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From Side Hustle to Success Story
In the small food business world, success is an art in itself. Seeing the need for quality commercial kitchen space, Cindi Thompson created Crafted Kitchen to support culinary entrepreneurs and their business goals. Crafted Kitchen is more than just a place for them to work; it's a community where they can grow, learn, and thrive alongside other creators, artisans, and industry innovators.
Now, the visionary behind Crafted Kitchen is sitting down with the inspiring individuals who have been members, and other creatives who have used this space to achieve their culinary aspirations. From personal stories and practical advice to food for thought and secret ingredients to success, every episode is sure to ignite your entrepreneurial spirit. Prepare for Greatness™ with this food-forward podcast.
From Side Hustle to Success Story
Meet the Maker: Jessica Motes (The Naughty Cookie)
"Say YES. Freak out. Figure it out." Words that every food entrepreneur lives by, this is the mantra of The Naughty Cookie's founder, Jessica Motes. These words have served her well, from her first pop-up (where she had no clue what she was doing) to today, as she runs a thriving business that ships her deceptively delicious treats across the US. Jessica sat down with us recently to dive into how this mentality has guided her through the many ups and downs, lonely hours, and tireless nights of "being her own boss," as well as Crafted Kitchen's part in bringing The Naughty Cookie from a dream to a living, breathing business.
Located in the Arts District of Downtown Los Angeles, Crafted Kitchen is a shared commercial kitchen space that provides small food business owners with the tools and resources they need to Prepare For Greatness™. Visit craftedkitchenla.com to learn more.
Welcome to the Crafted Kitchen Podcast, where we talk about more than just food. In this episode, you'll meet Jessica Motz, the maker behind the Naughty Cookie. Originally from Miami, where she was a fashion model, jessica's become a vegan cookie queen, growing her small business into a mini juggernaut that ships her deceptively delicious treats all across the US. In this conversation, recorded at our facility in downtown Los Angeles, cindy and Jessica dive deep into what it takes to survive and thrive as an entrepreneur in this wild industry we call food, beverage and hospitality. Have a listen.
Speaker 2:Tell me one thing about entrepreneurship that you did not expect Now. Now that may be a hard question for you, since you grew up around that but, for your own journey. What tell me?
Speaker 3:something that you did not expect how hard it was gonna be, like, really like and it might be silly to say that, oh, how does that come as a shocker. But really how many, how, how often you feel alone?
Speaker 2:It's a very lonely business.
Speaker 3:It's a very lonely business. I've missed weddings. I've missed baby showers. To this day, my friend has a baby shower in a week that I won't be going to because I have orders to fulfill. I'm very hands-on in my business. Yes, you are, I've missed, mind you, all. My family is still in Miami, so I have missed so many Christmases, so many holidays, birthdays.
Speaker 3:it's a 24-7 job it is it is 24-7 and I don't think even watching my grandfather like at his store day in, day out. I didn't put that really into what it really means until I had to do it myself and I'm like, wow, you really have to sacrifice your to do it myself. And I'm like, wow, you really have to sacrifice your social life. But it's like my mom always said, your network is your net worth. And I came out here with zero network, two clients that I was working for that paid my bills and, funny enough, I started this business with $800. That is how I started Naughty Cookie and I really built it from the ground up.
Speaker 3:And I want to say that that really is the most challenging part of it of being an entrepreneur is all the things that you have to put aside to really focus. And it's those sacrifices that luckily, I have such a loving family and amazing friends that understand. But I still carry that like, oh, I wish I could have been there for them. I wish I could have been there for these special moments. To this day, I'm having this difficulty of setting boundaries with my personal life and my business life. How do I balance that out? Because I've worked six years nonstop with Naughty Cookie and I'm really proud of everything I've accomplished with Naughty Cookie. But I also have little pockets where I'm like I could have been at this wedding. I could have made it work, or maybe I couldn't. Maybe you couldn't, yeah.
Speaker 2:So how many times do people say to you oh, you're so lucky, you work for yourself, you can take vacations whenever you want.
Speaker 3:What vacations. And oh, how cute you make cookies. This is not cute.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I love when people tell me this I'm like I wish I could take you with me to the kitchen to really see, like the labor behind making these cookies, like what it takes to make these orders. And it's not just being in the kitchen, it's also all the work that's outside of the kitchen. I'm glued to my computer, I'm glued to my phone and I'm also people that know me. It's like I love living such a simple life and if I can disconnect from all the tech, I would. And that's another thing with this day and age and being an entrepreneur is you have to stay relevant. And how do you stay relevant? You have to be on social media, you have to be on your computer. We're an online business. Hello, like.
Speaker 2:I have to be glued to my computer.
Speaker 3:It's so wild. Nobody else is going to do this but me. That's right. So when you're an entrepreneur, it's like you can't have a sick day. What is a sick day? I can't even remember when I called in sick and saying this out loud. Now it's like I just thought of like again seeing my parents work ethic. My dad is gonna be 65 and he always says to this day he only took like three days off his whole life. And imagine now, as an entrepreneur, when I don't have a choice, like you don't have a choice because if you don't show up, there's nobody else showing up for you.
Speaker 3:And even if you have staff, nobody's gonna love your business as much as you. No, nobody is gonna make that cookie as good as you. No, that is I mean, you know you, you run an incredible business and you're doing it on your own and it is wild. It's wild to watch it.
Speaker 3:I love being here and I'm just like. It's such an inspiration because every time I'm here and I see you in the office, I'm like you go. I'm like because I know what it takes and I know how hard that is like just to show up for yourself and you don't have an audience being like applause. You know what I mean. It's like yeah.
Speaker 2:So if you, if a young baker approached you and said Jessica, you've done. You've done monumental things. I want to be a professional baker. What advice would you give? Besides, don't do it. I want to be a professional baker. What advice would you give? Besides, don't do it. No, I'm kidding.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh. To be honest, it's so funny that you say this, because I've been wanting to consult and also the main reason I also started Naughty Cookie was like I have an exit plan for Naughty Cookie, right. What is it Is to sell it. To sell it and help other women in food and any other industry grow their business. Be an angel investor. Everything I've learned along the way I taught myself and I feel that was the best way to build this business, because I want to lend my knowledge to other people that want to start their business and I would love for people to ask me like where do I start? What do I do? Because I just know the foundation and I know how to build something from nothing. And if you have that passion, as cliche as it is, it's like just go for it. Go for it, learn along the way. Do the mistakes that I made, too, like those are the mistakes that make you learn, that make you stronger yes.
Speaker 3:And you know what? If six months in, you're like, oh hell, this, this is not for me, that's okay, you tried it, that's right. My parents would always, you know, I'd always tell them are you guys playing lotto? Like what this is? You know what the odds are and they're like there's one thing that's for sure If you don't play, you don't win.
Speaker 2:That's why it's the logo of lotto, right?
Speaker 3:You don't play, you don't play you don't win, and it is so true. If you don't try it you're never gonna know. So try it, and if you love it, and if you can handle the grind because it is a grind making cookies, the profit margins you guys don't even want to know how many cookies you got to make. Oh yeah, to stay alive, just to survive. It's wild. It is wild, but I love it. I really like I didn't go to baking school you're self-taught.
Speaker 3:I'm self-taught and I feel like it's really it's just passion and the drive that I have and how much I believe in my product that's gotten me to this day on this podcast. It's just that drive that I have that I. I love my freaking cookies. I don't know what I can tell you, cindy.
Speaker 2:What, um, what advice? What would you whisper in the in the ear of your younger self?
Speaker 3:It's going to be okay. There's a lot of times that I've also been depressed. I've gone through through these really dark days. I've, you know, even till I mean till this day.
Speaker 3:There are times where I'm just it's an endless roller coaster it's an emotional roller coaster, and I do go through these dark phases where I feel like I'm so alone, I miss my family, I miss my friends, I I miss that support system, um, and there are days where I just see myself like I wake up and I'm like what am I doing with my life? It's kind of crazy, right? Because you're like, from the outside perspective, looking in, you're like what do you mean? You like look what you built, look what you've done, yes, and it's like, but you guys don't see everything, all the energy it takes to build this, like it's all of me. It's from my toes to my fingers, to my head, to my eyes, to my nose. It's my entire physical, mental, everything just to build this and to keep it going.
Speaker 3:It's really every fiber of my body. It's a lot. So there are times where I'm just like is it worth it? What have I done? Six years in and I'm just like I love this business. I am proud of myself. I don't take that away from me. I did something that people weren't doing at that time but it's like now what?
Speaker 3:because people. I love when people are like so what's your five-year plan? I'm like do you guys even know what you're doing tomorrow? Because I don't. I always take everything day by day, because I'm just like you, really never know what's gonna happen tomorrow and I do try and live my fullest and best life. But there are days that you can't control, that you wake up and you're just like what am I doing? Like you know, it's like I'm also an overachiever and that works against me at times where I'm just like have I done enough? Have I, is this enough? There are those moments that also they don't tell you. When you're becoming an entrepreneur, it's like're going to have so many of those moments, the self-doubt, the self-doubt.
Speaker 3:I think there are a lot of benefits that I gained from being a fashion model as weird as that sounds out loud, because it was very tough industry to be a part in for so long. I mean the things I had to go through. As far as people, you know, they just like call you names, names, tell you that you're too fat, when you're like underweight, all these things. But when I always try and look at the positive aspects of things, even when it presents itself really negative, I'm like no, how do I turn this into a positive? And I'm always like this really made me a tough cookie. You can throw anything at me and it will not compare to the scrutiny that I had to deal with being a fashion model back in the day. That was a whole other. This is a whole other podcast.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yes, and I would like to do that too. What question were you hoping I would ask you that I didn't, and what's your answer to that question?
Speaker 3:Oh my God, cindy, that's a great one. Oh my gosh, how did you make it into Crafted Kitchen? And why Crafted Kitchen? Okay, because, come on, you deserve all the credit. You know, yes, this isn't true. Yes, and I don't need brownie points.
Speaker 3:Okay so and how did you land here? I landed here, oddly enough, because of the pandemic. I did start as a food cottage business, working out of my apartment and the pandemic hit. We were already an online store because I wanted to make cookies. I started noticing that during these pop ups, there were people from Kansas, new York, texas, florida. They were, like you know, coming as tourists to California and coming to these pop ups stocking up on cookies and they were always like, oh, we wish we had these in our state. Coming to these pop-ups stocking up on cookies and they were always like, oh, we wish we had these in our state, we wish we had these where we lived, in our local coffee shop, or we just wish we had them. And I was like I need to make this into an online store. So I turned it into an online store, started shipping nationwide. That was a whole other ballgame to learn. Pandemic hit we were already a trusted online food store. Pandemic hit we were already a trusted online food store.
Speaker 3:And again, being an entrepreneur and having your own business, you're constantly have to go with the times and pivot and I can't even tell you how many times we pivoted the business strategy of the naughty cookie. We went from pop-ups to then selling online, to then changing to like a gift giving business. So I was like you know what? Because everyone is on lockdown, people are missing birthdays. I know what that's like. People are missing anniversaries, people are missing weddings. They want to send gifts.
Speaker 3:So, let's pivot into a gift cookie company and people started sending our cookies as gifts, like naturally, like no ads necessary. They already trusted us. We already built that foundation and that exploded. I couldn't make cookies in my home anymore. That foundation, and that exploded. I couldn't make cookies in my home anymore. So me, being the pickiest person that I am, was like I need to find a really good kitchen facility and I'm a clean freak. So I started looking at other facilities and they scared the crap out of me because they were dirty. They were dirty, they were not up to my clean standards and we're talking about food here.
Speaker 2:I mean hygiene is everything I sure mean you're putting things in people's bodies yes, and that's.
Speaker 3:We need a clean oven, we need to clean floors, we need to clean everything. It was scary. What is out there is scary. So I was just like, no, this is not gonna, this is not going to work, this is not going to work. And I kept doing my research and then my friend, who was also an inspiration for me, ava from Senorita, was like I work out of this kitchen. It's going to live up to your standards. It's amazing. And I was like I got to go check it out and immediately I met you. I walked in and I was like sold done.
Speaker 2:I'm like I remember that day actually.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and you know, you walk into one place and it looks completely different after you get adjusted to it and at first I was like whoa, this place is massive, like this is. This is like the real deal, like Michelin restaurants work out of here, which blows my mind, that's true, that is true.
Speaker 3:But I remember I was just like this, is it? It just smells clean from the moment you walk into the door, like from the moment you go up the hallway the brick walls, the light, the wood, the, just the vibe, the, the energy, the, everything. I was just like I need to be here.
Speaker 3:This is gonna be naughty cookies home, like there was no doubt in my mind, and I met you and I was like I love her, like she is such an inspiration, this is her place. Like she did this, like it felt, like I was, like I love her, like she is such an inspiration.
Speaker 3:This is her place Like she did this Like it felt like I was looking in a mirror where I was like, oh my God, I'm looking at me, someone who has that same drive, and this is what they did with that drive. I just respect that so much.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 3:And shit. I'm like this is the best inspiration to just come to work every day and see just that alone, let alone now. You know everyone I've met along the way being here and it's I'll never forget that. You said what's going to be so great about working in this shared commercial kitchen space is you're going to learn so much from everybody else.
Speaker 3:That's right, and it's so true, it is true, it's so true. The community that's at Crafted Kitchen is like no other. You know, it's like we're all on the same page, but doing it our own way, yes, with the same goals, almost really Well it is, and I told you you're going to have to kick me out because I'm never leaving.
Speaker 2:Jessica, it has been the greatest honor to sit here with you today. I love being here. I've learned so much more about you and I feel like, yes, oh, I love that. I feel like that. I thought that about your business from day one. I remember when you came in here that day, it was raining, which it doesn't all that often. I remember when you started, you had a little 12 inch roll of saran wrap that you were using and I said, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. And I brought an 18 inch roll. No, yes, and I brought an 18-inch roll.
Speaker 2:You're like, but that's so big, yes, this is how we wrap these things up yes and no, and this is how you're going to puck them onto sheet trays.
Speaker 3:Oh yes.
Speaker 2:And you're going to freeze them.
Speaker 3:I was like freeze. I was like I don't know how they're going to be, how are they? Amazing. Again I am so happy that I made my way into this kitchen. I learn every day. Like you, really like what it says in the front when you walk in. You learn something new every day.
Speaker 2:And you do.
Speaker 3:And you do, especially here. So, entrepreneurs, what I got to tell you, and Cindy's not paying me for this. This is not an ad. If you really want to scale your business, get your ass into Crafted Kitchen. Thank you, jessica.
Speaker 2:Thank you, it's been wonderful and I will see you in the kitchen.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:See you tomorrow. Bye.