In summer 2023, Zoey Heyn finished her freshman year of high school with a simple idea: sell fresh mini donuts in her Michigan beach town.
The challenge? She was 15 and couldn’t drive.
So she recruited her older sister Lydia, found a vintage Coca-Cola trailer, and set up a tiny roadside stand hoping to sell 50 donuts a week. Four weeks later, they had sold 15,000 donuts.
Today Zo’s Mini Donuts operates five trucks across Southwest Michigan, employs 20+ seasonal staff (set to double their staff count in summer 2026), and has built a cult-like following for its hot-and-fresh donuts.
In this episode, Zoe and Lydia share:
• How their side hustle exploded into a real business
• Why keeping their menu simple helped them scale
• The marketing trick that made glaze their bestseller
• Hiring friends and building a strong team culture
• Their strategy for partnering with high school athletes - NCAA NIL
It’s a story about entrepreneurship, community, and what happens when you “don’t talk about it — you be about it.”
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⭐ Learn more about Zo's Mini Donuts
https://zos-mini-donuts.square.site/
