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Hello 2024!

Running into 2024

Hello to 2024, Friends!

I hope finds you well and happy. 2024 is off to a chilly start here in Southeastern Virginia, so I’m taking time indoors on this cold day to fill you in on the highs and lows of 2023.

December 2023 brought with it a few new adventures for us. The City of Newport News hosted several Holiday events and we were asked to provide a cookie-decorating activity at two of them. For someone who runs an internet-based business, it was a treat to get out, interact with families, and see people enjoying our products first-hand. Keep your eyes peeled as I think we may be showing up again at events for Newport News (which are always open to all).

We had a big, fun change in the Cookie Kitchen in December.  A regular customer reached out and asked if I’d like a mural in the Cookie kitchen. Now instead of all beige walls I’m greeted each day with a sunshine-y mural that includes our littleJeanne in front of mural red bird and a text bubble I can write on! I’m not sure if the best part is the mural or that in the process a customer became a friend. Please follow Courtney on instagram @Balingart and keep her in mind when you need some amazing colorful art on your walls (or your workplace’s walls)!

In the late Fall of 2023 I made the scary decision to change who was hosting and maintaining CookieText.com. The former company, while skilled, didn’t seem at all invested in what we do here nor did they seem to grasp the challenges of small business ownership.

The good news is that our current company is wonderful. Part of that wonderful-ness is that they care. They want to see us succeed, they want to make your experience on the website easy and seamless, and they seem to grasp that we don’t have the budget of a Fortune. 500 company;). There have been a few hiccups with the transition, but I’ll take hiccups over indifference again and again.

Speaking of the aforementioned balloons, we stopped offering them this summer. While I loved them as an add-on to a delivery, between the rental of the helium tank, the cost of helium, and some environmental factors, it was time to let them go. My apologies to those who loved that add-on. If anyone needs a bunch of un-inflated mylar balloons for various occasions, I’m the gal to ask!

2023 was a year of scaling back. The economy has not been a friend to small businesses, and it found me reverting back to doing as much as I possibly can to run the show instead of utilizing employees as much as we have in the past. For the first time I have real fears about the feasibility of keeping this going in a manner that will support my household. I am very proud of Cookie Text and all we do and have done, and I’d love to keep doing it. I think we call this stage ‘watchful waiting’…time will tell.

We have begun preparing for Valentine’s Day and lots of great choices are up on the website! I encourage you to check them out and order early. Valentine’s has always brought us to maximum capacity and I anticipate the same this year. Be My Valentine Cookie Cake

Personally, things are good: my boys are well and happy, the oldest moved to Richmond this Fall with a good friend and is studying for the LSAT, he is loving his new place. The middle son is set to graduate from Virginia Tech this May, and will begin his career with Smithfield Foods this summer. My youngest son has some crazy ability to excel at both his engineering courses and having a good ol’ time as a Hokie. The younger two play Club soccer for VT, so mama is very happy to know they see each other a few times a week and would be able to sound an alarm to me if needed. I traveled in November to Texas to see them compete in Nationals. Not many parents get to see two of their kids compete on the same team at such a high level. It was a cool trip and I am grateful.

Lastly, we are up for a “Best Bakery” award from Coastal Virginia Magazine. If you have a minute or two to cast your vote our direction we’d appreciate it. You can do that here. Primarily the win helps potential customers believe that ours is a product and service they can trust. We’d love to turn potentials into actuals, so thanks for your help!

Cheers to you and yours in ’24.

May it be our best year yet!

Fondly,

Jeanne

 

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Can you make a $5 cookie cake?

Prologue:  

Since this blog was originally published we’ve gained some fans and some readers…we thought it was worth re-visiting, especially since the Juggle for Hunger event is tomorrow at CNU. Read through to the epilogue for what’s changed since this post…;) 

 

I lost both of my parents at a fairly young age, so I find myself very adhered to men and women I respect who are older than I. I’m not quite sure if I’m looking more for guidance or approval, but that’s okay, it might not matter.

One of the people that I have grown to respect as wiser and more worldly is my middle son’s soccer coach, Steve Shaw. He’s a soccer Guru. He can spot a player with potential and coach them into a true asset to any team.

There’s more than that to Coach Shaw, though. Steve Shaw is a believer. Not just in our youth. He’s a believer in God and His goodness. Coach Shaw believes that if we all give a bit more of ourselves than we are now, then the world as a whole will improve.

See, Coach Shaw is well-traveled. Me, not so much. I work to make a little impact nearby, but Coach Shaw has his sights set on China and places I’ll likely never see. I guess that’s where trust comes in. When someone you respect asks you for something, you have to trust them.

I know nothing about China. I have many abilities, but the dynamics of world politics, poverty issues, and how I could possibly have a role in them is not one of them.

The Challenge

It was March 15th. We were at a soccer tournament in Prince William County. Hanging out in the lobby at the Hampton Inn, and Coach Shaw asked, “Can you make a $5 cookie?”

As part of his initiative called Juggle for Hunger, Coach Shaw was hosting a Collegiate exhibition soccer game between Christopher Newport University and William & Mary. All the funds from the event were going to benefit his mission work in China. We could sell the cookies at the game.

Well, a CookieText® cookie cake retails for $25, and even a bag of CookieBites™ is $12. So a $5 cookie cake was a challenge.

To make a long story short, we came up with a $5 cookie. We call them our Emoti-Cookie®, because they are the perfect size for an emoticon. We made 250 of them for Coach Shaw and sold them at the CNU vs. William & Mary soccer game.

We gave them to Coach at cost (true cost, not labor). So every bit of  money made went to his mission work. When the exhibition game ended and we had leftovers we brought them to his church the next morning so that his peers could offer donations to his cause in exchange for an Emoti-Cookie®.

When all was said and done, we almost tripled Coach’s investment. Which is great. But that is not the point.

The Result

“Can you make a $5 cookie?” That question completely altered our business.

Our desire to help someone we respected resulted in a major payoff.

We expanded our product line. We now offer the cutest little homemade, hand-delivered $5 cookie cake you will ever find. We sell them by the 6-pack to make them deliverable. They are a huge hit.  They are adorable and irresistible. They are just right.

Our signature item, the CookieText® cookie cake, is the backbone of our brand. It is the foundation of the company.

But the question, “Can you make a $5 cookie cake?” resulted in the development of a product that, in keeping with the brand, offers a bang for the consumer’s buck while increasing the number of potential customers who receive our product. More people get one, more people like one, more people learn about Cookie Text, visit our website, and hopefully purchase our CookieText® cookie cake products.

So, yes. We can make a $5 cookie cake. For all the right reasons. Great product. Fair price. Thanks, Coach Shaw, for the challenge.

Epilogue:

Coach Shaw has moved on to become my youngest son’s coach and we just learned that he coach my middle son’s team again beginning in the fall.

April 14th marks CookieText’s 5th year sponsoring Juggle for Hunger. Our business has grown such we no longer ask Shaw to cover our costs. Last year we switched over to bags of CookieBites and they were a hit, so that’s what we’ve done again this year. 

Come see CNU face W&M on April 14th at CNU…and have some CookieText while you’re there…this year’s proceeds benefit the purchase of water purification systems in China.

Learn more about tomorrow’s event here.

Learn more about my boys’ soccer club at www.valegacysoccer.com .

Learn more about CookieText at www.cookietext.com .

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