We were lucky to catch up with Parshe Johnson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Parshe, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Success can be defined in so many different ways depending upon the person you ask and the situation. For me to think of myself as a success I need to succeed in many different areas of my life. I first need to be a present and thoughtful wife and mother because my family is the most important thing to me. I then need to continue to achieve success in my business by making it a priority and making my customers, who I affectionately refer to as Sugar Babes, happy. I believe in maintaining high quality and delicious desserts. I don’t want people to taste my cookies this month and think they’re amazing and then next month they’re just ok. Consistency is the ultimate key to success.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

My name is Parshe Johnson, also known in the Valley as the Cookie Lady. I am an Arizona Native and I have been married for 15 years with two beautiful teenage daughters. I grew up in both West and South Phoenix with my Mother being a native of the West Side and my Father a Native of the South Side. So as you can see, I have deep roots within the Black Community in Phoenix.

After focusing all of my attention on my family and working a 9 to 5 for years, my husband came home with a dessert jar one day from a local baker and it changed the direction of my life. I thought to myself, I can do this. So I did it. I posted on Facebook asking if anyone would support me if I started a baking business and the feedback from family and friends was overwhelming. I have been baking ever since and that was over 5 years ago. That is how Sugar Star Star Sweet Treats was born.

The name of my business is very near and dear to my heart because Sugar Star is a nickname that was given to me by my Father when I was a baby. So through my business I am able to honor him.

Sugar Star Sweet Treats is known for our amazing Gourmet Chocolate Chip Cookies in many different varieties. They are the kind of cookies that transport you back to a different time when you could taste every ingredient in a dessert. The way Grandma used to do it. You can taste the butter, the vanilla, the brown sugar and the chocolate. I had very strong relationships with both of my Grandmothers and when I bake I feel their presence guiding me.

One misconception surrounding my industry is that it is easy. All you do is bake cookies! How hard could that be right? Well it is hard. Your back hurts and your feet ache. Your wrists are sore and sometimes you miss out on fun things that are going on around you. But it is all worth it. My favorite thing is to hear my customers tell me how much they love my cookies. They tag me on social media all the time and it really fills my heart with joy.

I really do have the best and most loyal Sugar Babes around. They refer me to so many of their friends and family. They show up for me at pop up shops and they even show up for my family. Recently I raised thousands of dollars by doing a brownie bake sale for my daughters upcoming Japan trip and the way they showed up for me brought actual tears to my eyes on multiple occasions. I feel very connected to them and I think they feel the same way about me. That is the positive power of social media and good food. I think my Brand represents positivity, collaboration, community and that just over all old school good feeling of togetherness.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

What I have learned about branding and running a business that is primarily advertised on social media is that people have to like you. You have to be relatable and your brand has to match your personality. If people think you’re a mean girl, they are not going to buy cookies from you no matter how good they are. I feel as though building meaningful connections with your audience is just as important as having a good product. People can buy homemade cookies from many places, but why should they keep coming back to you? It’s because they like you. For me I am big on collaboration and supporting my community. I do this because it is apart of my core values. People like that. I don’t do it to sell cookies. I do it because it’s important for us to all win no matter who gets there first.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

How did I fund my business? I started my business in my own kitchen with the money I already had in my bank account which wasn’t much. I attracted my customers through social media and through word of mouth. Sometimes I only made enough money to buy new ingredients to make more cookies. But that never discouraged me because I didn’t start the business because of making money. I just loved the way having something that was just mine made me feel. So my advice to people is to just start with what you have and stay consistent. That has taken me very far.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.SugarStarSweetTreats.com
• Instagram: Sugar Star Sweet Treats
• Facebook: Sugar Star Sweet Treats

Image Credits
Dallas Freeman