Candace Nelson

Entrepreneur, Author, and Founder of Sprinkles Cupcakes

I think the media paints a very daunting picture of what it means to be an entrepreneur; we see a lot of men who are building rocket ships to the moon. I wanted to share my story of building a big business around something that's quite simple, something that anyone could do — which is, bake a cupcake.

Guest Bio

Candace Nelson is a successful entrepreneur known for co-founding Sprinkles, the world’s first cupcake bakery and ATM, and most recently, Pizzana, a fast-growing chain of award-winning Neo-Neapolitan pizzerias. She continues to expand her portfolio of investments with CN2 Ventures, a family office and venture studio that invests in early-stage consumer companies. Candace is also a regular contributor to The Wall Street Journal, author of the New York Times bestseller The Sprinkles Baking Book, co-creator and executive producer of Hulu’s upcoming “Best in Dough,” executive producer and judge on Netflix’s “Sugar Rush,” and judge on 100+ episodes of Food Network’s hit show “Cupcake Wars.” She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two sons, and Norwich terrier, Willy.

Candace is an expert in turning one’s passion into a profitable business and in November 2022, she released Sweet Success: A Simple Recipe to Turn Your Passion into Profit (HarperCollins Leadership). In Sweet Success, Candace shares the inspiration and actionable tools to transform your dream from passion project to business venture. By revealing the mistakes and lessons she learned while building Sprinkles, Candace breaks down the barriers to entrepreneurship to pave a path forward for a new generation of changemakers.