Monday Spotlight: Dippy Chick

Meet the Mom Behind Dippy Chick!

Who is Dippy Chick Co.? Where are you located?
My name is Christine Hanisco and I am the founder of The Dippy Chick Company, Inc. My business cards says “President, CEO and Dippiest Chick”. I'm located in Kingston, N.H.


How did you come up with your business name?
I started out with SerenDIPity Gourmet Specialties. It was long and I ended up hating it. My web address was always dippychick.com, because there were a million Serendipitys out there and I couldn’t get a decent domain name. When I incorporated, I decided to change it to The Dippy Chick Company. It made sense because I became well-known as “Dippy Chick”.





When and why did you decide to start your own business?
I worked as a graphic and web designer for years and then switched to real estate for a change. When I became pregnant with my second child, I realized that a career in real estate was futile with all of the odd hours. I decided that I needed a home-based business so that I could care for our boys. We couldn’t afford day care and I wanted to spend time with them while they were little.


How did you get started?
I used to attend craft shows with my friends every now and then. I saw people selling dip mixes and thought it would be a great business to get into some day. A couple of years later, I did! The first thing I had to do was get licensed by the state which involves a kitchen inspection, water test and fee. Then I had to formulate all of my products and convert them into large batches. I then created the packaging which was really boring at first. At some point it dawned on me to use my drawing skills. Once I did that my sense of humor came through – and that ended up making Dippy Chick what it is today.





What motivates you to keep your business going?
My kids. It’s funny – my husband referred to me as “driven” the other day. That really struck me funny. I was never a driven person until I had our boys. I guess I feel a need to provide for them. I work really hard to hopefully provide them with a better future.


Do you have anything new you are featuring on your website?
Actually, we have two new dip mix flavors – “Twisted Tomato Tornado” and “Kamikaze Wasabi”. Also, I just redesigned my site to be more upscale and user friendly. Pretty soon we will be introducing some dipping oil herb blends and some crock pot helpers. I’m also considering soup mixes, pasta sauces and salad dressing mixes.





How do you juggle family and work at home?
It’s not easy, but I have help from some people. I have a sitter who comes here to the house about 15 hours a week. I also have two helpers that help me with packaging and shipping. I have several friends and relatives that help me at trade shows and fairs that thankfully don’t mind being paid in dip!


What advice would you give to moms seeking to become a WAHM?
Getting help from a sitter has been instrumental for making this work. I hired an old family friend who is retired and needs the extra money. She is upstairs with the boys while I work downstairs, so I’m always a holler away. It’s really a nice situation. There are plenty of retirees out there just aching to play “grandma” or “grandpa” to some little kids.





Visit Dippy Chick at www.dippychick.com



Stores that carry Dippy Chick products:
We have a store listing on our web site at www.dippychick.com/stores.htm . We are adding new stores on a weekly basis. Right now we’re at about 53 stores across the US. This has been increasing because I was just featured as a mom-entrepreneur on ABC’s World News with Charles Gibson, as well as on national radio.