Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Brown.
Ashley, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Ashley’s Famous Cookies started off as a joke between my mom and I. After my son was born at the end of 2016, I would crave chocolate chip cookies consistently. This led to frequent trips to McDonald’s for a cookie tote (13 cookies in a box) that I would take home and share with my family. With a love for baking, I figured I might as well try and make cookies from scratch if I am going to be eating them all the time. I looked up an easy to follow a recipe online and gave it a go. The first batch came out perfectly! My family loved them and from that day on my mom wouldn’t eat any other cookies. She would always say, “I only want Ashley’s Famous Cookies.” when I brought store-bought cookies home.
Almost two years went by, and I was still making cookies at home. By this time, I had altered the recipe from online and made my own. My mom would always mention that I should sell them every time she saw me mixing up cookie dough in the kitchen. I would brush it off because I didn’t think anyone would be interested in purchasing cookies, especially not mine. In my eyes, they were good but not worthy of being sold. I figured my mom was just trying to raise my spirits and boost my confidence. Never in a million years did I think things would pan out to what they are today.
With the little direction of where my life was going at the time, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try. In March of 2018, I came up with three other flavors and took the cookies to my brother’s basketball tournament. I let the basketball moms try them and they told me that they were absolutely delicious! Soon after, I made my first post online with a picture of a cookie tray letting people know that I now had cookies for sale. I’m not sure if people took me seriously at first, but friends and family were very supportive of my product. In a matter of weeks, I was baking cookies 3 to 4 times a week! By the middle of summer, I was baking every day to the point where I would be in over my head. It all happened so fast. I really couldn’t believe it! That was a little over a year ago and a lot has happened in such a small amount of time. We are still home-based but our customer base has grown substantially.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
In the grand scheme of things, things have been pretty smooth. However, there have definitely been certain obstacles that I had to overcome. In the beginning, I only had the product. No fancy packaging, marketing, or major support. I remember giving cookies to customers on a paper plate wrapped in saran wrap. I quickly realized that as an entrepreneur, all the rolls of a regular job were being placed on me. I had to be my own accountant, marketer, janitor, delivery driver, and everything else. People often think that being an entrepreneur is easy and life of glitz and glam when it’s not. Having a good idea is one thing, being business-minded is another. I quickly learned that there were many things that needed to be done to successfully be in business and it was very overwhelming.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Ashley’s Famous Cookies story. Tell us more about it.
Ashley’s Famous Cookies in a home-based business that specializes in gourmet cookies. Although other desserts such as brownies may appear on the menu from time to time, we focus mainly on cookies. We are known for our taste, texture, and array of flavors. All of our cookies are softly batched and made from scratch. Some of our most popular flavors include Strawberry Crack and Lemon Heaven.
I am most proud of our customer service and commitment to providing a quality product every time. What sets Ashley’s Famous Cookies apart from others is our dedication to creating a cookie experience like no other. One thing we will never do is cut corners. Using only premium ingredients, we create cookies that set the bar high for what cookies should be. Although our recipes are top secret, the most important ingredient is love.
Ashley’s Famous Cookies are available for pick up locally and shipped nationwide which means you can have them delivered to your front door!
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
A lot of people see the success of Ashley’s Famous Cookies as good luck but I see it as good timing. Timing is everything. If you bake a cookie 30 seconds too short, it will be too soft. If you bake a cookie 30 seconds too long, it will be too hard. This same analogy applies to everything else in life. You have to know when and when not to move. There have been times that I have shared ideas or products prematurely and they didn’t do so well. Then I would take those same exact ideas and share them at a later date and watch them flourish. I think like a business there is a lot of trial and error but you have to do your best to be prepared for any upcoming opportunities to grow. In an era of social media, it is easy for things to appear as if they fell from the sky when in reality, most things are designed and thoroughly thought out.
Pricing:
- $18.00 per dozen (Your mix of 13 cookies)
- $10.00 per sample pack (8 cookies, one of each current flavor)
- $1.50 per cookie (any flavor)
Contact Info:
- Website: ashleysfamouscookies.com
- Phone: 2053567519
- Email: ashleysfamouscookies@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleysfamouscookies/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AshleysFamousCookies/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/doughpe
Image Credit:
FWD Productions and Ash Flash Photography
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