The cookies from Cookie Therapy sell out within minutes and the only way to get them is to follow their social media account to see when they are available . It’s usually at 8:00 PM and I highly suggest setting an alarm because you will miss out otherwise. I scored a box this past Sunday and can’t WAIT to try these delectable treats. I interviewed the owners about their business and how they recently got started.
When were you bitten by the entrepreneurial bug?
Faye & I have both been entrepreneurs for years... we like to consider ourselves serial entrepreneurs! My other business is a corporate & portrait photography studio, Ashley Brown LLC, which I've been running full time since 2007. Faye has been running Upstate Crate, a curated gift box company, for several years as well. We always knew we wanted to do something entrepreneurial and love trying our hand in different arenas!
Is there one product you sell that represents you or “started it all”?
Cookie Therapy is still a baby and has grown so fast, which is exciting and overwhelming all at the same time! We're still growing our product line, but our "original RX" (our box of 6 cookies) is our standard product and what we started with. Our cookies are all unique flavors and stuffed or topped with inventive ingredients.
Any advice for someone thinking about starting their own business?
Jump in. This doesn't mean to be impulsive or to not do your homework (super important), but the fear of failure or hesitation in getting started holds so many people back from their entrepreneurial dreams. With Cookie Therapy, we had to build a business backwards because of the rapid growth, and while it's been a lot of work and chaos, I'm glad we saw an opportunity and took it. A leap of faith is a critical piece to success.
What makes you passionate about what you do?
We love all of the ins and outs of running a business! The satisfaction we get of growing something from scratch, and knowing that every man hour we put in directly translates to that growth, keeps us passionate about our work.
If you had it to do over again, is there anything you would do differently?
We learn new things every day, but I wouldn't start over in any of my businesses. All of the successes, failures, bumps in the roads, etc. taught valuable lessons that you have to experience first hand to get the value from.
How has COVID-19 affected you?
COVD-19 actually was the catalyst for the birth of Cookie Therapy. Faye was laid off from her FT job, and my photography business has been temporarily shuttered (non-essential, and it's a face to face business that can't operate remotely). We took this "downtime" opportunity to launch Cookie Therapy, knowing that we had to be inventive in order to bring in income during this time. We've also had a captive audience of customers who are home all the time, and seeking comfort food and something to look forward to. So, while COVID has been really difficult as a whole, it has opened up some opportunities for us that we wouldn't have had otherwise.
