Meet Lesley Cooper | Home Baker and Cookie Maker

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

Hi Lesley, maybe we can start at the very start – the idea – how did you come up with the idea for your business?
Cooper Cookies really began by accident. My niece was turning one in July of 2017 and while helping my sister plan for the party, I began looking at ordering decorative cookies. I’ve always been an avid hobby baker and love being in the kitchen, so I figured I’d try my hand at royal icing and create my own cookies for the party. Lots of YouTube and hours of practice later, I became obsessed with creating custom cookies, and Cooper Cookies was born.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Cooper Cookies began more as a side gig since I worked full time as a kindergarten teacher. My days consisted of 3AM alarms to begin cookies, a full work day at school, then picking up where I left off on cookies when I got home. The early days were difficult and building my business while working a full time job was really taxing, but I just kept my head down and focused on the bigger picture. After two years, I took a break from cookies to focus on family, but I am now working on building my business back up again since recently leaving my teaching job and taking the plunge with cookies. I’m excited to be able to devote 100% of my time and energy to my business, look forward to expanding to new clients, and being able to take on a larger workload that includes farmer’s markets and pop-up shops.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Since our Tex-Mex is some of the best in the country, I feel like you’ve got to visit one of the many El Tiempo locations or Ninfa’s for really great food and margaritas. You can’t visit Houston without a trip to Minute Maid to catch an Astros game, and I’m really partial to the Rice Village area for shopping and more food. I love Sixty Vines, Local Foods, and the Chocolate Bar so those would definitely be on our food itinerary. From there, we’d take a short drive over to check out the museum district, Hermann Park, and try to catch a live show at Miller Outdoor Theatre. Maybe grab a drink in East Downtown at Truckyard, 8th Wonder, or Roots Wine Bar. I feel like the possibilities are endless and even after living in Houston my entire life, I’ve only scratched the surface on what this city has to offer.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I feel like my entire family has been incredibly supportive throughout this entire cookie journey, but my sister and niece played two of the biggest roles from the very start. My niece Amelia was turning one and her birthday was what gave me the inspiration to even venture into the cookie world in the first place. During those early days of research and practice, I worked with solely my niece in mind. In addition to my niece, I feel like I can’t leave out my big sister, Bridget. I’ve always loved baking, but earning income from my work always felt like a pipe dream. My sister is always pushing me to be better in all facets of my life, and I probably never would’ve made cookies for anyone beyond family and friends if it weren’t for her. My sister gave me the confidence and push to begin marketing and selling my cookies, helped build my business and social media accounts, and helped me see my worth as a baker.

Website: coopercookies.com

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

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