Kate’s Cookie Co: Building her business one batch at a time

📍 Queens, NY
🔗 hotplate.com/katescookieco

Kate’s baking journey started when she was 12 years old, flipping through the Friends cookbook her sister had brought home. She followed the recipe for chocolate souffles and was hooked. It wasn’t her love for baking that changed over time, it was realizing she could actually turn it into something of her own.

“I was like, okay, I'm good at this. And then my mom realized I could bake and suddenly I became the resident baker. It just kind of became a whole thing, anytime someone died she had me baking cookies for them. I would bake for anyone, everything.”

How it started

Years later, living in New York, baking cookies continued to be Kate’s way of showing up for people and an outlet for herself during times of stress.

“I had a key to my best friend’s place. Sometimes I would just leave a little something while they were at work,” she says.

Things started to grow organically from there. She dabbled in decorating cookies for kids birthday parties and other events. After having her daughter and moving during the pandemic, she found herself back in Pittsburgh and started selling locally to people in town.

What her business looks like today

After the pandemic led to the tough decision to close her family’s rug business, Kate moved back to New York. With her daughter in school, she had more time to devote to baking.

She signed up for local markets, reached out to shops, and started building Kate’s Cookie Co into a steady business. Today, she sells at markets, does drops for local customers on Hotplate, and even landed her cookies in a bar/gourmet grocery store in the East Village.

She’s also a full-time parent, which shapes how she runs her business day to day.

“I take full advantage of when my kid is in school and after bedtime,” she says. “The beauty of baking out of my own kitchen is being able to say goodnight to my kid and then spend the rest of my evening baking or packaging cookies with sweats on and Bravo shows in the background.”

Her daughter is also part of the business in her own way.

“She’s my little helper, joining me on deliveries, charming customers at the farmers market, and just being my adorable cheerleader.”

Even as the business grows, she’s intentional about keeping it manageable and something that fits into her life, rather than something that consumes it.

Discovering Hotplate

Kate found Hotplate through a friend.

“My friend Glenn in Texas was baking bread and using Hotplate,” she says. “I asked how it was going, and he said it was great, so I signed up.”

Since then, it’s become part of how she runs her business, helping her manage orders and stay flexible through different seasons.

A lesson that shaped her approach

Q: What’s a piece of advice about running a baking business that changed how you work?

A: “Take it one step at a time. When I ran my family’s rug business, we were often thinking twenty steps ahead, sometimes planning around outcomes that never came. With Kate’s Cookie Co, I’ve taken things slow and handled things as they come.”

More than just cookies

Kate’s been baking her whole life, but the business came together organically, piece by piece. Testing ideas, showing up to markets, learning what works, and letting it evolve.

Her business has changed every year. She’s built something flexible, personal, and sustainable for her and her family. We can’t wait to see what’s next!