It Started with a Dream
The dream of a little cookie business. And the need for a website.
When I was very young my parents had some very good friends…Mr. and Mrs. Mayer lived in what is known as the Fox Hill section of Hampton…long before Willow Oaks Mall or Barron Elementary. Barron sits on some of the “farmland” the Mayers sold when they moved to Gloucester. When we went to visit the Mayers at the farm in Ware Neck it was a day trip. I loved it. There was a dock for skipping rocks and an old car on the land I could sit in and pretend to drive. There were cows. And talking. Hours of grown ups talking around the kitchen table.
Time Marches on…
Fast forward, because we all know time flies…Mrs. Mayer is 97 and Mr. Mayer passed long ago. Thanks to the advent of Facebook I was connected to the Mayer’s granddaughter, Teri, who just so happened to be a graphic designer and also built websites. The only thing I remembered about Teri when we re-connected on Facebook was that she was Jim and Eve’s daughter who lived in a very un-cluttered house that had woods in the backyard, we occasionally stopped by their house after a visit to the farm. I considered a few other web designers as I exchanged a couple of messages with Teri.
We had an easy back and forth so I sent her my detailed vision: what our product would be and how things would work. I sent Teri a very detailed explanation of how things should work: what we offer, the options, et cetera. The response from Teri was, “I have a concern, we need to talk.” I was terrified, thinking she was going to tell me that my idea and concept were crap. It turned out that Teri’s biggest concern was she was as disappointed in the logo that I had already paid for as I was. Though I discussed at length with the designer my concerns, but I was too young in business at the time to be assertive enough to get what I wanted. When Teri said, “I think you have a great idea, but you can’t launch a brand with this logo,” I knew immediately we were on the same wavelength.
Cookie Text is Born
Within 24 hours Teri sent me images of a logo. With a little more back and forth we had the official CookieText logo. Not a logo that might identify a little website some gal in Yorktown decided to use to sell a couple cookie cakes. Teri sent me a logo that would launch a brand. CookieText Cookie Cakes. The logo shifted my thinking. It made me want more. It took me from wanting to have a little side business to realizing I could reimagine gift-giving for thousands of people. CookieText as a concept was completely my idea, that is indisputable. But Cookietext.com is Teri’s brainchild. Sometimes a vision and a dream need just the right partner to make things work.
Some Connections Span Generations
I’m certain my parents and Teri’s grandfather had some cosmic hand in our collaboration. It only makes sense that people who are such good friends have offspring that connect. And I guess we have to give Zuckerberg a shout-out as well, because we can all admit that without Facebook most of our past wouldn’t be part of our present.
And Teri is my present. She is the gift that has made my dream work. And she didn’t just make my dream work…she made me dream bigger. Her team at Zenoform, Inc., is the genius behind the amazing Cookietext.com that you see online today. Not only is it gorgeous to look at and easy to use, it’s streamlined on my end as well. When you order I click the mouse a couple times and your order comes out of a printer…zip zip.
Our kitchen team still has to bake and decorate and sprinkle and box…but that’s what we like to do…we’re good at that.
Teri has made it possible for us to do what we do best. While she does what she is so absolutely amazing at…seeing a vision, setting a course…and shooting for the stars.