Love&Cookies

0:00Welcome to the Emerging Brands podcast. Sharing the stories behind brands you'll want to shop next. I'm your host, Kelly Bennett. I am a New York City-based brand strategist for CPG Food and Beverage Brands. In each episode, I'll take you behind the scenes of founders that are building better-for-you products and bringing them to market. it. Also, I talk to brand builders, retailers, industry experts, and tastemakers who help bring

0:28Ashley Cameron:those cool products to your shopping cart. You will hear stories of real-life founders, their launch strategies, and practical advice you could use to grow your own brand or simply discover what's next on shelf. And the best part is you could shop all the brands featured on the show. This podcast is brought to you by Glimpse. Glimpse is an AI powered deduction management tool that disputes and recovers invalid deductions, winning brands, thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours back to founders so that they can focus on what really matters most. If you're a brand selling in retail, go to tryglimpse.com backslash trial for 30 days free and let them know I sent you.

1:18Now let's dive into the new episode. Hi everyone. Welcome back to a new episode of Emerging Brands Podcast with Kelly Bennett. Today I have Ashley Cameron. She is the founder and CEO of Love and Cookies, which what's better than love and cookies? So Ashley, I'm so happy to have you on the podcast. Kelly, I'm so honored to be here.

1:42Ashley Cameron:It's so lovely to be here and share our story. Thank you for having me. And you have an incredible story. And that's something that really struck me when your brand came on my desk. I was like, wow, this story is incredible. Also, you have great products, super delicious. And I was saying before I hit was hitting record, I always look for great stories and great products. So thank you for having both. Thank you. Well, it's an honor to be able to share our story and our product. I'm super proud of what we've built at Love and Cookies. It was not an easy journey started off on a rocky point with my son.

2:19Ashley Cameron:And then here we are today, sharing his story, sharing our product. And our goal is to, you know, be in freezers across America. And we want to be America's next favorite cookie. I love that. So just to back up a little bit, how did this brand first start to be? I know it's including with your son's story, but what was that light bulb moment of loving cookies? So when my oldest son, his name is Charlie, when he was five, Charlie got diagnosed with an acquired heart condition called Kawasaki's disease. Recently, Kawasaki's disease got a lot oppressed during COVID. Children were getting similar diagnosis after COVID infections.

2:58Ashley Cameron:And basically, he got a virus that attacked the coronary arteries of his heart. And he developed a whole bunch of issues with the coronary arteries, his valves and one of his ventricles. And we had to undergo life saving treatment to help stop that inflammatory process. And we were in and out of the hospital quite a bit and had to undergo treatments and then long term treatment at home. And so it really stopped our family and our tracks. And we had to say like everything revolved around him and what he was needing. And we kind of were locked down, couldn't really go anywhere because his immune system was compromised.

3:32Ashley Cameron:And so we, we started baking. He loved from, I think from the time I have a picture of us at him at six months old, baking cookies and cooking meals with me. And he said, mommy, I just want to bake cookies. And so that's what we did. And we would get treatment, we would come home and we would bake cookies. And we started putting crazy things in them. And then through his journey, I really had to be very mindful of what was going into his body. Like I wanted him to be able to have cookies, but like, and we can have everything's in moderation, right? But let's make it better. And so we started making these really fun things.

4:07Ashley Cameron:And then one night my husband comes home from work and there's hundreds of cookies all over the counter. He's like, oh, it's a baking day. and he was like these are so good he's like why don't you think about selling them and so for fun um you know we're based here in texas and so we started selling our baked cookies as um out of our home under texas cottage food laws and all that good stuff and one of the things that people kept asking us for was cookie dough and i was like well to help as we grew i'm like well to help with the scaling i was already baking from frozen i'm like wow how can i do this better and And the pivotal moment was when our home cottage food bakery had grown so much that I had a commercial mixer on my kitchen counter.

4:49Ashley Cameron:And flour was like covering my kitchen. And my husband was like, you've got to get out of here. We got to go find a space. We got to scale this. Yes. We got to get out of our home at least. So at that point, we found a really tiny 900 square foot brick and mortar in our community where we opened up a location to the public. in one of the products we launched was this pre-portioned cookie dough. And it was, you know, we wanted convenience, right? So I want it to be pre-portioned. Our bags reseal so it's easy for the consumer. But we also wanted it to be clean label. So like there's no preservatives, no shelf stabilizers, everything on the back of the packaging you can pronounce.

5:28Ashley Cameron:And that way it's all the things that you want and none of the things that you don't. You can bake one or you can bake the whole bag. And so, and you have really fun flavors. No, it's the whole thing. I got the vibe instantly when I opened the box that you generously sent me. I was like, oh, I get it. Like it was very clear. And I like the receipt, uh, resealable bag and how easy it is to just bake one cookie. Or if you want to make a whole tray of cookies, but you don't come from the CPG world. This was a totally different industry. You are by trade a nurse, which is a whole other world. Also mom of three.

6:10How did you then say, okay, I'm going to go into CPG? Like what were some of those like early next steps of, of starting a CPG brand?

6:22Ashley Cameron:I will say that it wasn't a conscious choice as in like, I'm going to become a CPG brand. And I kind of, it was a very organic thing that I was kind of thrusted into. So I will go back because I don't get to talk about it very much. But I do love sharing this part of our story that I was a labor and delivery nurse. So I delivered babies. So not just any nurse. I was in the thresholds of bringing new life into this world. It was one of the most amazing, wonderful experiences I've ever had. I got to work alongside some amazing women who we were all in the throes of this together. and I learned so much about the world myself and it was hands down one of the greatest life experiences I ever had um when my husband and I decided to start a family uh he got relocated for his job when I was about nine months pregnant with our first son so I was like I was in a position where I just didn't go back to work and then we had three more we had two more kids but kind of back to back so then my my I was needed at home and so that's where I transitioned to being a stay-at-home mom and then when Charlie got sick and this whole cookie business started it really just came out of fun um the kids loved it they loved being a part of the journey in our community it was fun for them um well it was a fun day to come to the cookie shop with mom and they got to do all those fun things and also be a part of um that the process and the thoughts and creativity right we would make fun things here at home um but when i when we got the the option to become a CPG brand.

7:52Ashley Cameron:The true story is, is that somebody based here in Texas, HEB is our largest grocery store here in Texas. Yes. So the store leader from my local HEB had come in and bought a whole bunch of products. We started talking, comes back the next day and it's like, Hey, you need to look at this competition because this product is awesome. So HEB has a competition called the Quest for Texas Best. If you're a Texas based product made here in Texas, It's their way of giving back and promoting local brands. And I was like, I don't know anything about this, but the deadline is next week. So I'll take a shot at it.

8:26And so I applied.

8:28Ashley Cameron:You had to submit a video submission and all this fun paperwork. And I get a call the next day after submitting my video. And it's a gentleman who is now a very good friend of mine and mentor who helped me a lot through this process and starts asking me all these crazy hard questions. And I'm like, you know, this is what I think. This is why I think the product's going to be amazing. And he's like, okay, well, I'll call you back. I mean, cool. What happened? So then he keeps calling me back over the next month. And then he asked for an in-person meeting. And then I show up and get told that I'm a top 10 finalist in this whole competition.

9:01Ashley Cameron:I was completely surprised. And come to find out, there were 600 items submitted to this competition. And so I made the top 10. Once you make the top 10, you go to basically get a live pitch slam in front of judges where you pitch your little heart out and we ended up winning first place. Ashley. Yeah. That's amazing. And to say that from the time the competition happened to the time that my storefront opened, it had only been nine months. So I did not know how to run a brick and mortar. I did not know how to run a brick and mortar. I did not know how to run a CPG company. I barely understood what CPG even really meant.

9:39Ashley Cameron:Right. And so we, um, because of the way that the reset had happened, I had about a year until the following July before the product hit the shelves. But this was in 2022. So we were in the throes of COVID still. And I could not find a co-man to help support me and make the product that I needed with low enough MOQs because I'm a startup brand. Most manufacturers at that time were turning away a lot of new brands, right? I couldn't find somebody who could make it the way I wanted a big, big challenge we had was the packing of the standup pouch because to automate that has been a big challenge.

10:17Ashley Cameron:So I was like, well, gosh, what are we going to do? And my husband's like, well, let's build our own, let's build our own manufacturing facility. So we found a building South of Austin and we, uh, came in, made it food safe, bought, invested in the brand, bought our own equipment. And we got, and got all the things that we needed to manufacture. and then that following January opened up the facility and we got to work and we started producing what we needed for HUB. Had a successful launch that following like that July in 2023. And so we spent the next 18 months growing the brand and growing the recognition, like, you know, awareness and selling the product, doing live in-store demos and made that our focus that following like 18 months.

11:02Okay.

11:03Ashley Cameron:I'm obsessed with this journey. Okay. So what is your husband's background going into the business as well? Because it sounds like he was a big supporter of even saying, hey, let's just start our own manufacturing business as well. Yeah. So he actually is a finance guy. Okay. He has been an oil and gas finance, also not CPG, but it translates. And so he has been on the sides of lots of, you know, mergers and acquisitions and different things. and that's been his focus. And so he has very good business sense. And I will say, and I'm going to give him a lot of credit here. He has been my best and strongest advisor and support for this whole thing.

11:49Because I was delivering babies, Kelly.

11:51Ashley Cameron:I wasn't building spreadsheets. No, that's like a really great partner to have in life and in business too, as far as someone who understands the side of the business that isn't necessarily your passion. My partner, she's a operator. So she's a COO. That's like a whole other ballgame. I'm like, I do not. It really does not, you know, interest me as much. But I know it's important, right? And so when you have like that connection of both skill sets coming together, that is an incredible way to start. So you started with HEB. now I know you're in Thrive Market, Misfits Market, Sprouts, Wegmans. You just completed a roadshow with Costco.

12:39Yeah. I mean, what a great way to kick off. And I know in entrepreneur years, 2022 sounds like a long time ago, but in reality, it's not that long ago. In real life. It's only two and a half. Well, it's from the time we actually launched the product.

12:57Ashley Cameron:It's only been two and a half, it would be three years in July. So it hasn't. Yeah. No, it's, I know the life of an entrepreneur, we, you know, think that things have taken so much more time, but really in reality, three years, that's incredibly impressive. Thank you. Thank you. Well, we, we've had, um, I've been very blessed that we've built out a great team. I have a great, a great team. And, um, we are all, all ladies team too, which has been really fun. The way that that's worked out. It's been really fun. And I love that. The business has grown so much that he I mean, he has a day job. He doesn't work for the company full time.

13:32Ashley Cameron:But I have like, you know, I have a head of ops. I have a CFO and head of marketing and other people on our marketing team. And they're just it's been so great and fun to build that out and help this grow. So, you know, after we launched at ATV, the next big thing that we did was we launched into Sprouts Nationwide. That was our first like nationwide launch outside of Texas. and they've been a fantastic partner with like our core line as well as innovation with Holiday and we've seen great results there and it's been super fun to watch that grow and so that was our first big step and then the other things just kind of started happening right.

14:10And how did you get on Sprouts Radar?

14:13Ashley Cameron:We actually just we had a great broker that submitted our product and was able to get in. The buyer liked it. And she called and invited me out to come out to Phoenix and we hit it off and it was, it was great. So it's been really fun and she's awesome too. She's been so great to work with. So. And then Thrive Markets and Misfits Markets, I feel like that's a really nice pairing too, of having e-retailers and also so specific to other parents like yourself who want to have high quality products, the convenience factor, what helped you get on their radars? So we also, again, just submitted through their review sessions and great brokers.

15:00Ashley Cameron:One of the things I will say about partners like Sprouts, Thrive Market, and Misfits specifically is that you're right. Families go there because they trust the quality of the products that are being brought into the store, right? That means that our products had to go through lots of review, right? They went through their own nutrition teams, their own review process to make sure that they're giving their customers the quality product that they deserve and what they expect to find when they shop. And so when a company like those three believe in you and believe in your product, you're like, okay, this is awesome because you know that you're offering not only quality product, but something that, you know, the market is needing, right?

15:40Ashley Cameron:It's bringing like it's hitting all the factors, quality, experience, and just a great thing for families to take and bake at home. Going into CPG and now being in the throes of it for three plus years, what have been some really helpful insights you've learned, which I'm sure could be like a 10 part series of a podcast. But I love your perspective of going in and learning the whole industry and really taking it one step at a time and not necessarily going out to create what you've created, but really taking that next right step and opportunity that has come your way that you've worked towards as well.

16:24I would love to hear just some lessons or advice you would share to someone who's in the really, really early stages? Yeah.

16:32Ashley Cameron:So, you know, I've learned a ton, everything from running our own manufacturing to scaling. Which is super unique. Yes. And I will say, so a little context there. So we have since outgrown that facility and have had, have since moved. We just no longer had the capacity to keep up with what we have, which is a great problem to have. So we have actually since added a manufacturing partner to help continue our scale, which is, again, a great problem to have. But for people in the early stages, I really think that learning as much about the foundation of the business as you can, even if you choose to not do your own manufacturing, go to your co-manufacturing partner and say, teach me how to wrap a pallet, right?

17:17Ashley Cameron:I'm standing in a Costco and they're like, okay, you need to rebuild your pallet. And you're like, well, how do I do that? You need to know how to wrap a pallet, right? understanding the process and the supply chain of what that's like and then also CPG is very expensive it's expensive to do business in this space everybody wants a piece of the pie in some fashion another whether it's slotting chargebacks different things and you you need to know what options you have regarding capital and I think that understanding that is a very very big piece because I think that you can have the best product in the world, but if you don't have the means to support it adequately, it can be a really big challenge.

18:01That is so true and something that I do my best to put on the radar for emerging brand founders to have a good sense of what they're getting themselves into. Was there anything that you've learned that helped you better prepare for speaking to the costs or being more strategic about margins? I mean, doing manufacturing in-house to get started is a huge benefit, I'm sure, to get you out of the gate. But then also scaling. Anything there that you found really insightful?

18:35Ashley Cameron:Well, especially when it comes to our food, you have to remember that food is, our inclusions are commodities. So if you remember in the spring of 2023, so remember, I just started my manufacturing egg and chocolate prices were at a lifetime high. Right. And so you're like, I did not build that into my margin. Oh my gosh. And so that was a learning curve right there is that when you're dealing with commodities, you've got to be able to take the highs and the lows and really own and understand the cost differential. Right. I will say too, if there's any types of certifications that can help you, one of the things that helped us a lot was being a certified woman-owned business.

19:21I was going to ask you about that because that's something that I have emerging brand founders ask. And to my understanding, it's really a leverage when you're scaling in larger retailers. Did you find that to be true?

19:37Ashley Cameron:Absolutely. People double take at you. They will say, oh, wait, tell me more. And it's very much attention grabbing for whether it be a buyer or distribution partners. Also, there's a lot of benefits that you can reap from that by whether they give you discounts or maybe an additional promotion or different things that they like, hey, we want to support like what you're doing because we believe we know how hard this is, right? Like we know that you're a mom of three and you grew this from scratch. And so I think that's a big thing that I would encourage, especially like female founders is go ahead and take that leap, do all the paperwork and get certified because it's definitely worth it.

20:18When did you add that certification in? Very early.

20:23Ashley Cameron:Very early. Okay. Yeah. So we had launched at HUB and we were already working on the process. And so it was, I mean, within a couple months of launching at HUB, we had that, we had all that submitted. That's a really good point. And I appreciate you sharing in that nuance too, because there's so much to consider when starting a brand of what's worth spending money on, what's not worth spending money on, but you found that to be something that's helped open doors as you grow. Okay. Yeah, absolutely. And I will say, I don't know that all certifications work in the same fashion, but that one for us specifically was definitely has proven to be valuable.

21:06Love hearing that. Thank you so much for sharing your story. What an incredible story. And I love how you started just doing something for your son and to connect and help him just feel all the cozy, warm vibes and then how that's grown into this incredible business. How is the family feeling about the brand now? And your son, does he think this is like the coolest thing ever of like how he asked for cookies and now mom's business is like all over the country?

21:39Ashley Cameron:Yeah, I love that question because it's actually really fun watching how the kids view this, right? Yeah. I know. So I know that, for example, like when I always I've been in L.A. on and off pretty much the last six weeks doing the Costco Roadshow and my kids have not been thrilled that I've been gone, right? but then the moment I came home the kids were like look mom we made you cookies and I'm like I love this and so they um cookies are probably a nightly routine in this house and um they love it now Charlie is about to be 12 and so he thinks he's taking it upon himself to be the official baker of the house which means he takes the cookies from the freezer to the oven and he makes them and he's very very very proud of that and they um they sometimes tease me and you know their perspectives are that of little people with like, mom, you're famous.