvo-Bacci recalled attending a trade show<br />
for manufacturers in Atlanta, where she sought<br />
advice and insight from professional men, but<br />
was instead met with stares and dismissive<br />
comments such as "Aren't you cute."<br />
"There weren't many successful women<br />
chocolate manufacturers at the time," Calvo-<br />
Bacci said. "It was really challenging for me.<br />
That's why it's so important for me to pass it<br />
on to (and help) other women. Now, times are<br />
changing, but we still have a long way to go."<br />
Pezzano, 28, also struggled with not being<br />
taken seriously early in her career, saying that<br />
was why she left her position as an assistant<br />
manager of cosmetics at Nordstrom. She said<br />
she felt unsupported and underappreciated by<br />
the older, male store manager.<br />
She decided two years ago to partner with<br />
her mother, Laurie Pezzano, who for 12 years<br />
has owned Lincoln's Landing, a restaurant<br />
on Humphrey Street known for its delicious<br />
breakfasts.<br />
Before making the switch, Pezzano worked<br />
as a business account manager at Wayfair Inc.,<br />
where she managed her own accounts and did<br />
well.<br />
"I wanted to take that a step further and<br />
do that with my family, with something that<br />
was more of my own," said Pezzano. "I always<br />
had entrepreneurial tendencies throughout my<br />
career."<br />
The move was a natural transition for<br />
Pezzano because she had always been involved<br />
with the restaurant, waitressing there during<br />
high school and continuing to work on nights<br />
and weekends while employed at other jobs.<br />
Laurie started out at Lincoln's Landing as a<br />
waitress as well and decided to buy the place<br />
when the owner became ill.<br />
"THERE<br />
WEREN'T MANY<br />
SUCCESSFUL<br />
WOMEN<br />
CHOCOLATE<br />
MANUFACTURERS<br />
AT THE TIME.<br />
IT WAS REALLY<br />
CHALLENGING<br />
FOR ME.<br />
THAT'S<br />
WHY IT'S SO<br />
IMPORTANT<br />
FOR ME TO<br />
PASS IT ON<br />
TO (AND<br />
HELP) OTHER<br />
WOMEN."<br />
Ashley Pezzano said she was attracted to<br />
the familiarity and family-like atmosphere of<br />
the restaurant, where she gets to interact with<br />
customers and build relationships with regulars.<br />
Pezzano said she and her mother have<br />
been able to enjoy the success of the business<br />
during the last few years, citing the exciting<br />
accomplishment of celebrating their 12-year<br />
anniversary.<br />
The milestone was especially rewarding<br />
because they had to overcome a lot of obstacles.<br />
Her mother, the restaurant's head chef, was<br />
diagnosed with breast cancer five years ago,<br />
leaving them scrambling to find help.<br />
Unable to find a good cook meant Laurie<br />
had to work throughout her chemotherapy<br />
and radiation treatments. Thankfully, she's in<br />
remission now.<br />
With her mother in charge of cooking,<br />
Pezzano focuses on the business side.<br />
When she became a joint owner, she<br />
focused on revamping the menu and restaurant<br />
decor and worked to increase the restaurant's<br />
presence on social media. She hired people who<br />
were customer-friendly, and intentionally kept<br />
the waitstaff all female.<br />
"(We) had financial and health challenges.<br />
It's important to have a good team around you<br />
and keep going forward," Pezzano said.<br />
She'd advise other female entrepreneurs to<br />
follow their passion and take a risk. Starting<br />
a business is a huge financial gamble, but it's<br />
important to keep at it, she said.<br />
"Even if you fail, you're going to feel<br />
Breathtaking water views<br />
good knowing that you took that risk," she<br />
said. "You're always going to see some type<br />
of challenge and you just have to keep going<br />
forward."<br />
PHOTOS | SPENSER HASAK<br />
The daughter/mother team of Ashley and Laurie Pezzano co-own Lincoln's Landing in Swampscott.<br />
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