FAST FIVE Jeff Harris' path to sweet success
Meet Jeff Harris, founder of Bombshell Sweets in Hayden.
Success often follows an unexpected path, and for Jeff, the road to founding Bombshell Sweets — now a leading name in gourmet cotton candy — was anything but conventional.
With a background spanning ministry work, independent filmmaking and various sales roles, Jeff’s diverse experiences might not seem connected at first glance. Yet, each step provided a crucial piece of the puzzle, ultimately leading to the creation of Bombshell Sweets (bombshellsweets.com). What began as a passion project has since grown into a thriving business, proving that sometimes the journey matters just as much as the destination.
1) How did you get into the world of cotton candy and sweets, and what are some of your favorite products?
If 10 years ago you would have told me that we would have created one of the top two or three gourmet cotton candy sugar manufacturers I probably would have laughed and then asked why I would have done that. It didn't start with some grand plan to get here. It was literally something that I started on a whim to keep myself busy during the long winters. I have always been a sugar-holic and I came across some other gourmet cotton candy at an event and thought to myself, "I can probably do that better." I did some internet sleuthing to find out how gourmet cotton candy sugar was made, found out there really wasn't information out there so I started from scratch and learned how to do it myself. Trust me, early on there were some awful results, but we finally settled on a process that no one else has figured out and then Bombshell Sweets was truly born. Asking what my favorite flavors are is always like asking which one of my kids is my favorite, but my flavors I am the proudest of would be Sarsaparilla, all of our seven distinctly different huckleberry flavors and of course our Ghost Pepper Punch, which I consider our greatest creation.
2) What are some new and exciting flavors and ventures happening with Bombshell Sweets?
As a small family business — myself, my wife and my best friend from high school — that has grown by bootstrapping, we've (thankfully) had to always be very creative when growing. We have gone down so many different roads and we have finally settled on our long-term path. We have begun selling a lot of our products through wholesale distributors in many different states which has been amazing, even to the point that this summer, Silverwood Theme Park will be using some of our cotton candy flavors in their cotton candy production. When it comes to new flavors, that is always tough because I am naturally a creative person; I can sometimes spend too much time on new flavors than actually running the business (our team always jokes that the four scariest words are me saying "I have an idea"). But recently we had an experience that led to a new exciting flavor. In addition to all of the things that we do here locally, we also run one of the largest cotton candy groups on social media. On a Friday last month, a member posted asking about Dubai Chocolate cotton candy and of course no one had ever done a flavor like that. By Monday morning not only did we create the flavor for both cotton candy and popcorn, but we had also it ready for wholesale distribution. That is one thing that I am proud of, that we can still be flexible and creative when new trends or ideas come up
3) What is some interesting cotton candy history and trivia you can share with us?
Cotton candy has really gone through an interesting transformation in the last decade. While we are all very familiar with what we like to call Carnival Cotton Candy (pink and blue), in the last 10 years we have seen an explosion of gourmet flavors and lower-cost equipment options, which has led to a lot of people joining the cotton candy business world. To me that is very exciting because I have a heart of entrepreneurship, and I think the more people starting their own businesses is not only good for the economy but for our culture in general. For us, last year was a pretty historical year because we created the world's largest cotton candy sculpture on National Cotton Candy Day and we did that outdoors in December during a huge rain/snowstorm.
4) What is something people would be surprised to know about you?
I think a lot of people would be surprised to know how many different things I have done over my life. I spent many years in the Christian radio industry and working with festivals and music artists. I was a youth pastor in college, and I have made two independent feature films, one of which was picked up for distribution and can still be seen online and on Amazon.
5) What do you do for fun when you're not in your sweets laboratory?
There isn't much time we aren't working away with the business! The summer months it's not uncommon for each of us to be working 60-80 hours per week, but I am an avid competitive disc golfer and hopefully one day I will finish my new film script and get it made.
