LeAnne Crabtree, owner of LeAnne’s Cookies, grew up baking cookies with her grandmother in her kitchen. Her grandmother and great-grandmother always baked.
It wasn’t until Crabtree went off to college at UCF in 1986 that she would make baking cookies her career.
“I was a finance major at UCF and my professor gave us a project to create a product or service I wanted to sell,” Crabtree said. “I had no clue what I wanted to do, so I called my dad and asked him. I had been home from school the week before I called him and I had showered my parent with cookies I baked. My dad was eating one of my cookies and laughed while we were on the phone. He said, ‘LeAnne, you love to bake so why don’t you do something with cookies?’”
The cookie seed was planted, so to speak.
Her cookies were an instant hit with the college students, professors, neighbors and friends, who were anxious to buy all the cookies she could produce. Her ‘cookie business’ immediately made a profit and the overwhelming demand for Crabtree’s cookies continued even after her professor gave her a ‘C’ on the project.
“He emphatically stated, ‘People are becoming too health conscious and will no longer eat cookies; therefore, this business will not be a success,’” Crabtree said.
Ignoring her professor’s harsh criticism and her grade on her project, LeAnne’s Cookies has continued to prosper for more than 25 years.
“I took the advice of one of the professors on campus who loved my cookies,” Crabtree said. “She suggested I look into the corporate gifting and at the time I didn’t know what she was talking about, but when I did my research, I decided to give it a try. It’s been great for us.”
In current times of the pandemic, most businesses are suffering or closing. Crabtree’s business has been doing very well because all of her business is done contactless, as customers order online and the cookies are shipped.
“Since our cookies are wrapped individually, they are safe for our customers,” Crabtree said. “We have been doing lots of graduation, thinking of you and sympathy cookie gifts since the pandemic started.”
To learn more about the different cookies and cookie gifts LeAnne’s Cookies has to offer, visit its website at www.leannescookies.com or contact Crabtree at 651-0045.
