We recently connected with Meghan Blair and have shared our conversation below.

Meghan , appreciate you joining us today. Let’s talk about innovation. What’s the most innovative thing you’ve done in your career?

I’ve tried to be innovative from the start of my business. The whole reason I started my cookie company, was because I was bored and tired of the cookies I was would see in bakeries. And there is nothing wrong with classic flavors like chocolate chip, sugar, oatmeal raisin, etc. But, everyone as them, and while yes, you need those classic flavors as a building block, there is so much you can do once you’ve mastered them. That’s the fun part, once you’ve mastered the basics then you can create anything!

So i guess the most innovated thing I’ve done is just try to build my business creating unique cookie flavors with unexpected ingredients that you would not typically find anywhere else. I was recently eating birthday cake ice cream and noticed the cake pieces in the carton and wondered if I could stuff cake in cookie. That’s not something I’ve ever seen before, and I still have some kinks to work out, but its been really well received and my customers are loving the cake and cookie flavor combinations I’m coming up with.

My whole business plan relies on my being innovative in my own way, creating new and different cookie flavors, incorporating unexpected ingredients, and just trying to be as original as possible.

Meghan , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

One of my earliest memories is helping my mom bake. Baking had always been a fun bonding time for my mom and I. And then as i got older and went away for college is was a comfort and coping mechanism when I got home sick and wanted a little piece of home. And then later it became my stress reliever. But, the one common thread that my baking always had for me and those around me, was that it made us happy.

I mean let’s face it, whether you are making them or eating them, cookies just make people happy. And I loved being able to put a smile on someones face, just by eating something I made. Ultimately that was the driving force for me to start the Mad Batter Cookie Company. As corny as it sounds I wanted to make the world around me happier one cookie at a time. And I like to think that I’ve been doing that for the almost six years we’ve been in business.

I like to think that what sets be apart is my unique approach to the flavors of my cookies. I really take inspiration from the world around and try create flavors and products that I don’t see other brands coming out with. I think the flavor profiles I have created for my cookies and more recently brownies has really started to set me apart from other brands. And that is really one of things I am most proud of. I originally come from an art background, I think my artist brain is able see a potential ingredient and build a whole new flavor around it, or try something like a new coffee drink and decided to turn that flavor profile into a cookie or brownie. I went to school to be an artist and while ultimately thats not where I ended up, I still look at creating my cookies and brownies as just another art form.

The biggest thing that I am most proud of would have to be that I just don’t give up. One of my favorite quotes I ever heard is that I don’t give up, I either get what I want or I change my mind. And that is pretty much been my approach with Mad Batter since day one. I’m going to make this work no matter what. And it definitely has not been easy, between the pandemic and losing my dad a few years ago, there were definitely times I thought this was pointless and it’s not going to go anywhere. But, I am so confident in the product I produce and I have the absolute most amazing support system between my mom and friends, that I know I’m going to make Mad Batter into something big or I’m gonna change my mind about it, but I’m too stubborn to just give up on that. And I can’t help be proud of my stubborn determination.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

I haven’t quite been able to transition Mad Batter into my main/full time business yet, but I am hopeful that is the road I am on. I have a plan that within the next 2-3 years this will be my full time career that will include a brick and mortar store front, and when I think about how I started almost 6 years ago, and the leaps and bounds I have made in just the last two years. I can definitely see that happening.

I started Mad Batter in December of 2017. Before I got started I had recently discovered pinterest and would spend hours looking at all the different cookie recipes they had. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good chocolate chip cookie, but I was so bored making the same basic cookie recipes all the time, I had done a little experimenting, but I hadn’t realized just how out there you go with ingredients and different flavors. So I would scour pinterest for ideas, adapt what I found into my own unique recipe, and then eventually just took off from creating my own out there ideas, and then I would bring my creations to my coworkers to test out. One of them said I should start a cookie business, and I ran with that idea.

I will never forget my first Christmas being in business I got nine orders from coworkers and was in complete shock and amazement that people thought my cookies were good enough to buy them. I was so excited for those first nine orders and will cherish them forever.

I continued to grow from there, every Christmas my order total kept getting bigger. Then I would start getting more orders through out the year and not just at Christmas. Then I was able to start my website and the first time I got an out of state order was the best feeling. I loved getting orders from friends, family, and coworkers, but getting that first order from someone that had never met me or tried my cookies before, was so validating. Of course I knew that the people around me weren’t just ordering from me to be nice, but I think that first out of state order made me feel, like I was real business for the first time.

My biggest milestone would have to be when I started doing small business markets in February of 2022. I think that is when Mad Batter really became a legit business in my brain that I could actually turn into something other than a side-hustle, and we’ve just exploded from there, because of the markets, Mad Batter is now sold out of a Coral Springs local bath and body shop called Karma Bath Co. And as I have continued to do the markets, my clientele and following continued to grow as well. It’s such an amazing feeling when a customer would come up to me at a market and tell me they’d been following me on instagram and were so excited the could finally try my cookies, or when I get a repeat customer that is excited to get more cookies. It’s a feeling I can’t even put into words, but it makes me feel like I am doing something right and that eventually I will get this to be my main career.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

I did not come into all this with a business mind. I just wanted to make a quality and delicious product that I could share with people. So, I definitely never had genius strategy planned for building my clientele. But, I think the cookies and now brownies I have added, have been my most effective strategy for building my clientele.

I work really hard to put out a quality product and I think ultimately that speaks for itself and that is what has helped me to get the following and clientele that I have and to continue to grow it. People know that they are going to get a delicious cookie or brownie every time.

I also think that being as approachable and accommodating as possible as helped me to grow my clientele. I always want my customers to feel like they can come to me for anything, if they want to create a custom order, if they need me to meet a specific dietary restriction or accommodation, if I can get a last minute order for them. I always tell my customers if I can find the ingredient I will always meet any dietary need or restriction at no extra cost and if I can make custom or last minute orders happen I will always do what I can. And I think my clientele as really grown to appreciate that.

Contact Info:

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