We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tonia Mays. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tonia below.

Tonia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Getting that first client is always an exciting milestone. Can you talk to us about how you got your first customer who wasn’t a friend, family, or acquaintance?

Client, Customer–hopefully that’s hand in hand. My 1st customer that wasn’t friend or family was at a popup shop. She passed by my table a few times before she let me know she would be back, that she was getting her non-food items 1st. Truthfully, I didn’t think she would. I was just starting and my setup was not as aesthetically pleasing as the other food vendors. No banners, no professionally made packaging or signs. I came into the event excited, but as I watched the other vendors, I became very intimidated. Eventually she did circle back. I presented my wares and she made her choices. My 1st sale to a stranger. I was not excited. I was grateful. A couple weeks later, she made another purchase. Along with payment, she gave me a compliment and advice. Told me that my product was the best she had purchased, but that she almost didn’t because of the poor packaging. She only did because she supports as many as she can at these events. Initially, it hurt my heart cause now it’s feeling like a pity purchase you know? But as she gave me the advice on changing my packaging, she encouraged me to continue because I had good products. She was one of many. That was almost 3 years ago.

Tonia, 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?

My name is Tonia. I am a home baker. My niche is cookies. Drop cookies to be exact. The name of my company if Craving for for Cookies. We bake for the cookie monster in you. Whether the craving is every now and then or scheduled, 1 cookie or 20 we’re prepared to appease. My entrepreneurial journey first started as Peculiar Treasures*. Under this name, I have sold jewelry, jewelry boxes, candles, shoes, clothing, and food. Not at the same time, but over a period of 15 plus years. It was an on and off side hustle; something to do for extra income. In 2019, I was doing contract work, and my contract was coming to an end in November. In the Spring, I had started baking cookies when one of my church member brought a bunch of peanut butter to the church. I ended up with a few jars because I had made the remark that baking peanut cookies with my grands was gonna be added to our calendar of events for our weekend time. Randle (if asked, he’ll let you know who you should thank for Craving for Cookies), asked that I take his home and bring him some of the cookies. I jokingly told him they may not even be good. His response? “They will be”. So I had my quality time with my grandbabies, bonding of batch after batch of peanut butter cookies. It just so happened that when Randle got his cookies (I had baked his whole jar), he was able to share with family and a big dinner they had scheduled. I got a call during said gathering because someone wanted to know if I would bake them some. I still had plenty of peanut but so responded that I could. Later that evening, I got a text from Randle. The family member wanted to know how much I would charge. Being me, my response was “nothing”. I had gotten the peanut for free, so how could I charge? A few days after these were delivered, I got another text. This time, they wanted chocolate chip cookies. My response? I told them that Kroger’s had some really good cookie dough. Gave my testimonial on how good it was and everything. Their response was two-fold. “I want it homemade and I don’t want to do it.” I’d never made home-made cookies. The peanut butter was the 1st. But I did. Long story short. One request lead to another. “Do you do strawberry?”, “What about Lemon?”, “I have this blueberry cookie recipe, will you bake them?–I’ll pay you.” With every request, I would ask for time to experiment and it would be granted. That cookie would be added to my menu. Today, with variations, we offer well over 40 cookies. Customers add to this list at least monthly. I don’t offer them all, all the time. It would be too much, But that doesn’t mean they can’t be requested.

When you place an order with us, we don’t just look at it as a request for cookies. We see a request for a moment of rest and relaxation. It’s an invitation to share in a celebration or reward (self and/or given). One of my favorite orders to fill though. is from the customers who tell me they are getting my cookies as part of their self care regime. That’s a part of my goal you see, to bring my customers comfort. To have a customer make a purchase, customized or on-hand, and at the end of the day, whether short and peace or especially if long and trying–they sit down, kick off their shoes, open the tray, select a cookie, take a bite. And while all the flavors are bursting on their tongues, they relax. Release the day, Embrace the love, comfort, and peace I pray to manifest in every bite. Lol! I know what you’re thinking. Lady, it’s just a cookie! My response? No hun. Just a cookie is what you purchase off the shelf at grocery stores. I, and those like me, sell edible experiences.

I am proud of the fact that my company still exits. That I haven’t given in to lean times–when the orders were not coming in or were almost non-existent. When others questioned my sanity, Lol! When I questioned my own sanity. When I was so discouraged that I said I was through and would actually complete application just to get an order AND no response to applications submitted. What I am most proud of is the fact that during these times, not once was the quality of my product sacrificed. I was all in every time I pulled out the flour and set that oven to 375. EVERY time. Always was. Always will be.

*Peculiar Treasures is the official start. It can be debated that it first started when my siblings and I would sale Sunday dinner plates out the back door when my mom went to work. Staying true to her southern roots, Sunday dinners could feed an additional 10 people, minimum. One day, it was remarked upon that you could smell Ms. Janice cooking all down the block. We offered them some–for a price. Price was met. And thus, a lucrative side hustle began. My 1st partnership, lol! Business was good until someone knocked on the door BEFORE mom went to work. Suffice it to say, we were shut down. Not because of what we did though. But because it was done without permission.

Craving for Cookies definitely started out as a hustle. It has grown into a business. It is not a pastime, though we endeavor to be included in yours. We sometimes attach “….and stuff” to our name because we get a few customers who “sure would like but (I) just don’t wanna do it”. So we oblige with the occasional cake, pie, or cobbler–personal or family size. We also offer a line of cookie and cream cheese parfaits.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Craving for Cookies is the result of 2 almost back to back pivots. It was never intended. As I stated, it was a side hustle in the beginning. It supplemented the income from the last job I held clocking in for someone else. My skillset leaned more to warehouse work which I was no longer able to do. I was in 20 plus years and my body one day gave a hard ‘NO’. A health issue is what lead to the 1st pivot. Years of not properly caring for my back and knees resulted in a need for a change .This lead me to go back to school to pursue a diploma in Computer Information Technology. I was hired into a contract position after obtaining a few certifications. During this time, I completed the course and received my diploma. I was excited and looking forward to a permanent position as well as an increase in income. As the contract was coming to a close, whispers of Covid where just beginning. About a month before the contract ended, businesses had started cutting back on hours. By the time the contracted fully dissolved, I was receiving responses inviting me to reapply after a certain date or to let me know that I would be informed when the company would be hiring again. Flowing from one job to the next was no longer an option. So I began to lean on my hustle a little bit more.

Because of word of mouth, I was making deliveries to 4 warehouses, including FedEx, Tuesday -Friday. The hustle was good. Then the announcement came that it was a possibility to get Covid from eating establishments. It MAY have taken 3 weeks for the orders to dwindle from paycheck status to low hustle to no hustle. It got ugly. Real ugly. Upon advisement, I stopped taking orders completely. By this time it was only friends and family anyway. I finally filed unemployment and was eventually approved. This allowed me to feed my family and keep a roof over my head. I’m not one to lay about, so during this time, I took time to explore some artistic passions of mine. I wrote and recorded a song, co-directed and filmed the music video, wrote a screenplay and directed the movie (in which I co-starred), and directed and starred in a theater production. Lol! That’s a whole other story.

One day, I got a call for some cookies. I wasn’t too comfortable because, well, Covid. I shared this with the customer. Her response was that she worked around hundreds of folk everyday and they were no where near a part of a process that included the purifying heat of a stove. Long story short, I slowly started back to baking. Orders where slow, but sure. Unemployment ended and I kicked it up a notch in marketing. People where still skeptical but where testing the waters. To cut across the field, that was 2020/2021. It’s mid 2023. Today, I am allowed to bless God daily for His keeping power. Craving for Cookies is still here. Our foundation was constructed out of necessity and is holdin. I’m grateful every day for every single order. We still have our bad days and sometimes bad weeks. But we are here.

There was once a time when this wasn’t a thought. Cookies where no where near my radar, no less talking about on it. I often take the time to thank Michael Randle for being my 1st customer and referring my 2nd. I’ve never taken the time to publicly thank the one responsible for putting all those jars of peanut butter in my hand. So if you would allow, I’d like to thank Faye Ficlin for thinking about her FSAMily on that day. She brought in cases of peanut butter to share with us and for us to share with our families. That act of kindness is a chief cornerstone for us. And if the Lord say the same, one day she will be honored in the laying of the 1st stones. Yet another story.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Listen! When it comes to marketing, I am absolutely atrocious, lol! But I do what I can. My sources for new clientele are word of mouth and Facebook. The fact that the company still stands speaks more to my skills as a baker that it does to my skills as a business person. I am working on that.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @toniajohnsonmays
• Facebook: Craving for Cookies

Image Credits
Geo Washington