We recently connected with Suzanne Slauson and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Suzanne, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

“Snugglecubs” is what we called our kids when they were very small. When we decided to start a cookie company, the name fit, and it was our only choice. Our children’s initials are on every cookie label, and are brand is all about family and sharing. We make and sell cookies that we would feed to our children, using quality ingredients.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My husband and I created Snugglecubs Cookies in early 2018, a fortuitous intersection of career changes, children entering college, and a snowballing popularity of homemade cookies among family and friends that made a simple start seem like so much more. Neither of us had experience in the restaurant or bakery business. Instead our backgrounds included long careers in local government, business, and a rewarding commitment to homeschooling our two children (more on that in a moment).

The creation of Snugglecubs Cookies began in 2015, when I walked into our home kitchen one day after watching a televised baking show, thinking “I can do that”, and whipped up an early version of our traditional chocolate chip cookie, trying different ingredients and measures until I was satisfied with the results. They were really good! I worked on several other varieties, perfecting about six different flavors. Bill began to take them to work to share (and conduct market research). The time that it took for the entire tray of cookies to be devoured when Bill arrived at work was remarkable. People began to intercept him as he was walking to his office, because they knew that if they delayed, they would miss out on getting one. People would interrupt meetings to ask, “who made these cookies”? We knew that we were on to something. More and more people would tell us “you should sell these!”.

Early 2018 became the perfect time for us to start our business. Bill retired from his government position and our children were heading to college, freeing me from homeschooling responsibilities. We were extremely fortunate to collaborate with a local business incubator that helped us to navigate the organizing and development of our fledgling business. We knew what we wanted to name the business early on- “Snugglecubs”, a pet name for our (then) small children. The name seemed like a perfect fit, and still does. It reflects our personal commitment to high-quality cookies that we would feed our own kids. We use real butter, many organic ingredients, and avoid artificial flavors and colors to the extent possible.

Early in the development of Snugglecubs Cookies, we developed our marketing plan. We wanted our cookie names and ingredients to reflect places and events in New Mexico, our adopted home state. There are so many interesting small towns and places in New Mexico that inspired us to develop a variety of cookie that matches the “feel” of that place. Sometimes we develop a cookie variety and choose the appropriate name, other times we make a cookie for a place or event.

In the last two years, we were approached by Eastern New Mexico State University to develop a cookie flavor for them that would be branded with their logo. That simple inquiry grew into a collaborative process, with ENMU students helping to develop the label and a university taste test to choose their variety. That model grew into developing two cookies for the University of New Mexico, and our latest addition, a cookie for New Mexico State University. We are especially proud of these collaborations as a portion of the university cookie sales goes back to each school to support students and athletic programs.

Snugglecubs Cookies provides an alternative to commercialized, mediocre cookies that lack simple goodness (with ingredient labels to match). Snugglecubs Cookies are handcrafted to provide a thick, soft, indulgent cookie experience that are meant to be shared with family and friends. Our cookies are like the ones that you could make in your own oven, except they are bigger and thicker than “standard” cookies.

We offer a wide variety of cookies online at snugglecubscookies.com. We usually have 16-18 flavors that we offer year-round, and we have a few seasonal varieties. Each cookie is individually sealed and labeled. Our cookies can be ordered in as a little as a six-pack, all the way up to multiple dozens. We have provided hundreds of cookies for individual events.

We have also been developing retail outlets for our cookies. Three of our varieties are available at a major retailer in New Mexico, and the university cookies are available at their respective campuses.

Our cookies are for people that want a homemade cookie without the preservatives and chemicals of commercial brands and don’t want the hassle of making the cookies themselves, if they could. We have many corporate partners that give our cookies as gifts to clients during the holidays, as a reward for being a loyal customer, or as a thank-you for a sales meeting. They know that they are sending a quality treat to the people that they care about. We also approach corporate orders with a mindset that wants to remove the logistical hassle of sending multiple dozens of cookies to hundreds of customers, especially during the holiday season. We ask our partners for a spreadsheet with the name and address of the customer, and we take care of the rest. We pack, address, and ship boxes right to the recipient’s door, as well as including a personalized sign in each box that can include a message and business logo.

We send many dozen out of state across the country to customer’s friends and family who want to “show off” a bit of New Mexico without including some of the state’s spicier exports, including red and green chile and salsa.

Snugglecubs Cookies are different from other cookies in many ways. We believe our selection of ingredients are better than most, and our recipes provide a thicker, richer cookie experience that are a stark contrast to the thin and brittle cookies that are often sold. By using the best ingredients, our cookies also avoid the overly sweet, stale texture that some commercially available cookies exhibit.

We are always amazed at how our business has grown and how far our cookies have travelled. When we first started, we knew the people that ordered our cookies, and they were mostly shipped within New Mexico. Now, people that we haven’t met (or don’t even live in New Mexico) are shipping our cookies to other states. Several years ago, we started mapping our “ship to” locations on a map on our wall. Each year, the map continues to get more crowded with red pins across the entire country.

We are also very proud of our commitment to our family, and that our little business named after our children has given enjoyment to other families across the country. Lastly, we are proud of our relationships with the universities in New Mexico and the cookies that we have developed in collaboration with them, which allows us to support students and athletic programs with a portion of their sales.

Snugglecubs Cookies are available at snugglecubscookies.com. We ship priority mail to get them to you as fast and as fresh as possible. Processing time is 1-2 days, depending on the season. Our website can support ordering up to four dozen of an individual variety at a time. If you require a larger number of cookies, please email us at: contact@snugglecubscookies. You can also sign up for our email list at snugglecubscookies.com. We often send out email promotions, previews of upcoming new flavors, and business news.

We use social media occasionally- you can find us on Instagram (Instagram.com/Snugglecubscookies) and Facebook (Facebook.com/SnugglecubsCookie)

We really love making cookies for you, and love hearing about how much you like them!

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

Well, this is an easy one. My cofounder/business partner is also my husband for over 30 years. Some people that we talk to say that they could not work with their spouse. We love it, and not only does it bring us closer in our relationship, but we think the cookies are better too!

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for us to grow our clientele is getting our cookies into customer’s mouths. We have agreements for advertising (radio, email, and others), but really the most effective method for us is getting customers to try our cookies. People often tell us that they had one of our cookies during this event, or as a gift from this group, and they can’t stop thinking about getting some more, haha. So we tend to focus on large corporate and public events where we can meet the most amount of people.

We have spent a considerable amount of time developing a unique name, logo, and branding, so that people have an easier time remembering the amazing cookie that they just ate and where to get more.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.snugglecubscookies.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Snugglecubscookies
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Snugglecubcookie
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/SnugglecubsCookies
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/Biz/Snugglecubs-Cookies-Albuquerque