Check Out Penny Coussens’ Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Penny Coussens

Penny, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I grew up in a small town in Illinois called Stockton. As a young child, my mom taught me how to bake. My mother owned her own hair salon, and every year at Christmas time, we would make cookies for her customers to show appreciation for their support. My fondest memory was the smile on their faces as we gave them their cookies. As an adult, I continued to bake for my family. I have seven children, so you can imagine life was pretty busy. I took some cake decorating classes for fun after my 4th child was born. I started baking cakes for friends and family. I baked cakes for a short time before I became a nurse. Years later, I started baking cookies as a hobby. Again, I baked cookies for family and friends. I often took cookies to work and passed them out to coworkers. Everyone always told me to start my own cookie business. I could do this now that the kids are grown. It took me one year to finally have the confidence to take the first step towards starting a business.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I have had ups and downs with starting my business thus far. I started in October 2020. Before I started, I took several months to come up with a business plan. This wasn’t easy, considering I don’t have a business background. I spent many late nights researching. Many times I wanted to quit because it was a lot harder than I imagined. Also, I wasn’t sure if my business would take off with all the concerns of the COVID virus. With the help and support of my family, I was able to get my cookie business started.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I create soft, hand-decorated sugar cookies for every holiday, occasion, and theme. Each cookie can be customized to the customer’s liking, whether it’s the color scheme, design, or both. Cookies can come in many varieties. I make cookie bouquets, cookie cakes, and cookie gift boxes/platters. I enjoy working with each customer to create cookies for their special occasion. It brings me great joy to see their smiling faces when my customers pick up their cookies, just like when I was a child with my mom giving cookies to her customers.

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
I really admire other decorators and take inspiration from them. I am a part of a group that is online called the “Cookiers.” It is an online group that is run by Mitzi Christensen Torgerson. She teaches one tutorial a month and holds zoom meetings geared towards business and decorating. The group has well over 200 members that all support one another in their cookie journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pennyscookiecompany.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pennyscookiecompany/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pennyscookiecompanyy

Image Credits
Felicia Coussens