Brenda Howard, Owner of Naseerah's Bake Shop, would be the first to tell you she was not retail-ready when she participated in ECRM's Deli, Dairy and Bakery Session last week in Chicago. But that's exactly why she came; she wanted to learn from her peers and buyers in the industry what it was that she needed to do in order to become retail ready.

She'll also be the first to tell you that her experience at the session was well worth the time and effort, and that she came away from it armed with the knowledge, feedback and connections to take that net step in bringing her cookies and cookie dough from her local neighborhood shops to the masses.

In this video interview with Joseph Tarnowski, Brenda explains why she participated (and why her daughter urged her to), and how she gathered feedback from her buyer meetings, solicited entrepreneurial advice from other brands at the session, and created dozens of new relationships that will help her move her business forward.

Indeed, Brenda took advantage of all that an ECRM session provides to brands -- private, in-person meetings with buyers, plenty of networking opportunities, and a community of innovative entrepreneurs, all gathered for a few days at a single location. She's just getting started, but we expect BIG things coming from her brand in the near future!