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Can You Keep a Secret?

A friend and customer called the other day to tell me how it occured to her that at Cookie Text we likely have lots of local gossip. I laughed…because it’s actually kind of true. There is a bit of secret-keeping that happens in our cookie kitchen, and I have to admit, it’s often fun to be among the first to know.

I know your first question, have we ever sent a married person a CookieText® from someone who wasn’t their spouse? Well just slow your roll…we’ll address that later.

The good…

We are often among the first to know who got engaged, who is expecting or had their baby, who got into the college of their choice, or who got a promotion. These are fun ones. I always think it’s a special thing to share in someone’s joy, to celebrate with and congratulate them.  The mayday calls often come from Moms who recognize the thick collegiate acceptance envelope and hope to get a CookieText® to celebrate with that day.

The bad…

We often find out about new diagnoses, injuries, and the passing of loved ones via orders that come through the site.

One that sticks in my mind is a local grade-schooler who was sustained a bad injury to his face years ago.  What stood out for me most with this one was the delivery itself. For some reason I delivered that one, and I remember seeing the father’s face as he answered the door. The man just looked like he had been through the ringer, his shoulders were a bit slumped, and his face almost expressionless. I guess he looked like many fathers would when their child had been through something traumatic, like he was still trying to wrap his head around the experience and aftermath. The boy was another story. He walked up behind his dad and saw the CookieText® with the balloon attached and there was an immediate smile. God bless children and their resilience.

We try to treat the delicate orders and deliveries with the respect they deserve, and consider it a privilege to be called on during difficult times.

Those in the cookie kitchen know who orders for themselves, who ate the one they ordered for their loved one and has to order again to make amends, and who let their friend down and is ordering to try to mend fences.

The ugly…

Now back to the big question: Have we ever sent a romantic CookieText® to a married person that wasn’t from their spouse?

Yes.

More than once, but fewer than 5 times.

Usually these are sent anonymously. So while we can see the sender’s information, they request that no information about them appears on the label sticker on the box. All the ones we’ve ever sent out were delivered to workplaces not homes.

Now mind you, we were surmising this wasn’t the spouse and something a little sketchy was going on, we didn’t have proof.  As they say, when it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, it’s usually a duck.

The information we get when someone places an order is not our news to share. I don’t think any of us find it particularly hard to keep things to ourselves, plus usually the information becomes common knowledge soon enough.  We do post CookieText® pictures on our social media accounts, we do our best not to use any kind of identifiers unless we have permission.

We need our employees to be team players, friendly, and hard-working. But don’t be surprised if you come for an interview and the first question is: Can you keep a secret?

 

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A Remarkable Year?

I liken our 6th birthday to being awarded 2nd runner up.

Sure it’s something, it’s just not…remarkable.

I mean, 5 years in business felt like a landmark, but six? Six is just…six.

My husband of 18 years and I split this past year. Now, that’s something remarkable.

Significant. Life-changing.

Personally, my year was remarkable. Professionally, honestly, it was a bit of a blur.

I remember on several occasions lying flat on my back in the middle of the cookie kitchen floor, just to feel grounded. I did it so I could feel that I was on this earth and breathing. I did it to start with what I knew for sure, because there was so much that was in transition this year, so much I didn’t know.

By now, I do know Cookie Text. It was just what I needed: consistent, steady, and distracting.  When I’m doing my thing in the kitchen, I get to think about all sorts of good stuff, like who is getting the cookie I am decorating, the funny messages, a nice review we got on the website, or how good cookie dough tastes…all great things. Especially when I’d  thought so much about hard stuff that I was weary.

One thing was tricky: I am so used to the growth mindset with Cookie Text, I had to coach myself a few times this year that holding steady was okay. This year just needed to be consistent and stable. My true focus had  to be on the boys and me, and I just needed to not lose ground with the business.

It was a hard thing to accept that I couldn’t do it all at once. It wasn’t hard to figure out what was most important.

One day this summer, despite my self-coaching, I felt like I was failing at Cookie Text. That afternoon the two younger boys and their friends asked me to take them on an outing. We were out and about for several hours and the boys and I had a great time.

It was just the reminder I needed:

Cookie Text has always allowed me to be the mom I want to be. Any time over the past six years that the boys wanted or needed me to be available or I wanted to be present, I could be. That will always be way more valuable to me than our sales figures or web traffic stats.

While it was a rocky year personally, I look back and think we still had an awesome year of Cookie-texting:

  • Even though the cookie kitchen moved, we never missed a day of deliveries.
  • Even though the kitchen was not set up ideally, we still had a record-setting Valentine’s Day.
  • Even though I was very sad at times, Cookie Text consistently brought me great joy.
  • Even though I might have neglected to send a newsletter reminder, you all still ordered.

Cookie Text was a companion on this journey. And a fun and reliable companion at that.

Now it’s time for me to get back in the driver’s seat and lead this business to it’s full potential.

In the coming year the oldest will be off to college, the middle son driving,  and the youngest will be in high school. I don’t believe this timing is an accident.  As my active-mom role shrinks, my cookie-lady role will grow. Just as I need to dedicate more time to the business, the universe seems to be handing it to me.

I find great joy in Cookie-texting, in mothering, and in just being me. The year’s personal journey was tough, but I have reached the clearing where I can feel the sun on my face and see the beautiful view.

I’m excited about the coming year, and look forward to having more attention to pay to the business. I’m grateful for all that this company is and has been for me. I am grateful for all of you.

By some unexplainable internal process I translate your affection for this company into love, and that love helped see me through.

You are all a very good kind of remarkable.

So cheers to six years, what-daya say we make us a national franchise by 10;)?!

Let’s do this!

 

 

 

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A Lesson in Creativity and Care

Cookies and Care

Stories>Numbers

Don’t tell my bookkeeper. I’m supposed to be pulling some numbers together for her. There is a long list of things I’d rather do than crunch numbers, so I will tell you this story instead:

Things were busy in May for us in the CookieText kitchen, so this story has been on hold for a bit.  In the midst of back to school and Mother’s Day orders, I got a text from a friend. Lori said she had ordered a CookieText®, but that she was going to have to send me a separate email about it.

See, her youngest daughter, Caroline, and her friend Elizabeth had been hard at work. Something had happened to their friend, Mary. I’m not sure if the young girl had been injured or was sick, but Caroline and Elizabeth had decided  they would like to send a CookieText® to Mary to help her feel better. This was to be no ordinary CookieText®, however.

Designers in the Making

I am not sure if it was in school or on the playground, but at some point, Caroline and Elizabeth put colored pencils to paper. They carefully designed a CookieText® so that it would look just how they wanted for their friend.

Lori had taken a photo of their drawing (which was slightly crumpled from some time in a backpack), and emailed it to me. I smiled at the photo and thought, we could do that, no problem.

As this was designed by very hip grade-school girls, there were lots of hearts and it had several colors. These girls are clearly not afraid to get in the game, though, because the Cookie was also designed to represent what must be Mary’s favorite team, Virginia Tech.

Design your own CookieText®
Finished product above, creative design below

 

As I decorated the CookieText® I was a little proud that I ran a company where people could order an item that tastes good, expresses care, and that these young girls had the confidence that we could make their vision come to “life”.

A Lesson in Caring

Then I took a moment to think about these girls, and how kind and thoughtful they were being toward their friend. To think to send Mary something was caring. To design it themselves, that took creativity, and a good bit of effort on their part. If I was either of the girls’ parents I would have been very proud of them.

Then I remembered something. I know Lori and her family from years of our sons playing soccer together. Caroline has food allergies. I remembered in that moment that Caroline has never eaten a CookieText®. She can’t, she is allergic to some of the ingredients.

What an incredible selfless expression of love for another, to give them something so carefully designed and thought out, that you yourself could never have. I shed a tear or two there as the full realization of the girls gift came into my awareness.

What beautiful girls and what a selfless expression of love they showed their friend. We in the cookie kitchen were quickly reminded that we have so very much to learn from the young.

So here’s a long overdue thank you to Caroline and Elizabeth. Thank you both, especially these days, for reminding us to love our neighbor, to express kindness, and that sometimes we all should put others before ourselves.

It’s not how much we give but how much LOVE we put into giving. ~Mother Teresa

 

 

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The Summer Slowdown

Many round cookies with vibrant logo

The Summer Slowdown

It’s July. Our slow time. My hands stop moving and my brain begins to operate on overdrive:

Why is it slow?

We need consistency?

What’s the magic bullet that’s going to make this business boom?

Am I doing all I can?

I have to be more organized.

I’ll try ____ kind of marketing.

 

All that runs through my head, then, honestly, I take a nap. It’s like my brain has so much going through it that I shift into hibernation mode to preserve it for the busy times, and then no action is taken on any of the stuff that was swirling around.

So I’ve decided that the best way to actually GSD (Get Sh&t Done) is sheer commitment and determination. I need to add structure to my day so that I have a specific amount of time that I am at my desk working on the business, not in the kitchen working on cookies.

Because that’s how it works for me: I get the cookies out, and then I prioritize the rest of my life based on which fire needs to be put out the soonest, or (more honestly) which one is more fun to extinguish.

Clearly for me it’s more fun to take the boys to the store for running shoes than it is to work on payroll. It’s more exciting to look for a new couch than it is to organize my invoicing system…

So, I started this week with goals. One of them being that I will write for 20 minutes a day. So today gets a gold star, because I am writing this right now. Some of the goals are personal, the others are CookieText related.

A cool sidenote here is that my oldest then grabbed a pad and scribbled down some goals for his week.

What’s that they say? A goal without a deadline is just a dream…or something like that.

Big Goals:

Be a good mom.

Grow my business this year.

In that order.

Small Goals:

Be a good mom.

Organize my invoicing system by Friday.

Also in that order.

So I’m over here making use of the summer slowdown by trying to enjoy my boys, improve my systems, and not hibernate. Meanwhile I hope you are over there having a great summer.

It could be an even better summer if you were eating a CookieText.

Okay, that was a cheap shot, but funny. You can’t blame a gal for trying;). Now go GSD.

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Inspiration and Influence

Influence other shoppers

Forgive the manner of solicitation, it’s my speculation that the #hamildocPBS has got me wrought with inspiration and I’m inclined to write in rap and rhyme.

I try not to be an imposition I hope you understand this vision that blinds me into asking for your help.

I’m needing your opinion to influence the decision of the unsure patron that’s running through our site.

Friends must earn our trust, but in ecommerce that’s a bust: online we just believe what other shoppers write. Reviews they guide our purchase, often resulting in a surplus… of crap from Amazon we do not need.

So if you are a fan, we request you take a stand, and guide some other shoppers to the light. Take a moment to review any product that you choose that’s on our site.

It’s my speculation, that your shared jubilation will influence perusers on the fence. Help us tip them over, like Rover rolling over, so they can know the joy of sending CookieText.

I know I’m no Miranda, even without your brutal candor, but it’s fun to write in something other than straight prose. I’d appreciate your review, and will email a discount for you, if you write one in the next few days. Not at all a bribe, simply an incentive to transcribe, your happy thoughts of CookieText long gone.

[Simply visit any product on the website you love, scroll down under the photos, click the Review tab and leave a review. We’ll email you a discount coupon for your next order as a thanks for taking the time.]