Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Deirdra Tomasso. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Deirdra thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.
I was raised primarily by my father who had an extremely strong work ethic. Coming from a family of Italian Immigrants, he got this work ethic from his father who had an Italian Market in New York, where my father and my two uncles had to work growing up. In addition to having a strong work ethic, he always stressed to me that whether I succeeded or failed, in anything, all that mattered was that I did my very best and I didn’t give up.
I had a rocky start as a young adult, but at some point found myself with a real job in the real world, and I worked…hard. I always did my best, and it moved me up the corporate ladder over the years. I love the corporate world. I love the M-F 9-5 life. I love my job, but something was missing.
One day, about a year and a half ago, I saw a decorated sugar cookie and decided I wanted to learn how to make them. Like I do with everything I set my mind to, thanks to my dad, I dove right into it with everything I had. Every single weekend, for MONTHS, all I did was bake and decorate cookies. I tried all different techniques, and there were a lot of tears along the way, but, like my dad drilled into me as a kid, I just kept going. To be honest, there are still tears today when I have an order that is very important to me and the cookies aren’t as perfect as I’d like them to be, but I’m still here. I keep going.
About 6 months into my journey, people started asking if they could order them from me. I knew they couldn’t, because I wasn’t licensed, so I gave a lot of product away. It wasn’t a big deal because, for me, it was a hobby. Eventually, however, when my family and work colleagues were sick of eating cookies, I thought getting licensed would allow me to continue doing them, without throwing them away afterwards. Afterall, that’s wasteful and my father and grandfather would not approve. So, licensed I got!
I’ve been selling my cookies for about 5 months now and it’s astounding to me the demand that is out there for these little pieces of art. I had no idea, when I started this journey, that I’d end up here. Making cookies for every occasion you can think of: Super Bowls, baby showers, corporate events, birthdays, music tours, and every holiday under the sun. I even have a standing order from a bakery for cookies for every major holiday and I will be teaching my first class next month. I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish any of this if it wasn’t for my dad teaching me, by example, that hard work pays off – whether monetarily or by way of personal satisfaction.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
So, I think I covered how I got into this in my previous answer, but I can certainly elaborate on how I serve my clients in a way that I think is unique to others in this space. Decorating cookies was not enough from the very beginning. I’m a foodie by nature, and vanilla, while delicious, is boring. I wanted flavors that represented my pallate and now that are relevant to my customers.
I offer a variety of flavors for both the cookies and the royal icing. Some of my more unique and very popular flavors are black cocoa chocolate (think the dark part of an oreo), Mexican Hot Chocolate (which has a kick of heat on the finish), horchata, salted caramel, brown butter madagascar bourbon vanilla, buttered popcorn, and the ever popular birthday cake.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
It truly is making clients happy. When they love what I’ve created for them, there’s no amount of payment that makes me feel better than hearing them tell me so. I have a job that pays the bills, so this business, while definitely profitable, still feels like a hobby that I get to share with the world…or at least with southern California.
Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?
This is a great question!
A little backstory: My youngest is a musician. Since he was 6 years old, he’s had a guitar in his hands. He plays multiple instruments, but the guitar was his first love and with which he now makes his money. It wasn’t always this way. I told him that I support him in his music but that until it paid the bills he needed to keep his regular job. A regular job that afforded him the ability to purchase more instruments and equipment to help him further hone his craft. Eventually, music started paying the bills and he was able to quit his job but, to this day, credits it with being able to get to where he is now.
My story is similar in that my day job afforded me the means to get my license and purchase items that help me make my cookies beautiful in a timlier manner and more easily (like a dehydrator and a projector). I was able to purchase tents and tables and decor for my Farmer’s Market booth, as well. All things that brought me more clients as time went on. These days, the money I make from cookies goes into its own account and that is the money I spend on necessities to keep the business going.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Wildflour_Cookie_Company
