Meet Jennifer Evans of Cookies Plz in Fort Worth

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Evans.

Jennifer, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
In 2011, I wanted to make cookies for my daughter’s birthday at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History’s preschool program. A neighbor had introduced me to a fantastic blog, Sweetopia.net, with a delicious recipe for sugar cookies and royal icing. I decided to give it a go (with the help of a more talented baker friend)! The cookies were hideous, but this was before Pinterest was very popular, and all the other moms just gushed over my ugly cookies and said I should start selling them. Right at this time, Kelley Masters and the passionate folks over at the Texas Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance were fighting to pass legislation making it legal to sell home-baked goods in Texas. The bill passed in June of 2011 to the great joy of home bakers all over Texas. In September of 2011, the Texas Cottage Food Law came into effect, and I started selling cookies from my home.

Over the past 7 years, I’ve made approximately 15,000 cookies and taught many classes teaching others to make cookies as well. My daughters are now 8 and 11 and I love that I can incorporate the importance of hard work, attention to detail, pride in a job well done, and the spirit of entrepreneurship into our homeschool day. But my favorite part of the job is seeing my customers’ faces when they see their vision come to life in edible form.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Like many entrepreneurs, juggling family life and the job can be difficult. Most of my work is done after my kids are in bed, so getting enough sleep can be a struggle in busy times! Pricing appropriately has also been a struggle. I started my cookie journey charging far too little for far too much work, but my fellow cookiers have been so encouraging in helping me to learn to value my own product and skill level in my pricing. Fort Worth patrons are also incredibly generous and really value the custom handmade nature of decorated sugar cookies, making my job so rewarding.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
At Cookies Plz, we specialize in custom decorated sugar cookies for your event. I’m known for having the most delicious, soft sugar cookies and icing around. I excel at ensuring that the client has their ideas realized in sugar form, whether they have an exact knowledge of what they want or they want me to employ creative license (my favorite)! My classes are famous for ensuring success at cookie decorating, whether this is your first time to decorate a cookie or your thirtieth. If you pay attention in my class, you WILL make lovely cookies that your entire family will ooh and aah over. My years of experience, my down to earth nature, and my willingness to share what I know makes me a valuable part of the Fort Worth entrepreneurial marketplace.

What were you like growing up?
I’ve always been a force of nature! Strong-willed, direct, forceful, blunt: all those aspects of my personality have helped get me through the struggles that all entrepreneurs face. My love of people, friendliness, and desire to help others find happiness have ensured my success in a very competitive marketplace. I’ve always loved animals and thought for a while that I would like to be a vet. That morphed into a desire to be a chef in college, then a dietitian (graduating with a nutrition degree from TCU), and now a cookier!

Pricing:

• Cookies start at $3.75 depending on size and design.

Contact Info:

• Phone: 817-773-6674
• Email: londonrothko@yahoo.com
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/txcookiesplz
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/cookiesplz
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/txcookiesplz

Image Credit:
Makayla Ervin with Merv Images

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