Today I speak with Shahira Marei. Shahira is the furthest person from your typical Betty Crocker. In fact, in her past life, she was an aerospace project manager. The Dirty Cookie was born from the desire to turn something small, into something meaningful. It was born from her personal aspiration to change lives.
When she was 10 years old, on vacation in Egypt, she witnessed the devastation of hunger and homelessness first hand. She was shocked that children my age were living on the streets, that they were deprived of basic food and shelter. Shahira begged my father to give them money, and he conceded, but not before engraving the single most important statement she would hear, to date.
“If you really want to help them, give them jobs, not money.”
It was monumental enough for Shahira to decide to build a company. One that she vowed would be centered around the people she employ. Today, you’ll see that aside from a unique and delectable cookie, her business is about personability. From the customization options on their shots to the creative freedom I give to my employees, Shahira has worked to drive home the idea that anything is possible. She's always open to trying new things, and she employs her customers and team to challenge her, as they work together towards a common goal. The Dirty Cookie is more than a dessert haven, it’s a home for those who are searching for themselves and what they love.
www.dirtycookie.com
This podcast series is hosted by Patricia Kathleen and Wilde Agency Media. This series is a platform for women, female-identified, & non-binary individuals to share their professional stories and personal narrative as it relates to their story. This podcast is designed to hold a space for all individuals to learn from their counterparts regardless of age, status, or industry.
TRANSCRIPTON
*Please note this is an automated transcription, please excuse any typos or errors
[00:00:00] In this episode, I had the opportunity to speak with founder of the Dirty Cookie Shahira Marei. Key Points addressed were Shahira's is unlikely background as an aerospace engineer. And her plunge following it into the world of cookies. We also discussed Shahira's crucial pivot into e-commerce in 2018 and how that is playing out in the climate of Covid 19 and the pandemic's effect on her business and its future. Stay tuned for my talk and interview with Shahira.
[00:00:34] Hi, my name is Patricia Kathleen, and this podcast series contains interviews I conduct with women. Female identified and non binary individuals regarding their professional stories and personal narrative. This podcast is designed to hold a space for all individuals to learn from their counterparts regardless of age status. For industry, we aim to contribute to the evolving global dialog surrounding underrepresented figures in all industries across the USA and abroad. If you're enjoying this podcast, be sure to check out our subsequent series that dove deep into specific areas such as Vegan life, fasting and roundtable topics. They can be found via our Web site. Patricia Kathleen dot COM, where you can also join our newsletter. You can also subscribe to all of our series on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, PodBean and YouTube. Thanks for listening. Now let's start the conversation.
[00:01:31] Hi, everyone. Welcome back. I'm your host, Patricia. And today I am elated to be sitting down with Shahira Marei. She is the founder of the Dirty Cookie. You can find it online. W w w dot. Dirty cookie. Dot com. Welcome Shahira
[00:01:47] Patricia, how you doing?
[00:01:48] Good. I'm excited to kind of unpack what you're doing. We talked off the record prior to this.
[00:01:52] But your Web site video I was researching prior to speaking with you and my entire household lit up over. So we will get into every all the goods that you're providing there and particularly the cookie shop. Prior to doing that, though, for everyone listening. I will read a bio on Shahira. But before that, a quick roadmap of today's podcasts for any new listeners will follow the same trajectory as all of them in the series. We will first look at unpacking Shahira's academic and professional background that brought her to launching Dirty Cookie. Then we'll look at unpacking the dirty cookie. We'll get into the logistics for all of you entrepreneurs and founders out there. The who, what, when, where, why, funding growth, all of those early stage things. And then we'll kind of turn our efforts towards the ethos and the philosophy behind it and some of your as motivations there. We'll also look at some of the current and contemporary issues about Covid 19 and how that has impacted everyone's businesses. And then we'll look at goals and plans that she has for the future, for both herself and her business and how those intertwined sometimes and segregating others were up everything up with advice that she has. For those of you who are looking to get involved, purchase some of her gorgeous products or emulate some of her success. So, as promised, a quick bio before I start peppering her with questions on Shahira, Shahira is the furthest person from your typical Betty Crocker. In fact, in her past life, she was an aerospace project manager. The dirty cookie was born from the desire to turn something small into something meaningful. It was born from her personal aspiration to change lives. One year it was 10 years old on a vacation in Egypt. She witnessed the devastation of hunger and homelessness firsthand. She was shocked that children her age were living on the streets, that they were deprived of basic food and shelter. She begged her father to give them money, and he conceded, but not before engraving the single most important statement she would hear to date. If you really want to help them, give them jobs, not money. It was a monumental enough for her to decide to build a company, one that she vowed would be centered around the people that she employs. Today, you'll see that aside from the unique and delectable cookies, her business is about personality from the customization options on their shots to creative freedom that she gives her employees. She has a work group to drive home the idea that anything is possible. She's always open to trying new things, and she employs her customers and team to challenge her as they work together towards a common goal. The dirty cookie is more than a dessert heaven. It's a home for those who are searching for themselves and what they love. Again, you can locate it at dirty cookie dot com.
[00:04:35] And so she heard before we get into unpacking it, which I am super excited to do. I'm hoping you can draw for everyone listening your background of academic and professional life prior to launching the dirty cookie.
[00:04:48] Yeah, so I went to coffee for 10 years in California for my undergrad. I majored in business marketing and then I got my MBA in management while I was working full time at Boeing.
[00:05:03] I was a aerospace project manager for about six years at the Boeing Company. That's my I guess.
[00:05:13] So what is the connection? Draw me the annexation.
[00:05:16] How did it go from Project Interna, an aerospace engineer at Boeing, to launching a cookie company when you're not Betty Crocker?
[00:05:26] Yeah, so I'm definitely not a baker. Do not put me in the kitchen.
[00:05:32] I, I like I said, since I was really young.
[00:05:36] That was in engraved in my mind that I was gonna be an entrepreneur. You know, my father told me, like, if you really want to help people, you're gonna have to give them jobs. And the way to do that is employer, not an employee. So I had that really early on because he was an entrepreneur. He was a retired entrepreneur. So with that being ingrained in my mind, when I had my daughter at twenty twenty six sorry, I started Boeing at twenty three, I had my daughter at twenty six.
[00:06:07] I went to the Slainte panic mode. I was like, OK, I have this awesome corporate job, I have a kid now but like whereas my business. Like how am I going to help people and give people jobs. So that's when I went into this on maternity leave, got five months of maternity leave, just trying to figure out how I'm going to start a business. That's all I did for five months. And I manifested it and I was like, it's coming this year. It's happening. So. Within being backup Boeing within like three weeks, I had met someone who introduced me to a landlord of my future storefront. And I signed a four five year lease to the store. A big jump. Yeah. I had no idea what I was going to do. But I use my experience at Boeing and my friends there to help me design a mold. You get into cookie shop shape. So we got on the mall and I picked a cookie because I wanted something unique and different. And I have the biggest sweet tooth in the world. Like, I just love dessert. I eat dessert first before ordering my meal. That's just who I am. I knew it was going to be in the dessert field. So, yeah, I signed my five year lease and then just kind of work backwards from there, figuring out what I'm going to put in there and what your normal story would like a whole business plan. And here's what we're going to go do.
[00:07:24] No, it sounds like you didn't lack bravery at all because it hit a hit. There is like a lot of empty space in between these sentences, and that's cool. You know, that's kind of what you need. They say in the beginning you have to be, like, brave enough to or short sighted enough to take the leap and then have enough energy to fulfill it. Once you're terrified. So as an entrepreneur, I'm wondering, you love cookies. That's what started you off there. You have. So if you for everyone listening, like getting into unpacking the dirty cookie, because surety kind of drops that little crumb, pun intended, if you will, about the mold she has. So Shira has this cookie shot and it's essentially like it looks like I want to say like a shot glass, a very tiny tumbler that's based out of a cookie. And it looks like it's it's lined with chocolate. And then the video, as you and anyone who sees when you hit her website, is milk being poured inside of it, which is simply, you know, ingenious. I think it's a it's a very clever take. Cookies have had a revitalization. Right. I'm old. I'm forty three. Back in the day, there was Mrs. Fields in the mall, and that was kind of it, you know, and then they went silent for a while. And then then there was this rebirth along with cupcakes, their sister. And I feel like people just kind of started making them again. They didn't start re engineering them. And that is what you've done. And it's clever and it's whimsical and it's cool and it's fun. And that's what dessert usually is. I'm wondering, what was the impetus behind it? Like, how did you come up with the cookie shot?
[00:08:53] Well, I actually was inspired.
[00:08:56] I signed this five year lease and I'm looking at my future store front and I'm like on Pinterest scrolling through like, OK, I have to find something in the dessert world to put in here.
[00:09:06] And I saw this lady molding cookie dough on bowls, you know, like you're trying to pull out of cookie dough. And I'm like, oh, I'm like the biggest, like milk and cookie dough birth in the world. I could put the milk and cookies together as one. And that's when I called my engineer at Boeing. I'm like, hey, help me make this mold. I want to do a cookie cutter basically and fill it with milk. And he's like, sure, no problem.
[00:09:29] We went to his house and, you know, designed it, 3D printed it. And then my best friend from high school had talked to him like ten years. She was one of the best bakers in the country like she is. She went to the top culinary school and pastry chef. You name it. So I went to her with the more than I'm like, hey, can you, like, develop these recipes for me? Because this is what I really want to do. And I signed this five year lease. Yeah. She started coming up with the recipes.
[00:09:54] She was on board for a while and then she got really busy with her own work and just handed me over all our recipes and the whole team of bakers. And then I started learning how to bake. So within two years, I became a baking expert.
[00:10:10] You were broken. You have to become Betty Crocker. Fantastic. And so can you unpack let's get into the logistics for all of our nerdy entrepreneurs out there and founders alike. And first of all, let's talk about when it was founded. You said did you have co-founders? Did you take any funding? And is it brick and mortar or is it solely online?
[00:10:34] Yes. So it was founded in 2015. July 30, 1st, 2015 is when I open the storefront. And I actually started it with my best friend from Boeing. And she ended up leaving after a year because of the entrepreneurship. Life was very challenging.
[00:10:54] No, just some people have this idea of wanting to start a business. But then when you really get into it and you see the challenges, she's like, no, you know what? This is your dream. Go for it on your own.
[00:11:06] So she she left about a year into the business. And then we had the store for four years. I had the store for four years. I closed it in December twenty when I just felt like I didn't want to do this anymore. I didn't want I saw my company as bigger than this little tiny store in a terrible location.
[00:11:28] I wanted to go into, like distribution and I wanted to go into online. So store and decided to shift to e-commerce right away.
[00:11:38] I had no idea how to run an e-commerce business. So that's a whole other story.
[00:11:43] And it changes, right? You're in a very specific thing. It's not a closing a clothing boutique and switching to online, which has its own unique challenges.
[00:11:50] But you're in baked shipping, baked goods or shipping any kind of edible. It's a very different conversation with even the process and what you're making.
[00:12:01] And I think I didn't realize at that time, you know, like Facebook as an Instagram ads are kind of like a pay to play game.
[00:12:07] And we don't have extra money to play with all the big boys online. So it was we and we went from like three or four different ad agencies, couldn't find the right person to help us. So that I think we lost a lot of money online, just trying to understand how online, you know, e-commerce business works. But I'm glad we did all of that homework because that's what's really helping us right now after. Right. And this is really we have all that data from Facebook ads back from twenty nineteen. Early on when we played around with it. And now we're really on the right person to help us really grow that and use it to our benefit.
[00:12:44] So, yeah, it's auspicious. It's crazy. The timing, given that, you know, it seems like you were kind of this flagship perhaps for different reasons, but switching to e-commerce and having that be your soul moment. I'm curious, when you went, did you take a break at all from closing your brick and mortar in 2018? Was there any kind of a break or did you go straight over to your e-commerce, straight over into e-commerce?
[00:13:07] And then we still had catering like a huge part of our business was catering.
[00:13:11] We did weddings, mitzvahs, corporate events work with like clients like Facebook and Netflix. So we had a ton of catering. I just wanted to grow and have an online presence like a big one.
[00:13:24] Did you take any original funding when you founded the brick and mortar?
[00:13:27] No. That was like fifty thousand from my best friend. Maxed out all my credit cards, pulled my four one kay bootstrapped.
[00:13:37] Yeah. That's old school. Excellent. Okay. So that which is cool too because you retained a lot of autonomy and authority was that right. No investors, fewer voices, which is also kind of draws into. It's interesting the voices that you did kind of want to bring in and listen to within the ethos, behind the philosophy behind you, people who are working with it and things like that. Can you kind of speak to the open creative process that you and your crew have when you're developing products? And also, what kind of products do you offer right now?
[00:14:09] So I do, too. Just doing a little pivot with covered. We just started we just launched our decorating kits like DIY.
[00:14:19] You get a set of cookie shops, you fill them with chocolate, you get them and sprinkles and then decorate them with characters. Like we're really big on the customization part of our quick shots. We brand them for, you know, birthdays, events. So now you can put like a little happy birthday characters and birthday presents and balloons on them, their fondant characters or royal icing characters. So you can just eat them. They're basically sugar. So they're really good and fun activities. I was inspired to do this because primarily I was at home now with my daughter and she's six and I'm just like trying. She's almost six. I'm trying to keep her entertained all the time. We did brownies, we cook, we've done everything, you name it coloring. And I'm just like, OK, how about you just take some cookie shots and decorate them for me? And she love her and her friends, like our neighbors. They were playing with it and they had a blast. So that's what you know.
[00:15:10] So it's a delicious craft that they can do counts as art, exact coloring craft dessert. It's covering bases. I love that. Do you have you have you had people reach out? I feel like you're inches away from some kind of a collaboration or someone saying, like, here's what I want you to mold next. You know, I think that you've, like, hit the tip of an ice. Here. Have you had anyone reach out and try to collaborate? Are you interested in those kind of forward or future motions or are you going to, like, hold tight to where you're at?
[00:15:41] You know, I love collaborations. I love collaborating with other companies. I did one previously. I did a bunch previously.
[00:15:49] I love love. I think the future partnerships and collaboration with brands. I love supporting women owned companies. So I do look to my female entrepreneurs and say, hey, how can we, you know, collaborate and support each other? So I tend to do that. I have a giveaway with a donut company this Friday. I have another one next week with just giving out our products. And then also trying to infuse two brands together, whether it's a flavor or a unique idea.
[00:16:21] So nice. I love that. Well, so looking. We've spoken a little bit about how you you've changed your product a little bit, given the recent Kofod situation to this, you know, the social engineering aspect of what kids should be crafting with this their home.
[00:16:36] And you also have there been other things, other ways that I'm curious with people who had products, you know, there was an onus, if you will, of a responsibility to communicate in some degree as to how Colvard was affecting you or how you wanted to communicate to your audience and your customers that it was affecting them. How did you personally deal with that? Was there anything that you communicated with your clients or customers as it hit and moving forward? Has it changed anything about outside of this new endeavor with the decorating kits? Has it changed anything else?
[00:17:11] Yeah. Excellent question.
[00:17:13] So when I first got the news of social distancing, I think that was like a I had all my clients cancel all our events. We had like 30 events scheduled out for the last few months. So it felt like overnight all my events were canceled that were on the calendar. And then we had just been working so hard and getting until all these really big hotels like Four Seasons and Marea and Cosmopolitan Vegas. And we just you know, we were starting to really pick up with hospitality. The food and beverage structures were going crazy with our products. You know, like trying incorporate it into their events and the weddings and the parties and some of these major hotels. So things were like getting really exciting. And then they also just canceled like overnight, obviously. So I think that week was really, really difficult for me. I I walked in, I remember March 13th, Friday the 13th. I walked into my production facility like you couldn't stop crying and told all my team members, I'm just going to have to let them go right now. I can't I don't know what's on the books for us. I don't have any business. And I got scared, like I mean, to be honest, I got super scared.
[00:18:21] And I just said, I'm so sorry. I'm going to let you guys know if I get any business and bring you back immediately. But right now, I just have to let everybody go.
[00:18:29] And it's a sad day. I cried a lot and cried with my team and it took about a week off and didn't even think about work. It just that a lot of meditation and a lot of praying and just tried to kind of like say, OK, what can't how can we, you know, come out of this and come out of it stronger? Because I'm a very positive person. I'd like to believe, like everything happens for a reason and there's always good and everything. So after that week, I call it my week of mourning, I got the idea for the decorating kits. Actually, during my meditation. So it was Easter, like our cut off for Easter was Monday. I launched the kits on Friday. And within those 48 hours, we sold like 400 Easter cookie kits. Wow. This leg. Oh, my God. This is my direction. This is what I've been praying for the whole week. And this is what we're gonna do. So I brought my team back. I brought four, you know, four people back. And they've just been working on the kids in the kitchen right now. So nice.
[00:19:33] Great. I mean, what a great success with a quick turnaround from, you know, and a moment of pause and reflection. I don't know of anyone who hasn't taken time to reflect.
[00:19:43] And. And it really has pivoted. It's a lot of people have changed. And it seems like there's been a great deal of it that was good, you know. And at least there's that coming from such a tragedy as a pandemic. I'm curious. Moving forward, particularly because you have this recent kind of pivot growth, change, you know, success on your heels. What are your plans for the future? Have you looked. Have you gone back to the board and said, let's look at the next one to three years? Must have changed from what there was before.
[00:20:14] Oh, 100 percent. Definitely, definitely changed. I think we're going in the more DIY direction. The decorating kits have inspired me actually for years like her since I started.
[00:20:28] People have been asking me to buy our molds. Right. And I was always. There's no way I'm ever going to sell my Mon's, but I was like, no. This could be an opportunity to carry a smaller version of my molds.
[00:20:42] A six piece kit.
[00:20:44] Make it at home yourself. With our proprietary cookie mix and all the decorating character, stuff like this one big awesome activity box, you know, with the molds that cookie makes and the decorating stuff. So that's kind of where I'm going. And this could be sold in retail stores. You know, Target, Bed, Bath and Beyond, wherever.
[00:21:05] And I don't have to deal with what I deal with right now, which is a lot of shelf life issues for a big good a major distribution because of the fact that we have a short shelf life. And I'm not really open to putting a kind of preservatives in my product. So I'm like, oh, this could be the perfect solution. You know why people make it themselves and then we can get into a ton of distribution. So. Right. Kind of what I'm working on now.
[00:21:32] That's exciting. Yeah. And it changes. It's interesting. You know, I always find every time I've gone back on something I've said, I will never do that. It's always for a good reason. You know, it's always a happy end. It's not you know, I am selling my hair limus Arab style. It's more like, oh, but it worked out well for me to go back on what I said I thought I didn't want to do. And it's adorable to kind of see those early perceptions of, you know, just, hey, that brings us all the same. Like, I would never. And then being like, wait, this could work out.
[00:21:59] Well, you know, there's everything. And this is like the perfect time to roll this, especially because there is a need for. I've been if I show you how many e-mails and the M's on Instagram asking worldwide, Brazil and Europe, you name it, asking for our molds, every day we get messages about it.
[00:22:18] So I'm like, you know what? This is where we should focus on a little bit now.
[00:22:22] Yeah, absolutely. Well, good on you for being open to it. You know, part of life is just staying open, right? Exactly. Well, we're at the point. Well, first, I actually wanted to ask you I forgot and neglected my other community, but I myself am vegan and gluten free joy. And I know people like what? No. And I'm like, no, I still eat baked goods. I'm still allowed. I still get in there. And and there's a you offer some Vegan. Are you used to some vegan and gluten free? Will you stay along with that characteristic? And did you see an increase in that market over the past year?
[00:22:58] Definitely. We have double chocolate being gluten free right now on our site. We just we had a ton more being gluten free products.
[00:23:07] But just because with the limited stuff right now, we've decided to just get one item that's being equal and free and focus, just trying to streamline the process a little bit more. But my sisters, Vegan, and she told me when I first started, just like you are not launching a store without a Vegan product. So and my other sister, Bree, and I needed to satisfy both of them with one cookie. So that's kind of how that Vegan gluten free cookie shop was born.
[00:23:33] Wonderful. Well done. Two sisters and right mind. That's awesome. I love that they made it about them. That's fantastic. I know. And you listened. It's as you said, the three of you are well suited. I'm wondering. So we've gone to the place, whereas my kind of my favorite part of the podcast and and I'm known for asking this, but I'm curious if you were in a public space, a socially, properly distanced from person who came up to you tomorrow, and it is a woman or a female identified or non binary individual, anyone other than a man for purposes of this podcast endeavor and who said, listen, I'm I've got this history in, you know, some science based areas in business administration. I'm doing quite well. But I've always wanted this is security and intrigue and expression of having my own business. I'm going to launch when I find a place. And that's about all I know. What are the top three pieces of advice you would give that person, knowing what you know now?
[00:24:32] Number one, I wish I would have talked to someone in the industry before launching my store and didn't think I knew at all, but I didn't know that there were people willing to help.
[00:24:45] You know? I think that was a big oversight on my part.
[00:24:50] So I'll go talk to people who are doing it first and get their lessons learned and get their feedback, because when I learn that later on when I it's just helped me so much not make further mistakes or limit them. You know, Biden is open to receiving from the experts. Having a mentor is huge.
[00:25:12] I have like four different mentors in four different areas where I utilize all of them.
[00:25:17] So getting a mentor is really, I think, aligned with that. The second thing would be.
[00:25:26] Don't rush into it. I was very. I didn't want to take my time. You know, I, like, totally rushed into everything. I didn't think twice because I was so eager.
[00:25:37] I was the type like I would just jump. And because of this burning desire I've had for, like, 15 years of just swarming, I.
[00:25:47] I mean, I'm glad it happened because I'm the type that, you know, I would have I needed to get my feet wet to learn, but it cost me a lot of money. A lot of mistakes. So if you can hold onto that desire a little bit and just get the right help along the way, that would be really great.
[00:26:06] And networking, I think networking. I lived in a bubble for the first two years. Business like I don't even like client networking meant just building relationships. You know, I, I was so focused on making a business like successful that I didn't get out to talk to anybody doing anything great. Didn't have a system.
[00:26:25] But when I met these group of amazing entrepreneurs, I just it was just like magic happened between us. So that support system, whether it's entrepreneurs or family. But I like to tend to hang out with more entrepreneurs because they understand choose whether it's payroll or rent or whatever. I convince that and not my family. They're like, OK, we I want to hear another word about your business.
[00:26:49] So you have to be around people who get it for sure. Yeah. And they're scrappy. Other entrepreneurs are going to come up with that like Yanqui know how. Had those exciting like dictate moments.
[00:26:59] OK, so I've got to talk to someone in the industry and there are people that are happy to advise and mentor as you get started. Don't rush into it, preserve your passion, but get some information first. And number three, network, find out people. You're awesome. You're trying. You drive. There you go. I love those three pieces. And I think they're so true. It's a you know, you come across axiomatic like tourism. It's just like that works for every industry. Does it matter what business you're in? Well, thank you. Sure. I appreciate your time today. We're out of time. But I wanted to say I really appreciate your story. I loved hearing all about it. And I'm encouraging everyone to get online and check out your stuff. Thank you, Patricia.
[00:27:41] I had a blast. Absolutely. And for everyone listening, we have been speaking once again with show here, Marietje, as she's the founder of The Dirty Cookie.
[00:27:49] You can find out more online. W w w dot. Dirty cookie, dot com.
[00:27:54] And until we speak again next time, remember to stay in love with the world and always bet on yourself.
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free