Opportunity found my buddy, Henry, because he focused on getting really good at popping the ultimate question in a “sweet” way.
You might be asking yourself who exactly does Dough Man help? Who are the types of people who use doughnuts and pastries to show care and make their lives worth living?
Henry D. (name withheld for obvious reasons) has been a customer now for about 5 years.
His girlfriend at the time was a friend and classmate to my girlfriend. Like many people who come into our world, he just showed up one day at our office and said he wanted to propose to his girlfriend with doughnuts. Actually he said “edible rings” (there are rings and there are rings, lol)
Henry was working a full time job in one of the major brands in Ghana.
He worked super hard and made most of his living from his job.
What struck me most about Henry was his enthusiasm and desire to go unto the next level with girlfriend in a big way, and he chose doughnuts. I mean, who does that?
I wasn’t sure we could pull it off; but he was more convinced of what he wanted TO DO, and he knew what he wanted was definitely something we could create.
Henry’s big thing was figuring out what his life would look like if the lady didn’t say yes.
So he sent ahead a BUNCH of gifts to “prepare the way”. (Incidentally this is an idea we’re exploring for Vals day).
The thing that set Henry apart was that he realized no matter what he did, he had to get really good at “pitching the pitch”.
So, as he tried all these different things, he kept upping his game with some TLC and stuff like that.
Ringing the Finger
Even though many of the opportunities he tried didn’t pan out, his skill at using words to “ring the finger” improved by leaps and bounds.
One of the coolest things Henry shared with us after his proposal was that, the thought of sending doughnuts carved into “MARRY ME” (picture included above) was so off the chart it was simply impossible for her to say NO to such “romanticness”.
We took the challenge to make our first shaped doughnuts and now it’s become something we do on a daily. But, like I said, it’s beyond the doughnuts.
Time and time again, the feedback we hear from recipients is that the thought of sending such well packaged and delicious treats was so thoughtful, heart warming and it nailed the right emotions EVERYTIME!
Today, Henry is happily married to Jane. She said “YES”.
It wasn’t exactly the path he imagined when he was younger, when he envisioned proposing to a lady, but it worked out great and he’s super happy.
Fast forward to today and Henry is a new dad to a handsome young son (he’s super cute by the way).
He works from his home office now (shame on Covid) and he’s having so much peace of mind at home (and doing very well financially too) with his lovely family.
He’s working on a book and doing all sorts of community building activities, while spending time with his beautiful wife and young son. Can’t ask for more than that!
Wow! That is so cool, right?...
I’d love to hear from you about this. Does Henry's story resonate with you at all?
Now I know you might NOT want to propose or do something as drastic like Henry (or maybe you do?). Do you need help saying how you feel, or emotionally connecting to the people you care most about?
What do you do (or want to do)?
I’d love to know, especially because it’ll help me know more about my customers and how I can help THEM do better with THEIR relationships and improve their life in general.
Click comment and let me know what you think 🙂
Enjoy the weekend.
Francis Kofigah
- CEO and Co-Founder,
Dough Man Foods.