Category: Blog

I had to shut down the shop and farm my boys out to friends last week. We moved the daughter/niece to Atlanta for her first real job. It was a quick trip, so it didn’t make sense to throw the boys in the car for 20 hours round trip when the hang-time in Atlanta was really about 6 hours.

Shutting down the shop is weird.

I can “block” dates on the online store, so people won’t select a day we are out of town for a delivery. People still email and call wanting something for that day, and then I have to tell them no, and no is never easy, but I’m getting better at it. So, We closed on Thursday. Not a single item was baked or delivered. I do have help. Someone that can cover when I’m gone. But in this case she was out of town as well.

Which brings us to the conundrum: family

“Put your family first” is easy to say, harder to do when trying to grow or run a business. I left town to care for family. My helper left town to take her son to an out of state event.

There have been many, many times in the past year, especially during the holidays, that I felt like I was neglecting my family for the business. It just makes sense that one capitalizes on the business when it’s there…unfortunately the holidays are a time when the demands of family are high as well…and tough choices are made.

Volunteer to Entrepreneur

If you can recall, I transitioned from volunteer to entrepreneur, so not only am I less present for the boys at home, I’m less present in their schools…where I used to spend a lot of time that they appreciated.

It makes me feel funny. When push comes to shove, I do pretty well with the balance. But there are days and weeks that I feel like I’m short-changing the family. Am I doing the right thing? Are they going to be okay?

So then there’s last week

I had to shut down the shop and farm my kids out to friends to take care of family stuff. I didn’t feel “bad” about that one. Family had to come first. But not feeling bad isn’t the same as not worrying.

The surprise came when I returned

The oldest went and stayed with his BFF’s family. I’d have sent all three there, but the BFF had company in town and I already felt like I was imposing with just the oldest. I went to pick up the younger two boys from a friend who hadn’t had the youngest around a lot before.

Eddie, our middle son, is great friends with their oldest boy, so it was a no-brainer that I’d ask if Eddie could stay there. But we wanted our Andrew close by his brothers and he doesn’t really have a friend in the neighborhood whose parents we know. So since Eddie’s friend has a younger brother we asked those parents. In their infinite kindness, they said they’d love to have both boys over (never mind that we later learned it was over their wedding anniversary).

If guilt was a crime…

So I’d closed the business, pawned the oldest onto his BFF’s family, and the younger two out to people that should have said no, but didn’t. If guilt was a crime, I’d have been doing time.

But then I came home

And the business was fine. People didn’t give up on Cookie Text because we closed for one day. And the boys were fine. Apparently more than fine.

I went to pick up the younger two and the mom said, “They are the most well-mannered boys I’ve ever met. They say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. They don’t run in and out of the house. They say ‘excuse me’ when they want to leave the table. And my youngest usually gets his feelings hurt when kids are over. He never did. They included him in everything. I seriously need to send my boys to your family for a week for boot-camp.”

So…there’s that little victory.

I guess it’s simply the life of the working mom. Wanting to raise kids that don’t feel neglected and bloom where they are planted…Wanting to raise well-mannered kids that aren’t personality-less drones.

The kind words my friend said about my boys were exactly what I needed to hear to make me believe that although I was constantly juggling the business and the family, I was managing to keep all the balls in the air. It was a huge sigh of relief.

And though it was barely sufficient thanks for someone caring for my kids for 2 nights, I did arrive at pick-up time with a thank you CookieText®…and Doug!

I read a quote by former NBA player Chris Herren recently. He said that more people were impressed with his sobriety following addiction than his amazing career as a Denver Nugget and Boston Celtic.

Herren said people identify more closely with struggle than with success.

It got me thinking…I’ve always tried to put Cookie Text’s best foot forward. In Facebook posts and in blog posts. Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative. This creates a positive aura around the company and keeps the customer worry-free.

Struggle or Success?

But do you need to know our struggles in order to really get behind us? And what kinds of struggles does a cookie cake company have? It’s cookie cakes, not rocket science (spoken by someone who lives in a NASA hotbed!).

I’ve had all-nighters, and customers who want the sun, moon, and stars–and they want it yesterday, for free. I’ve done bad math regarding flour after purchasing a new mixer and sent out a big batch of CookieText^® that may have helped soak up flood waters. DRY as the Sahara. I’ve had equipment break downs. Most notably the mixer break down during Teacher Appreciation week…I was moments away from a stroke. Thank God for my husband.
And I’ve mentioned in the past the time the gal on the west coast copied my website to sell her own style of cookies.

So struggles, Cookie Text has had them. Quite a few. But we keep on keeping on, keep on moving forward.

And Triumphs…

We’ve also experienced some triumphs. You already know about those. Those are the kinds of things I usually post and share.

I can attest that people have enjoyed the successes. When I post or blog about something cool that has happened with the company, people ‘like’ it like crazy. There have been many moments I feel like the whole world is pulling for my little company that could. It truly makes me feel like a rock star.

There are times I truly need this assurance. Those times at 2 am when I’m cranking out cookies all by myself and I think of that support and realize that I’m not in it alone. There are hundreds of people who want the best for Cookie Text. It doesn’t matter if I’m sometimes the only one manning the ovens through the night. The knowledge people are pulling for CookieText gives me the ‘umph’ to keep going.

Perhaps it’s the old ‘root for the underdog’ mentality when it comes to Cookie Text.

I think people know we’re the underdog:

• Most companies don’t happen upon someone who creates the perfect logo to launch their brand.
• Most companies don’t start without a large investment of borrowed funds.
• Most companies fail the first few years.

And there is something about that that makes people pull for us.

Let’s face it. I’m not the gal that got an MBA and knows the ins and outs of business.

I’m the girl from Phoebus, Virginia who is still paying off her college loans. Who started a little cookie cake company that people like and does a good job.

Maybe it’s both struggle and success that people identify with. Maybe people simply appreciate hard work that pans out.

So what do you more easily identify with, struggle or success? Perhaps too much of either can lead us astray.

Late Friday Night

It’s Friday evening and my business line rings with a call from Texas.

“Good evening, this is Jeanne,” see, since it’s my cell and my business phone, I answer any unknown calls like that.

“Hi,” says a slightly strained voice, “is this the bakery?”

“Yes, this is Cookie Text,” I reply.

“First of all, do you deliver?”

“Yes, everything is hand delivered.”

“Okay, good, now are you open tomorrow?”

I explain that I take Saturday orders when I can, and have several for the next day, so I’d love to help her out. But since the number is from Texas, I clarify my delivery areas.

The Situation

“Yorktown. Good, my sister lives in Yorktown and she broke her wrist today. I wanted to do something nice for her,” the caller said.

I talk with her a bit about our product options and what would be best for the household she’s sending to. She decides on an item and explains that she’s 6 months pregnant, walking through the airport to her gate, doesn’t know yet how her sister even broke her wrist, but would try to place the order via her phone if she doesn’t have to board immediately. She mentioned she found Cookie Text by searching the yellow pages online for Yorktown bakeries.

Order Online

I explain that I’d love to help her out and take her order over the phone, but I was driving at the time (doing carpool for the Friday night trip to the ice skating rink–the latest place to be seen for middle schoolers). I told her if she had any trouble at all ordering online just call me or text me before the night ends and I promise her sister will get her item the next day.

It was a pleasant conversation. I was happy for the order, thrilled that she found Cookie Text online, and also delighted at the prospect of brightening her sister’s day.

Order Received

When orders are placed, I get an email with all the details. It’s quite convenient and helpful. So as I sat at the ice skating rink where the cool kids were spending their Friday night, I peeked at my email on my phone and there was the order from the woman in the airport.

It’s a Small World

See, the woman in Texas…that found us online…well, she was ordering a cookie for her little sister…
who broke her wrist in PE, and who just happens to be my eleven year old son’s sweetheart.