Meet Ashlee Patterson | Cookier

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ashlee Patterson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ashlee, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Never in a million years did I think I would own a cookie business. Some business owners think and plan for years to start a business but my experience wasn’t like that. When I started making cookies in was in that weird Covid time. I was a full time teacher who abruptly stopped teaching in March and was home for the year. I had 3 young kids and we were getting stir crazy at home. I had to find something to keep us all occupied and busy during our many days at home. I had seen and purchased cookies for my kids parties overtime and thought hey I could make these cookies and it would give us all something fun and yummy to do. My mom was always a baker when I was growing up and made beautifully iced cakes for all my birthdays. With lots of time and practice I perfected my own sugar cookie recipe. Now the icing was another story…..There was lots of trial and error when trying to figure out a good consistency for the icing. My little helpers loved it though, they got to eat many cookies and use lots of icing in my search to perfect the craft. After a while I would post cookies on my social media that my kids and I had made. Much to my surprise people were impressed with my work, so much so that one day my neighbor Steph Pennington asked me to make some birthday cookies for her daughter. I was shocked that someone wanted to buy cookies from me. Steph was the first of many orders to come. I set up a business page on Facebook to show the cookies I made, and things really took off from there. These days I have so many orders I can’t always take them all, and my kitchen is overflowing with cookies. I work hard each day to learn new techniques, and grow my skills with each customer.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
When I first started making cookies I didn’t know much. Mainly all my cookies were flooded and then had an icing design on top. This is what I would call your typical sugar cookie that most cookiers make. Overtime I have watched probably over a hundred videos trying to learn new techniques for my cookies. First it was airbrushing, learning to make airbrushed backgrounds beneath the design or words I would add later. Later it was learning to use different tips to make beautiful flowers on cookies. More recently I have started painting my cookies, this has been a longer process to perfect. Cookie painting is so fun, relaxing, and really gets my creative juices flowing.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love going places with my family! One of our favorite spots is the cypress rosehill beer garden. They always have amazing food trucks that are local to the area, great beer on tap, and an awesome giant pirate ship for all the kids to play on while we enjoy the day.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to give a huge shoutout to my family! My little helpers David Luke, Sawyer, and Lillee sampled many cookies on this journey helping me perfect my recipes. I want to thank my amazing husband Ryan! He is my biggest cheerleader and always believes in me. He pushes me to do my best, and always encourages me on my endeavors. Finally I want to thank Steph Pennington my very first customer because without her I may have never started this business venture.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mixin_mama/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MixinmamaCypress/