Mother-Daughter Duo Created Banana Mousse After Hustling Around Delaware Valley
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- As we approach Mother's Day weekend, Eyewitness News is highlighting a local mother-daughter team. They're on a mission to inspire their community while satisfying its sweet tooth.
Shadeerah Goodman never imagined becoming a business owner, and she certainly never dreamed that she'd be working alongside her mom.
"I said mom, 'I'm not going to college,'" Shadeerah Goodman, the co-owner of Banana Mousse, said. "She said, 'You're not going what?!'"
Shadeerah Goodman admits she was a "wild child" and gave her mother a lot of headaches when she was younger. She barely graduated from high school, so her mom, Shawna Goodman, gave her an ultimatum.
"I told her, 'You're not going to be a bum on my watch," Shawna Goodman, the other co-owner of Banana Mousse, said.
Shawna Goodman gave her daughter a year to come up with a plan.
"I was like, 'Um, I'm going to sell your recipe," Shadeerah Goodman said. "She's like, 'Sell my recipe?"
Shadeerah Goodman wanted to sell her mother's frozen mousse dessert – a family favorite. But mom needed convincing.
"My idea was to show her," Shawna Goodman said. "You think entrepreneurship is fun, you think it's easy. You have to do the footwork.
So in 2015, they set out to test the tastebuds of the community.
"We drove around Philadelphia area for 30 days," Shadeerah Goodman said.
"We're giving out samples everywhere, mind you," Shawna Goodman said. 'The bar, the block, the dentist's office."
"I got her up at 3:00 in the morning to learn the recipe. And then we would leave out by 9, 10ish in the morning to give out the free samples and we wouldn't come back home until they were gone," she added.
Each day, they gave away 100 samples of various flavors of their homemade frozen mousse.
They posted their journey on social media and even got celebrities like Cedric The Entertainer and Duane Martin to get their product, which helped them quickly gain a following.
And that's how the Banana Mousse brand began. Soon, they started selling the mousse in more than 200 locations across Philadelphia, New Jersey, Delaware, and even California.
"Banana Mousse originally started as a hustle," Shadeerah Goodman said.
By 2018, they were ready for a home base and chose the 5600 block of Spruce Street in West Philly. Shawna Goodman said she chose the location because of the community.
"I understand the struggle," she said. "I know how it is for people. We need people to know and understand that you can get past all of that."
When you're eating something like this, you can't count calories.
Banana Mousse has expanded serving not only a full menu of mousse flavors but also milkshakes that are literally over the top.
Banana Mousse is a staple in the community leaving customers not only full of dessert but inspiration as well.
"I want to see people smiling, I want to make sure that people know that whatever you want to do, you can do it. And I'm an example," Shadeerah Goodman said.
The mother-daughter duo says marketing on social media, and great reviews have been key to their success.
They're doing so well that they are planning to expand their hours this summer.
