We were lucky to catch up with Chelsea Ramirez recently and have shared our conversation below.

Chelsea, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you walk us through some of the key steps that allowed you move beyond an idea and actually launch?

I started off as a Cake Decorator in La Habra, California. While working there, i was asked to decorate a sugar cookie (which I’d never done before). It wasn’t the best looking set of cookies but let me tell you, it sparked something and I wanted to know all that there was to know about it. As you can imagine, i went down the rabbit hole of watching cookie decorating videos and taught myself how to decorate cookies by practicing different techniques everyday. Once i gained some confidence in my decorating, my position at the bakery changed from Cake Decorator to ‘Cookier’ as the bakery started to get a lot of cookie requests. I created an account on Instagram a few years ago and started posting Cookies that i would make at home, and people began messaging me asking if i sold cookies and if i would be up for creating a set for their Engagement parties, Baby showers, Birthdays, etc. This was SUPER exciting and made me ponder the idea of creating Custom Cookies as a little “side hustle”. This became a regular thing and i became very busy with orders. Around this time my second Daughter was born and my Husband Deployed overseas (for a year) just two weeks after she was born. I became a Stay-at-home Mom and became even more busy with Cookie order requests.
At This point i have been making Custom Cookies from home for a couple years now and i STILL get so excited that people come to me and request that I create something for them. There is something special about the Desserts at all of the different occasions. I remember being so excited when i was little over seeing my Birthday cake with my name on it, decorated in my favorite colors/favorite toy/movie etc. And now i get to bring that feeling to life for others through cookies.
When my Husband returned from that deployment we left Southern California and relocated here to Fuquay Varina. Upon relocating a local ‘from home’ business you are pretty much starting from scratch with licensing, and clientele. I did some research to find out who to contact, regarding selling from your Home in North Carolina and learned that the first steps you need to take are to have your home inspected by NCDOA, as well to file your business with NCDOR. I was approved by the NCDOA and registered my business “Familiar Cookie Co.’ .
I was now legally able to sell Cookies out of my home! The first step I took upon being approved was really think about what having my own brand/company would look like to ME, from communication to quality of ingredients, to quality of skill, to packaging and hand off. Then, i was ON MY WAY and started my first couple months making cookies for neighbors and joining local Facebook groups to Network. From Facebook, I would learn about markets popping up and would apply to them. I’ve had the chance to be a Vendor at a few different Markets and got to meet a lot of people in the area. From there it was positive word of mouth (which is the best form of advertisement for a business) and my little Cookie business started to take off.
My goal is and always has been, to deliver the highest quality product made with all the love and care as if they were made for my Family.

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?

Hi there! My name is Chelsea Ramirez, and I am a “Cookier” located in Fuquay Varina. I decided to enter the Culinary Industry in 2012 and Graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in 2014 and received a degree in Patisserie and Baking. I create Custom decorated Sugar cookies for all occasions.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I feel as though that came from keeping my work and dedication to my “brand” consistent!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding thing for me is getting to be a part of peoples special day, AND getting to see their reaction when they first see their order.

Contact Info:

• Website: HTTPS://FAMILIARCOOKIECO.WIXSITE.COM/FAMILIARCOOKIECO
• Instagram: INSTAGRAM.COM/FAMILIAR_COOKIECO
• Facebook: FACEBOOK.COM/FAMILIARCOOKIECO