Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexis Airington.
Hi Alexis, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
I tried my first batch of royal icing sugar cookies in October of 2018. My son had just started school, and the room mom of his class asked if I would make these football and megaphone cookies for their homecoming. I had grown up with a love of baking but was always intimidated by decorated sugar cookies, so had never tried to make them before. I think I felt the need to impress the woman as new mom in the “school stage” of life, so I told her ” Sure!” So, I went home, watched a couple YouTube and Instagram videos, and tried it. I was surprised myself to find out that I could actually make them, and they didn’t look too bad! I also got hooked, so I started making them for different events at the school. Within a couple weeks, I had other parents asking if I sell them, so again I said “Sure!” I went home, looked up how to work under the Texas Cottage Laws, and turned it into a business. By November 2018, Improv Cookie Company was born.
I decided on the name based on a couple things. First, I am also an actress here in Dallas with the Kim Dawson Agency, and I’ve done quite a bit of Improv. Improv always comes in handy for auditions and also on set. The number one rule of Improv is to always say “Yes!” You never want to shut down a scene or an opportunity by saying “No.” It also trains you to think on your feet, and helps you be adaptable and try new things. I felt like this idea fit the way my cookie company was started, and also fit the way I live life. By saying yes to trying something new, I discovered a talent I never knew existed. It has opened up the opportunity to be introduced to a whole new world of “cookiers” I also never knew existed, as well as a great business for myself and my family. Over the past three years, I know I’ve grown so much in my technique and style and love that it is an industry where I can continue to learn and grow. Being a cookie artist has given me such a creative outlet, a new community in the cookie world, and I love knowing that my art is enjoyed!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
For me, creating the actual cookies has been a natural progression and pretty easy road. It was just something that clicked when I tried it. I’m definitely way more advanced in my techniques and abilities than when I first started three years ago, but that just comes with practice! However, the struggles have been in managing my time and figuring out how to book my schedule. Cookie art takes time, and I am very detailed in my cookies. I’ve learned with the way I love to decorate, there aren’t a lot of shortcuts. There was (and sometimes still) is a learning curve in figuring out how many cookies to take on, with how much time is actually in my schedule. I have two young kids, so just like any other working parent out there, you try to find the balance between family and work life. When you own and operate your own business out of your home, it gives you flexibility to schedule how you want but also can make it easy to take on too much. As my business has grown, I am booked up about two months in advance, which is great for consistency but makes it hard to tell customers that I’m booked so often. As many other cookiers understand, it often ends up being a late-night gig.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I create edible art, specifically decorated royal icing sugar cookies. People order my cookies for all sorts of occasions. I make cookies for birthdays, showers, weddings, graduations, holidays, bachelorette parties, theatre show openings, sports teams, and basically anything you could think of where someone wants to celebrate, or just because they want little works of art they can eat! I specialize in creativity, thinking outside the box, and details. I love to entertain through my cookies. I love them to be a point of discussion and joy at whatever event my cookies attend. My cookie sets that I am most proud of, have to be the ones that seem the most entertaining to others. I had the opportunity to make cookies for the comedian Nate Bargatze and for the Dude Perfect guys. In both these sets, I took my favorite parts of their standup and shows and turned them into cookies. This used all the things I love about making cookies! I got to be creative and think outside the box, but also entertain people as they saw and discussed the sets. I also love adding humor to cookies, and both these sets were able to do that. Another favorite set I was able to create was a Star Wars-themed wedding set. Now, I’m not a huge Star Wars fan, but I loved the challenge of making “Star Wars’ fit a wedding scene. I was given complete freedom to create, and it fit all my checkmarks of creativity, details, and thinking outside the box. I also really enjoy making cookies for musicals. I was a theatre major in college, so it is always fun for me to combine two of my great loves, theatre, and cookies.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
You know my cookie business was more an answer to prayer than luck. I had prayed that God would open the door for a consistent business that would also give me flexibility to be with my kiddos, as they were 2 and 5 at the time. The very next week I discovered I could make these cookies, and I was pretty good at it. I definitely believe God opened this door at just the right time and has confirmed that every step of the way. I was in a great spot to build a clientele, as I had recently stepped out of working in youth ministry for ten years, was surrounded by families at my son’s school, and have a mom and sister that own a salon. So, it was a very natural and fast progression to build up a client base. I continue to feel like my business is growing, and I have some big ideas for the future. It helps me knowing that this business was an answer to prayer to feel confirmed that I am going in the right direction. Although I know luck can be involved, I think working hard, being open to ideas, learning what you don’t know, and taking opportunities can have a lot to do with success.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: ImprovCookieCompany
- Facebook: ImprovCookieCompany
Image Credits
Hannah Middleton
Brent Weber
