Gift biz unwrapped episode 193 other people don't devalue what we
Speaker:have done.
Speaker:We did that to ourselves and we should stop At Tintin.
Speaker:Gifters, bakers,
Speaker:crafters, and makers.
Speaker:Pursuing your dream can be fun whether you have an established
Speaker:business or looking to start one now you are in the
Speaker:right place.
Speaker:This is give to biz unwrapped,
Speaker:helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.
Speaker:Join us for an episode packed full of invaluable guidance,
Speaker:resources, and the support you need to grow your gift biz.
Speaker:Here is your host gift biz gal,
Speaker:Sue moon Heights.
Speaker:Hi there,
Speaker:it's Sue.
Speaker:Thank you so much for joining me here today.
Speaker:Before we get into the show,
Speaker:I want to make sure you're familiar with my free Facebook
Speaker:group called gift biz breeze.
Speaker:It's a place where we all gather and our community to
Speaker:support each other.
Speaker:I've got a really fun post in there.
Speaker:That's my favorite of the week.
Speaker:I have to say where I invite all of you to
Speaker:share what you're doing,
Speaker:to show pictures of your product,
Speaker:to show what you're working on for the week,
Speaker:to get reaction from other people and just for fun because
Speaker:we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody in
Speaker:the community is making.
Speaker:My favorite post every single week without doubt.
Speaker:Wait, what aren't you part of the group already?
Speaker:If not,
Speaker:make sure to jump over to Facebook and search for the
Speaker:group gift biz breeze.
Speaker:Don't delay.
Speaker:Come join us in gift biz breeze today.
Speaker:Our guest today is dr Michelle Gowan,
Speaker:retired educator Susie in all of her time not teaching school
Speaker:to teach people to bake and decorate cookies.
Speaker:In her first month of retirement,
Speaker:she founded the cookie school,
Speaker:which is a mobile home party class where a group of
Speaker:girlfriends gather in a kitchen for six hours and learn to
Speaker:bake and decorate cookies.
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:she dies.
Speaker:Doesn't that sound like so much fun?
Speaker:Another current business of hers cookie nip flavoring was born out
Speaker:of a desire to create a rich signature flavor profile for
Speaker:use. In the cookie school recipes,
Speaker:but it has been embraced by bakers of cookies,
Speaker:cakes and treats,
Speaker:as well as a delicious flavor additive to coffee and replacement
Speaker:for vanilla in a sweet and savory recipe.
Speaker:Michelle has now trained 70 cookie school instructors who help with
Speaker:the demand of teaching classes.
Speaker:Dr Gowan continues to work at a chartered school in teacher
Speaker:support as well as an adjunct professor of education at Mercer
Speaker:university. Dr Michelle Gowan,
Speaker:welcome to the gift biz unwrapped podcast.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:So you and I met at the ultimate sugar show and
Speaker:I walked by your,
Speaker:and someone else who was working at the booth lured me
Speaker:in and said,
Speaker:you have to try the cookies.
Speaker:I think it was like little cakes actually.
Speaker:Penny fours.
Speaker:Yeah, the little pedal forests.
Speaker:And I was trying so hard with all my might not
Speaker:to taste things because then I'm going to have to have
Speaker:more and more and more and more.
Speaker:Right. But she couldn't help it,
Speaker:Which you couldn't help.
Speaker:And so I was trying not to,
Speaker:but I'm like,
Speaker:okay, I just have to and Oh my gosh,
Speaker:it's so yummy.
Speaker:That cookie nip flavoring is to die for.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:I like it too.
Speaker:I bet you I'm really excited to get into the whole
Speaker:story. But before we do,
Speaker:I like to start off by having our listeners get to
Speaker:know you in a different way.
Speaker:And that is through you describing yourself as a motivational candle.
Speaker:So if you were to share with us what color and
Speaker:what quote would be on a candle that's all about you,
Speaker:what would your candle look like?
Speaker:I believe my candle would have the quote,
Speaker:if you do what you love,
Speaker:you will never work a day in your life.
Speaker:I'm all about pursuing happiness and anything that I want to
Speaker:do and especially my time for doing it is getting narrower
Speaker:and narrower.
Speaker:So whatever I do,
Speaker:I want to be happy doing it.
Speaker:And so when I need something that just like this flavor,
Speaker:it was born out of necessity to have a signature flavor.
Speaker:And so what motivates me to do something is first,
Speaker:well, if somebody has done this before,
Speaker:I mean obviously people can do it so it's not not
Speaker:doable. And finally I just want to do things that cause
Speaker:happiness, that bring happiness to me and to other people.
Speaker:And one thing that bakers have in common is they're happy
Speaker:doing it.
Speaker:They want to share happiness with somebody else,
Speaker:usually by way of butter and sugar and cooking it.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:There is nothing wrong with butter and sugar.
Speaker:That is for sure.
Speaker:And you're sitting with absolutely the right audience too because anyone
Speaker:who's a maker is wanting to spread happiness.
Speaker:They're wanting to share their art,
Speaker:whether it's jewelry making or candles or the sweets,
Speaker:which I am so loving.
Speaker:That's what we all are wanting to do is share happiness.
Speaker:And I love the fact that now we can all stand
Speaker:up and I'm going to say women,
Speaker:because the majority of our audience are women and claim ownership
Speaker:to not asking permission to get out and to create our
Speaker:own businesses,
Speaker:but to just decide we're doing it for ourself.
Speaker:Right. I think that too many times we are handicapped that
Speaker:other people's perception of what we should be doing,
Speaker:because I really had intended to sit around in my retirement
Speaker:and roll out cookies in my kitchen and bake for other
Speaker:people, but wanting to share what I know about baking cookies
Speaker:with somebody else because that's how a teacher does.
Speaker:They're afraid when they get near retirement,
Speaker:they're never going to get to tell anybody anything ever again.
Speaker:So then they start thinking,
Speaker:what can I teach people to do that I would just
Speaker:love to do all day and I don't have to.
Speaker:So that adds a new perspective to it.
Speaker:It sure does.
Speaker:And I like that you talk about it this way because
Speaker:you're taking something that you've done for your whole life and
Speaker:then transferring it over to something new that you're creating for
Speaker:yourself. In terms of the cookie school,
Speaker:There's something that resonates with me as a crafter or maker
Speaker:or Baker of sorts,
Speaker:and that is not everybody deserves your home made efforts.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:have you ever known somebody that just put a lot of
Speaker:work? Then they crafted with their hands and then they give
Speaker:it to somebody and they look at it like,
Speaker:that's not me or my style.
Speaker:That is not for me.
Speaker:Everything that I give as a gift has to have part
Speaker:of me in it.
Speaker:I want to give something that is part of me.
Speaker:If you want an Outback gift card,
Speaker:you can get that for yourself.
Speaker:But if you want these cookies or you want something that
Speaker:I make or something that I create,
Speaker:you can't get that for yourself.
Speaker:So it seems to kind of up the gifting ability.
Speaker:Boy, I wish every single person could get in this mindset,
Speaker:right? That you are receiving such a special gift of what
Speaker:someone else has made and you're not just entitled to it,
Speaker:but you deserve it.
Speaker:And so you should value it even more than obviously going
Speaker:to the store in case of cookies and getting a bag
Speaker:of cookies,
Speaker:Right? I mean,
Speaker:that's no gift.
Speaker:I mean that's,
Speaker:you could go and get your own cookies if you're going
Speaker:to the grocery store to get them.
Speaker:But when somebody gives you a gift that they rendered,
Speaker:then there's part of them in that gift.
Speaker:And consequently,
Speaker:when I get a handmade card from somebody,
Speaker:I know how special that is because that started with a
Speaker:piece of paper.
Speaker:Whereas some people just look at it as if it were
Speaker:one that was picked up at the grocery store and I
Speaker:don't. So I have the capacity to look at something that
Speaker:someone created with their hands and appreciated on a deeper level.
Speaker:So why is it the,
Speaker:do you think that people undervalue their making?
Speaker:They feel like what they're creating is less than a brand
Speaker:name product?
Speaker:I think one of the reasons I started getting cookies and
Speaker:things like that as gifts when I couldn't really afford to
Speaker:buy something more substantial.
Speaker:And so I think we do that to ourselves because I'm
Speaker:at a point where I could buy something more substantial,
Speaker:but I recognize the value of putting myself in part of
Speaker:the gift.
Speaker:So I think that we do that to ourselves.
Speaker:Other people don't devalue what we have.
Speaker:We did That to ourselves and we should stop.
Speaker:We need to stop.
Speaker:And I want to be on a mission to stop.
Speaker:And I think we're starting just by having this conversation here.
Speaker:Right. So let's talk a little bit about the cookie school.
Speaker:So it sounds like you retired as an educator and then
Speaker:did you already have the idea of the cookie school cause
Speaker:you started so quickly thereafter?
Speaker:I did not actually.
Speaker:Teachers are planners by nature and so retirement is coming up
Speaker:and then you start thinking,
Speaker:okay so I'm retiring from hall duty and lunch duty and
Speaker:carpool duty and faculty meetings,
Speaker:but I still want to do what I love,
Speaker:which is teach somebody something and help connect those dots for
Speaker:people or help light a fire in somebody,
Speaker:introduce them to something that they're going to be passionate about.
Speaker:So that part is what teachers would do for free.
Speaker:So I just thought if I could teach anybody anything,
Speaker:what would I like to teach them?
Speaker:And I thought,
Speaker:well I can bake cookies.
Speaker:So what I really think I'm going to do,
Speaker:this is a great plan.
Speaker:I'm going to train all my girlfriends and then when I
Speaker:have a million cookies to do,
Speaker:they're going to come help me.
Speaker:Right? How'd that work out?
Speaker:Not well,
Speaker:but because as soon as they learned how to do it,
Speaker:they're like,
Speaker:do your own cookies.
Speaker:I've got my own today.
Speaker:So that wasn't very successful,
Speaker:but nobody thinks,
Speaker:well, the very first thought of the cookie school was to
Speaker:just get some help for me because I was trying to
Speaker:produce more cookies than my two hands could produce.
Speaker:And so the best way to make a greater impact is
Speaker:to teach other people to do it for themselves.
Speaker:That's what I thought that I would enjoy doing,
Speaker:and I did enjoy doing it.
Speaker:Nothing is more fun than getting in the kitchen with some
Speaker:girlfriends and showing them what you do that's therapeutic and you
Speaker:just enjoy doing it.
Speaker:And then after you're done,
Speaker:you have a beautiful product that people really like and they
Speaker:want. I just can't tell you the number of people that
Speaker:I had no idea there were that many people in the
Speaker:world who wanted to learn how to bake cookies.
Speaker:Who knew that?
Speaker:I didn't know.
Speaker:I was thinking maybe 12 to 15 but it's a lot
Speaker:more than that.
Speaker:The other thing about cookies is they usually lead to some
Speaker:type of a celebration,
Speaker:whether it's people getting together,
Speaker:you going to someone's house for dinner and having cookies for
Speaker:dessert or even just after dinner,
Speaker:having a little dessert of a cookie.
Speaker:So cookies to me equals happiness.
Speaker:It does.
Speaker:And who can be miserable while eating a cookie?
Speaker:Nobody. Never.
Speaker:I'm not even miserable after 10 I'm only miserable.
Speaker:Well later when I realized,
Speaker:fuck I did.
Speaker:So how long was the cookie school going until you got
Speaker:the idea of cookie nip?
Speaker:Probably for about six months or so.
Speaker:Necessity is the mother of invention and when you need something,
Speaker:you invent something.
Speaker:And I don't know anything about inventing a flavor at all.
Speaker:I had to hire people to tell me,
Speaker:well, where do you go?
Speaker:This is an idea that I have,
Speaker:but how do you get this flavor into a product that
Speaker:can be measured by teaspoons and added to recipes.
Speaker:Okay, but before that,
Speaker:what was your thinking about?
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I would never even think of making my own flavor.
Speaker:Where did that come from?
Speaker:Well, the flavor that I had been using for years and
Speaker:I really enjoyed was one that was increasingly harder to get.
Speaker:And so,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I tried everything and I thought I'm hurting my own self
Speaker:by telling people where I get all of my products and
Speaker:what I use and how to order them.
Speaker:Because guess what happens?
Speaker:Everybody's ordering it and now everybody's always out.
Speaker:That means that I don't have any,
Speaker:I wish I could just make this stuff so that I
Speaker:would always have as much as I needed and I had
Speaker:an advisor that said,
Speaker:well, you need not try to make the same formula that
Speaker:formula exists.
Speaker:If you cannot improve on the formula,
Speaker:then you're kind of throwing good money after bad.
Speaker:You just need to go ahead and start blending and mixing
Speaker:your flavors together until you get what you're looking for.
Speaker:So I got online and I ordered every kind of flavor
Speaker:that I liked together and I'm standing in my kitchen putting
Speaker:a drop of this and two drops of that and then
Speaker:I would bake with it.
Speaker:Then I would take these little bags of cookies with me
Speaker:to school or to anywhere I was going and ask people
Speaker:if they would be so generous as to eat two cookies
Speaker:for me and tell me which one they liked better.
Speaker:And people are so generous when you ask for that.
Speaker:I can't understand why.
Speaker:I know they were happy to eat two cookies for me
Speaker:and tell me.
Speaker:And so at first as I was starting with my formulation,
Speaker:I had my favorite flavor and then I had whatever formula
Speaker:I was working with.
Speaker:But sometimes I would get totally different numbers,
Speaker:heavy on the original flavor or light on the newer flavor.
Speaker:But I kept augmenting the flavor until I got one that
Speaker:was consistently more preferred.
Speaker:And so I thought that's the only way.
Speaker:I know whether or not I can create something that I
Speaker:think is better than something that already exists.
Speaker:You'll notice with flavors when you go in the grocery store,
Speaker:you can buy almond flavor and orange flavor and peppermint flavor,
Speaker:but the thing that makes cooking up a little different is
Speaker:that it's a blend of flavors.
Speaker:So you have got a butterfly saver,
Speaker:a salted caramel flavor,
Speaker:and a vanilla bean flavor all brewed into sort of like
Speaker:a flavor cocktail.
Speaker:As I was researching what the most popular flavor in a
Speaker:coffee shop,
Speaker:there was a lot of discussion of salted caramel,
Speaker:how much people like salted caramel,
Speaker:so I thought I'll order some of that and put that
Speaker:in my ratio and see if I like it,
Speaker:and I did like it.
Speaker:That's basically how I came about trying to figure.
Speaker:Now cooking up was probably about maybe the 11th formula that
Speaker:I made and the others were good or they would be
Speaker:stronger in one of the flavors than in the other.
Speaker:And as people would eat those cookies,
Speaker:they would say,
Speaker:well I taste a heavier vanilla or I taste a heavier
Speaker:butter or something and you know,
Speaker:I would go back to my little cups and try to
Speaker:work it up again.
Speaker:And so eventually I got to a formula that people just
Speaker:consistently liked.
Speaker:And I recognize not everybody is going to like it.
Speaker:I mean you have to like all three of those flavors.
Speaker:But gosh,
Speaker:the things that people have put it in like coffee or
Speaker:like barbecue sauce things I would not have thought.
Speaker:I was thinking very sweet,
Speaker:very bakery oriented.
Speaker:But people have put it in a lot of things with
Speaker:really great reviews And I can attest to that.
Speaker:It is delicious.
Speaker:And the thing that's so cool about it is even though
Speaker:all the flavors that you just mentioned are standard flavors that
Speaker:all of us know,
Speaker:however your combination is or the portions of each one,
Speaker:it really makes you step back when you taste it.
Speaker:It is very unique and di licious forgery.
Speaker:Well, you know,
Speaker:it's interesting when you listen a set up of,
Speaker:for lack of a better explanation,
Speaker:the science fair at the cookie school,
Speaker:I was determined to get my control flavor and then modify
Speaker:it in different ways and then test it out on just
Speaker:people who are willing to eat two cookies for me.
Speaker:But I listened to them review it.
Speaker:Some people would say,
Speaker:Oh, that's too much caramel,
Speaker:or gosh,
Speaker:that's kind of too heavy in the vanilla.
Speaker:You have to be able to listen to the feedback that
Speaker:you get and modify it so that you come up with
Speaker:it a different blend.
Speaker:And then another thing that you have to do,
Speaker:flavors come when you're ordering flavors like I was working with,
Speaker:they really come as a very,
Speaker:very concentrated oily like half ounce or something ridiculous.
Speaker:So if you were trying to use one of those flavors
Speaker:in your recipe,
Speaker:you wouldn't use a teaspoon.
Speaker:You would use an eyedropper milliliters or something like that.
Speaker:Well, bankers don't use milliliters.
Speaker:If you're going to bring three flavors together and hope they
Speaker:work well together,
Speaker:then you're going to have to have a carrier that makes
Speaker:those flavors blend together and then gives you your consistency equal
Speaker:to teaspoons rather than milliliters.
Speaker:So there's a little Bit of math in there,
Speaker:but there's chemistry and stuff who can work that part out.
Speaker:So when you were in your educating years and it wasn't
Speaker:the baking,
Speaker:were you a scientist or a mathematician?
Speaker:I was not.
Speaker:Although I do love science,
Speaker:I was an elementary teacher of gifted learners.
Speaker:The gifted kids are so amazing because they're so curious about
Speaker:everything. They could come in one day wondering about something and
Speaker:we would just chase the answer all day long.
Speaker:So we would learn access information and use resources that were
Speaker:available to take us where we wanted to go because it
Speaker:was a little bit higher than what they were working on
Speaker:in a gen ed classroom.
Speaker:So that gave me the basis for thinking I can do
Speaker:that or not necessarily thinking that,
Speaker:but just thinking,
Speaker:well, why not?
Speaker:Right. I had mixed something and it had ultimately come up
Speaker:with something yucky and nobody liked it.
Speaker:I would have never told anybody.
Speaker:I did it out of being real quiet about it and
Speaker:I would still be standing there.
Speaker:Well, we all have that in us,
Speaker:right? We all love that little.
Speaker:We're not going to tell anybody until it's a little bit
Speaker:better. I'm thinking,
Speaker:but I think the reason I had asked you that question
Speaker:is I think what you've been talking about here takes a
Speaker:lot of listening as you are where you're talking about and
Speaker:observing over time because if someone came back and said something
Speaker:like, you can't change your recipe for every single person's feedback,
Speaker:you have to see some commonality to then determine,
Speaker:okay, well this is an adjustment that I should be making,
Speaker:but I want to just stop here for one second and
Speaker:talk with all of our listeners about a couple of things
Speaker:that I think are important and apply to any product that
Speaker:you may be considering.
Speaker:I want you to go back and think about what Michelle
Speaker:was talking about in that she found a need.
Speaker:She found that there was something in the market that it
Speaker:actually ended up being a little bit of a pain point
Speaker:for you,
Speaker:I'd say cause you couldn't get your hands on some of
Speaker:the ingredients that you wanted.
Speaker:Right. But you also saw that there was an opportunity slash
Speaker:need for something different.
Speaker:Something that could be unique so that your cookies could stand
Speaker:out from someone else.
Speaker:So the first thing was identifying that there's an opening in
Speaker:the market if you will.
Speaker:Then taste testing as you were sampling and creating,
Speaker:you were getting feedback from customers,
Speaker:which is so important.
Speaker:Right. And I just have this image of you in your
Speaker:kitchen cause you had to be documenting every single thing you
Speaker:were doing.
Speaker:Right? So,
Speaker:and did this ever happen to you where you made one
Speaker:mixture and it was delicious and then it's like,
Speaker:Oh no,
Speaker:what was in there?
Speaker:Yeah, usually it wasn't that,
Speaker:I couldn't remember which of the flavors that I had blended.
Speaker:But I started like I would say what's that three drops
Speaker:or two right.
Speaker:Or was that one drop or two I couldn't re,
Speaker:you know.
Speaker:And I would have,
Speaker:that would be frustrating.
Speaker:But you know when you're creating something that doesn't exist,
Speaker:you don't have anything to compare yourself to.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:I look for the market to increase in other flavors that
Speaker:are compatible with each other.
Speaker:Like just the way we like to go to a coffee
Speaker:shop and ask for a mocha caramel macchiato cream or something.
Speaker:We tend to what things that are a blended cocktail of
Speaker:flavors. And if we had that blended cocktail of flavors in
Speaker:our flavoring for our cookies and cakes,
Speaker:it would just streamline the process.
Speaker:Yup. Got it completely.
Speaker:A hundred percent so the other thing that I want to
Speaker:make mention of is I want everybody to notice that Michelle
Speaker:didn't ask permission to do this cause that's what we were
Speaker:talking about before.
Speaker:So I wanted to slip that in,
Speaker:but I'm thinking and you tell me,
Speaker:cause I don't normally buy all of the ingredients that you
Speaker:do. So I don't know about the pricing,
Speaker:but it wasn't a huge investment for you to start practicing
Speaker:and trying to figure out what cookie nip flavor flavoring,
Speaker:what that actual recipe would be.
Speaker:No, it was not a lot.
Speaker:And one thing that when I started,
Speaker:even with the cookie school is I determined that I can
Speaker:have this quote little business if this is what I want
Speaker:to do,
Speaker:but I am not interested in diving headfirst into some debt.
Speaker:I'm too old for that.
Speaker:I've got a long career behind me.
Speaker:I have still got a skill set that is marketable.
Speaker:This is what I wanted to do for fun.
Speaker:And it sort of turned into something around me.
Speaker:I did not set out to think I'm going to have
Speaker:to recruit other people to help me teach this because there's
Speaker:such a high demand for it.
Speaker:So when I started with the flavor,
Speaker:I just thought I can order a bottle of this flavor
Speaker:and a bottle of that one and get my,
Speaker:drop her out and put them together and then mix them
Speaker:up and put them in some cookie dough and see where
Speaker:it lands me.
Speaker:That's basically all I had to do,
Speaker:but I had some good people advising me.
Speaker:One thing that I know as a lifelong learner is you
Speaker:don't know everything and I'm not a business person.
Speaker:And the truth is I really only wanted the cookie nip
Speaker:just so that the cookie school students could have a unique
Speaker:flavor. But as soon as I got the flavor done and
Speaker:I sat there and I looked at it and I got
Speaker:the FDA approval and all the Georgia department of ag and
Speaker:all of those approvals,
Speaker:I could sit there and look at that little bottle and
Speaker:think, okay,
Speaker:so now all of my cookie school students will be able
Speaker:to get all they want whenever we want and we won't
Speaker:have this constantly calling all around the country trying to find
Speaker:who's got a bottle of flavoring on their shelf.
Speaker:But then I thought,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:There's more people that could use this flavor than just the
Speaker:cookie school.
Speaker:This is such a good story developing.
Speaker:We're going to hear what happens next.
Speaker:Right after a word from our sponsor,
Speaker:This podcast is made possible thanks to the support of the
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Speaker:Create custom ribbons right in your store or craft studio in
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Speaker:for more information.
Speaker:So as the cookie nip came to be,
Speaker:I do have another teacher who is a business partner in
Speaker:the cookie nip production.
Speaker:He's a higher level math teacher,
Speaker:which is really good since I'm not.
Speaker:And so we currently manufacture it hoping that eventually we will
Speaker:get enough orders to where we will need a co-packer and
Speaker:then somebody else will do that.
Speaker:We've gone through all the protocol,
Speaker:we have done everything step by step.
Speaker:We've had every inspection and every approval that we've needed.
Speaker:We didn't have a date by which we had to have
Speaker:it completed because you know,
Speaker:we're trying to draw an income from it.
Speaker:But one thing that we did that proved very beneficial,
Speaker:another business person that has advised us along the way is
Speaker:you need to do trade shows.
Speaker:And so the first trade show that we opted to do
Speaker:was cookie con,
Speaker:which was in Indianapolis.
Speaker:And when you get around 600 or 800 other people who
Speaker:make cookies,
Speaker:they know a flavor.
Speaker:And so it was so well received there that chef Nicholas
Speaker:lodge asked us to come to Atlanta,
Speaker:which was much more convenient for us.
Speaker:So when we went to that,
Speaker:now we've introduced it to the cake world.
Speaker:So we've got as many cake people that are buying and
Speaker:cooking it as cookie people.
Speaker:And that's probably an industry that you never really thought it
Speaker:would be with for bakers cause you were only using it
Speaker:for cookies.
Speaker:That's in the name.
Speaker:I know how to make cookies and I know how to
Speaker:make cakes,
Speaker:but I do more cookies and cakes.
Speaker:So I thought,
Speaker:well I certainly can use it for cakes because I like
Speaker:it. And naturally I will use it if I don't make
Speaker:very many cakes because cakes absorb a lot more time in
Speaker:one sitting.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:I, I work on this when coming home after school or
Speaker:after work.
Speaker:So when I introduced it to the cake world,
Speaker:my perception was that the cake people were going to be,
Speaker:Oh I can't change anything about my recipe or I just
Speaker:will not have the same product.
Speaker:And I have been very pleasantly surprised how the cake bakers
Speaker:are always trying to up their game.
Speaker:They're always trying to do something a little different to get
Speaker:an edge.
Speaker:Because I want my cake not to be the same as
Speaker:your cake.
Speaker:And if we're using the same recipe,
Speaker:then we are just saturating the market.
Speaker:Whereas if I could get something a little different,
Speaker:so I was very pleasantly how the cake bakers embraced it
Speaker:and absolutely have been ordering it And they are such a
Speaker:fun group too,
Speaker:aren't they?
Speaker:They are.
Speaker:They're a different group though.
Speaker:I mean some people,
Speaker:most people that are bakers do both,
Speaker:but you typically have one thing that you just enjoy more
Speaker:than the others and for me it's cookies,
Speaker:but gosh,
Speaker:they're all a lot of fun to be around.
Speaker:I totally agree with you and I have to just tell
Speaker:you, I was teaching a class there.
Speaker:I think you were teaching too,
Speaker:right? I didn't do one at the sugar shack because I
Speaker:didn't have,
Speaker:I'm not sure they had cookie things,
Speaker:but I kind of got there at the last minute so
Speaker:I'm going to try to do that next year.
Speaker:I was going to say,
Speaker:and you're going to like this,
Speaker:my class was called don't be vanilla.
Speaker:How to stand out in your market.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:Don't be the Nella.
Speaker:So your product,
Speaker:had I known you before,
Speaker:I would have used you as an example for sure.
Speaker:Even Nyla and butter and salt and Carol.
Speaker:Exactly. But I have to say,
Speaker:and we're getting a little off topic,
Speaker:but I just have to say this anyway,
Speaker:it almost tasted to me like it was a little bit
Speaker:rum too.
Speaker:Just that combination.
Speaker:I love to watch people take their first bite of it
Speaker:and then tell me what it reminds them of.
Speaker:I've heard butter,
Speaker:rum, lifesavers.
Speaker:I've heard Werther's originals.
Speaker:I have heard Harry Potter butter beer.
Speaker:Some of them say caramel macchiato or something like that.
Speaker:And I think that our taste buds are very nostalgic.
Speaker:We like to eat something that tastes like a butter,
Speaker:rum, lifesaver.
Speaker:And it takes you back to being seven years old and
Speaker:getting that whole book of lifesavers as a kid for Christmas
Speaker:or something.
Speaker:There's a lot of power.
Well no matter what,
Speaker:it stopped me in my tracks cause like I said,
Speaker:I didn't want to taste it.
Speaker:And then I did and I'm like,
Speaker:wait a minute,
Speaker:what is this?
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:Okay. So before we go any further with this,
Speaker:now you have a secret recipe for cooking net.
Speaker:So what have you done to ensure security of that recipe?
Speaker:Well, I've learned a lot about copywriting and trademarking.
Speaker:I have advisers who have worked on copywriting and trademarking some
Speaker:things for me and I have also learned that as recipes
Speaker:go, I could change up something a little bit here and
Speaker:a little bit there.
Speaker:You still have the same animal and so forth.
Speaker:And because so many recipes are out there in the open
Speaker:domain, you're up against something that is out there for free
Speaker:for people to use.
Speaker:So as for the cookie school Petit four and the cookie
Speaker:recipe, those have been copyrighted.
Speaker:So people that come to cookie school and they learn to
Speaker:make them,
Speaker:they can make as many as they want.
Speaker:They can open a bakery if they want to.
Speaker:I have three former cookie school students,
Speaker:graduates who have opened some type of bakery baking products that
Speaker:they learned to do from me.
Speaker:And that's really exciting to me to see somebody else get
Speaker:their own flow going with that kind of thing.
Speaker:And every week as I write a blog,
Speaker:well, theoretically,
Speaker:every week I try to send a recipe out every week
Speaker:I give recipes away because I want you to have a
Speaker:lot of different ways to use the cookie nup,
Speaker:but I don't give away the cookie school sugar cookie and
Speaker:the cookie school petty for recipe.
Speaker:Those are for my students.
Speaker:And so I have gotten those copyrighted And the recipe for
Speaker:just cookie nip overall,
Speaker:right? Oh yeah.
Speaker:The recipe for cooking it.
Speaker:But I'll tell you,
Speaker:you're going to have to be a better chemist than I
Speaker:am to try to figure that out.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I'm sure that somebody could be done,
Speaker:but what hopefully if somebody else decides I want to create
Speaker:a flavor,
Speaker:they will get the same advice that I got.
Speaker:You don't want a flavor that's like somebody else's flavor because
Speaker:then you're shooting yourself in the foot.
Speaker:You want to say,
Speaker:well, you know,
Speaker:I want to create one that is a coconut caramel,
Speaker:almonds, something,
Speaker:another blend of flavors.
Speaker:I can tell you,
Speaker:I have really learned a lot through this process.
Speaker:You think when you were at the end of your career,
Speaker:you are done learning until you just dive in the deep
Speaker:end and figure,
Speaker:well, if I can't do it,
Speaker:something will stop me.
Speaker:And it hasn't yet.
Speaker:But I'm sure there has been a time when you felt
Speaker:challenged when something hasn't gone right and there's been a problem.
Speaker:Right. But hopefully those are not things that I choose to
Speaker:dwell on because recall at the beginning of the conversation,
Speaker:I'm pursuing happiness.
Speaker:I'm not pursuing misery,
Speaker:and sometimes there are people around you who are pursuing misery.
Speaker:They'll say,
Speaker:well, I just don't like this flavor.
Speaker:I think it's gross and I'm going to put it in
Speaker:trash. Okay,
Speaker:well you do that.
Speaker:Yeah, you're just not my customer.
Speaker:Yeah. That's not who I am.
Speaker:Working hard to please.
Speaker:I'm working hard to play somebody that says,
Speaker:wow, I just put this in my sweet potato casserole for
Speaker:Thanksgiving and now I have a family secret recipe,
Speaker:but everybody wants,
Speaker:I just take joy and other people having success from some
Speaker:of the same things that I enjoy.
Speaker:Well, has there though in the development been,
Speaker:and this is more for learning purposes for our listeners,
Speaker:has there been something that was more of a struggle for
Speaker:you than you anticipated or the outcome wasn't quite what you
Speaker:wanted and so you had to figure out a way around
Speaker:it? Absolutely.
Speaker:I mean when there are agencies that are grading and scoring
Speaker:what you're doing,
Speaker:you've got to be able to follow the directions.
Speaker:You've got to be able to jump through a million hoops.
Speaker:Are you talking about the regulation agencies?
Speaker:Yeah, regulation agencies.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you've got to be able to do those things because we're
Speaker:not trying to make an illegal substance in the Backwoods.
Speaker:We're trying to make something that we want people to use
Speaker:and we want them to be excited about it and we
Speaker:want everybody to have,
Speaker:you have to do what they ask.
Speaker:And looking back on it,
Speaker:it's not really anything that is unrealistic or that should not
Speaker:be required of somebody making a product for human consumption.
Speaker:So there were those kinds of frustrations.
Speaker:And one of the things is if you tend to abandon
Speaker:something, you know like sometimes when we get up against something
Speaker:that's difficult,
Speaker:a difficult situation,
Speaker:you're thinking,
Speaker:you know what,
Speaker:I don't have to do this.
Speaker:Why am I out here doing something that is causing me
Speaker:this level of frustration?
Speaker:Why don't I just drop the whole thing and just go
Speaker:back to doing what I know how to do so well.
Speaker:For one thing,
Speaker:having a business partner with me held me accountable that well,
Speaker:if I drop it,
Speaker:then I will be letting down someone else who has invested
Speaker:equally as I have in trying to figure out what we're
Speaker:going to do here.
Speaker:So that was helpful to me to realize I can not
Speaker:do it all.
Speaker:And when there's things that I don't know and the last
Speaker:time that I had chemistry was in the 11th grade and
Speaker:so I knew I've got to ask people,
Speaker:not just people who,
Speaker:I mean I've got chemistry teachers all over the place,
Speaker:but I got to have food chemists.
Speaker:I've got to have people who blend things and make things
Speaker:like that happened to tell me how to make what I
Speaker:was trying to do happen.
Speaker:I think I had some pretty good advisors.
Speaker:I listened to them and just decided if this doesn't work
Speaker:out, I can walk away from it and I haven't put
Speaker:myself or my family in any type of bad situation.
Speaker:But now that there are so many people using it,
Speaker:I think,
Speaker:okay, well let's just not an option to stop making this
Speaker:because I know how I am when you know I'll use
Speaker:a product for a certain period of time and then they
Speaker:have the nerve to stop making it and that's like how
Speaker:dare them.
Speaker:I am too old to be trying to find a new
Speaker:moisturizer and too old to be trying to get a different
Speaker:soft drink.
Speaker:Yeah. Well I appreciate your honesty because it's important for everybody
Speaker:to understand that we all have those thoughts from time to
Speaker:time. There've been times for me when it's like,
Speaker:why am I even doing this?
Speaker:I just don't even know if I want to come back
Speaker:tomorrow and my assistant Lori will be like,
Speaker:Sue, go home,
Speaker:get a good night's sleep.
Speaker:I'll see you back here first thing in the morning.
Speaker:But not all of us are lucky enough to have either
Speaker:people who are working with us or in your case a
Speaker:partner. And so another way that you can get people who
Speaker:can help rally for your cause would be to have accountability
Speaker:partners either,
Speaker:and I don't think I would suggest friends,
Speaker:but other small businesses in your area.
Speaker:That's another shout out for networking or something or within industry
Speaker:groups like we were just talking about the baking group and
Speaker:how supportive they are of each other.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:when I went to my first trade show,
Speaker:I really thought that all of the vendors there were going
Speaker:to just view us as competition and not really be very
Speaker:helpful at all.
Speaker:They would be like,
Speaker:well, I'm selling a product here to the same customer that
Speaker:you're trying to sell a product to.
Speaker:I was so surprised at the opportunities for networking and how
Speaker:generous other people in the baking industry have been to us.
Speaker:Before I ever even went to cookie con.
Speaker:They sent me a list of vendors who would just be
Speaker:helpful if you've got any questions about what to bring or
Speaker:how to set up or how long it takes,
Speaker:call one of these people in this.
Speaker:People reached out and said,
Speaker:I'd love to help you.
Speaker:What are your questions?
Speaker:And I feel obligated to pay that forward as I move
Speaker:forward. The first year of the sugar show I think was
Speaker:this year,
Speaker:but I plan to try to be very helpful to the
Speaker:organizers of the sugar show next year and we're going to
Speaker:have a whole cookie school field trip up to Atlanta and
Speaker:tell them that I have got a lot of people who
Speaker:now are very into baking cookies and other things and we
Speaker:want to come and we want to be a showing in
Speaker:that sugar show industry.
Speaker:So as people have been very generous and helpful to me,
Speaker:I feel compelled to pay it forward to other new businesses
Speaker:like I am Well sad and you're paving the path.
Speaker:I mean you saw it done to you,
Speaker:but you also then are moving it forward.
Speaker:It's a good demonstration of how we can work with each
Speaker:other. Cause the truth is everybody who was coming to that
Speaker:sugar show that yes,
Speaker:they're all looking for different ingredients,
Speaker:different styles and all that,
Speaker:but we're all going after the same audience for different things.
Speaker:Right? So we actually can help each other.
Speaker:I have met so many people who are big names in
Speaker:the industry who say,
Speaker:I really like your product and I'm doing a promotion.
Speaker:Will you send us on heck yeah,
Speaker:we will.
Speaker:So it benefits me.
Speaker:It benefits them.
Speaker:So the networking opportunities are tremendous.
Speaker:If I were still sitting here with a box full of
Speaker:this stuff in my garage,
Speaker:I would be very narrowly focused on the cookie school students.
Speaker:But now that I have networked in the industry,
Speaker:I just know so many people in contexts that if I
Speaker:need help I know who to call.
Speaker:So you would say that the trade show opened your mind
Speaker:because you got a lot of new information about an industry
Speaker:that you were less than aware of?
Speaker:Right. The connections were worth more than the sales we made.
Speaker:We have made great sales at all of our trade shows
Speaker:so far.
Speaker:But I would say that if I went to a trade
Speaker:show and I made the contacts and I didn't sell a
Speaker:single bottle,
Speaker:it would still be a successful trade show because those are
Speaker:all people who are just like me.
Speaker:They are all doing the same thing.
Speaker:They all had an idea.
Speaker:They all think there's a better way to do something and
Speaker:they are just bringing their product to the people as well.
Speaker:And so it's been a lot of fun.
Speaker:It's been a huge learning curve for me.
Speaker:It's very natural for me to teach.
Speaker:It is not very natural for me to try to tell
Speaker:somebody anything about business,
Speaker:but I have found other business people to be very generous
Speaker:and sort of tell me some of the things they learned
Speaker:along the way,
Speaker:and I take that advice and trade shows are expensive.
Speaker:That's not a cheap thing to do.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you've got the expense of getting there and airfare and hotels
Speaker:and getting your product there and taking additional people.
Speaker:So it's an investment,
Speaker:but it is an investment well worth it.
Speaker:What would you say to somebody who's listening to us here
Speaker:and is thinking about turning whatever it is,
Speaker:their craft is,
Speaker:whatever they're loving,
Speaker:just like you were loving making cookies and decided to start
Speaker:the cookie school,
Speaker:what would you say to them?
Speaker:If they're hesitant,
Speaker:they're just,
Speaker:they're thinking,
Speaker:ah, yes.
Speaker:No, yes,
Speaker:no. What advice would you give them?
Speaker:I would say if people love what you do for them.
Speaker:For example,
Speaker:they loved my cookies.
Speaker:Whenever the list would come around the office,
Speaker:they had already signed me up for cookies before.
Speaker:That's how you know if I take cookies and give them
Speaker:to people and they like,
Speaker:if they ask me to bring cookies to the event,
Speaker:if they were then begging me to make cookies for their
Speaker:event that they are having,
Speaker:then you can easily turn your creative vision into just a
Speaker:little extra spending money.
Speaker:Just do a little,
Speaker:make a few extra and because you don't need all the
Speaker:cookies. I didn't need as many cookies as much as I
Speaker:needed therapy of putting the frosting on them.
Speaker:So I figured this is my therapy and you're helping me
Speaker:out here and then I get a little money and you
Speaker:get your treats for your next event And you know your
Speaker:point is well taken.
Speaker:You don't have to start selling your product and build this
Speaker:big business around it unless you want to.
Speaker:It can be just a sideline.
Speaker:It can be a weekend,
Speaker:it can be enough money to bring your family on spring
Speaker:break, Right?
Speaker:I, I always would have a goal as soon as I
Speaker:get enough money for the vacation that I want,
Speaker:then I'm just going to quit making cookies.
Speaker:But then I didn't because then people wanted more cookies or
Speaker:whatever. Or as soon as I get enough to,
Speaker:I want those new hardwood floors or something,
Speaker:and I've just got to figure out a way to get
Speaker:that. But the thing about crafters is they're good at what
Speaker:they do and they love doing it,
Speaker:so they might as well share that because when you share
Speaker:it, that's when other people grow to call on you for
Speaker:something that they need.
Speaker:Yes. And for creative people,
Speaker:ideas are nothing.
Speaker:There's so many in their head,
Speaker:they're banging into each other and other people will look at
Speaker:a creative person and say,
Speaker:how did you think of that?
Speaker:And the creative person looks at him and said,
Speaker:how did you not think of that?
Speaker:These are the things that kind of keep me from going
Speaker:to sleep because I can't get these ideas out of your
Speaker:head. So I mean,
Speaker:use your gift,
Speaker:just use your gifts.
Speaker:It is there for you to explore And you know what?
Speaker:I hear in your voice too,
Speaker:that this is added so much to your life.
Speaker:Why would you possibly quit if you're so happy and you're
Speaker:enjoying it,
Speaker:right? Because I'm probably working more hours now than I was
Speaker:when I was teaching full time.
Speaker:Do you feel you're even working?
Speaker:Well, every single thing is something I really want to do.
Speaker:Whether I'm at my school or teaching my college students or
Speaker:teaching cooky school or even going to a trade show and
Speaker:meeting people.
Speaker:It's been very personally fulfilling to me.
Speaker:Okay. I am so excited to move on to my next
Speaker:question with you because I can not wait to hear the
Speaker:answer. Okay.
Speaker:Michelle, I'd like to offer you a virtual gift.
Speaker:So this is a magical box that contains unlimited possibilities for
Speaker:where you're going to go next.
Speaker:Your dream or your goal of almost unreachable height that you
Speaker:would wish to obtain.
Speaker:So accept this gift and open it in our presence.
Speaker:What is inside your box?
Speaker:Wow, that is deep.
Speaker:My box has opportunity.
Speaker:It just has opportunity for me to grow a business and
Speaker:continue to enjoy it the way I'm enjoying it now.
Speaker:And there's no fear in there.
Speaker:There's no,
Speaker:well, what would happen if this happened?
Speaker:And so I think that the person who provides the biggest
Speaker:obstacle to where we are going is herself.
Speaker:And once we give ourselves permission to stand back and let
Speaker:the opportunities come find us,
Speaker:they will.
Speaker:But that's how I have to look at things.
Speaker:So I don't have an end game like,
Speaker:well, once I get a factory then I'll be fine.
Speaker:Or once I get a business or once this becomes a
Speaker:fortune 500 company or once this becomes anything,
Speaker:I just take one day at the time pursuing joy and
Speaker:grasping at whatever opportunity crops up that day.
Speaker:That's so beautiful,
Speaker:Michelle. Because what I hear frequently from people is they're so
Speaker:hurried and so rushed and so stressed out to get to
Speaker:their next goal and then they're not happy because then they're
Speaker:going to set another goal.
Speaker:They've been so stressed out from everything that's gone up to
Speaker:that, and what I always am telling people is enjoy every
Speaker:step of the way,
Speaker:enjoy when it was challenging,
Speaker:enjoy when you forgot what the recipe was in that perfect
Speaker:mix. I mean it's part of the game.
Speaker:It's not about the destination and so I don't look at
Speaker:there being this gift of a destination of,
Speaker:Oh well as soon as I have a factory then with
Speaker:a certain number of people filling bottles,
Speaker:then that will be the goal.
Speaker:I don't really know what the goal is,
Speaker:but I'm just approaching it.
Speaker:The way I used to approach the curiosity of gifted children
Speaker:is they would say,
Speaker:what if?
Speaker:And so we would start looking at,
Speaker:well what if that did happen?
Speaker:Then what would happen?
Speaker:And just chase it that way.
Speaker:And for me,
Speaker:I do have the luxury of not needing,
Speaker:I think probably something that gets people a little nervous about
Speaker:businesses is the risk that is involved,
Speaker:but with everything we're doing,
Speaker:there is risk.
Speaker:You could lose,
Speaker:but you're also highly motivated to do well.
Speaker:But because I'm doing this,
Speaker:in addition to bringing in an income for my family,
Speaker:doing what I do or what I'm educated for,
Speaker:then I don't have that kind of stress that,
Speaker:gosh, what if I had a commercial retail establishment and I
Speaker:don't earn enough this month to cover my rent?
Speaker:I'm not in a hurry to get anywhere.
Speaker:I think that helps.
Speaker:Young moms are some of the biggest geniuses on the planet.
Speaker:They in fact invent more things for babies than any other
Speaker:group of people.
Speaker:It's invented by people who have babies and neat things for
Speaker:that purpose,
Speaker:and they want to not take away from being the person
Speaker:their family needs them to be,
Speaker:but they still just had this longing to provide a little
Speaker:while feeding their own creative outlet.
Speaker:So for being able to take your baking to the next
Speaker:level and sell your cookies for being able to open a
Speaker:bakery or to have just specialized in cupcakes or pettifores or
Speaker:specialized just in cookies,
Speaker:there's where your value is.
Speaker:You can't say,
Speaker:if I start this business and within two years I don't
Speaker:have a factory,
Speaker:then this business wasn't successful.
Speaker:I evaluate every day and every day it is successful.
Speaker:Well, and what you said in the beginning,
Speaker:keep the enjoyment without the fear,
Speaker:joy, what you're doing,
Speaker:find value,
Speaker:have it be fulfilling you in your life and that's what
Speaker:you're looking at to move forward,
Speaker:which is fabulous.
Speaker:Again, a great one for all of us just to listen
Speaker:to and try to live by.
Speaker:When you start getting pulled off into that stress,
Speaker:just think about those words and it brings you back,
Speaker:right? So how can our listeners learn more about the cookie
Speaker:nip and get our hands on Sama for so inclined?
Speaker:Oh, you can follow the cookie school on Facebook or you
Speaker:can follow cookie NYP LLC on Facebook and on Instagram.
Speaker:Both of those run Instagram.
Speaker:There's also a cookie crumbs blog that I try to keep
Speaker:up and I send out recipes and so forth.
Speaker:And on the cookie nip.com
Speaker:website, there's an online store and you can order cooking it
Speaker:from the online store and depending on where you are,
Speaker:we have about 15 retailers currently.
Speaker:My goal is to have 20 before April I decided I
Speaker:want 20 in the first year.
Speaker:There will be no repercussions if I'm at 19 or at
Speaker:25 in April,
Speaker:but that's just kind of a direction that I'm going in.
Speaker:But we currently have 15 retailers so they have them in,
Speaker:Especially in our area.
Speaker:Okay. And gift biz listeners,
Speaker:if you are listening to this podcast right when it's going
Speaker:live, there are a couple of weeks before Christmas.
Speaker:Absolutely. So you should go look at that blog,
Speaker:check out a special cookie recipe that just piques your interest
Speaker:and maybe even get your hands on some cookie nip to
Speaker:add it to the cookies because believe me,
Speaker:you will not be disappointed and get yes.
Speaker:Guess who is endorsing cookie cooking this very week?
Speaker:Who? I'm excited.
Speaker:Who the biggest connoisseur of cookies on the planet.
Speaker:Do you know who it is?
Speaker:No. Who is it?
Speaker:Santa Claus.
Speaker:So if you want to get on the nice list,
Speaker:you better get you some cookies.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:Love it.
Speaker:Michelle, this has been so much fun.
Speaker:There has been so much depth to our conversation,
Speaker:so many really good solid pieces of advice.
Speaker:I really,
Speaker:really appreciate you taking the time and sharing with us today.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:Wasn't that a fabulous interview?
Speaker:Such great information and the perfect product to have right before
Speaker:Christmas for sure.
Speaker:I want all of you to make sure to stay tuned
Speaker:for next week's show.
Speaker:It's going live on Christmas Eve and I have something a
Speaker:little special and magical lined up for you.
Speaker:It's going to be a really short podcast episode,
Speaker:but I know you're not going to want to miss it.
Speaker:It's my gift to you,
Speaker:so let's all plan to be together on Christmas Eve day.
Speaker:I'll see you then.
Speaker:Before we all move on to our other activities of the
Speaker:day, I want to make sure you know about my newly
Speaker:released free masterclass.
Speaker:It's called,
Speaker:how to turn your hobby into a business.
Speaker:How do you know if this is for you?
Speaker:Well, if you're starting a business right now,
Speaker:you've gotten that dream,
Speaker:but you're just not sure what steps you should be taking.
Speaker:This masterclass is for you if you're already in business,
Speaker:but something just isn't clicking.
Speaker:It's not bringing in the sales or it's just not performing
Speaker:the way you think it should.
Speaker:This masterclass is also for you to check it out.
Speaker:Just go over to gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com forward slash masterclass.
Speaker:I look forward to seeing you over there and of course