Meet Cara and Savanna, the moms and longtime friends behind The Sweetish Fish. They both live year round on Cape Cod with their families, where their first Sweetish Fish location was born. Cara, a Cape Cod native and mom of four girls, has a background in graphic design and events, while Savanna, who grew up in Needham and is a mom of two with another baby on the way, comes from a background in social media and public relations. Inspired by the nostalgia of summers on the Cape and childhood trips to penny candy shops, they set out to recreate that experience for their own kids with a modern twist, focusing on Swedish and international candies. After launching on Cape Cod, The Sweetish Fish has expanded to The Street Chestnut Hill, bringing their colorful candy shop closer to NWN. Let’s meet Cara and Savanna!
Tell us about your family! How many children do you have, where are you from, and where do you live now?
Cara has 4 girls ages 15, 13, 10, and 8. I have a 9 year old girl, a 2 year old boy, and am due in Oct with a girl. Cara grew up on Cape Cod, and I grew up in Needham. We both currently live on Cape Cod year round, which is where our first location of The Sweetish Fish was born!
What’s your favorite aspect about being part of this community?
Having grown up in the area, it is so fun to be back. There is no other city with as much pride and community as Boston, and that extends to the suburbs. It’s cool to see how much has changed over the years, but how much has also stayed the same!
What’s your favorite family activity to do in the area?
Shopping at The Street! We love coming up to Chestnut Hill for the day, and bringing the kids. There is something for everyone at The Street, so all of our kids stay occupied and have fun. There is also great food! We love eating at Bianca, The Half Cookie, and our girls are obsessed with shopping at LoveShackFancy and Roller Rabbit!
Tell us more about your background and what inspired you two to open The Sweetish Fish?
Cara has a background in graphic design, and events, and I have a background in social media and public relations. We are both creatives at heart, and entrepreneurs by nature – it’s a perfect storm! We remembered the nostalgia of summers on Cape Cod and penny candy shops, so we wanted to re-invent that experience in a better-for-you way for our kids. Many Swedish and international candies have higher health and ingredient standards. It’s still sugar and still a treat, but it’s something you feel a lot better about indulging in. Plus, it’s a whole new world of candy, tasting something brand new for the first time is so fun and takes you right back to childhood!
What do you love most about what you do?
Building something in front of our kids. There is never a question of whether our kids can be involved; between the soon-to-be seven of them, we usually have at least one popping into every meeting, site visit, or appointment. It feels empowering knowing that we can work hard, and raise our families how we want to.
It’s so hard to balance work and mom life. How do you maintain a healthy work life balance?
We don’t lol – we work a ton, but we do it alongside our families, and we do it with each other. When something comes up we encourage the other person to take the time, and we always have the kids in tow.
What is the best advice you’d like to give a mom?
Just do it! Take the risk, everything is temporary!
Thank you Cara and Savanna for letting us get to know you! Be sure to visit The Sweetish Fish at The Street Chestnut Hill for their colorful selection of Swedish and international candy. You can learn more about The Sweetish Fish at www.thesweetishfish.com or follow along on Instagram at @the.sweetish.fish.
