Meet Ronald Wilkins | Owner & Head Baker

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

Hi Ronald, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
So many things led up to the moment I decided this is what I wanted to do. The many days I had gone with nothing in my pockets but loose change and a couple dollar bills; hoping that it would last until my next payday. To me and my wife having a family of our own but still learning how to make ends meet with the little income we had. Then not being able to go to work everyday because of a global pandemic. To me finally realizing that my son is looking up at me and it’s up to me to figure this thing out. “Hmm I wonder if I can bake from scratch?” Is the question I asked myself while sitting at home one boring evening. So immediately I started researching different baked goods and decided on which one I wanted to make. It all started with a simple vanilla pound cake. I had watched enough YouTube videos on baking a cake from scratch I could have graduated from a professional baking school. I went out and bought ingredients and followed each direction in the recipe and not before long I had, what I considered a masterpiece in front of me. The taste test proved to me that I could do this even if it’s a weekend thing for my family or my son’s birthday cake. With my new found skills, I continued baking different cakes, trying to get the hang of baking and adding my own spin to it. I started to venture out with cupcakes, and then cookies. Making my first chocolate chip cookie was a disaster! I believed I made that cookie about 5 different times before I realized what I was doing wrong and how to fix it. A little tweak to the recipe and bam I had the best chocolate chip cookie I had ever tasted. From that moment, ideas began to flow, dreams would come in my sleep. I knew then that I had no choice but to get these ideas out with the birth of Cookie Dust.

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?
We are Cookie Dust Bakery, LLC and what sets us apart is that we focus and specialize in traditional and non traditional flavored cookies. Meaning as a customer, you can get a wide range of cookies flavors from the most traditional Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal & Raisin to the very non traditional flavors like Banana Pudding, Butter Pecan, and Birthday Cake just to name a few. I’m most proud of is our flavor. We like to say that we are a small business with Big flavor! We have gotten to the point by staying consistent in what we do. Our quality and knowledge of baking has grown over the past 9 months and we are committed to giving every customer the same treatment and care for their order every single day.
Nothing worth it is ever easy. We have experienced challenges just like any other small business. I think the main challenge is wondering are you making a mistake when you invest so much time, effort, and money into what you think you want to do. Investing the amount of time we do into making sure our products are up to our standard takes commitment and dedication. Overcoming those realities, we make sure we wake up early in the mornings to fulfill orders, we stay up late in the night to ensure preparation for the next day orders or Farmers Markets get the quality standard we have set for ourselves.
We want the world to know that if you work hard, your efforts will pay off. Stay consistent and be seen.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m a homebody, and since the pandemic even more so, but there are a few places that are a must. For eats, we are going to @King Coney Houston for the best hotdogs Texas has to offer.

Big Mamas Meals on Wheels Food Truck for a meal guarantee to get you full.
@Tipzy_Texan for the best frozen alcoholic drinks in town.
@Sweet Chaos for her amazing cakes. Don’t believe me? Try her out!
And Waffle House for a mid-night snack.
The African American Museum and Kemah Boardwalk is a must on our to-do list.
And for night views, we ride around midtown/downtown, catching live music and good eats.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My family, especially my wife and In-Laws. My in-laws because they opened up their home to my family in a time when we had no other place to go. Then they let us build and birth Cookie Dust Bakery right in their home kitchen, so we are forever grateful to them. My wife, because she is my support system, she offers her skills by being our Admin Assistant; and even when no one else pats me on the back or says job well done. She is there for me in that area. She helps me continue going by being my accountability partner making sure I remain focused on the goals and not get caught up mentally in the things that can get to someone that is working hard to build something from the ground. Lastly, she is comedienne in her right and can take a serious situation and add comic relief at the right time. Much needed.

Website: cookiedustbakery.com

Instagram: Cookie_Dust_Bakery_LLC

Facebook: Cookie Dust Bakery