We had the good fortune of connecting with Mallery Dickson and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Mallery, what do you attribute your success to?
My business would not be where it is today and could not have done the things I’ve been able to do without the constant help and support of my family. My husband works all day long at his job and will pick up our children afterwards so that I can complete orders. He is a big support in this endeavor.
My mom is an absolute lifesaver and most often watches my kids and keeps them entertained while I work at trying to get all my baking and assembling done. She also lets me use her kitchen to run my entire business out of. She is also my “midnight-finisher”, meaning she helps me when it’s super late at night when I still have a million things to do. I definitely could not do this without her.
The rest of my family is also great. They are my taste testers, they help out with the kids, and they give me advice when I run new ideas past them.
My in-laws are also wonderful. They continue to provide support and encouragement throughout the whole process. My little sister in-law is the best assistant at our markets/events we have participated in and it’s always fun to have a helper.
And of course, hearing words of encouragement, positive feedback, having returning customers, etc… from a wide range of people has been a huge help in keeping this business up and running.
Overall, Shoogies would not be anything without the “village” I have constantly buoying me up. I am forever grateful for such an awesome community I have behind me, because without them, we wouldn’t be what we are now.
Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My cookies are unlike all the other Cookiers I follow on social media. While other Cookiers will scrape off a whole icing design if there is one minor flaw, I embrace my flaws and know that the cookie is going to be eaten either way.
Now, that isn’t to say that I just slap a cookie together and say, “Well, it doesn’t look that great, but it’ll taste good”.
It means that if I have one small mess up, of course I’m going to notice, but will others most likely notice one small flaw compared to the other dozen cookies they purchased? No.
I think many times we are much harder on ourselves than we need to be. I don’t strive for perfect cookies because that’s what makes our Shoogies unique is because they look cute but you still want to eat them. I’ve seen many cookies that look too perfect to eat, and most times, they don’t taste that great…
I kind of jumped right into the shark tank with Shoogies. I originally reached out to an old employer at a bakery I worked at to see if I could sell cakes in his bakery, to which he said, “No, it hasn’t worked in the past. But, I do need someone who can make decorated sugar cookies”.
I had never done that before in my life, but I said, “I can do that!” anyways.
I quickly taught myself how to decorate with royal icing and about a month later, started selling sugar cookies at my old bakery I worked at.
It was Christmastime and every single sugar cookie sold.
Now, I have had many a trial and error and continue to even today, but that’s the beauty of baking – It’s constant progress.
All the credit behind the name Shoogies goes to my Pops (my mom’s dad). He’s great with ideas, so when I needed ideas for a brand name, I called him up and he came up with some great names, and Shoogies was born.
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I love visiting Downtown Gilbert for some good food and an awesome experience. All the food I’ve had there has been great. If I wanted to escape the heat (which most times is a yes), I would drive them up to Flagstaff. I attended college in Flagstaff and it’s a whole different culture there. Some great small businesses to eat at (Mike and Ronda’s The Place for breakfast and Fat Olives for dinner), wonderful weather, and Bearizona is only about 30 minutes away. Not to mention, their downtown is beautiful too.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’ve already listed so many people who were (and always will be) instrumental to helping the growth of Shoogies, but overall, I would have to dedicate this particular section to my mom. I always think, and have said on occasion, that she should be part of the business; to which, she has said she’s just fine being a helper.
She selflessly helps in any way possible and I can never thank her enough for all the help she provides.
My followers on social media see all the “put together” aspects of the business and never see the long hours, stress, mess, etc… of the “behind the scenes”, many times of which include my mom being right by my side helping me get everything completed.
I never have to ask, she just jumps right in and helps with anything and everything (except the baking part, which she said is all mine).
My mom has always been a huge help and I will always be forever grateful for her.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shoogies_az/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shoogies.az/
Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCgvnU1atWyxai_H7qfQLrEw
Image Credits
Candi C., Jon A., Karson G.