Not Your Grandma’s Fudge

ISAIAH ROWLEY is a young man of many passions. The 11-year-old Diego Martin entrepreneur has caught the media’s eye time and time again — whether it’s his golfing or designing and creating his own plant pots. This time he is in the spotlight with his own line of fudge, called Not Your Grandma’s Fudge.

The “kidpreneur,” as his Instagram account isaiahswondercrafts says, only began making fudge in August, after his mother, Donnamarie Rowley, introduced him to an online cooking class.

He immediately began making fudge, which he initially shared with friends and family. It then quickly grew into a business. He makes chocolate walnut, peppermint crunch, rum fruitcake and white chocolate cranberry and he plans to expand to include more flavours to match different times of the year such as Carnival and Easter.

His fudge is sold at Aioli Marketplace, Ellerslie Plaza, Maraval; Simply Gourmet, Starlite Shopping Plaza, Diego Martin; Blooms Imports, Diego Martin and Maraval; Gourmet Genie, San Fernando and Vanilla Bean Cunupia.

When asked why fudge, Rowley quipped, “I like fudge, because who doesn’t like fudge?”

And he creates it with the best ingredients and lots of love, he said.

His young entrepreneurial spirit might actually have a genetic link, as his parents Donnamarie and Ronnie are also entrepreneurs. His mother helps to manage his father’s construction business and also had her own line of gluten-free products at one time.

And whenever his parents went on their deliveries or projects, Rowley would go along with them.

“He was always learning something new,” Donnamarie said.

She also believes his entrepreneurial drive was fostered by watching things like the Food Network for hours.

The parents also believe in having an open line of communication with their son which allows him to be free to tell them anything or share any thoughts and ideas he is having. They assist him with his business. Donnamarie helps with marketing, sales and the management of his social media accounts and Ronnie does marketing and deliveries.

The name for the fudge came out of nowhere when Rowley and his mother were eating it one day and she said, “It is not like your grandma’s fudge.”

“So I was like, ‘Okay, I think that would be a name for it,’” he said.

So far the response has been great and many are inspired by what Rowley is doing, Donnamarie said.

Rowley said getting the fudge on the shelves was a lot of the work, as he had to go to the various stores and present his products to management.

“He is doing a lot of what people go to school to learn,” Donnamarie said. That falls in line with her plans to fully homeschool her son. With the closing of schools as a result of the pandemic, she began homeschooling him, which she had always wanted to do.

Rowley will not return to his private school when schools physically reopen, but he will sit the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) exam. She hopes to continue homeschooling him even after that, to prepare him for the CSEC and CAPE exams.

Although the pandemic has had global negative effects, for the Rowleys it has brought blessings.

Donnamarie believes it was what led Rowley to the business, and she ensures that he gives tithes to the church from his income.

She encourages people to follow in Rowley’s footsteps and go after their passion. Life has changed drastically since covid19 and she believes brick-and-mortar stores will vanish. She is advising people to “see where there is a void and fill that.”

While the family carries the same name as the prime minister, they are not certain if there is a connection. Donnamarie believes he is a distant cousin and the family is currently mapping the family tree.

Like Dr Rowley, Isaiah plays golf, and he hopes to be a pro golfer one day.