Episode 185: From 10 Boxes To A Cookie Empire | Elise Thomas | Founder, Cookie Co
What happens when a stay-at-home mom with a passion for baking refuses to let a pandemic crush her dream? Elise Thomas went from filling cookie boxes in her home kitchen to launching one of the fastest-growing dessert franchises in the U.S. Elise shares how she turned a moment of crisis into a movement of kindness and entrepreneurship. They talk about what it means to lead with service, how to build a purpose-driven brand, and what she’s learned about risk, resilience, and growth along the way. This one’s for anyone dreaming bigger than their current circumstances and looking for inspiration to take the next step.
“If we have this platform, it’s our responsibility to share that with others and to show kindness. People want to do good, they just often do know where to do it. ”
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Follow along using the Transcript
Chapters:
00:00 Meet Elise Thomas, founder of Cookie Co
01:15 Opening a bakery during a global pandemic
03:00 Filling orders late at night while homeschooling kids
04:30 Baking 10 boxes at a time, and selling out
05:45 Giving back to frontline workers
07:00 Community support and viral growth
08:15 Why she turned to franchising
10:00 Making business ownership accessible to more women
11:30 What she’s learned about fear, failure, and family
13:00 Giving people a place to do good
15:00 Building systems for scale and impact
17:30 The heart behind every Cookie Co location
19:00 What success means now
21:00 Advice for moms, makers, and aspiring entrepreneurs
Really what was such a great blessing was when we opened, in the middle of a pandemic, okay, are people gonna show up to my store? I know they'll come pick 'em up from my house. Are they gonna come and show up at the store? And and they did. And when I showed up that morning, there was a light around the corner.
That's Elise Thomas and this is The Powerful Ladies Podcast.
Hey guys, I'm Kara Duffy, a business coach and entrepreneur on a mission to help you live your most extraordinary life. By showing you anything is possible. People who have mastered freedom, ease, and success, who are living their best and most ridiculous lives and are making an impact are often people you've never heard of until now.
When you know what you're supposed to be doing in this world and you commit to making it happen, nothing will stop you. Elise Thomas, the founder of Cookie Co, is a great example of doing whatever it takes. Her first brick and mortar location was set to open in early 2020. Then, of course, a global pandemic hit.
She had to pivot to launching her business from her home kitchen, baking after homeschooling her kids all day, sometimes baking until 4:00 AM to fulfill orders. Her story is one filled with resilience, family, community being of service, and a commitment to bringing people joy every day. Listen to hear her success story and how she's spreading the goodwill of cookie Coe across the us.
Welcome to The Powerful Ladies podcast. Thanks. I'm excited to be here. I'm very excited to talk to you today. You have built a delicious empire that everyone should know about, especially with how much you've balanced creating a powerful business and how much you contribute back to your community.
But let's jump right in and tell everyone who you are, where you are in the world, and what you're up to.
Okay. My name's Elise Thomas, and I am from Redlands, California, and that's where I currently live. Right now it's my hometown and I have a cookie bakery. And we started in Redlands and now we're currently franchising.
So
when you didn't have a traditional start to your business, let's tell everyone how your business started and how it, took off so quickly. Yeah.
When I first wanted to start my cookie shop, it had been something that I had wanted to do for a long time and I have four children now.
At the time I had three. And I was really excited to get going 'cause I had been a dream of mine to open a bakery. And so in 2019 is when we finally found a location in Redlands that we really liked with a commercial building downtown that we're gonna turn into a bakery. So we started the process and.
Pretty soon the rest of the world pandemic happened and it happened in the middle of us trying to get our permits and, submit plans. And also we are new business owners, so I honestly had no idea what I was doing. So that was stressful for sure, because here the world's shutting down and we don't even know what COVID is.
It's very scary. We are in our house for two weeks and I'm in Southern California, so it was very shut down. My kids are home and it was a really scary time in the world for everyone, not just us. We had just put all of our money into this new business and this new venture that I had been wanting to do.
So it definitely was a scary time, but we pushed through it and I started actually baking from home before we opened the shop because we just, everything was taking much longer than we anticipated with cOVID and finding construction workers and the city took a lot longer because everyone was.
Remote after. Like everyone from the city went home. So it just, everything took a lot longer than we thought. We thought we would be open, come January of 2020. But we were, and then with COVID everything pushed it even back even further. So we didn't even open our storefront until August of 2020.
I started baking from home just to get everything started to take my mind off at all the chaos that was going on. And I would teach my children during the day where they did the remote learning. And then after they were done with that distance learning, I would bake and it just kinda started where I just put it out there on Instagram with zero followers on my cookie account, and slowly all of a sudden. I was getting hit up all the time for these cookies and I did it exactly how I was gonna do in the shop. So it's four cookies per box, just like we do at our shop. You can buy one or you could buy more than one, but typically people come in, they buy a box of four 'cause they wanna try each flavor.
So we have four flavors a week. So I would do four flavors. And at first it started with like 10 boxes and then slowly the word spread around town and it became like this pandemic cookie box thing. And I was having people from all over come and pick up their box of cookies each week. It became like a lottery.
And it's funny because I would, at the time, everything was still like masked up and we were still social distancing. So I would put everyone's names on the box. And put them on my, on a Costco table outside of my garage. And so people could just come up and grab the box and go. So we didn't have to worry about germs and and everything. They could come, like within a, I think I put 'em like a certain period of time. I was like, come between, this time we'll come and go. And they were really respectful and I think that it just kinda gave people something to look forward to in a time where we didn't really know what was going on.
Everyone was stuck at home and at least this could give them a little bit of comfort. And it we got so busy doing that, that I was baking sometimes until four or 5:00 AM in the morning to fulfill all these boxes. So I was doing almost like a thousand cookies a week from my. Not a commercial kitchen from my tiny mixer, which like literally fills Barbie size now.
When I got my big quart mixers. And my oven, which I would only be able to bake eight cookies at a time because of how big my cookies are and the height, so to get them like cooked perfectly. So I was baking eight cookies at a time, literally just every take out, put more in, take out, put more in.
And it was crazy, but it definitely, I think really blessed us in the end and was able to help a lot of people during a really scary time in our country. And around the world really.
And just what a great distraction for you and your family. You got to live not only in, a stay at home bubble, but one that smelled great.
Yeah. And you were so busy that you probably couldn't, you're like, I can't watch the news, I can't pay attention. I'm just gonna keep my head down and pivot between definitely homeschooling and cooking and hopefully I'll find sleep somewhere in between. Yep. Definitely. I also just love the story from a, how the community rallied perspective.
There's, being able to be in a business where you literally bring people, joy, I think is one of the best things to get to do. And the fact that you were able to bring people joy during that time and to give people an excuse to leave their house and to, there's like such a surprise element in getting four new cookies each week and what are they gonna be like?
And it becomes a whole interactive thing that you can do with your family, especially stuck at home. How did, what were the stories that really just warmed your heart about how your cookies were changing the lives of other people around you?
Yeah, it's interesting 'cause a lot of people will come into our shop now and they'll remind me, they'll be like, I used to pick up cookies at your house.
Like I am a, I'm an og. And I'm like, and I am so grateful for them. I'm like, you really are. Like you are there, but. It's funny, some people tell even my employees I would wait up until six 'cause I would post 'em on a certain time on Sunday night, and then I would give them a day.
I had to start doing it very strategically because there was just so many people that wanted them. So I'd be like, okay, at six o'clock I'm gonna post what they are, what the flavors are, and then I will just put on my Instagram. Like Monday sold Tuesday, sold out Wednesday, sold out. And people would literally text their friends and be like, will you get me a box?
They're like, it's like we literally felt like we won the lottery when we got this box. They would wait until six and they would like immediately Venmo to get, make sure that they, had their spot, which is really fun. And I think like ultimately. It really brought yeah, joy in a time where it was scary and everyone stuck at home and something rather than watching the Tiger King, it's like we were able to to try new cookies and that's really was the goal of me starting a bakery is something I always enjoyed to do was bake like in time of stress, in time of, when you don't know what's going on.
Like it's very therapeutic for me. It definitely was, it was brought me joy too. Yeah. So I really liked that I was able to do that and I feel like it was definitely meant to be. And connected me with the community. We were able to give them to firefighters and first responders.
Like people would tell me like, oh, this hospital is doing this. So we would go donate and there was a black Lives Matter protest that we went down in our local community and we, and donated to the protestors just really trying to be involved and, really get to know everyone and it was great.
But really what was such a great blessing was when we opened. Not knowing, in the middle of a pandemic. Okay, are people gonna show up to my store? I know they'll come pick 'em up from my house and that's great, but are they gonna come and show up at the store? And and they did.
And when I showed up that morning, there was a line around the corner and for a month straight, like we had to shut our doors early, take breaks, because I actually found out I was pregnant in the middle of this. I had a COVID baby. And so I, I was like, oh, to my to my surprise, oh, I'm the statistic right here.
Walking statistics of the COVID baby. And so I was 12 weeks pregnant when we opened and I'm like, oh my gosh, are we gonna have anyone show up? At that point, we had depleted all of our funds because with opening a business, there's always just like a few things that you know go wrong. That's just part of it.
We had the wrong plugs. We had to like paint repaint our street lines, our handicap spot, like just random fees. And the day before I had written a check that I knew was going to bounce if it went through. Because the guy would not take a credit card to repaint our handicap spot. And we found out the day before we had to do that where we could not open.
So I'm like, oh no. Hey, can you take a credit card? And he is no check or cash. And I'm like, oh my gosh, what am I gonna do? So I wrote him a check for $650, knowing I only had $200 in our account left. And that day I just like set a prayer okay, you know what, if I make $500 tomorrow.
We'll be okay. That's all I need. Just 500. Just so that we are at least not gonna, go negative in our account by the time he cashes this check. And when I got there in the morning seeing the line, like I was just crying, I'm like, oh my gosh. Okay. And then also stressed outta my mind because we were not prepared for that many people to come to our opening, especially during a pandemic where we had to have signs that said six feet apart and people had to be masked up. So we were just like shocked. And that to me, like the community really rallied behind us and really helped us and that time.
And so it really just showed me that there's just so much good in the world. And how great that was. And so because of that, I feel that's not the only reason why I try to give back, but I definitely appreciate that and remember it and want to continue to give back to communities because I think, you, you get what you give.
And Redlands and the surrounding areas have really supported my business.
I don't think people who aren't entrepreneurs understand that feeling when people say yes back. Yeah. Because so much of it's built on this dream you have and you fulfilling this vision that you have, and a lot of creating a business is it's selfish and it's scary because it's the big dream that you're often afraid to actually step into.
So when people are a yes to you doing it, like it's a feeling that you can't describe because there's this level of acknowledgement that not only do people want what you're offering, but you made the right choice. And definitely it's relieving. It's exciting. It makes it feel purposeful. Yeah.
I think we don't talk enough about how often we cry outta gratitude.
Yeah. It's true. Like for the first week, I would just go in our warehouse and kind of cry I'm so overwhelmed, but at the same time I'm like crying because I'm so happy. Like a mixed feelings. And it's I'm working, I'm sweating to death in this bakery, but I'm, it was also so fulfilling.
Knowing that what I was doing, like I made the right choice. 'cause you're so scared as an entrepreneur you're like, okay, am I going to bankrupt my family? Yeah. I have three young kids, a baby on the way. My husband had lost his job because of pandemic. Goodness. So really, like we were all in.
And I'm like, oh my gosh, this has to work. And my husband, he's a, he has been door to salesman throughout college and he told me, he is if I have to go sell your cookies door to door, we will make it work. And I'm like, okay we can do this.
What a, it's so great to have a partner like that too.
Yeah. It's not often that an entrepreneur marry someone else who's also an entrepreneur or has that risk of an entrepreneur. So it's so great to have a partner who's actually no, you can do it.
Yeah. And it's funny because I never thought, I mean I was not planning on working with my husband as well.
Yeah. And living 24 7, I think for some people during the pandemic at first was like really rough and it was an adjustment period of time. And he was thinking maybe I'll get into real estate. 'cause he always wanted do that, but he's definitely business oriented business mind. But I really wanted Cookie Co to be my thing.
Yeah. And I made it clear to him because I've always had my thing where I've had a bunch of side jobs and I'm like little side hustles. As I was a mom and I'm like, I just, I really want this to be my thing. And I was so adamant about it and then I'm like, oh my gosh, I need help. Yeah, like day one, I'm like, okay, remember how I said it?
It's my thing. Congratulations. You're hired. And he always laughs because he was like, I started as a dishwasher and I've moved up, because he was back there walking, washing dishes, giving drinks to people because it was like 105 that day in August. I'm, I am grateful. He is very supportive and I'm lucky.
Yeah. And it's, I really understand that wanting it to be your own thing, there's that level of identity and not wanting to have another thing to have to discuss and compromise and talk about and have something that's just separate because so much of life as it just gets blended together. Like there you're, yeah, but there's also so much, I think romance and power and beauty and like being a power couple because.
Who else do you want to have on your team than the person that you trust with the rest of your life? Yeah, definitely. So when I think when it can work, it's amazing. And then for some people it's please don't ever make me work with them again. Yeah. But it's really great when your gifts and your support can come together to make something happen.
And it clearly seems to be working for you guys 'cause you are like, taking off like crazy with the franchises. Let's, how did you decide to make that choice and how has that process been for you?
Yeah it's been a really hard pro, a really hard. Long process. I would say it was a hard decision for me because initially I told my husband I would never franchise.
Yeah. And the reason why is I felt like I've seen a lot of businesses that have franchise and then their quality has a significant gone down. And I did not want that to happen to us because a huge, a part of my cookie shop is the fact that we use quality ingredients. Yeah. And that we don't cut corners and, it doesn't matter the cost, we're not gonna, we're not gonna budge on that. So it was a hard decision when we had been approached by quite a few people. 'cause they loved our cookies and they saw our model and our profits and they became excited. I wanna be a part of this. So I really, it took me a while to mole over that idea in my head.
And so finally when I was like, okay, I. Initially when I started Cookie Co, I thought this was gonna be a one bakery, very small town bakery. Fastly. I saw that we had something different to offer and why not grow? Why not? Like, why would I not want more cookie COEs around the country and more people to try my cookies?
I think they're delicious. I think they bring people happiness. Okay. So why wouldn't I want that for other people? And then on the other side, why wouldn't I want to bless lives? Yeah. That want to start a business as well. So when I really thought about it, I'm like, you know what? Like we started this from scratch.
We didn't have any guidance because we didn't know what we were doing. Now that we had gone through all these kinks and had really seen what we could have done differently, we're like, we can really help other people start a business that have always wanted to have a business. Normal people too.
And that's what I told my husband. I'm like, I wanna focus on those. Those women or men or whoever that have wanted to start a business and they don't have million dollars in the bank. Yep. So they can't, join all these financial groups. So invest in all these companies.
Yeah. And like we, we wanna focus on like the everyday people that they want the American dream to. So that's what we've been focused on. I'm like, I want the people to be invested in their community. That's really important to us. So we made some ground rules of what we're gonna do.
For franchisees, we want them to be living there where they're, where they want, that they need to be living close closely and invested in that community and they have to give back. That's really important to us. And then also we do a really strict training. So a lot of companies don't do long trainings.
Our training is very intense. They go through every single cookie that we have and we go through all the frosting, everything, and then we do an intense training before they open. And we also have employees now on our corporate side that do random checks. And also I am like an Instagram person where I'm literally looking, if people post a picture and tag us, I'm checking those cookies.
I do that with my own shop too, that I'm like, you guys. So we have like really important things that we instill on them. And we want every cookie to taste delicious, but we also want it to look look delicious, look great. Because when I always tell my employees like, it, it costs $4 for an individual cookie.
I'm like it's a $4 cookie. It better look like a $4 cookie. Yep. You want them to be like, heck yeah. This is amazing. I wanna take a picture of it. We want every single box would be Instagram worthy. That's kinda what we focus on. And now that we did that and we really got some great people on our team and brought some great people over, it's been so much fun to see this explode and be able to bring opportunity to other people and also.
Going off of just that, it's been great because we've been able to bless a few people's lives in our shop that started with us, that had lost kind of jobs during the pandemic. Like one of our bakers had we brought her over like probably a few months after we a few months after we opened.
I brought her on to help me with the baking, and she had lost her job during, when the shutdown happened. And I had told her like, okay, just, she has been to culinary school and she's great and we love her. And eventually, like I, I'll move you up, I promise you. We're try like, minimum wage now, we're a small business, but eventually we'll be able to try to give you a livable wage, yeah. And just recently, a few weeks ago, we brought her in and asked her, she'd be a part of our corporate side, and she just started bawling because we're able to give her such a wonderful, livable wage with bonuses. And to me it was just so exciting to be able to also help employ people that are just amazing, just good, hardworking people that I just think it's great. It's really fulfilling.
Yeah. There's, I often will ask clients to create a why document, why, and I talk about the three why's. Why are you doing it from like a holy perspective that makes you feel great and there's like mission behind it. Why are you doing it just practically and selfishly, and then why are you doing it for hidden reasons?
And on the hidden reason list? For me it's always in that space of I want to do this work so I can also help other people, whether it's short term or long term. Because I agree with you, there are so many great people out there and I really believe that most people are good and most people do wanna work hard and they're just looking for someone to give them a chance or to give them great mentorship and to be able to give that to people is one of the, one of the coolest things that we can do as humans.
'cause it really does have such a ripple effect that we'll never even get to see the full impact of. But like this, the baker that you brought into corporate now, like it's not just her, it's her family, her friends, who she's gonna impact and. It's, it is really cool to be able to give someone that gift and let them just go and be their best selves through it.
Yeah, I love that. We are all about community. And when COVID had, we were still on the height of COVID and we had opened in that December we had started, someone had came to me and said, Hey, can we put these names up on your tree in your shop? So I said, of course. I love that. I love that idea.
And it turned into this beautiful giving tree for adult handicap. Adults that are handicapped, severely handicapped with no help. A lot of 'em live in group homes or they live on their own, but they don't have any family that are helping them out and their mental capacity is very low.
The things that they were asking for were just like a pair of socks or like a rope, like the sweetest things, like a car, a toy car, like things that your little children would want. And so we put that up and I had just posted it on Instagram and literally people from the community, it was, they were gone in two hours.
So then I called up the woman and I was like, do you have any more names? And she's I can get some more. So she got more. And then it turned into this thing where I am like, okay, maybe we should do more. So then I turned it out. I was like, if anyone wants to donate let's get more people in the community that are going through hard times right now.
And we're able to team up with a place in Redlands called the Micah House, which is for low income families. And we were able to buy gifts for six different families, all the children like, and I think we raised probably like three, $4,000. And I used all that money. We went shopping, I took my kids and we went downtown Redlands.
So all the local businesses. So I'm like, now we're also gonna spend that money locally. So we bought, them at the local toys shop, not Target. Like we went to the, like the local clothing shop for the teenagers. And I'm like, we're gonna get 'em some cool stuff. That they're gonna be excited to wear at school or whatever, and it was so fun. And I really think that. I really do believe that most people are good. Yeah. And that if we just give people the tools to do it that they will do it. And a lot of people said to me, oh my gosh, I'm so glad you're doing this. I've always wanted to do this, but I just didn't know where to go.
So I just love that we can be that in the community. I'm like, if we have this platform, I really think that we have a responsibility Yeah. To share that with others and to show kindness. And I really think that people want to do it. They just don't know where to go to do it.
Yeah. And it's, and a single dollar adds up so quickly when you have a community that can give a dollar.
And that's what I think is so beautiful about doing it in group, because it doesn't need to be. A $20, a hundred dollars, a $5,000 donation, it can literally be a dollar that Yep. When we come together makes such, such a bigger impact. It's honestly how powerful Ladies was started. We used to host events before the podcast existed and we would around the world, it would be women connecting with their community to have fun and whatever the event was, they did, it was like a 10 to $20 kind of ticket price and we'd pull that money from around the world.
And we've been partners with Women for women.org for a long time.
And, individually each community wouldn't have made a big impact, but together we could support nine women the first year and then more women and especially women. We all are, yeah. We all want more time to be fun.
We all want more time to be social and we all want more time to give back. So yeah. The more that we can combine all those things together the better for our souls and our schedules. Yeah. I love that. You grew up in Redlands as well. Yeah, I did. Yeah. It's such a cute city that not enough people know about in California and has a real downtown.
It has colleges there. Yeah. It's really charming. I love it. It's a best kept secret, I swear. Yeah. I have some friends that live out there, they're professors at the different schools, and it's just so nice to go to a place where there is walkability and there is that sense of community and the light, the streets are decorated at the holidays.
It feels kinda like you're going back in time with the town. Yeah. When you look at where the other locations are getting set up, are you also looking for not just a community, but a smaller town feel for those franchises? Or is it more about how big is they? How active are they in the community?
I think that we're looking for both, we want that charm still. Yeah. But also. Depending on where the people live that apply to franchise, we've had to go through a process because when we first had posted that we were gonna franchise, we got like 250 inquiries, like within an hour.
So now we're like vetting through. So like we were just like barely touched the surface. And I've had to hire a few people to help us do that because my husband would be on the phone literally twenty four seven talking to these, all these people and we're like, if they're really not interested, it's a waste of our time unfortunately.
It's like that's time away from our family. Yeah. And our children. So we've had a vet through. But yeah, we're definitely trying to, look at places that are gonna give back and just more of who the franchisee is, like they'll tell us like, oh, I like this area, or I think this area would be a great idea.
And then my husband actually personally has gone to every single location and look for spots with them because he wants to get a feel of the community and the area, and also we want it to be successful for them. We want them to make money 'cause they're making a huge investment as well. So we want them to do good.
So we really wanna make sure that it's a really good spot.
And I think it's also really unique with the franchisee to have such committed mentors as you guys are. It's so often that you're thrown into a place and you're like, okay, here's the manual buy. Yeah. And that is not enough No.
For launching a business at all. If you go back to 8-year-old, you. Would you have imagined that this is your life and this is your business today?
No, I don't think I could imagine that. Yeah. What did you think you wanted to be back then? At eight, I think I, I had said I wanted to be a nurse because I love to help people.
But then I took a biology class or anon anatomy class in college and I almost passed out when we did the cadaver stuff. Yeah. And that's when I'm like, I don't think this is for me. Yeah. So I quickly changed my major to sociology. I wanted to be a social worker. And just because, yeah. I've always had a tender heart towards people that are less fortunate and are in situations that are not their fault. Yeah. But I think that. There are tools. I, although I have not used my degree per se, I feel like I still have used my degree in my life. Yes. Just by talking to others and man, it's like I have these teenagers that work for me and I feel like I am helping them every day with their social life and their boyfriends that are losers.
And I'm like, no, leave him.
I do think our best businesses are when we get to bring everything that actually matters to us together. And I totally see how psychology and social work are showing up in your business. 'cause even though you're making cookies, it's not actually what you're selling. It's like you're selling the community.
You're selling the connection. You're selling the, what it looks like to just have an amazing community and good people around you. And so I think secretly you are doing it.
Yeah. And that's like what I told my husband, kinda like my why. Before I opened and why I really wanted to do it.
There are other cookie shops out there and there will continue to be more, which I think is great. Yeah. But I said I wanna make sure our cookie is gourmet, like the cookie that your grandma made with all those good ingredients, butter and sugar and eggs. And we crack the eggs daily.
Like we're not cutting corners, we're not using liquid egg or anything, or oil. We're like using the real deal. And it tastes homemade. And I think that we live in a society now where it's very expensive. Usually both partners have to work in the home. Yeah. And so we don't have time for those extra things.
I know I'm exhausted when I get home from work. The last thing I wanna do is make something for Yeah. My kids' birthday party, like I'm gonna buy it. Yeah. So I told my family and my husband like, okay, I wanna be that person that bakes those cookies for them that they can take to their daughter's baby shower or for their kid's graduation, but also like their friend that's going through cancer to give them a little pick me up or, whatever it may be.
And I remember my, one of my good friends had a very far along miscarriage and I said, what can I do for you? And she's like, all I want are some of your cookies. So I made her some cookies and I just left a little note on the porch and it brought her a lot of joy and a painful period of time.
And so I feel like cookies can do that in in a cute little box. It's not only can it bring us joy in our sorrows, but also can help celebrate those times in our life that are really exciting. And so I just think it's such a good, easy. Thing to give that everyone loves. Everyone loves cookies, right?
Yeah, I do. Yeah. Yeah. Who taught you to bake? So my mom is a great baker. She is been baking as long as I can remember, and she was a teacher, full-time teacher growing up and after school she same thing therapeutically would bake cookies and she was a great example to me of being kind. And she's always just been one that just does things for other people.
So she would bake cookies all the time. My friends would come over and eat them. They were so excited to have my mom's homemade cookies and she would go take 'em to people and that was always an example to me. So I always encompass that into my life. Once I became married and a mom, I would always bring cookies wherever I go.
No one's gonna turn those down. And also just if I knew someone was going through a hard time or, yeah. Such a nice way to give someone an inexpensive gift. Here's some so delicious, like here's some homemade cookies. Yeah. So I definitely learned that from her.
And I always loved to bake. I was always in the kitchen pretending I remember. I would pretend to mix up all these can caution, pretend I was like on a cooking show, yeah. Like I'm talking to the camera and I'm like throwing all these ingredients in the bowl and mixing them up. And they, yeah.
And they were like, mix some disgusting stuff. But my mom then started like a little thing called Fifi's cooking school for me in like fourth grade where she invite my friends over once a month and teach us how to make different things and. She was also a full-time teacher, so I'm like, that was like very kind in her heart to do this after she got home from work. Invite these friends over and made us aprons and would teach us new things to, to bake and to cook. So she definitely gave me that passion.
That's the cutest thing I've heard in such a long time. Yeah. I love that idea. It makes me wonder, what can I be teaching kids once a month, right?
Yeah. I saw recently on Instagram, this mother who has built a whole curriculum for her kids called How to Be a Good Human. And so each week in the summertime in particular, they have these things they're learning, like how to tie a tie, how to properly put on deodorant, how to, Oh, I love that.
And it's so interesting to think about how we don't, I'm always caught off guard. I I'm at a charity for Casa Orange County, the Foster Youth program. And I always get surprised at what people just aren't taught, yeah. So many people aren't taught to bake, let alone make a grilled cheese, people aren't taught how to even deposit checks or how to keep a savings account. There's all these things that we take for granted on an everyday basis that we just know how to do because someone showed us. And yeah. Cooking and baking is a whole area where, especially with so many parents working today and working really long hours and more than one job, it's parents aren't cooking anymore 'cause they don't have time and there's not time to, to pass on that skill.
So I love that cooking school idea
and I think we forget that little boys love to do it too. Yes. Because when I do it with my kids, my boys are just as into it. As their girls, and it's funny 'cause you say that, I don't know if you watch, which is guilty pleasure. Like sometimes I'll watch Keeping Up With The Kardashians and there's an episode where Kendall recently was trying to cut a cucumber and then it, people just went crazy over it because she did not know how to cut a cucumber.
Like it was like cringe worthy to watch. And you're like, you are in your late twenties and you can't cut a cucumber. I'm like, my palms are sweating. Your mom never taught you how to cut a cucumber. Yeah. So I'm like thinking I'm sure she didn't. And it's like we have to teach our kids.
And I, it's funny 'cause I always tell my children, I'm like, I'm teaching you these things so you can be a good roommate someday. Yes. 'cause we all had that college roommate that was messy and ate your food and didn't clean up their dishes. And everyone talked about 'em behind their backs. I'm like, I am teaching you to be a good roommate someday in college.
And hopefully, yeah. 'cause I've also had some, friends in my own experiences of also when boyfriends or partners are also bad roommates. Yes. 100%. When you think about the words powerful and ladies, do they mean something to you differently when they're individual words versus when they're put together?
Yeah. Individually they definitely mean different things and together, I think it's extremely powerful. Like I think about power or. Powerful. And I think about someone that has a lot of strength and someone that is strong, like mentally strong, not only physically strong, but mentally strong.
And but I also think that like powerful can encompass what lady means. And has meant to mean is, someone that's poised and someone that is put together and doesn't always say what comes to their mind. And I think there's like a lot of power in that. I feel like we live in a society that sometimes people just blurt out things that they shouldn't say and then they have to backtrack, it's if you just would've carefully thought about that before you opened up your mouth, things would've gone better. Yeah. And I think that I actually, I love that powerful ladies. It just. I think about just like really strong women that, are everyday women.
Yeah. I think that everyone can be powerful if it's, just in their own home teaching their children or, helping other people taking care of their elderly mom or dad. Like we can all be so powerful and I think that it means that we have good manners and that we have class.
And that we are kind, but also fierce, yeah. Like I think it's all those things like. I'm like, I definitely am someone that, I'm an introvert. I'm not gonna, I hate confrontation. I do not like it when people don't get along. It really bothers me. I think it's like the middle child in me where I'm just like, peacekeeper.
Please get along. And I just like to kinda just make sure everyone's getting along and everyone's, doing things, but if I think something is wrong morally or, wrong in society, I'm like, and it bugs me. Like I'm gonna go at it like i'm gonna stand up for it.
I'm gonna stand up for truth when it comes time to it.
It's,
I think it's just, I don't know anyone who is a woman today who isn't feeling the breadth of all the things that we have to think about today. It's the to-do list for women keeps getting longer. It's not getting shorter and the only way that I see for it to get shorter is for us to work together more.
Definitely. If we, it really has to be a village approach because whether it's the $1 at a time or it's a one hour at a time or crying out loud, just like tag you're it relay style. I need a nap. Can you stand here for a second? Can you watch the kids? Can we more than ever, we have to rely on others to make sure that important work is getting done.
And sometimes it still feels overwhelming because there's so much that we care about and so much that we're committed to making sure happens in our communities and families and in our households, but also at a much bigger scale. And it's a really interesting to see how everyone balances that.
And so I'd love to hear from you of like how are you balancing all the things that you care about and also remembering to take care of yourself too?
Not always. That's for sure. I do think as well, there's a time and season for all things, I can remember like having very severe postpartum depression after a few of my children and just thinking, wow, this really sucks.
And only being able to focus on myself. And I remember asking my mom, 'cause I love to do things for other people, it's just a part of who I am. Like I love serving others and doing nice things. And I was like not able to do that at that time period because I was barely able to get out of bed. I felt like a zombie.
And I had, said to my mom I just feel so bad. I'm not able to do all these things. It's gonna make me emotional. 'cause it's like bringing me back to that kind of like a dark period of time. And she said to me, at least you are doing things right now.
You're doing, you're serving your children. And that is one of the most selfless things that you can do right now. And I think that, being understanding to women as a woman I think is just so important. Yeah. As a mother or just as a friend just because it's hard, life is hard. It doesn't matter.
If you live in a million dollar house or, a $200,000 house or apartment. It is hard. And we all have things that we're going through and I just think being, understanding and just, not having those expectations from people. Yeah. And just being there. If it be just like a listening ear or just being open and think, being inclusive, being kind to, to everyone, not just the pretty girls or the ones that you think are cool.
I think that's super important. Just kinda opening our eyes to those around us to, to think, okay, this person might be struggling. What could I do to help them, whether it be like, let me send them a quick text or, drop by some, a little note on their porch just saying, you, you did it.
Or I love to tell women when they're pregnant because I am one that gets extremely big. I gain like 70 pounds each pregnancy and it's not pretty. And it's just like what I am, it's just what my body does. And it's just you know what, it's a beautiful thing that we're able to have children. And I think that's super powerful too.
Yes. It's like we literally can have children and then feed them. From our body. If that doesn't give us more power than anything, it's come on. That is in insane. Yeah. And I love to just tell them like when they're so pregnant and I see 'em, I'm just like, you are a rockstar and you look amazing and you're beautiful.
And just like really try to, even if I don't not these people I know, but I'm like, saw somebody at the beach and I'm just like, you look awesome. You're doing great. Yeah. Just to random people, to just kinda give them a little boost. Give them a little confidence. And so yeah.
I just think that's really important to be each other's teammates.
Yeah. And so often the people who are out there kicking ass and moving mountains are the ones that are checked on the least, right? Because we're like, oh, they're fine. They're doing it. And you're like, no, those people need to hear we've got you.
Are you okay? Do you need a break? How can I help? I it's so clear that your love language is in, in that giving space, right? Yeah. The gifting and the acts of service and that great combination and it really is just, it means so much to just check in on people and to either ask how they are truly or give them that compliment.
'cause you said it earlier, like everyone's going through something at any time. So how can you be a light in that day? Yeah. Because it really does make such a huge impact.
Yeah. I think
it does. And so just to, I guess to go back to your question that I didn't answer, I started going on a tangent, is that I'm trying my best and I'm obviously not perfect, but I think that I really try to focus on the number one dislike by labeling the things that have a priority to me in my life.
Number one is my family. 'cause I feel like if I don't raise my children right then. Nothing else is worth it, like this money. And I constantly tell that to my husband, 'cause this is blown up and it's like kind of crazy. And I'm like, none of this money is going to be worth it one day if my kids are, turning out to be drug addicts on the street because I didn't give them enough tension.
Or they're looking somewhere else and they got pregnant at 14. I, that to me would be horrible. That is not worth it to me. So I really try to make sure that no matter what, they're my first priority and to just explain to 'em. I like, explain to my daughter like, okay, like I'm doing this.
I have to go, to this opening because like they've invested this and this is a part of our company and like I want them to see that we're hardworking. I want them to understand that this is why we can go on a vacation. We do this, we can go on a vacation on Christmas or whatever.
But, so I try to balance that way. And also like my me time is definitely running. I love to run and it's very therapeutic for me. That is kinda like the one thing that I selfishly do. I don't think it's selfish, but that I really make sure that just for you, I prioritize.
Yeah. So I'm like family and running and we're very religious. So just like in that sense, making sure that God's Im important in our life and. Then it's like everything else falls into place. And then obviously work is really important too, and it it does make me happy. I also, I feel like I'm one of those people that thrive in chaos.
Yeah. I'm just like, oh, it's fine. I find as I stay home, and that's why baking from home actually was great for me during the pandemic because I think if I wasn't doing something like that, I would be really depressed. Yeah. And so it's I love to be out of the house just doing things.
It makes me happy. It makes sense. Makes me not think about yeah. Just really helps my mental health.
Yeah. And having something like running is just great. You, everyone needs something where they can go and escape for a second from themselves, from life, from the physical house, whatever it is.
Yeah. And it's great when it's something that gives you so many great things in return as well. When we look at where powerful ladies have gone and come up, there's always women who have been at the forefront of supporting or mentorship or inspiration. So who are some of the powerful ladies in your life who have helped you get to where you are today?
You mentioned your mother before, but who else would you put on that list?
Yeah, so my mom for sure, I have two awesome sisters that I've been so supportive and are like best or my best friends. And then I actually have my best friend that I've had since first grade who is amazing. And when I needed her during the pandemic, when I started getting really busy, she would come over after her kids were done distance learning and she would fold all of my boxes for me.
So every single box that is a real friend, it was a real friend and they were not easy. She'd fold and she hand stamped them for me while I was baking. And so that was amazing. And I remember on the first day, which it, I would. Didn't really know how many employees I needed, I had called her up because we had this line around the corner and I was like, Hey, I need you. And she's okay, I'll be right there. And comes and gets his shirt and is in the kitchen serving, and now she still works for us every, she likes to come a few days a week. And for her it's been great too to just get out and not and have that time out of the house and have her own little thing. Yeah. So I always tell her, I'm like, you've been with me since the beginning and she has been constantly supportive of me. I really appreciate that having a friend for so long that has continued to just build me up and support me.
Yeah. And I think that it's really for whatever reason, women sometimes have a tendency to be jealous. And that's something that I've never had. I can honestly say. I'm not a jealous person. Like I genuinely love it when I see other people succeed. Especially women. And so it's just nothing, I've been disappointed before, but I don't really get jealous of people.
And it's always so great when you can find people like that are just like, just cheerleaders, yeah. And I've found that even on my Instagram, there's so many people that will just be like, I'm so proud of you, and they don't know me. Yeah. And they're just like, oh my gosh. When you, there was a time where I was trying to qualify for Boston and I missed it.
I missed a time by a minute, or I was like. Like 30 seconds or something. I miss a qualifying time. So frustrating. And I'm just like so frustrated and down and people were just like, when you didn't, qualify, it was like, I didn't qualify. Like I was so sad for you, and then when I finally did, they were like, I'm so happy.
I remember when you did it, like how much this meant to you. And it's wow, that is awesome. That you don't even know me personally and you're like being a cheerleader. I wish that we could all do that for each other. Yeah. Like how amazing would that be? Yeah.
The world would be such a better place.
Such a better place. Yep. And to know that when you are, that for other people, when you give yourself or your time or that space, it, you get it back tenfold. You get it back. Yeah. You're, it's never something you give away and it's a sacrifice or you're giving away more than you should. That's just not how it works.
No, 100%. I don't know where along the lines that people think that when you are like cheering for someone else, it takes away from you. Yeah. Like I don't understand that. No, we can all be awesome together.
Yes. Yeah. Even the idea of like just keeping everything that's yours, it's yeah, if I had a birthday cake, it would be really weird to eat it by myself.
Like it that's just not how. How life works. So whether it's a birthday cake or it's money, or it's what, our things, whatever it is. Yeah. It's it's really weird to just keep it all to myself. It's no fun, and I would get really sick.
I think that's one of the best blessings of having financial stability for me.
Yeah. It's like I'm a gift giver. Like I love giving people gifts. So there's a time period in our, in my life where like I couldn't give someone a diet Coke if I wanted to, because we were like poor college students or, different times that we've had some financial struggles and it's helped us become better and to learn from it.
But like when I was finally able to like. Okay. I can buy, like my best friend, a really awesome purse for her birthday that's like over a hundred dollars. I was like stoked outta my mind, like oh my gosh. I love this, that I can use my money to make someone's day. Yeah. Yeah.
I think sharing and just loving and doing all those things, it just, it brings I think, more joy than people realize. It would bring a lot of joy to their life.
Yes. And that reminds me as well of the story of how you got to impact the local family, who lost both parents to COVID. Do you wanna tell everyone, listening the story of that family and how you guys were able to help?
Yeah, so there's a local family in our community that the husband and wife both got COVID and one the wife was pregnant and he, her husband was a teacher. She was a nurse. She actually, they both passed away and her baby lived. They, she delivered the baby, or I think they did c-section or whatever.
But after she delivered the baby, I think she was pretty weak. And she passed away. And when I heard about this, she's actually they were neighbors with my best friend, the one I was talking about. So she had brought it up to me and just, she was just heartbroken because her kids are really close and, he's this teacher in the community and she's a nurse and had been working at the forefront since the very beginning of COVID.
It was just, it was devastating to me. I had been like really thinking I'm okay. How can we help them? Like I don't wanna step on, their toes. Or do anything that would make them uncomfortable. I asked my friend to ask the grandparents that the kids were with would they be okay if we like, did something, do they want it to be private?
Can we use their names? I just really always wanna make sure that I respect people's privacy, especially during a hard time. And so we just got donations and we were able to raise money for them. And it always feels great when you're able to give people cash 'cause you're just like, I think people forget how much like money really does help in these types of situations.
Because there's so many expenses that you don't, foresee. And so people really rallied in the community and they dropped by diapers and wipes and clothes and all these things. And then we went and loaded up at the grocery store and got them all sorts of great things and we're able to give them like $2,000 cash.
And this was like, within 24 hours, we're able to Amazing. Get all this over to them. And I brought them cookies and the grandpa, he'll come in and the baby, she's oh nine. Actually, I think she's probably like 10 or 11 months now, doing awesome. But it is just so great to be able to use my Instagram, my social media platform for good.
It just makes me feel so great to be able to help someone in some a period of time of their life, which is like the darkest moments. Yeah. Of their life, like bringing them a little bit of joy and, yeah. Then it's my kids, I tell them like, I think they were like all complaining one day and I was like doing all this stuff for them and I'm just like, you guys, like someone just lost their mom and their dad.
I'm like trying to give them life lessons. I'm like, you guys need to be grateful for all that you have. You are so blessed to have a family and to, for us to be healthy, like that's such a blessing right now.
And there's, to have a family, to have a feeling that's healthy, to have a family that cares so much, to have a family that's committed to you being great and being good humans.
There's people have families and their family looks nothing like yours. Yeah. And it's it changes everything. So I'm sure that their kids are already great and we'll keep being great. Yeah. I hope I'm trying. Yeah. We ask everyone on the podcast where they put themselves in the powerful Lady scale.
If zero is average everyday human and 10 is the most powerful lady possible, where would you rank yourself today and on average?
Okay, so that's a, it's a difficult question. Definitely. Some days I feel like I'm a 10. Other days I feel like I'm a one, for sure. But I feel like on average, probably like a six or a seven.
But I will say I feel like I can be a 10 some days, and I feel like most women can't just in their own little home or own little thing that they're doing. And I try to remind myself of that when I'm getting like down where I'm like, you know what, like give myself some affirmations.
You are killing it at life. You're trying the best you can, and I think that's all we can do is just try the best that we can and try to be the best person that we can be. And that's all that we can
do. Yeah. There's so much power in coming back to really acknowledging yourself for the little things.
Yeah. We got up today, we put clothes on. Yeah, totally. Our hair is washed. Okay. Yep. It's, there are some days, and that's what we just need to focus on because some days are harder than others and that's okay. I, we put so much pressure on ourselves to be operating at 200% all the time when you and I both know that if you and I show up one day, like what we would grade ourselves, a d is gonna be someone else's a plus.
Yeah. So we have to remember to give ourselves room to not do anything some days and what does it look like to just function at 10% and be okay with that once in a while. Totally. So this is a very, powerful community, right? Being called powerful ladies and lots of connectors and people with different resources and knowledge.
So I've been asking everyone this year, what is something that you need, you want you're looking for that we can put out there into the universe and see who has what you need. Oh, wow.
Man, that's hard because I am someone that never asks for things. I'm like, I can do it all by myself. I think just support.
Yeah. Just support. If you see a cookie co coming near you go in front of cookies, right? Yeah. So I think, yeah, just honestly, if anything, I would say find, because obviously your podcast goes nationwide, so globally, I'm probably not gonna meet all these people, but just show kindness to the people around you.
I think if anything, that will give back in return. Yeah. Because if we all do that, then we'll all be kind to each other.
I love that. So for everyone who is now a big fan of yours and wants to connect with you, support you eat your cookies, where can they find you and reach out to you?
My Instagram handle is Elisa Cookie lady, and then our cookie handle for our cookie shop is the official cookie co.
So you can look those up. We do have TikTok, same names. I'm just trying the TikTok thing, but I'm, I feel like I'm too old for it. Like same, it's we're gonna do it, but I dunno if we're having fun, I'm like, I don't know what I'm doing here. But yeah. And then my personal email is elise@cookieco.com for Perfect.
These business questions.
All right. Awesome. Thank you so much for being a yes to me and the powerful ladies. It's been such a pleasure to meet you today. And. Again, just to be reminded about how many incredible women are out there, and just thank you for being you, being a stand for your community, your family, for, taking the risk to be an entrepreneur.
I love that you've surprised yourself completely along the way and it keeps growing and getting bigger and. I can't wait to see what happens for you next.
Thank you. Thank you so much for having me.
All the links to connect with Elise and Cookie Co are in our show notes@thepowerfulladies.com. Please subscribe to this podcast wherever you're listening, and leave us a rating and review. They're critical for our podcast visibility and getting us in front of more people like you. Who would love to hear this episode.
Come join us on Instagram at Powerful Ladies, and if you're looking to connect directly with me, visit kara duffy.com or Kara Duffy on Instagram. I'll be back next week with a brand new episode and new amazing guest. Until then, I hope we're taking on being powerful in your life. Go be awesome and up to something you love.
Related Episodes
Episode 280: What If Food Could Heal Everything? | Whitney Aronoff | Chef & Starseed Kitchen Founder
Episode 216: Choose Joy Over Prestige | Julie Hartigan | Chef, Coach & Culinary Travel Guide
Episode 218: A Cookbook Changed Her Life | Christina Minutillo | Author, Host & Creator of What Lights Us Up
Instagram: theofficialcookieco
Twitter: elisethecookielady
Facebook: theofficialcookieco
Website: www.cookieco.com
Email: info@cookieco.com
Created and hosted by Kara Duffy
Audio Engineering & Editing by Jordan Duffy
Production by Amanda Kass
Graphic design by Anna Olinova
Music by Joakim Karud
