Check Out Rachel Reilly’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Reilly.

Hi Rachel, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started decorating cookies in the fall of last year, when our family was stationed at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX. I had the idea that it would be a fun tradition to make special cookies for my kids every year on their birthdays. However, I really didn’t know anything about decorating cookies, so I started watching YouTube video tutorials and following cookiers on Instagram to learn from them. I fell completely in love with it. As a stay-at-home mom of two young children, I was looking for an outlet, something that I could call my own, and cookies were a perfect fit. I’ve been both baking and making art since I was a child, and decorated cookies are a beautiful combination of the two. I’ve also always had the desire to build my own business, but never knew exactly how to channel that. Every day, while my kids were napping, and at night after they went to bed, I would watch cookie videos, practice decorating, or develop recipes. But that meant we had a lot of cookies around the house, so I started sharing them with family and friends. My first order came from my son’s occupational therapist, who requested cookies for her wedding. And just like that Bluebonnet Bakery was born. We were moving to Kansas in just a few months, but I knew I wanted to dedicate myself to building a business when we arrived here. The community at Fort Leavenworth has been so warm and supportive, and I’m so excited to see how my business has grown in such a short time.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My business is still quite new, so the road has been pretty short so far! But no, it has not always been smooth. The most challenging aspect of this whole endeavor has been running a business while also caring for two small children. My son and daughter will always be my first priority, and since they are both still so young, “business hours” typically only happen when they are asleep. Caring for my family and managing all of the different aspects of a cottage bakery business can be a lot to juggle at times.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I bake custom decorated sugar cookies for parties and special occasions. I offer a few flavors to choose from, including my original sugar cookie, mocha latte (my favorite!), and fun-fetti. My customers request a certain theme and I create cookie designs to match. Sometimes I will also hold presales, where I offer a specific cookie design for purchase. Customers may order as many cookies of that design as they’d like and then pick them up on a specified date. I’m most proud of the way my cookies taste. I want them to be little works of art that my customers feel are too pretty to eat. But, I also want them to be eaten and, most importantly, enjoyed. There’s absolutely no point to any of it if they don’t taste good!

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
Thankfully, my business hasn’t really been affected by covid, as I’ve only officially been in business for 6 months.

Pricing:

• custom orders start at $50 per dozen
• Not pricing related, but I am unable to ship cookies

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @BluebonnetBakeryCookies
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BluebonnetBakeryCookies/
• Website: BluebonnetBakeryCookies.com

Image Credits
Portrait credit to Tanesha Holland/Cookie photos credit to Rachel Reilly