I Started a Cookie Business and Reclaimed My Identity
Danielle holding a baking sheet of her chocolate chip cookies. | Photo courtesy of Danielle Luc Reistrom
How I went from being “just mom” to a successful home bakery owner.
By Danielle Luc Reistrom
If you told me at any point before June 2023 that I’d start my own cookie business, I would have laughed in your face and said, “I’m not a good enough baker,” and “When would I even bake?” As a mom of four extremely active children, my days consisted of breaking up fights, begging for someone to eat a vegetable, and conquering mountains of laundry. When on earth was I supposed to find the time to bake cookies?
Now I look back on the time before my cookie business, and I realize that I was getting burnt out being solely “mom.” I was slowly losing the pieces of myself that made me, me. I’m not going to apologize for saying I needed — and still need — more than being a mom. Far too often, moms are guilted into thinking motherhood should be their only identity when in reality, it is just a part of it. At that time, I couldn’t think of one thing I enjoyed doing. Then, everything changed.
It was Christmas 2022. I wanted to give gifts to my kids’ teachers, my co-workers, neighbors, and friends, but this gets kind of pricey. I figured I’d bake cookies, package them nicely, and givE them out to show everyone that I was thinking of them. Not to toot my own horn, but people raved about them!
I made more cookies randomly over the next few months, and I gave them out to people just because I enjoyed baking. I finally found something that brought me joy. More and more people told me, “You need to start your own cookie business!” I would laugh nervously and say thank you, but in the back of my mind, there was always a quiet voice asking a simple, yet frightening, question: “Could I…?”
I can’t tell you exactly what made me take the leap and create my business, Handmade Cravings, from my home. I think it was a mixture of unwavering support from friends and family, and a burst of throwing caution to the wind. In June 2023, Handmade Cravings officially came to be. I went into it with the mindset that I enjoyed doing it. If I made money, awesome! If not, that was fine too!
I started simple with just chocolate chip, but soon I added more complicated confections to the lineup, like cookies stuffed with Oreos and coconut cream pie cookies. As I found my groove with the menu items, I also discovered tools to set up a professional storefront. A friend of mine told me about MyCustomBakes.com, and let me tell you, it’s a game-changer. It takes all the guesswork and time out of creating a website. If you’re a baker, I 10,000% recommend this!
I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t a huge adjustment for me and my family. Suddenly, I was working roughly 30 hours per week in my regular job plus baking up to 25 hours per week. Add on four kids, their activities, family, friends, and me — it’s been hard. Don’t get me wrong, I still love baking and the business I created. However, it has become quite the juggling act and, at times, completely overwhelming.
I think it is extremely important to note that chasing dreams is not always glamorous. In fact, it is actually quite messy and can leave you questioning all of the choices that got you to where you are. When that starts to happen, I cannot emphasize enough how incredibly important it is to stop and re- evaluate: what is making you feel that way? Is it something within your control? Be honest because that is the only way to make things better.
For me, I realized I had been consistently over-extending myself. This past June, I made more than 1,450 cookies! I would go to bed at midnight and then get up between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m., make cookies, get the kids up and ready for school, get myself ready, go to work, and do all the mom things in the evening. It was not sustainable in the slightest. All it did was lead me to burnout, and I am still recovering.
The positive to this? I learned. I learned from my mistakes and have been adjusting accordingly since. I built new ordering systems that gave me more scheduling control, and I allowed myself to say “no” to new orders when it felt like too much. With these changes, I could say “yes” to my family more often while still keeping my bakery alive and my sanity intact.
I am not an expert on running your own business, but if there is one thing I learned, it’s this: do it scared. Yes, research, try to get your ducks in a row, but at the end of the day, just go for it. You’re never going to feel entirely ready, and honestly, there will always be a million reasons why you shouldn’t do it. Believe in the one reason why you should do it, and just start. Motherhood is an incredible blessing, and every single day I am beyond thankful for it. But it is not all that I am; it’s only a part of it. Don’t forget to find the other parts of you because without them, you’ll never be truly whole. So, be scared and do it anyway.
Danielle is a small business owner obsessed with making irresistible cookies! I’m also a mom of 4 kids who is learning how to balance it all while embracing the chaos.