We recently connected with Mary Katherine Mason-Alston and have shared our conversation below.
Mary Katherine, appreciate you joining us today. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.
How did I scale up?
Step by step — and by never biting off more than I could chew.
I started out of my house, baking in my own kitchen and buying packaging in quantities I could both afford and store. When the time came to move into a commercial kitchen, I found one close to home with an affordable rate. By using their licensed facility, I was able to legally sell my product wholesale.
From there, I moved into a small 500-square-foot shop right in the heart of our historic downtown — the perfect location. Could I have leased a larger space? Sure. But I’ll be honest: I didn’t fully know what I was doing yet, and I wasn’t willing to overextend myself. I chose a space I could comfortably afford. End of story.
I’m also not comfortable paying interest. Instead of taking out a business loan with a high APR, I found a credit card offering one year of interest-free payments plus cash back. I purchased my equipment on that card and made it my mission to pay it off within that year. And I did — without paying a single cent in interest.
I’ve seen too many people overextend themselves, drown in debt, and ultimately tank their businesses. Failure isn’t an option for me, so I make decisions accordingly.
Once we were in our brick-and-mortar shop, I could purchase packaging and ingredients in larger quantities and store them onsite — hundreds of pounds of staples like sugar, butter, and flour.
And let me tell you: packaging is everything.
As a small business owner who initially knew nothing about sourcing or designing custom packaging, this was a major hurdle. We used to buy kraft stand-up pouches in bulk, then order separate front labels, back labels, and flavor labels — printing and cutting them ourselves before applying every single one by hand. It was a massive time drain.
At the time, I was so busy running every other aspect of the business that upgrading packaging wasn’t a priority — until it became one.
By then, I had hired help and could finally focus on this “back-burner” project. Finding a designer felt overwhelming. I searched online, vetted who I thought were credible designers, and after a long and frustrating process, I ended up designing all 13 bags myself.
It took over a year to complete — and during that time, we welcomed baby number three, Macy Knox, which made the process even more challenging! On top of that, I dealt with constant minor errors from the overseas manufacturer — mostly tiny typos that required revisions.
But let me tell you — I absolutely love our new packaging.
Not only does it look more professional, it eliminated a huge time suck and significantly improved our productivity. It also solved practical problems we had with the old packaging. For example, we switched from outer kraft paper to mylar. I loved the look of kraft, but butter smudges would show up all over it. Switching materials made a big difference. Even something as simple as rounding the corners instead of leaving them sharp and pointy elevated the final product.
Who thinks about details like that? A business owner does.
Scaling isn’t about giant leaps. It’s about thoughtful, incremental improvements that make you more efficient and more profitable. When you increase productivity, you save time and money — and that allows you to invest in the next upgrade, whether it’s a larger oven, a better mixer, or expanded production capacity.
That’s how I scaled: intentionally, strategically, and one manageable step at a time.
Mary Katherine, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
-Lanky Lassie’s Background & Story
Mary Katherine Mason is a Florida native, born and raised in Dade City. She’s a graduate of Zephyrhills High School, holds a BA from the University of South Florida, and is a service-disabled U.S. Marine Corps veteran (2002–2008). She lives in Dade City with her husband, Leland, and their three children, Ella, Phen, and Macy. She also sings in the Sweet Adelines quartet, Speakeasy.
Standing just shy of six feet tall, MK has always stood out in a crowd. In 2011, after winning a shortbread competition at the Highland Games—and hearing plenty of jokes about how someone so tall could win the “short”-bread competition—she leaned into the irony and created Lanky Lassie’s Shortbread, complete with the tagline: *“Long Legs. Short Bread.”*
What began as a passion project became a full-time business in 2020 after COVID-19 ended her 13-year corporate hospitality career. From baking in her home kitchen to opening a brick-and-mortar shop in historic downtown Dade City, MK has grown Lanky Lassie’s into a nationally loved brand. Today, she continues sharing her family recipe across the country—spreading comfort, tradition, and a little buttery joy with every bite.
-The Discipline Behind the Brand
My discipline comes from many places: the way my parents raised me, years of athletics from elementary school through college, the Marine Corps, strong mentors and bosses, and life experience itself—failing, succeeding, and figuring out what works and what doesn’t.
-What We Offer
Simply put, we supply our customers with what we believe is the World’s Best Shortbread Cookie.
We offer a variety of flavors, though my Great Grandma Murray’s Original recipe remains our #1 bestseller. Our products come in several sizes, including individually wrapped 3oz cookies we call *Smidgen Lassies*, 1lb bags, and 3lb tins.
We specialize in gifts people actually want to receive. We also offer custom made-to-order options, where customers can design their own flavor. We’ll bake it fresh and ship it straight to their door, including gluten-free options.
-The Problems We Solve
We provide customers with a high-quality gift that tastes unlike any shortbread they’ve had before. For businesses, we offer a premium, memorable gift to impress clients. For friends and families, we create something meaningful that loved ones will ask for again and again.
Our shortbread also makes incredible favors for weddings, showers, corporate swag bags, and special events.
-What Sets Us Apart
We set ourselves apart by creating a thicker, softer cookie—very different from the typical thin, crispy, commercially produced biscuit.
Our Original recipe uses just four simple ingredients: flour, butter, sugar, and salt. That simplicity is what creates our rich, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
-What I’m Most Proud Of
I’m most proud of taking a simple, handed-down family recipe from my childhood and building a thriving business from it.
I realized that most people had never experienced real, thick, truly delicious shortbread. Through creative videos, social media, speaking engagements at schools and seminars, and sponsoring local charities and organizations, I’ve become passionate about educating my community—not only about quality baking, but also about Scottish heritage and tradition.
Honoring my family and the adversities they overcame to build a life in this free country means everything to me. Sharing Lanky Lassie’s Shortbread has become my way of carrying that legacy forward.
-What I Want People to Know
We are the solution when you’re looking for the perfect gift.
We offer stunning packaging, gift wrapping, handwritten greeting cards, curated bundles with high-end coffee and mugs—and we ship worldwide. Our goal is simple: make gifting easy, beautiful, and absolutely delicious.
Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.
Did your side hustle turn into your full-time business?
Oh yes. Very much so.
I created Lanky Lassie’s Shortbread as a side hustle after winning the Scottish Highland Games Shortbread Competition—yes, that’s a real thing. I didn’t know either.
At the time, I had a corporate career in the hospitality industry, selling interior finishes to hotel owners, general contractors, and purchasing agents—think stone countertops, cabinetry, area rugs, furniture, and more. My clients included brands like Marriott, Disney, and Hilton. To stay memorable (and hopefully secure more purchase orders), I would bake my family’s shortbread for clients as holiday gifts.
In 2009, a coworker mentioned the Highland Games shortbread competition. In my young-and-wild era, waking up early on a Saturday for a festival wasn’t exactly appealing. But fast forward to 2011—I finally showed up. Barely. I was contender number 31 out of 32 in what turned out to be a fiercely competitive event.
And by golly… I won.
That was the birth of Lanky Lassie’s Shortbread.
For years, it remained a passion project on the side. It didn’t become my true “bread and butter” (pun absolutely intended) until 2020. By then, I had moved my two small children and my then-jobless husband (now ex-husband) from downtown Orlando back to my hometown of Dade City, Florida. We bought a big fixer-upper in 2019. Shortly after, COVID ended my 13-year corporate career.
Suddenly, I had no income, a house full of bills, and two little mouths to feed.
I remember when I first decided to go all in with LLS, I was sitting at a stoplight, unsure of if I could do this and I looked at myself in the rearview mirror, and said, “You’re doing this. Failure is not an option.”
Losing my corporate job was the shove off the cliff I needed. I started baking full-time from my home kitchen, utilizing an incubator kitchen for legal wholesale production. Within about a year, I moved into a brick-and-mortar bakery.
Nothing sharpens your focus quite like needing to put food on the table for your children. (The ex? Well… he could forage in the woods. Kidding. Mostly.)
One of the biggest milestones came from a fellow chorus member when I was singing with the Toast of Tampa Show Chorus—a world champion women’s barbershop chorus. She and her husband had been stationed in Scotland during his military service. After trying my shortbread, she told me, “This is the real deal. I haven’t had shortbread like this since Scotland.”
Then she added, “Your one-pound bag isn’t going to cut it for Christmas. You need something bigger. Like a tin. I give client gifts every Christmas and I need more than a pound!”
So I listened.
I researched manufacturers and found a tin large enough to hold three pounds of shortbread, divided into four flavors. And just like that, the 3lb Holiday Tin was born.
That December—still baking from my home kitchen and shipping from my living room—I sold $50,000 worth of shortbread.
That’s when I knew.
I didn’t just have a side hustle anymore.
I needed a bakery.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
Are there any books or resources that have significantly influenced your entrepreneurial philosophy?
Absolutely. Years ago, when I was still in hospitality sales, someone gifted me *Purple Cow* by Seth Godin. At the time, I had no idea I’d one day be applying its principles to a Scottish shortbread business in historic downtown Dade City—but here we are.
The premise of *Purple Cow* is simple but powerful: traditional marketing doesn’t work the way it used to because people are too busy to pay attention to average. Instead of trying to advertise a boring product better, you build something so remarkable that marketing becomes built in.
In a field of black-and-white cows, you need to be the purple one.
Godin talks about creating something worthy of remark—not just “very good,” but unforgettable. He emphasizes targeting early adopters who will spread the word, taking risks instead of playing it safe, and constantly innovating because what’s remarkable today won’t be remarkable forever.
That philosophy resonated deeply with me—especially because my degree is in Mass Communication and Advertising. Ironically, in my previous corporate sales career, I rarely tapped into that creative side. I was selling, managing accounts, closing deals—but not creating.
Starting Lanky Lassie’s gave me that creative outlet back.
I design all of my own artwork, slogans, and branding. Every bag, every tagline, every display element has intention behind it. It has been incredibly fun—and educational—to test ideas and see what resonates and what falls flat. There’s something powerful about watching your creativity directly impact your bottom line.
When you see my packaging, my festival tent, or my storefront, you’re seeing my Purple Cow. From bold branding to a tall woman selling “Short Bread,” everything is intentionally memorable. I lean heavily into social media, tying in local events, the Scottish Highland Games circuit, community involvement, and as much earned media—news, radio, interviews—as I can secure.
I haven’t spent heavily on traditional advertising. Instead, I’ve focused on building capital and marketing creatively—subtle in strategy, but unmistakable in presence.
Because at the end of the day, being “very good” is invisible.
Being remarkable is what builds a business.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://LLShortbread.com/
- Instagram: @LLShortbread
- Facebook: @LLShortbread
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/mary-katherine-mason-9b042a217
- Twitter: @LLShortbread
- Youtube: @LLShortbread
- Other: TikTok: @LLShortbread
Image Credits
Kevin Taggerty