Let’s Build a Bakery

Hi! I’m Kirstyn.

After being furloughed from my job at the start of covid, I decided to spread a little cheer by ding-dong-ditching my fave chocolate chip cookies to all of my friends and family. It wasn’t long before friends asked “WHERE CAN WE GET THOSE COOKIES?!”

(cookies off to get ding dong ditched, March 2020)

Sitting on the couch with the fam on the eve of April 10, 2020 (Mom’s bday!), as we savored those freshly baked cookies, I jokingly exclaimed “This really is The Very Best Cookie In The Whole Wide World,” and BOOM! Five days and a make-shift Shopify website later, I had my first order.

(first product page, April 2020)

By December of 2020 I’d outgrown my home kitchen and started subleasing a commercial kitchen. Since then, we’ve bopped around a bunch, while looking for a permanent space to house The Very Best Cookie.

Well, we’ve finally found the very best location! But like everything else, the price of construction has sky rocketed. With my whole life savings, and two small business loans (thank you JFLA and SBA!), we’re still coming up short.

That’s where you come in! We need your help getting to the finish line, so we’ve created lots of experiences for you to spread Qookie joy, since that’s what TVBC is all about!

Give a Little, Get a LOT

How can you help, you ask?

• We need your help so that Qookie can have a permanent space to bake from. We’ve tried renting commercial kitchens (three of them, to be exact), but it’s very difficult to operate on limited hours/in someone else’s space.  We need YOUR help raising $60k to give Qookie a home.
• There are perks of all levels here. These perks are EXCLUSIVE to this campaign, and were designed to bring you and your loved ones the UTMOST joy.
• You’ll be able to schedule your perk delivery just like you would an order!

What the Future Holds

I am SO FREAKIN EXCITED to be able to share my treats with you IRL! It’s been a loooong two+ years without our own qookie kitchen. In this space we’ll be able to:

• offer COOKIES ON DEMAND! No more having to pre-order the night (or week!) before
• expand our hours, hellooooooo Saturday Morning Cinnybuns
• hire a full team and support the Los Angeles economy. Mom, Dad, Sis you’ve been great, but let’s give you a break 😉
• host events & pop ups – I personally am VERY excited for the opportunity to bring in other makers and bakers to share with you all!
• expand our product offering, especially for items that don’t need to be shipped

Not Just Another Cute Cookie

If you know me at all, you know I’ve been entrepreneuring for over 15 years now. And baking pretty much my whole dang life. Which is why I am qualified to bring this vision to life. In case you had any doubts…

• I graduated from UCLA with a degree in International Development Studies and FIDM with a designation in Apparel Manufacturing Management
• I’ve managed production and design for my clothing line, selling over $10M worth of product. And in the schmatta business we all know anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, so I’ve become adept at pivoting and turning lemons into lemonade
• I’m resourceful – I mean I started a business during covid that was profitable its first year
• I’m scrappy – from second hand equipment to pimping out my space, if there’s a second use for something I WILL FIND IT
• I’ve got excellent taste. Whether it’s coffee or CPG (consumer packaged goods), I guarantee everything we stock will be sure to tickle your taste buds

Risky Business

This is my first time operating a food space, so let’s be real, there will be a steep learning curve. Some problems I’ve already had anxiety about:

• Construction going over budget (already has, once)
• Construction taking longer than 8 weeks (which would kill our holiday game)
• Having difficulty hiring (although with great pay and bennies, I sure hope not)
• Testing new ovens (black bottom cookies here we come)
• Buying used equipment that is reliable (Eddy, I’m lookin’ at you!)

Other Ways You Can Help

No money? No Problem. Here are some FREE ways you can help:

• Share our campaign on social media
• Email/text the link to our campaign to all the Qookie Monstas in your life
• Make an introduction to someone that might want to carry our treats
• Connect us to your boss – the holidays are right around the corner and we knooowww what makes The Very Best Gift

And that’s all she wrote.