An Interview with Carol Goldman of Carol's Cookies
Carol Goldman Turning Baking Into a Booming Business
For 40 years she' s been creating scrumptious cookies for the masses
Brian Sorg Carol Goldman didn't set out to open a cookie company. Rather, she had wanted to be a social worker. Growing up in Saginaw, Michigan, she spent time baking all sorts of desserts with her mom, but had a particular love for cookies, so much so that even when she was older she'd bake blondies for her college roommate and boyfriend! Although she did pursue the dream of becoming a social worker, working 10 years with Chicago's housing projects, she wanted something less intense when she became a mother. So, to occupy her time she made cookies for a local restaurant (big, flat cookies, very different from the ones she sells today), which then led to cookies for a fitness snack bar and, eventually, signature cookies for a local grocery store. Her reputation began to snowball from there, paving the path to Carol's Cookies. Fast forward a few decades and the business is now celebrating its 40th year, and Carol her 75th. They create over 8 million cookies a year by hand, in flavors such as chocolate chip, toffee crunch and oatmeal chocolate cherry. And Carol is just as active as she ever was, both in and out of the bakery. Here's what she shared with us about how she disrupts aging. When did you know that you really made it
In 1983, six months into making cookies locally, People magazine somehow found out about my cookies and asked me to enter their best cookie contest. It was such an honor. At the time, I was going against the likes of Famous Amos and Mrs. Fields. I had to ship my cookies to New York City. I ended up coming in fourth in the United States and winning best-looking cookie. I had a write up and black and white photo in the magazine. I still have one of the original magazines in my office today. From there I went on to place my cookies in Neiman Marcus and started to expand nationally. Fast forward to 40 years later — what does the business look like
My son Jeff came in to help add structure to the business, and we have been in a 1,200-square-foot bakery for six years. We have four people who make the dough from scratch for us and I'm constantly in the bakery checking it. Our cookies are sold in nine out of 11 regions of Whole Foods and many other stores. We also have a busy online business and do custom gift boxes, as well. We do big cookies in 14 different flavors, plus mini cookies and even a vegan cookie. What is your day to day like
I get up at 5:30 a.m. and I stop at Starbucks and I get to work around 6:30/45 every morning and I get all of the phone messages and questions via email. At 8 a.m. when the stores open, I call each personally for orders. This helps me build relationships with the bakery managers. I get to really have personal contact with the people that buy and sell my cookies. I sit right by the front door because I love to greet everyone that comes in. During the day, I go into the bakery to check the cookies to make sure they are coming out OK. I make all of the calls to talk to people about special orders like weddings. I do customer service and help employees the rest of the day. I still work full time and come in every day except Thursday (my day off) but still come in for a few afternoon hours and sometimes on the weekends. Even though you left social work giving back is still a priority What do you do to make an impact
Currently I am working with an organization that is pretty new called . It is a 10-week course for inner-city women to learn hands-on kitchen training. Me, along with a few other local bakers, help do this. I speak to them about my story in the conference room and then show them the bakery and then do a Q&A and provide mentorship. I feel like it inspires people to get jobs in the baking industry, and I used to be a social worker for 10 years and it takes me back to that time. How do you stay young at 75
I used to be a runner, but not anymore. I still exercise, walk as much as I can, take Pilates. I'm on three different boards. I work every day. I don't believe in retiring because working keeps you young. I don't think of myself as being 75 ever. It's a strange feeling. I still work like I always did. I keep young by being in touch with everyone. br More Disrupt Aging
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