We were lucky to catch up with Heather Ruth recently and have shared our conversation below.

Heather, appreciate you joining us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

In December 2021, our son Rowan was born. He was everything we ever dreamed he’d be and more. We were quickly and utterly obsessed with his every little detail. All we wanted to do was be with him. Soak in his tiny features. Learn his cues. Stare at his sweetness. Even sleep deprived, we were the happiest we’d ever been as a family of three.

And then my husband’s (pathetic) one week paternity leave ended.

So he used up his (also pathetic) two weeks of vacation immediately following, buying us a bit more time together – knowing any future illness, emergency or vacation was now impossible to manage, but accepting the future stress and defeat for the current bliss of togetherness.

Until we asked ourselves…why?

Why are we doing this?

Why are we working like crazy to barely afford someone else caring for our kids? Why are we clinging to the tiniest fleeting moments to get us through the next rush hour? Why do we wake up, spend 20 minutes with our son while rushing through the morning motions (did we pack him enough baby food options today? What about a change of clothes? Plenty of diapers? Am I really ready for this work presentation at 11? Did I pack my lunch last night? The gas tank is on E. I need to place a grocery order. There’s a wreck on 75. Don’t forget an umbrella. Oh no, does he have a fever?) – only to get home, have an hour with him for dinner + bath time + bed time routine…and do it all again the next day.

We did it for his entire first year of life. And then we decided…absolutely not.

So, we started our small business dream in November 2022. My husband quit his job that very next month. A full time baker and dad.

People thought we were insane.

We totally were.

But we were confidently insane. Happily insane. Radiantly insane.

Fast forward to today – August 2025. We have another little love, Rosie, who is turning two next month. We’ve spent every single day of her little life by her side. Rowan turns four this September. He doesn’t remember a day away from us, either. Next month, I’ll also celebrate one year of being a full-time mom and business owner alongside my husband, as we now both have taken the full leap into entrepreneurship – together. Mom and dad. Husband and wife. Co-owners of Triple R Cookie Jar (we have a dream for one more tiny R in our future).

We risked everything to give our kids a childhood to remember that we’ll remember, too. And the rewards have been sweeter than our sweetest dreams.

We were doubted. Called crazy at least 100 times. Terrified. And we did it anyway.

And now we’re busier than ever, but always together. That’s the real flex, in our opinion. Not money. Time.

Heather, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My husband, Dillon Ruth, is our baker.

I (Heather Ruth) am our everything-elser.

Dillon has a passion for cooking and tweaked a family recipe to create the best cookie in the world (it’s a fact for us, okay?). He made these cookies for friends and family for years and after enough people told us we could sell them, we decided we would.

We did research to get our home-based processor license – a great way for local bakers to get their bakery off the ground without a lot of leg work. We used our home kitchen and realized with our rapid growing popularity that our set up wasn’t going to cut it if we wanted to grow enough to both be full-timers.

We connected with our local health department and county officials to learn what was required to build a commercial kitchen in our home – and actually moved in January 2024 to make that dream our reality.

As a home-based processor, there are several limiting rules. No shipping, an income threshold, only direct to consumer sales, no crossing of state lines – the list goes on.

Now, we’re a fully licensed food service establishment, routinely inspected by the health department. We can take advantage of many of the same opportunities as if we owned a retail location, without the constant time away from our kids and the insane overhead costs. We use premium ingredients and make every single one of our cookies by hand. Our product is superior because we handle it with superior care – and we genuinely want people to love every bite, every time.

We’re have nearly ten amazing local businesses who sell our cookies at their premium locations. We have thousands of incredible customers in our community. We’ve sold over 30,000 cookies halfway through just this year – and we haven’t even hit our busy season.

The numbers are great. The income replacement of two full time jobs in Corporate America makes us proud. But we’re most proud of the message we anchor to and spread as often as we can.

Kindness and family. Always and first. We give back to our community, we stress the importance of mental health and treating people with love and light. We do all we can to spread good in a world where bad can be everywhere you look.

We’re encouraging a generation who wants more out of life than the 9-5 “mandatory 100% in-office mandates” (insert major eye roll) could ever provide. We’re building a community who believes in others dreams and who values collaboration over competition. We’re making it okay to say, “I want to lean into parenthood.’ without fearing judgment or lack of motivation. We’re inspiring people to go after their own dreams – even when they feel crazy and out of reach, because ours did once, too.
We’re refusing to accept “That’s just the way it’s always been and is.” narrative around work life balance. We’re speaking out about flexibility in the workplace, about companies doing better, about women deserving more in the workforce – and more.

We should all be able to feel like we can be great mothers and fathers AND have a great career. We shouldn’t have to choose. And we hope the more people who speak loudly in our generation about the changes that are so needed – the more chances our children have to live a fuller life. One where they don’t have to choose. One where people realize life and family should be prioritized always – not being the first one in and last one to leave a sterile office with free pizza Fridays once a month that’s supposed to inspire us all to spend hundreds of hours away from my family a month.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I met my current co-owner and business partner because I fell in love with him and married him. :) Somebody call HR!

They say you shouldn’t mix personal and business – and we think that’s bogus. It’s all the same around here, and it’s giving us the life we always dreamed of.

Marriage can be hard, duh – so when your partner is also your business partner, it presents its challenges. But aren’t there challenges with every coworker? We’ve all had a coworker we couldn’t stand, a boss who didn’t know what they were doing, a leader who didn’t care. Wouldn’t you rather that coworker be someone you picked – someone you know you care about – someone you know has all the same things to lose as you – someone you know is genuine and cares as deeply as you do about the results?

Raising babies and building a business with the love of my life is a 10/10. Highly recommend. We drive each other crazy some days but every day we know we’re on the same team. We’re building a life we know we’ll look back on without regret. We’re soaking in memories with our children every single day instead of missing them for a meeting that could’ve been an email. It’s everything and more.

Our advice for two partners who have interest in being entrepreneurs together: You build your whole life with this person. Don’t be afraid to build a business with them, too.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

As much as we couldn’t stand our 9-5’s, that’s how we were able to stay afloat until our business income could sustain us entirely. We worked tirelessly.

For a couple years – my schedule was nonstop. I’d wake at 4am, workout at 5am, come home, wrap cookies, transition to my corporate job from 8am-5pm, get off work, soak in every second I could with my kids until bedtime, do more cookie business work, sleep for a few hours, repeat. All while Dillon spent every day all day being a full time dad (very much a full time job, as well) and then would transition to baking after they went to sleep – often at the oven until 2a.m so that I could wake at 4 and takeover.

We did it tired. Did it unmotivated. Did it scared. Did it frustrated. But we always got it done. We never missed a deadline – for our small business or regular jobs. We have time freedom now but it’s because we sacrificed a lot of it then. We saved and sold and saved and sold. We saw the light and trusted the vision and knew it would be worth it if we just kept going. I’m so glad we did.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.triplercookiejar.com
• Instagram: triple_r_cookiejar
• Facebook: Triple R Cookie Jar
• Other: Google – Triple R Cookie Jar – lots of great reviews :)