We were lucky to catch up with Autumn Kanistras Kate Healey recently and have shared our conversation below.

Autumn Kanistras , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?

Covid – When the world shut down….our business absolutely could have too. All events were canceled – and we were flooded with cookie order cancellations. Autumn had resigned from teaching a few years before, and Kate had just resigned after having her third baby about 3 weeks before the world shut down. We knew we couldn’t let our business fold – there had to be a way.

So we rolled with it – talked with our customers – chatted with others in similar businesses – and adapted. We got creative and took some risks! We learned that people still wanted to celebrate, to share joy and just smile, so we created cookie boxes that we hand delivered to doorsteps. We delivered to teachers, kiddos birthdays, moms on mothers day, and some “just because” to make others smile. We created a “share the love” ordering option where for every cookie ordered we would match and deliver to an essential worker! By doing this our relationships with our customers became stronger and our clientele actually grew!

We ended up having our best business year to date in 2020. And learned some big lessons. We had the dream-still do, of a cookie truck. We bought the truck during Covid and during restoration work, parts started becoming scarce and more expensive so we had to shelve that plan for now. Being an entrepreneur is a lot like being a mom – what worked yesterday might not work today. Thinking outside the box will always help you stay ahead and going the extra mile, showing you care, and following through is the best way to grow. Thinking out of the box also allows us to stay challenged and keep cookies fun for us!

Autumn Kanistras , 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?

This business came about when 2 teacher moms & friends were craving something more, something different, a space where they could create and not feel so burnt out by the crazy expectations placed on teachers – and just maybe a way to be home with their boys more and get out of the teaching grind. Autumn has always had the dream of owning her own business and store!

We make custom cookies for all occasions – the yummy thick, soft butter cookie with a sweet royal icing on top. Hand decorated and painted – and can make just about anything! We take pride in the fact that our cookies taste just as good as look – and want to continue to set ourselves apart in that way!

This business didn’t start as a business – but rather a hobby. Autumn started making cookies in 2007 right after her youngest son was born and party planning, especially their birthday party’s was her superpower. She even had a party planning blog with her best friends college roommate. Being a stay at home mom at the time and lots of Food Network she started making cookies for friends and family using her tried and tested very specific recipe. Fast Forward, in 2010 her youngest son suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury and Craniotomy. At her close friend, Robyn Ungaros urging and encouragement she created “Mama K’s Cookies”-named by Robyn to keep sane during her sons recovery. Fast forward even more, Autumn went back to teaching, her friend Robyn passed away from breast cancer and she met Kate! When we say it was meant to be it was meant to be! Before Autumn ended up making cookies for Kate’s baby shower, it was like fate was putting us together at the right time! Autumns very first teaching job back after teaching for 15 years then being a stay home was for Kate, then we both were in NYC at the same time and ran into each other twice, twice! Never planned, we had never even had a full conversation at that point! Kate grew up decorating cakes with her mom just for fun and was always fascinated by the baking space. So after trying the delicious baby shower cookies, she asked Autumn if she could share her recipe to give it a shot herself! After MULTIPLE runny, messy cookies and calls between the two, Kate finally got the hang of it and, thanks to the push by some amazing friends and family – decided to start their cookie instagram and sell their cookies – and 2 Smart Cookies was born in 2016.

Fast forward through so many lessons, moves, messy kitchens, new equipment, events, more lessons learned, the pandemic, learning how to create websites and work social media, Autumn’s 2 boys (16 & 17) and Kate’s 3 boys (3, 7, & 10) growing up together, here we are in 2023! Both have been able to resign from teaching and being “cookers” is now their full time job.

While it’s not all sunshine and rainbows, we absolutely love what we do. We’ve found that a good partnership is made when one person’s weakness is the other’s strength and that’s how we have been able to build this business through the good and the bad times – and continue to grow through 2023.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When we first started we saw this dream – veryyyyy far away but entrepreneurs are dreamers – of owning our own bakery. I mean how amazing would that be…that’s what everyone would want right?

But then as we realized the busy lives of 2 moms, with 2 husbands that work long hours (Autumn’s husband is a construction business owner and Kate’s is a firefighter), just didn’t match up with owning a brick and mortar. As Autumn’s kids are in the midst of college planning and about to fly the nest it brings up all sorts of cookie possibilities. We learned to pivot that dream, and be ok with the way we were able to work whenever we wanted (Autumn is an early morning girl and Kate is a night owl!) We actually fell in love with the fact that we can take time off whenever we need to and not have the pressure of rent or daily shop hours.

While a bakery is still a possibility – we’ve learned over the years to love and appreciate the season that we are in. It helps prevent burnout, allows us to be present with our kids, and still own a thriving cookie business!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The hustle and grind is the only way to make it as an entrepreneur ….

This was a tough one that I feel like everyone has to go through. In our first few years we said yes to everyone! Every order, event, everything. We didn’t even know what to charge at the beginning (and we big time undersold ourselves – another lesson learned – what one person says is too expensive 10 more will gladly pay CHARGE WHAT IT IS WORTH!) but we went for it. Well the late nights and early mornings – all while we were still teaching and momming – got old real quick and the burnout was REAL.

We learned that there’s a time for hustle and a time for rest. Most importantly we’ve learned to say NO! No is an empowering word! Saying no to orders or business situations that might not have had our best interest in mind and saying no to social and personal events that we have missed out on because our family and selves came first. We’ve found certain weeks in our calendar year to take off – just before burnout hits – to reset and come back with a better mindset, remembering why we love what we do.

Contact Info:

• Website: 2smartcookiesfl.weebly.com
• Instagram: 2.smart.cookies.fl
• Facebook: 2 Smart Cookies

Image Credits
The one of us as our personal photo is credited as Rooted Love Photography