By Theresa O’Connor
With the holiday season upon us, the Pinterest board never disappoints and presents us with gingerbread cookies to reindeer cookies to snowman cookies! But for Tempe Prep alumna, Veronica Miller, baking cookies is much more than a hobby; it is also the heart of her job!
Veronica says her family decorate cookies every year and she has always enjoyed it! When she was thinking of a job she could work from at home, she thought of baking since she has experience and finds happiness in it.
At Tempe Prep, although baking did not appear in the Liberal Arts curriculum, Veronica says she really enjoyed her art class! The artistic part of a job like this really stood out to help realize her potential as a baker and edible artist. From the graduating Class of 2009, alumna Veronica Miller is enjoying her home baking cookie business. A lot of organizing and extensive components go into starting a business but Veronica has shown us it is very possible!
Veronica started her home baking business in 2018 when she was searching for a job but nothing stood out to her in the job market. So after some brainstorming, she decided to start her own business, and incorporated her own passion for art into the business! Sounds pretty cool right?
She also states that a job such as this one was convenient for her because her husband is an active military personnel and not often in the country. She had to find a flexible job because her family may need to move around to several different places.
To get started with her business, Sweet Dessert Cookie Co, Veronica read a lot of baking blogs and watched several online cookie decorating videos. Sweet Dessert Cookie Co. was originally started in El Paso, Texas, where Veronica and her family were stationed. As soon as she got the hang of networking and marketing on social media, her business started to flourish!
Veronica wanted to make sure she was seen as a professional when she first started her business. She first registered her business, bought insurance, created business cards, and designed a professional logo.
Other than the challenges of starting a business, another factor of beginning a business is making sure the setup is successful. Veronica says, “I wanted to make sure I set myself up for success before I started my business. A lot of times, home bakers get started because a family member or friend tastes something they make and says, “Hey you should sell this!”
Veronica has come a very long way. She has made cookies for celebrities, politicians, worked on fun collaborations with big companies, and was even featured in Voyage Phoenix magazine in 2018! That is incredible!
A majority of her work is completing custom orders for clients for their events such as baby showers, birthdays, weddings, and more! Veronica states that it is a long process as she first sketches and plans out all her designs of the cookies. Then she goes on to baking and preparing icing, to decorating, and then packaging. Luckily, she is able to be her own boss, work from home, and build her own schedule!
Although her full-time job definitely takes a lot of hard work and effort, Veronica says, “I love custom orders because my clients are always so thrilled with having such a special personal touch to their events, and their excitement when they see their finished cookies is always worth all of the intricate work that goes into them.”
In 2019, Veronica began teaching cookie decorating classes and was able to connect with others who have similar passions. She states that most of her classes sell out and while some students take the class for fun, other students have gone to create their own baking businesses and become a huge hit! Veronica also says one thing on her bucket list is to be featured on Food Network! She states, “I’ve been offered a spot on a cookie competition show but the timing didn’t work out and now I have my eyes set on 2021!”
As of right now, Veronica is stationed in Hawaii and is continuing her local cookie business there. She says, “Luckily I can take my business with me wherever we move and the Army wife community is especially welcoming to home business by other spouses. I essentially just have to advertise a few times on social media pages that I am moving duty stations and then word of mouth gets me a lot of great networking.”
Veronica has shown us an amazing example of a Tempe Prep alumna whose hard work has led her to great success! Good luck to her and the future of Sweet Dessert Cookie Co.!
Below: Some of Veronica’s cookies.
