We recently connected with Mik Nuzzi and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Mik thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Is your team able to work remotely? If so, how have you made it work? What, if any, have been the pitfalls? What have been the non-obvious benefits?

Looking back on 2019 and early 2020, Mik & Cookies has evolved immensely to adapt to a remote-work setting. Two years ago I was consistently hosting in-person cookie decorating workshops, traveling to different cities and reaching a wider audience. These classes were my main source of income; and I had big plans for more classes and more traveling into 2020.

Along with hosting workshops, two years ago I also released my first digital download, a cookie decorating guide. (In retrospect, this is a decision I am soooo grateful for.) I continued my focus on hosting classes, and releasing downloads for different cookie decorating techniques. The launch of that digital segment in my business would eventually lead to my largest stream of income by Fall 2020. Thankfully, and, luckily.

With the cancelation of in-person workshops and consumers spending most of their time at home, the pandemic completely altered my business model. At the time, I could no longer rely on in-person workshop income, and suddenly I found myself having to go remote. How would I make this work? There was a surge in demand for at-home cookie decorating classes and I immediately jumped on that opportunity and hoped it’d be the answer to keep my business afloat. I ramped that up the digital downloads and eventually made online cookie classes and digital downloads my strongest stream of income.

The decision to launch digital downloads two years ago is one of the best decisions I ever made for my business because I was able to establish trust in my classes ahead of the demand in 2020. Since then, I have had so many student learn with me, digitally, and I am so grateful for their business and being able to connect with them. With the support in digital downloads, I was able to evolve Mik & Cookies and adapt to remote-work. Digital cookie classes continue to be a stream of income but now, I am looking into getting back into in-person workshops beginning Fall 2022.

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?

I am Mik, the baker & cookie decorator behind the magical creations, and I put the “Mik” in Mik & Cookies®.

I picked up my first piping bag back in 2017 when I hosted a Halloween party and decorated cookies for the event. (I’m an overachieving party host.) But the cookie bug bit me big time, and by February 2018, Mik & Cookies® was established and taking orders.

For the last 4 years, Mik & Cookies® has grown into a colorful and creative cookie company and I have found myself as a sugar artist. My hope is that my creations inspire people, no matter their age, to have fun and do what they love by spreading the magic of sugar art through cookie classes and online content creation.
My specialties include cookie decorating, cake decorating and fun, inspirational digital content creation!

Along with baking and digital creations, I am super proud of my sister brand, Home for the Makers, where we offer cookie cutters and merchandise for sale! I met my creative, crafty soul sister, Amanda, in 2020 and we began a business venture together, designing cookie cutters and apparel designs for cookiers and bakers. We carried the business through 2020 and grew it to the point of attending 2 conventions as vendors. It was such a cool moment seeing our online business go IRL!

We continue to offer cookie cutter designs and merchandise online under Home for the Makers while I release cookie classes and all things sugar art under Mik & Cookies.

We’d love to hear about how’d you met your business partner.

I absolutely love the story behind Mik & Cookies sister brand, Home for the Makers. My cofounder, Amanda, and I met by chance in late 2019 and had no clue what we had ahead of us! We both attended a cookie decorating demo at Williams-Sonoma, we briefly chatted about cookies, 3D printing cookie cutters, and the potential for a collab. But the holidays quickly approached and soon it was 2020, I had totally forgotten about our chance meeting back in 2019.

In Spring 2020, Amanda popped up in my inbox and I instantly remembered our meeting at that cookie demo, stunned at how timely us connecting was. She was reaching out suggesting we create a cookie cutter set together for a collab. I would design, and she would turn those designs into 3D printed cookie cutters, it was the perfect collab!

The collaboration launched in Summer 2020 with Cookieville, a puzzle cookie cutter set. After the great success of that first collaboration, we’ve continued to pursue cookie cutters together and have grown to include apparel and cookier tools! In 2021 Mik and Amanda officially formed their sister brand, Home for the Makers.

Since that chance meeting in 2019, we have produced and sold hundreds of puzzle cookie sets, and traveled thousands of miles, vending at cookie events across the nation. It’s been a really fun and unexpected journey!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I began growing my online presence in the baking/food industry in 2018 and it was a slow burn. I did not have an over-night viral video assist in the growth but I also didn’t start my cookie page with content creation or influencing in mind. I posted to gain awareness and reach potential clients, but I also simply wanted to share my cookies to meet other cookie makers. Mik & Cookies began during a time I was seeking connection and friendship; and I found myself in a growing community of cookie makers! It was kismet! To continue reaching new clients and finding new business relationships, I relied on consistency in posting new cookie designs as often as I could. I literally had no fear in new techniques, so I constantly had something new to try and new cookies to post.

Along with sharing my cookie creations, I began to also include myself in posts to familiarize clients and followers about who Mik was! I wanted them to have a personal connection with the cookie maker, me! But I have this vivid memory that completely solidified what I would share on Mik & Cookies. I was working an event with a client and she had a larger following than I did, at the time, so I had asked for advice on how to grow my account. Her deadpan response was to stop including so much of myself and photos of me with my cookies. Essentially saying I was hurting my business presence by showing myself and being more personal. Yeah, I did not listen. It isn’t called Mik & Cookies for nothing. Like, hello?! There are no cookies without Mik!

I continued doing what I thought was authentic to myself and my brand image, and have grown my business exponentially since that moment. Now, that particular person I asked advice from, shares photos of themself as part of their brand image, and that’s how I know I made the right decision to remain steadfast in my approach to social media and sharing myself along with my cookies! By being myself, I have fostered a community that I am grateful to have connected with, authentically.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mikandcookies.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikandcookiesco/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPRqtxp_hGw4BRDGjAyRC6w
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mikandcookies?lang=en

Image Credits
Mik Nuzzi