Caroline’s Cookies
Caroline Merryman / Lafayette, LA
Favorite Color:
Light purple!!!!
What do you sell/make/offer:
COOKIES. I am the owner of Caroline's Cookies! We are a small business located in Lafayette and Baton Rouge Louisiana that specializes in thick and gooey cookies. Our menu features over 50 unique flavors so everyone is guaranteed to find a flavor that they love! I started this business out of my parent's kitchen in 2020 after graduating high school. Thanks to the support of my community, we became infamous for long lines and quick sellouts which led to the opening of our first storefront in 2021. It has been an amazing journey ever since!
What made you get started in the first place?
I am obsessed with sugar and everyone who knows me can vouch for it, haha! I'll have M&Ms with my breakfast and an Oreo for a snack and Sour Patch Kids with dinner. Needless to say, I sneak sugar into my day wherever I can. Growing up, I would watch youtubers on my iPad bake all sorts of beautiful and yummy desserts. At around 8, I took what I learned online and started baking at home and making videos of myself! I never stopped baking after that.
What item of yours is inside the 2024 Galentine Box?
Our circus animal cookie
Your "treat yo self"go to?
Hmmm! Probably being alone at home at the table watching youtube eating sushi and any sort of dessert. My self care is always being alone!
Besides being a "small business", what other hats do you wear:
Owner / Artist / Maker / Creative / Manager / Dreamer / Entrepreneur / Crafter
Describe briefly what your job/workflow may look like on a "busy" day?
Oh wow my days always look so different and that is something I love. I thrive off of chaos and working in a cookie shop is typically chaos. Although I definitely should, I dont have a set order of what I do each day! But, here is an idea of what happens each day for me: answering social media messages (just getting back into this after accidentally taking a few months off while opening location #2), posting on all of our social media platforms (instagram, tiktok, facebook), scheduling staff, placing ingredient orders, rolling cookies, frosting cookies, serving customers, managing staff. Basically, I am doing a little bit of everything at all times and I love staying super involved with my staff and the day-to-day.
What is your "dream gig"?
Collabing with Post Malone or Canes. Those are my two favorite things aside from dessert! I am a huge Post fan. I love his music and him! Ever since starting Caroline's Cookies I have been extremely inspired by Todd Graves (founder of Canes). I love his work ethic, mission, brand, and of course chicken fingers.
What motivates/inspires your work?
For some reason I am actually struggling to answer this because there are so many different things that motivate me. I absolutely love being a boss/manager and challenging myself every single day to better my leadership skills. Making a difference in my staff's lives and blessing them has been the best feeling. I continue try to better our work environment every single day as I know the importance of pouring into your people. So, my team definitely motivate me to continue creating a business that they want to be apart of. I also have a strong passion for small business. The passion that small business owners have and the mental and physical love they pour into their business is admirable. The way we give back to our communities and our people is so rewarding. Passion>profit. I am all over the place with this reply lol! My goal is to better to grow every aspect of Caroline's Cookies each day. Whether it be our service, our branding, our product, or our work environment.
Name a productivity tip that you rely heavily on:
I am probably the worst ever with productivity tips. I have the world's shortest attention span. To-do lists and putting my phone up always do the trick though!
How do you measure success?
Success to me is all my people being happy and having a consistent product people can rely on. I want my staff to clock out feeling well taken care of and respected. I want to continue being able to give them raises and pay them well like they deserve so they can enjoy the things in life they wish to. I want my customers to walk out of our doors happier than when they walked in. To me, the ultimate success is baking consistently delicious thick and gooey cookies with a happy staff and a storefront filled with excited customers.
Name one belief/thought you had to let go of in order to get to where you are today:
The thought that I was not good enough and that my cookies were not special enough.
I had to let go of my own fears and worries. I started this business off a very very anxious person with no confidence and have come a long way. I realized the importance of believing in myself while still remaining humble. Also, I had to get used to being wrong and being okay with messing up A LOT! I now know to learn the lesson and do better next time.
Where can I buy more of what you make/offer?
Our cookies are first come, first served in our Lafayette & Baton Rouge stores. Our cookies are handmade and baked fresh daily so once we are out, we are out. We recently began offering cookie cakes, catering, and delivery as well. All of these can be ordered on our website!
What's the best place to follow along in your journey?
Definitely our social media! I am super active on Facebook and Instagram. For those not on social media, we also have a website where you can sign up for our newsletter; however, I only send out these once a month!