The Birth of Silver Lining Cookies

Starting a business and preparing for the birth of a child share many similarities. There seems to be a list of to-dos that have to be completed before either can happen:

Birth: Nursery in place? Check! Baby Clothes in the closet? Check! Diapers on hand? Check! Doctor visits? Check!

Starting a Business: Website up? Check! Paypal working? Check! Ingredients on hand? Check! Shipping logistics figured out? Check!

As with expectant parents, we're rapidly crossing things off the to-do list before the official opening of Silver Lining Cookies this weekend! To be honest, some times I can't believe that this business is really going to come into being...and it all started with one little question, the eternal question, What Do You Want to Do With Your Life? It's one of those questions that can be both liberating and frustrating at the same time. For some reason, it's ascribed to that period in your life between the ages of 14 and 18 and then bam! you enter University and you're supposed to have the answer and be on the "path". Well, here I am, approaching 30 and just NOW beginning to understand the validity, weight and importance of actually ADDRESSING that question, rather than AVOIDING it at all costs!

So how did I figure out that opening a cookie business was part of my life's purpose? As with all things, there's no clear cut answer. However, there were a few hints over time that lead me to be where I am today.



Hint #1 - Cookie Season
Every Holiday Season my Mom, Grandma and I would bake over twenty different varieties of cookies for friends and relatives in Grandma's kitchen in St. Louis, MO. Around October grandma would begin stocking up on ingredients and right before Thanksgiving we would gather around the kitchen table to write the "list". At that point we would decide which cookies had made the cut and would be baked! Then right after Thanksgiving the baking would begin. Night after night we'd gather in the kitchen to bake a batch here, a batch there. Thank goodness the back porch was unheated - otherwise we'd never have ANYWHERE to store all those cookies! I should have known back then, when Cookie season was one of the events I looked forward to most, that it had the potential to be part of my life's purpose.

Hint #2 - When Harry Met Sally
Yes, the movie...it's weird how certain scenes from a movie can stand out in your mind. One scene, that many of you may not even recall as being part of that movie, involves a game night at Harry and Sally's friends' house. Those gathered are playing "Win Lose or Draw" and once the game ends the ladies go into the kitchen. In there Sally is talking about Harry's date, Emily, commenting on how young she is. Sally's friend says, yes, she's young, but so successful, she bakes 3,000 pies a month. And Sally says, Emily is "Aunt Emily" as in the pie lady?

In that scene, I wanted to be Aunt Emily and this cookie company is my chance.

Hint #3 - Restlessness
One thing I've discovered about myself, amongst many other things, is my propensity to become bored when doing the same task over and over. Many people have this issue, but rather than resign myself, I decided I needed to seek out an activity where the task is rarely ever the same day in and day out. Sure, cookie baking could be considered "rote", but not when you also have to package them, build the website, order the supplies, build your bookkeeping spreadsheets, advertise, design a logo.....the possibility of boredom at Silver Lining Cookies, ZERO.

But founding a cookie company wouldn't be enough...I had to find a way to also make the world a better place. But why COULDN'T the cookie company BE the way to make the world a better place? And voila, why not offer cookies to customers and then make a donation to a not-for-profit organization based on the purchases? And so, here we are, a few days from the official beginning. We hope that you'll join us on this journey - there's sure to be many ups and downs! And we promise, it won't be boring!