We recently connected with Kelly Becker and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kelly thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.

I had been making cookies pretty much to take picture of, then I would give them to family and friends to spread the word. My brother in law placed my first paid order. His law firm had a baby shower for him and my sister, so he wanted thank you for throwing the baby shower cookies with his firm’s name written on some cookies. It is funny to think back to how scared I was that the cookies weren’t going to be good enough. My sister called that night and told me everyone raved about how good the cookies were. It really took off from there. I got my Cottage Foods license and posted on Facebook and started a instagram page that I was ready to take orders. I will still look back at pictures from my first year in 2017 and admire how far I have come.

Kelly, 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?

I once had a client send me a video of her daughter seeing her Beauty and the Beast themed cookies for birthday, her eyes lit up and she was so excited. I texted back telling her that the video beyond made my day!
My name is Kelly Becker and I make decorated sugar cookies. I was not lying when I said that video made my day. I find so much joy in knowing that I brought a smile or excitement to anyone who gets to enjoy my cookies.
My days are filled with being a partner to my husband (Cory) and mom to my three boys, Dempsey (9), Dom (7), and Tyson (1). Dempsey was born prematurely. He suffered from loss of oxygen at birth which lead to many more diagnosis and needs. Some of these include: Cerebral Palsy, seizures, vision impairment, feeding tube, non verbal and he is a person who uses a wheelchair. It took us two years, plenty of surgeries, illnesses, hospital stays and the never ending doctors/therapy appointments to really settle into our new normal. As we settled, it became abundently clear that I was not going to be able to go back to work as a teacher.
My aunt lives down in Iowa and had been making these really good looking decorated sugar cookies. When she came up for a visit she taught me the basics and I ran with it from there. I started playing around with designs and learning everything I could from other “cookiers” on Instagram. I would share pictures and send them with family members to dinners or parties and soon enough people wanted to purchase them. My friend very quickly came up with my business name, Cute and Delish by Kel. I loved it immediately because that’s what my cookies are Cute and Delish!
I was loving having something for me again. This was a perfect creative outlet that felt therapeutic that I could work on while Dempsey napped. As my cookie cutter collection grew, so did my decorating skills. With the power of word of mouth and social media the buzz really started to grow, so I got my Cottage Food License and started selling my cookies to everyone local.
I work closely with clients to bring their ideas to life. I have built so much trust with clients that sometimes they will just tell me to go for it. The best complement I can get is that they trust me. Getting to show my creative side through doing what I love is the best part about my job.
Custom cookies are so perfect for any event, because you can personalize them for anything. Baby showers, birthdays and weddings are always a hit, but I love when people want cookies for everyday events too like book club or girls night. A couple favorites have been the women that need cookies to celebrate a husband’s vasectomy and folks who needed cookies for a weekend at the lake and asked for cookies in the shape of the lake they vacation on. I can make the cookies look however the client wants (within reason), so the sky is truly the limit. One of my best clients is in theater and for every she show she’s in she’ll order cookies for her cast to represent the play. They are always very creative, unique and so fun to make.
Another important part of this venture that brings me a lot joy and is donating a portion of my proceeds to places that help kids with cerebral palsy. I have donated to places like Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Center. Dempsey used to go there for physical, speech, and occupational therapy. We loved it so much, so that made it super fun to give back. We have also been donating to Crescent Cove Respite Center for kids like Dempsey or who have terminal illnesses. We hope to someday take Dempsey to Crescent Cove. Lastly we have donated to Glen Lake Elementary playground. Dempsey and I have been on the news a few times now to talk about inclusive playgrounds. His school recently raised enough money to put in a brand new playground at their school so he and his classmates can play with their peers.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I believe my reputation is best described as consistent, responsive and easy going.
I know I have a good product. My cookies are some of the best cookies I have ever tasted. I like to bet that most people will say the same, as long as they like almond. I carry a lot of pride in my work and I know it shows. Having consistent return customers as well as new ones through word of mouth confirms my reputation.
Along with having a great product, I pride myself on communication. I do my absolute best to be responsive in a very timely matter. Most communication happens in email or DM’s. I want to make it easy for clients and efficient for myself.
Lastly, I like to say I’m easy going. Cookies really are therapeutic to me. I enjoy making them and always with the goal to wow anyone who will see and taste them. I can visualize in my head the set I want to create once he details are finalized. The positive feedback from clients also lets me know how much they appreciate my skills.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

When it comes to donations, specifically donating cookies for an event, it is a gamble if it will pay off for getting new business. In 2019 I was asked by a client if I would donate 500 cookies to an event for Minnesota Twin’s Hall of Fame Catcher, Joe Mauer, called “Mauer and Friends Kids Classic”. This event benefits Gillette Childrens Specialty Healthcare, so my answer was easy because my son Dempsey has several doctors who work with him at Gillette. The process to make 500 cookies was sometimes very overwhelming, but breaking into steps, getting all my baking done a month ahead of time and freezing the cookies set me up mentally to take on the decorating stage. Once I was ready to ice and decorate I worked on 100 at a time, which made it way more manageable. Most importantly I had help from my husband and family with the kids. I was able to get all 502, just to be safe, done and boxed up for the big event. Dempsey, Cory and I all got to attend the event and we had the best day! They gave Cute and Delish a shout out as they were going through presenters, so I was excited as to what this could mean for new business. As the event ended I was still on cloud nine, thinking how cool it was to see my name on the score board the Twins Stadium and on all the flyers. Dempsey enjoyed the whole day too and it was a great family outing. I got two new followers on instagram and zero orders from anyone who had the cookie at the event. I was felling kind of bummed until I remembered the main reason I said yes to this donation order was because Gillette directly benefits my son via the amazing work their doctors do. Plus seeing people eat AND enjoy my cookies is always super rewarding.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cuteanddelishbykel.com
• Instagram: @cuteanddelishbykel
• Facebook: @cuteanddelishbykel