We were lucky to catch up with Vanessa Valencia recently and have shared our conversation below.

Vanessa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How do you feel about asking friends and family to support your business? What’s appropriate, what’s not? Where do you draw the line?

I’ve learned that support comes in many ways. My family and friends have always supported me by word of mouth, promoting my business on their social media. Support doesn’t need to be in the form of money. I don’t expect my family and friends to buy from me just because they know me. I appreciate all the help I’ve gotten along the way. I appreciate the likes, shares and shout outs. I especially appreciate when my friends/family support me in cleaning lol. I absolutely hate washing dishes and bless my mother for always being down to wash my cookie supplies. Its the little things that make such a big difference. I really couldn’t be as successful as I am without them.

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 back background and context?

I’ve always been a hobby baker. It’s been a form of therapy for me. It helps me relax and allows me to be creative while feeding others. I started Nessa’s Goodies on a whim. I started off by doing a favor for someone and it just took off from there. My first order were the ugliest cookies I had made and I was determined to better myself so I practiced and learned to love cookies in the process. I had no intention of being a cookier but here we are lol almost 5 years later. I offer a variety of pricing options and sizes of cookies. My go to flavor is a vanilla bean sugar cookie but during the holidays I change it up and will add a new flavor(s). I love to push the creative envelope and I think this sets me apart from other cookiers out there. I love to have creative freedom and my clients are always down for something I can come up with. I think that what I’m most proud of is my ability to learn new techniques. The fact that during the pandemic I stayed open when a lot of people had to close up due to the uncertainties we all faced. I’m most proud of the fact that I went for it and I started this small business with only a few months of learning to make cookies. Nothing is certain in life but death and I cant live my life at without putting myself out there and seeing what I can do. I gave myself a year to get Nessa’s Goodies off the ground and I’ll be hitting 5 years this July.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Honestly my bestfriend Tina built my audience on social media. I would always send her pictures of cookies I was working on and she would post on her FB or IG. It all started with her and once I got my page going I started befriending other cookiers. The cookie community is awesome, everyone is very close and always down to help you get your name out there. I would take classes here and there and bring cookies along as thank you for the awesome experience. That definitely helped me grow my social media foot print. They always seemed so happy and eager to help get your name out there. This has been a huge help along with referrals from other cookiers. My advice is don’t be afraid to make new connections; you never know where they will lead. You don’t have to buy anything to show support, a like or share does wonders for small businesses. Always be kind, hype each other up and never lose sight of where you started and how far you’ve gone.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

As successful as I was during the start of the pandemic I still had a lot of fears as we all did. The uncertainty of not knowing if I’ll be able to fulfill orders due to lack of supplies. Having to take extra precautions with people and how we do business. It got to a point where I was getting burnt out and not feeling that creative side of myself. So in an effort to get my creative mojo going I started to paint. I mean cookies are just blank canvases. I knew that if I began a new creative journey it would bring me back to cookies. So in my off time I started painting tumblers and hydro flasks. I steadily started moving to more complicated things like painting shoes and recently jean jackets. All this newness helped me find my old self. I was able to get back into the swing of things and my cookies were more creative and better than ever. Sometimes you have to put a pin in it; walk away and start something new to find what you lost. I did that and I’m so thankful I did. Never be afraid to fail. Always be open to change and give yourself grace.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://nessasgoodies.square.site/
• Instagram: Https://www.instagram.com/NessasGoodies/

Image Credits
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