We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Megan Troutt. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Megan below.

Hi Megan, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I had just graduated from college and started my career as a Special Education teacher. I was honestly very miserable and felt so lost during the short span of my first teaching job. I quit that job and worked in early intervention which I loved but after a year I thought I’d give teaching another try.

During this time of switching jobs I was honestly at a mental war with myself and was questioning my career choice of becoming a teacher. I honestly began to pray. I prayed that God would open a door, and if he did I would be willing to walk through it.

My second teaching job was Pre-K SPED. I loved the children but hated everything else that came with the job. I would however often bake cookies and bring them to work, to family gatherings, or to friends houses. People kept telling me that I should sell my cookies, so I thought why not give this a shot?

I decided to make it official and create a Facebook page and my name is Megan. A lady I worked with said made with love would be a cute name for a business. So I decided to name my small business Megan’s made with love cookies.

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

I originally was a special education teacher and also worked in early intervention. I flip flopped between those jobs for almost three years. During this time my small cookie business was born. I will explain in more detail.

I taught for 4 months during my first teaching job. I was absolutely miserable. I would honestly go to bed at 8 PM every night just to lay there and cry myself to sleep. I was depressed. It was here I began to pray.

I ended up quitting this job and God led me to early intervention. I truly loved this job. I however felt like I was disappointing others if I didn’t give teaching another chance. I also felt like for whatever reason God was drawing me to this job. So I took the job as a SPED pre school teacher.

During this time I figured out that I loved the children but teaching was just not for me. I started my cookie business during this year of teaching. I first started bringing my cookies to family, friends, and co-workers. I was told many times that I should sell my cookies. So I gave it a try and Megan’s Made With Love Cookies was born in 2019.

In 2020 I got my first request for custom iced cookies. I could not make them because I never had before. I however wanted to give it a try, so I began to practice. I got better and better. I started getting more orders and I thought that I truly may have something special.

During this time I had been praying for God to open a door. I felt lost in my career and life. Little did I realize that he had already opened it.

In August of 2020 I quit my job as a teacher and went back to my early intervention job. It made me happy and I would have more time to run my cookie business on the side. This was honestly in full swing of the pandemic. I was doing visits online in the morning and baking and creating in the evening. My business truly started to grow during this time.

In 2021 we started visiting children back in the home. My cookie business had truly turned into a full time job at this point. I was often creating custom iced cookies late at night to early morning after coming home from my full time job working in early intervention.

I never stopped praying. I felt like God was just walking with me and directing my path now that I look back.

In September of 2021 my husband and I took a trip to Sedona Arizona. Remember the door I asked God to open? Well it was here at this beautiful place I realized he had already opened it. We were taking a jeep tour and our guide was talking about his life. He was telling us about all the jobs that he had. I thought to myself, life is to short. I was looking at these beautiful red and white rocks as the sun began to set. I knew here that God had already opened the door. It was my cookie business.

When we got back from our trip. I put in my two week notice at my early intervention job, and decided to run my business full time.

As I am writing this, it’s the end of 2022. I have been running my small business full time for a year now. I’m proud I’ve made it through the year. I have been blessed with so many amazing customers. I continue to grow and learn. I continue to thank God for getting me here.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

I started with just creating a Facebook and Instagram page for my business. I started advertising all of my cookie flavors. I tried to post frequently. I also took samples to my co workers and sent them with most of my family members. From here my business started to grow because of social media and from word of mouth.

I received a request for custom iced cookies. I could not fulfill this request but I did decide to give creating some iced cookies a try. I did my research and began to practice. I practiced more and more which honestly is the best advice I can give if you want to get better at something. I truly still love to learn new things to help me in my career.

I stared posting and advertising I was now creating custom iced cookies.
My business really began to pick up and I received more and more orders for these custom iced cookies.

What helped me the most was always being willing to learn from my mistakes during this time and learning what truly worked best for me as I was just learning how to run this small business.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

The best source to gain new clients for me personally has been social media. I try to post frequently and make sure that my cookie photos are great. I also try to respond quickly. I am definitely respectful, kind, and professional on social as well.

Other than social media going to events and markets to set up has also been very helpful. People often look up my business on social after they have shopped with me and begin to follow my business on whatever platform they use the most.

A huge factor that’s helped with social is that people tag others and share my work. Showing videos of my work across all platforms has also helped me reach more people since each platform are promoting videos more. Social media has truly been a game changer for my small business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.megansmadewithlovecookies.com/
• Instagram: @megansmadewithlovecookies
• Facebook: @megansmadewithlovecookies
• Other: TikTok- @megansmadewithloveco Pinterest- Megan’sMadeWithLoveCookies