A single mother from Alaska with only $150 in her pocket anew decided to create a better life for herself and for so many people. As it is now, living in the middle of the snowy wilderness of Alaska, one can only imagine this woman’s life before she started over. Molly Blakeley, the founder and CEO of Molly Bz Inc., created a gourmet cookie business that is expanding using the last dollar she had. Her story is not just about baking cookies for herself and her family but also about endurance, creativity, and faith. Here are five priceless lessons of a businesswoman, Molly Blakeley, that can be useful for starting up and developing a business venture.
Start Small, Dream Big
Molly’s journey began in her modest kitchen in rural Alaska. With her son by her side, she started mixing cookies by hand. It wasn’t a grand start, but it surely turned out to be the beginning of something extraordinary. Molly makes us understand that it doesn’t matter how and from where we start, but the dream and the vision matter. She had a dream that she would make something big out of her small kitchen business, and she held onto that dream tightly. It reveals how it is possible to dream big when you have little, and this is the testimony of her story. It is about having faith in your idea and making the first move, even if it looks like a giant leap in the dark.
Persistence Pays Off
After some time, Molly wanted to grow her cookie business, so she had to look for a co-packer to assist her with the production. She spent 3 days cold-calling 100 different cookie co-packers, and all of them rejected her. But Molly didn’t give up. She called them all back and then called them again. Finally, in the third round, one of them said ‘Fine, we will try”. This lesson is focused on the idea of force or determination. Rejections and hardships are just a part of the process, but resilience keeps you going. Molly’s persistence turned all the “No’s” into affirmative “Yes-es,” transforming her business into a national brand.
Innovate Boldly
Molly’s cookies aren’t just any cookies—they are a wild, bold, and audacious mix of flavors. Flavors like the white chocolate, sun dried mangos and Hot Cheetos in the ‘Hot Mess’ cookie or the ‘Big Joe’, a mocha-flavored cookie with real arabica grounds & rum flavoring, set her apart from the other cookie artists. Due to this flexibility, Molly has been able to experiment and come up with new ways of doing things. This lesson, therefore, emphasizes the aspect of daring to be different. The ability to innovate is absolutely essential in today’s market. The focus is not only on doing something in a better way but also on doing something that can attract the eyes and tempt the tongue.
Leverage Media Exposure
One of the turning points for Molly Bz Inc. was the exposure her brand received through various media platforms. Starting with being on Buzzfeed to her products being in the gifting suites of Oscars, Emmys,& Grammys! Molly used every chance well to make her brand popular. This lesson brings out the impact of media exposure on the expansion of a business. In contemporary society, media has the potential to create as well as destroy brands.
Faith and Family First
Faith and family are the main values that can be named the key to Molly’s success. She says she owes it to God because he gave her the strength and courage to overcome the odds. Her story was not about money; it was about being able to provide for her son and give her family a better life. Precisely, this lesson underlines the importance of staying humble and being aware of what is crucial in life. This couldn’t be truer as success has a sweet taste if it is done well while adding to the happiness of the people you care for. Molly, a living example that faith and family can be used as motivators and principles when starting a business.