one tray at a time

loving my limits + new order page who dis 💅🏼🗓

scroll to the end for an update on my order page + March books!

In my final and favorite entrepreneurship class during my senior year at Belmont (Venture Planning 4500 with Dr. Jeff Cornwall icyww), we had to turn in a 20+ page Scaling Plan that described how we would functionally grow our businesses after graduating. At the end of the paper, we listed our Key Assumptions: the big presumptions we believed to be true in order to plan scenarios for the future. My biggest assumptions essentially boiled down to that I’d be able to make loads more cookies, decorate cookies faster, and log more working hours. Which, is true when you compare part-time to full-time cookie-ing. But not to the extent I presumed.

TBH, I pulled most of the numbers in my scenarios out of my ass, loosely basing them on the hours I logged while cookie-ing part time, or asking full-time cookier friends what their capacity was. But I really had no idea to know what it would look like when rubber met the road. Or, when butter met the mixer. At the end of the day, my life and business was going to operate completely different from someone else. Was 12 dozen a lot of cookies or just a normal week? (a lot) Would I barely break even or come out with profit? (profit, woo!!) Would I spend 10 hours a week on admin and 30 on cookies? (waaay more on both) While I thought my capacity would expand soooo much without school in the way, I still have significant limitations. You could call that a consquence of being a solo-preneur…but I think it’s a consequence of being human.

As much as we like to believe (and the world tries to sell us) that we are unlimited, it’s just not true. We are bound by time, by bodies, by giftings, by resources, by energy, you name it. I believe that when we learn to love our limits—to let them inform when to pause or push, wax or wane, be still or act—we are able to love our lives and each other more. We can delight in what’s right in front of us instead of wishing for something better. Maybe, just maybe, your limits are beautiful? Maybe your limits aren’t something to hate, but something to thank? And maybe, just maybe, your limits are different than someone else’s? (Yeah this one hurts.)

Another cookier might be able to make 15 dozen cookies a week because their cookies aren’t as personalized. Another teacher might be able to stay after school longer to lesson plan because she doesn’t have kids of her own. Another actor might have more auditions because they’re expanding into more genres. Another coworker might have more money because he doesn’t have student loans. Another lawyer might have more clients because they’re not also an influencer. Another friend might be able to hang out with friends more because they don’t live far away.

We all have limits. And not just intrinsic ones. Extrinsic ones too, like where we choose to invest our time, talents, and treasures. So you may be wondering…how then do you choose??

the title slide from my final pitch deck in the class

Line of best fit vs line of best limit

One of the problems within the problem of my booking process has been how to decide what orders I say yes to. Do I take the first orders that come in? The most fun ones? The most profitable? It felt like all of these questions pulled me in different directions with no solid answer to rest in and rely upon. I describe it as trying to find the line of best fit but all of the plot points are moving. Often, after spending hours weighing all of the variables with little to no resolution (I call this going to my “pondering pond”), I’d end up crying, overwhelmed and stuck with the (assumed) pressure of people tapping their foot waiting for me to answer them. Who’s that? Oh yeah, decision fatigue is calling. She wants to know if you’re going to pick up and also what’s for dinner and have you done your taxes and when are you going to text that person back and oh by the way, what do you want to do with your life???????

So I called my mom. Moms always know just what to say. She told me that it’s not about determining the right or best answer, but a question of stewarding your passion. Passion is a limited commodity. Your skill, your unique voice, your attention—is not infinite. It made me think of this quote from Simone Wiel: “Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” If you’ve perused my website, you may have seen that one of my core values is generosity. I believe I’m called to be generous to everyone in some capacity, even scratchy and un-fun generosity. But the key to that is the words *some capacity.* I would be doing a disservice to myself and my relationships when I assume that I owe everyone the same extent of my attention/generosity. It’s just not possible. You can’t pay attention to a stranger on the internet as intently as your best friend, because it doesn’t suit the relationship. Someone once told me that even Jesus was the master of the encounter, interacting with some people for years and others for minutes. But all with the same level of soul-deep attention.

In processing my booking flow with a friend, she put this idea of “attention generosity” in a helpful metaphor of someone who greets you at the door of a shop versus the person checking you out at the register. I love being the cashier—gushing over their selection, asking why they’re in town, sharing my favorite coffee recs. But when the doorwoman acts like the cashier, I risk becoming a Lush employee. It’s just too much! (And when the cashier is also the baker is also the decorator is also the doorwoman is also the social media manager…it’s *definitely* too much.)

This friend and I call our revelations keys: Something that shifts your way of thinking, gives an experience a name, answers a question, or opens a door to a better one. It makes me think of one of my favorite quotes from John Green’s novel, Turtles All the Way Down. “What I love about science is that as you learn, you don't really get answers. You just get better questions.”

me in my 2016 Lush era 😌🛁

Finding better questions

While I’ve been pulling my hair out about my booking process for the past, well…ever? Each step along the way has given me a better question. Which orders do I take to find the perfect balance of passion, profits, and priority?? Is the wrong question. What does a balanced life stewarding my time, relationships, and responsibilities look like this week? Is a better one. (p.s. scroll to the end for your own “better questions!”)

I was hanging out with a business bestie recently, explaining how I wanted find create a system that worked for my business now AND down the line. She gave suggestions for how I could book orders farther out or give more lead time, but after I hesitated to her ideas, she said, “it sounds like you like having a lot of flexibility, which is okay! But flexibility and consistency don’t go together. So maybe you just need a system that functions for where you are right now.”

This was a huge key for me. Because where I am right now is that I’m 24-years-old, operating out of a teeny-tiny kitchen where I can bake only one tray of cookies at a time (hehe do you get the title now), pulling all nighters when I take one too many orders, and responding to every email, DM, comment, and text message myself. Am I wanting those things to change? Yes. Do I want a sustainable and scalable business? Yes. But I also want, as another biz bestie says, to enjoy “the little luxuries of entrepreneurship.”

I like that I get to prioritize making cookies that bring me joy! Like these Wicked cookies for Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, an order for my best friend, or a Harry Styles x Taylor swift crossover birthday theme (coming to the gram soon). I like taking a weekend off to go on beach trip, or a CEO week to work on the business, or simply a few days to rest after pushing my body. I like writing my newsletter till 1 AM because I got into a creative groove. And I like sleeping in till 1 PM on a Monday when the weather is dreary and I have no motivation. Sue me.

Stewarding my sliver

It’s no secret that I haven’t been the biggest fan of my order page / booking process for awhile…and I'd go out on a limb to say y’all haven’t either. Let’s face it: it’s clunky! While I would looove to have an evergreen order form accessible on my website at all times, it’s just not feasible given the multitude of logistics, scheduling, and the volume of inquiries. I want to steward both your celebrations and my ability to celebrate. So what does that leave us with?

Well, I believe the venn diagram balance between flexibility and consistency is a tiny sliver. I’m in that sliver right now, and that’s okay! In fact, that’s where I thrive. If entrepreneurship doesn’t enable you to combine two opposing things and forge your own unique solution, then I’ve picked the wrong field.

Another keys in this process is that I’ll always prioritize an ideal client over an ideal theme; I care way more about the person behind the cookies and the significance of the celebration, than if they’ll be the most amazing show-stopping beautiful cookies in the world. (All I’m saying: tug on my heartstrings and I might just say yes 😗) I really love that this new system works within that framework and gives y’all the added goodies for being "the girls who get it!!” (or boys!!! but let’s be real I don’t think my brand really gives off masculine 😤💪🏼 vibes LOL.)

I’ve been collecting keys for the last year and a half, often trying ones I thought would work that weren’t the right fit or despairing that I’d never open the door. Now, I don’t think I’ve found the *perfect* solution. In some ways it’s just another key on the keyring. But it feels like a pretty big door to have unlocked. And I think y’all will really like it!! Anyways, 1,500 words of introduction later…

Check out my ✨new and improved✨ order page!!

Oh baby. Oh baby!!!! The biggest update: 🗓🗓🗓WE have a CALENDAR Y’ALL 🗓🗓🗓🗓 This one is for the visual girlies (myself included). I’m really hoping that this will take out a lot of the waiting and wondering if I’m available to take your order. Here’s a key ;) for the calendar:

• available to book: shows the date I’ll be sending out the mailing list order form, and the weekends I’ll be available for

• currently booking: available to book will switch to this after the mailing list email is sent out and I’m processing inquiries

• unavailable: not booking any orders (traveling, CEO week, etc.)

• books full: my calendar has filled up with orders. BUT you can sign up for the waitlist in case any spots open up!

• not yet booking: dates I’ve not yet announced availability for. You can sign up for the waitlist too and you’ll get a reminder email before books open for your date!

You’ve Been Selected as a Cookie in the Kitchen Verified Fan

Y’all are back to receiving early access! I played around with ~exclusive~ access the last few months, but tbh I felt weird making everyone sign up for my mailing list. It felt like inviting everyone to the sleepover portion of your birthday party instead of just your best friends. And then there’s that one friend whose parents are late and your besties are like like omg yeah I’m totally waiting for my parents too…I definitely didn’t stuff a duffle bag in her closet before everyone else arrived. i.e. consider your duffle bag (your cookie order) stuffed in my closet (secured on my calendar) before everyone else (people that Googled “custom cookies near me”) arrives.

After my books open to y’all, any remaining spots will be up for grabs through a new, condensed “order request” form on my order page. While y’all on the mailing list are guaranteed a spot when you fill out the order form (as availability allows), orders through the request form are not guaranteed to be accepted. i.e. consider yourself a verified Taylor Swift fan with a presale code 🫶 while everyone else is looking for tickets on StubHub.

Lastly, while my dream is to open my books to y’all a month or so in advance so you can lock in cookies for your beloved celebrations, sadly isn’t possible while I’m managing inquiries on my own. So, you’ll see it at the top of the page that I called it for what it is, which is that I tend to be able to open my books on the second to last Tuesday of the month. Funky date I know. I’m looking into hiring a VA or OBM next month, so y’all can help me extend my lead time by praying or sending me any referrals! Looking for someone energetic, entrepreneurial, and systems-oriented that can help with both strategy and day to day tasks of the custom order side of my business.

March orders open on Monday! 💐

Because I spent the time I *would* have been booking your orders this week updating my website, March books will open Monday, Feb 26th at 6:00 CST. I am not booking for March 1 & 2 (I’m going on a beach trip with a bunch of business internet friends! I am PUMPED), so those of y’all interested in March 8 & 9, 15 & 16, and 24 & 25 will still have the usual amount of lead time to book.

THANK YOU for being here, for reading these words, for coming to my dinner party during a kitchen renovation, and for caring about the work that I do. After spending 6 hours on Wix tonight and another 5 hours writing this newsletter (whoops 🫣)…I think I’m typed-out. For now at least ;) See you next week!

all my love + attention + celebration,

cookie 💖

p.s. If you’re struggling to make a decision in your own life, may I suggest shifting your questions? Try these on for a size:

• Instead of: Do I want/need to do this? Try: Will saying yes be an invitation to love this person, delight in my life, AND allow me to steward my limits?

• Instead of: Do I have time for this? Try: Will saying yes be an invitation to love this person, delight in my life, AND allow me to steward my time?

• Instead of: Do I need the money? Try: Will saying yes be an invitation to love this person, delight in my life, AND allow me to steward my finances?

• Instead of: Do I owe it to them to say yes? Try: Do I have a responsibility AND relationship to this person?

p.p.s. I took that framework “wrong question vs better question” from one of my favorite creators of all time and fellow Substack writer, Mari Andrew! She has a fabulous post on asking better questions that I swear I think about every day. Do not waste a minute of your lfve having not read this article or immersing yourself in her art!!

To find the answer, change the question