We were lucky to catch up with Ashley Spivey recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ashley, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

From 2019 to 2021 I was still working for a large tech company as a Project Manager. I knew it wasn’t where I wanted to be. Mr. Claus™ and I talked everything over and in early 2021 I quit my Project Manager position after working there for 4 years. It was scary and everyone always tells you to take a leap of faith, but that is easier said than done. We are a blended family of 6 and going from a 2 income household to just 1 knowing we were going to need to invest additional money into the business to grow it, was absolutely terrifying. However, with the love and support of Mr. Claus™, family and some close friends we were able to get to where we are today, owning our first brick and mortar and planning on one day building a castle that will house a Christmas wonderland.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

For as long as I can remember, I have had a love for Christmas and everything that it’s about. The lights, the decorations, the family and encompassing love and warmth that it represents.

When I met my husband in 2017, we talked about all of our dreams and he had this dream about creating a Christmas wonderland, what are the odds that two people who both love Christmas would come together?! We toyed with the idea for a couple of years, and finally in 2019 as we were about to celebrate our first year of marriage, we made the leap and created Mrs. Claus™ Cookie Company LLC deep in the heart of Texas.

The point of Mrs. Claus™ Cookie Company is to not just sell cookies, we want to give people a Christmas experience year round when they visit us and we want to showcase Mrs. Claus™ since she is a very undervalued asset to Christmas in today’s society as she is typically seen with Santa.

We started out at a local market called Sugar Land Holiday Lights, then when we tried to do an official launch in 2020 and Covid happened. We launched our website at this time as well and had some E-commerce going. We did what we could and participated in numerous shows, farmers markets and even had booths in a couple of Painted Tree locations.

In 2021 we obtained a brick and mortar location in the historic district of Rosenberg, Texas where we are about to celebrate our 1 year anniversary at that location in November and our 3 year anniversary in business in October! The store has taken a lot of hard work and our own funding, but we are proud of the work we have accomplished thus far.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Consistency, great tasting product and most of all being kind to everyone we meet! One of the first things out of our customer’s mouths when recommending us is “they are such nice people”. We believe that people are worth the investment and we love spreading smiles and cheer.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Our friends over at IDealogic® gave Mr. Claus and I a recommendation recently about a book that we should read called the The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It written by Michael E. Gerber.

This book has totally transformed our way of looking at our business and it has given us the reassurance and validation we have been looking for to bring this company to the global empire we want it to be. If you are a small business owner, I highly recommend that you read this book because we all get stuck in a rut now and then and this book is such an eye opener!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mrsclaustreats.com
• Instagram: @mrsclauscookieco
• Facebook: @mrsclauscookiecompany
• Linkedin: Mrs. Claus Cookie Company LLC
• Twitter: @mrsclauscookiec
• Youtube: Mrs. Claus Cookie Company