04/02/2025
Just over here reminiscing on the early days...
In case you're new around here, here's our story!
In 2020, I decided to start baking cookies out of my house as a way to bring comfort and happiness to the community. Every week, people would order cookies, then they would meet me at the park down the street from my house on Sunday to pick them up. Yes, it was that simple!
We immediately exploded and went from having a home operation to two pop-up stores - one at the Irvine Spectrum and one at the Crystal Cove shopping center.
From the time I signed the leases to the time that I opened the doors, I had 9 days (yes that's right, NINE days!!) to demo, remodel, hire, train, bring in my equipment, test that equipment, and all the other things that come with opening a business that usually takes months and months.
It was a family affair. My dad's in construction, so he and I worked tirelessly day in and day out to get these two stores ready. My mom would come up on the weekends to help me bake, my now husband would come in on his days off to be one of my salesmen, and I was literally working from 4am until 9pm every single day to make sure the ship didn't sink. (There was one night I remember vividly, where Mark, my husband, made a innocent and harmless joke, and I was so stressed out that I burst into tears and laughter simultaneously.)
Originally, it was supposed to be a 2-month endeavor, but we were so successful and lucky enough to have the opportunity to extend our stay at the Crystal Cove shopping center on a month to month basis.
We squeezed almost an entire year out of that store, and it was the best, and hardest year of my life! It led to the most amazing opportunity of me purchasing Grounded Coffee House in Corona del Mar, and now that is where you will find the home of Cookie Lab OC!
We're still here! You can still order online. You can still ship nationwide. We haven't gone anywhere and we've got big things in store for this year. ❤️
