Brooke Alexander and her husband Danny started a cookie business in the middle of a pandemic. But their initial challenge didn’t involve delivery delays, lockdowns or restrictions—it was keeping up with growth.
It all began in New York City. Brooke and Danny would often visit Levain Bakery—a New York City cookie institution—to indulge in the baked treat. “Levain was the inspiration behind Cookie Doughboy,” explains Brooke. “We’ve just put an Australian spin on them.”
Danny had always dabbled with the idea of them owning a business. But as they were both working full-time, it stayed as just an idea. When COVID-19 hit in early 2020, Brooke had to take forced leave. The time at home provided an opportunity to reminisce about New York by trialling and testing cookie recipes. “It was a blessing in disguise,” Brooke says.
The experimentation stage led to offering the cookies to relatives and friends, which quickly progressed into greater interest and more customers. “I was also working part-time when our customer base started to increase. We were all in by that point, developing a website, cookie testing and trying to market ourselves. Then, we finally decided on a launch date,” explains Brooke.