We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Marianne Martin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Marianne, appreciate you joining us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken to sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

This question comes up a lot for me. As a stay at home parent, there is so much appeal to being out in the workforce and communicating with other like-minded adults. At the same time, you have to consider the cost of childcare, time off and making your own schedule.

The last time this thought popped into my head, it was December. I was swamped in cookies, as tired as I’ve ever been and questioning why in the world I was subjecting myself to this workload. The thoughts of being able to clock out are suddenly very desirable.

After a few hours of sleep, I had a bit more clarity and forced myself to realize the overwhelming workload I was frustrated with was my own doing!

There’s a delicate balance of feeling productive and doing what’s best for yourself and your family.

I decided what’s best for me is staying home with my kids until they’re in full time school and creating a work structure that doesn’t overwhelm my free time.

I do very much enjoy being a business owner. It allows me to be a part of my community while simultaneously creating my own.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Hey y’all! My name is Marianne. The owner and operator of my one-mom custom cookie shop Nordeast Cookie Co. I began my baking journey young. Box mixes and easy bake ovens really catapulted my interest in not only baking but the science behind it. In 2005 I walked into a franchise cookie shop to place an order for a business anniversary and I left with an application.
I worked at that little cookie shop almost 5 years and in that time I began attending culinary school with a focus on pastries. Within 2 years of schooling, I was offered a job at a local cupcake shop with the esteemed title of Head Baker. I left school to pursue the self-taught road.
My head baking position led me to 4 episodes of a reality baking competition show on the Food Network called Cupcake Wars. From there I went on to open my own warehouse bakery with Costco in Lincoln, NE.
Fast forward to winter of 2019. I had left my career, moved two states and landed in Minneapolis with our 9 month old twins. I was bored.
While the kids napped I baked. The pandemic helped me to really ease into the business. Just as I was starting up, the world was shutting down. I was able to do orders here and there for people that wanted doorstep gifts.
I gradually started up my Instagram and only this last year, 2022, made a website.

When deciding on my business name I wanted to be sure to include a local history element in my name so it would be easy to identify where I was located-Northeast Minneapolis. I originally landed on Nordeast Sweets but changed it within the year so it was clear I only offered one sweet treat variety.

I believe my branding sets me apart by being black/grey color schemed. Most people don’t associate bakeries with the color black but pastels and bright colors don’t fit my vibe. Being true to myself in branding helps keep me focused on being true to myself in all areas of business.

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

Coming from managing a warehouse bakery, I had production ingrained in me. It’s not at all a bad thing so long as you have the time and manpower to facilitate it.

I had to unlearn volume. It may seem counter intuitive but being a solo venture and only part-time at night I really had to keep learning the hard way and scaling back from there.

It was a long, tired road balancing sleep with cookie output. It is still a struggle today, especially when planning product for markets. I have a tendency to make more than I need because it’s efficient I’m a productivity sense, but highly wasteful otherwise.

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

Oh my goodness, pivoting all the time! I never saw myself as a stay at home parent. That transition was HARD and I had to pivot from social, work -oriented career woman to isolated poop -oriented mother.

Once I thought had that down(which you never really do) we moved to a new city which is a life pivot itself.

But even now, today, I find myself pivoting from everyday custom cookie orders to large corporate orders, private decorating parties, selling edible images and printing cookie cutters because the cost of ingredients are so high and the process to design, bake and decorate small orders is so very time consuming.

Contact Info:

• Website: nordeastcookieco.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/nordeastcookieco
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/nordeastcookieco
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/nordeastcookieco
• Yelp: Nordeastcookieco

Image Credits
Sydnee Bickett Photography