242. Baking it Down - Losing the Loser - Reframing 2026

Summary

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Podcast Summary

Baking it Down with Sugar Cookie Marketing 🍪

Episode 242: "Losing the Loser – Reframing 2026"
Hosts: Heather and Corrie Miracle
Date: December 30, 2025

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Overview: Main Theme and Purpose

This episode is all about reframing how bakers—and business owners in general—think about failures, setbacks, and “not winning.” Heather and Corrie, the sugar cookie marketing sisters, invite listeners to ditch self-defeating talk, let go of toxic positivity, and start speaking to themselves with kindness and realism. They focus on how small mindset shifts can set the tone for a more resilient, more successful, and ultimately, happier 2026.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Letting Go of Hobbies (and What That Means)

• The episode opens with the sisters talking about post-Christmas hobbies—Heather is starting rug tufting, Corrie has let go of mandala painting.
• Insight: It’s healthy to quit hobbies or projects that are no longer fulfilling. Both “quitting when you’re done” and “quitting when you know it’s not for you” are ok.
• Quote: “Sometimes it was here for a season, and the season was what it was supposed to be here for... and both are healthy.” — Heather (03:41)

2. Mindset Around Self-Talk and Goals

• The sisters delve deeply into how your internal narrative shapes business outcomes.
• If you’re always mean to yourself or seeking validation from others, progress becomes harder.
• Insight: Learn to be your own biggest supporter, not your own worst critic.
• Quote: “If you are not your best friend, you can't expect anybody else to be. If you don't like you, you're not rooting for you.” — Heather (04:59)
• Contrast: “Bully baker” (mean self-talk, always focuses on failures) vs. “Believer baker” (kind self-talk, recalibrates, celebrates small wins).

[06:41] Goals and “Loser” Talk

• As the year ends, lots of bakers reflect on goals not met. Heather and Corrie urge listeners to avoid “loser” self-talk.
• Insight: Not meeting a goal is not a failure, it’s a recalibration opportunity.
• Quote: “Both are accurate statements. One reframes him to be more gentle to himself.” — Heather on Thomas Edison’s “10,000 failures” (07:26)

3. Reframing Failure Through Action

[09:05] Resolutions & The Bully vs. Believer Baker

• Bully baker: “I didn’t accomplish any of my resolutions,” ignores all progress.
• Believer baker: “I recalibrated my resolutions to what is sustainable.”
• Story: Heather's past fitness coach allowed treats once a week, teaching flexibility is more sustainable.

Dopamine and Motivation [11:03]

• The hosts bring in neuroscience: after intense positive stimuli (like TikTok), the brain swings to negative to rebalance (like a hangover).
• Insight: Don't let negative self-talk after “not winning” push you to give up; instead, reframe and recalibrate.

4. Learning by Doing and Failing Forward

[13:15] Course Completions & Failure as Process

• Corrie describes finally finishing a macaron class after a year—her macarons still weren't perfect, but she's closer.
• Quote: “I have all the materials now to crack the code... I'm close.” — Corrie (14:52)
• Insight: Each imperfect batch/class/photo is a step closer. Failing is necessary to reach mastery.

[17:03] Build in Failure

• The struggle and failure are part of the process—not a sign of weakness.
• “My crown is that I did the 20 minutes, not that I created a perfect rug.” — Heather (18:29)

5. The Importance of Community and Vulnerability

• Sugar Cookie Marketing (the Facebook Group) is a safe space to “fail forward.”
• Celebrate asking “dumb” questions: “The dumb is the win.” — Corrie (21:48)
• Vulnerability in groups helps you make the ask and get to the next level.

6. Dealing with Burnout, Breaks, and Customers [26:29]

• Post-holiday, many bakers want to take “big breaks.”
• Big breaks (“I’m burnt out, don't contact me”) hurt business, but strategic, planned breaks are essential.
• Quote: “A break where you just spent seven days beating yourself up, what kind of break is that?” — Heather (33:12)
• Reframe customer frustrations: Most client annoyances are honest misunderstandings, not malice.
• Removing especially problematic clients can make space for positive customer relationships.

7. Pre-Sales & Audience Building [34:38]

• Bully baker blames competition for poor pre-sale turnout.
• Believer baker notes they haven’t cultivated audience habits for pre-sales yet and commits to improving.
• Insight: Success in pre-sales comes from repeated, adaptive efforts, not one-off perfection.
• Story: The hosts took 3 years to sell out a cookie class—most people would have quit after 5 attempts.

8. Progress Not Perfection—Dopamine Hits and Persistence

• Celebrate small wins: Each “20 minutes” (on tufting, baking, or marketing) is success.
• Quote: “20 minutes over a long period of time equals really cool looking rugs. There is just no way around this.” — Heather (39:43)
• Watch how you speak to yourself; train self-compassion like building muscle at the gym.

9. Tactical Listener Q&A [58:56 & 63:29]

• Newsletter content ideas: Add local event highlights, small business spotlights, tips, and highly relevant community content.
• Starting a website: If you need simple, start with Bakesy, MyCustomBakes, or Jotform for low cost and ease of setup. Shopify is powerful, but may be overkill (and more expensive) until you're ready.

10. Announcements & Upcoming Features [49:55+]

• Sugar Cookie Marketing is launching structured business bootcamps in 2026—deep dives into topics like teaching classes, photography, pre-sales.
• “Storyboarding” will guide each bootcamp to ensure clear, stepwise instruction.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“If you are not your best friend, you can't expect anybody else to be.” – Heather (04:59)

“Both are accurate. He failed 10,000 times. He figured out 10,000 ways it doesn't work until he came to the one that works… One reframes him to be more gentle to himself.” – Heather (07:26)

“You’re not going to create a perfect rug... Build in failure as part of the process. It's the 10,000 ways it doesn't work to get to the one where it does.” – Heather (18:37)

“The dumb is the win. It’s asking the dumb question that means you’re trying.” – Corrie (21:48)

“Don't turn back now. You're so close. You're cracking the code.” – Heather (19:13)

“A break where you just spent seven days beating yourself up—what kind of break is that?” – Heather (33:12)

“Corey’s compassionate talk to herself will be the A-plus…because you did it, not because it won.” – Heather (39:39)

“The first thought’s always the first thought, but the second thought is your choice.” – Heather (47:49)

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Important Timestamps

Letting Go & Self-Talk: [03:41]
Bully Baker vs. Believer Baker: [06:41], [09:05], [12:12]
Reframing Failure & Dopamine: [07:26], [13:49], [18:29]
Community and Vulnerability: [16:32], [21:48]
Burnout & Breaks: [26:29], [28:07], [33:12]
Pre-Sales & Audience Building: [34:38],[38:10]
Persistence and Small Wins: [39:43], [42:26]
Newsletter Tips: [58:56], [61:07]
Starting a Website: [63:29]
New Bootcamps & Structure: [49:55], [53:31]

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Natural Flow, Language and Tone

The entire episode is conversational, humorous, and rooted in real experience. There is playful sibling banter, concrete business advice, honest admissions of struggle, and a supportive, “we’re in this together” vibe. Heather and Corrie maintain an upbeat, encouraging tone—even when discussing self-doubt and setbacks.

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Takeaways for Listeners Who Haven’t Tuned In

• Be kinder to yourself: How you self-talk affects your success, your perseverance, and your happiness.
• Quitting is okay—sometimes: Letting go of hobbies or approaches that don’t serve you is healthy.
• Reframe failure as learning: Every setback is a step forward if you learn from it.
• Success is iterative: Whether it’s macarons, marketing, or muscle-building, progress comes in small, persistent increments.
• Celebrate small wins: Strategic, kind self-talk and bite-size progress yield massive long-term results.
• Structure for sustainability: Build breaks into your business, curate positive clients, and invest in ongoing learning.
• Join the community: Sugar Cookie Marketing is expanding with practical business “bootcamps” for bakers in 2026—opportunities to learn and connect at every stage.

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Closing Thought:
Remember, “The first thought is always the first thought, but the second thought is your choice.” Practice reframing, celebrate your process, and don’t talk yourself out of your own success. Here’s to a stronger, more confident 2026!

Transcript

[A]

Foreign.

[B]

Welcome.

[A]

Right here, right here, right here.

[B]

Welcome to the Baking it down with Sugar Cookie Marketing podcast. I am your host, Corey, and some facts about me on this. Oh, I thought I'd switch it up. You weren't even ready.

[A]

I wasn't. What are the facts?

[B]

Okay, the facts about me. My Christmas gifts. Is this our first one after Christmas? Huh?

[A]

Is it? Huh? Oh, wow. Yeah.

[B]

Christmas gifts that I got. Hand massager.

[A]

Corey's a massive hand. I haven't seen your hand leave it. I'm surprised it's not running right now.

[B]

You know, if it didn't make such a sound, it would be running right now. But since you hate the sounds I make on the podcast, I didn't bring it.

[A]

I just want to say I, We. I speak for the multitude. Yeah.

[B]

I just want to say before someone asks me, it's not.

[A]

It is.

[B]

I did a lot of research on hand massagers. It's pressured. Most of them are pressured. You're not going to get that kneading thumb feeling with hand massage. They don't have it.

[A]

It's a lot of. Is it? I saw somebody say that they got a hand massager and it felt like it was squeezing their face to death. Yeah. It's just. That's part of the course. But you liked it.

[B]

I liked it.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

A lot of bakers who try the hand massagers, they're like 75, 7800.

[B]

On sale from 123.

[A]

Ridiculous. However, you're using it extensively, so the bakers who get it, get it. I guess.

[B]

I think you, me, and Heather said if we learn the positives of hand massages, I'd be more apt to use it more often so it can help with circulation.

[A]

Well, that's what I'm saying. Like joint. You see carpal tunnel as a big issue.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Then just fatigue, muscle fatigue and tiredness. Right. So this is not only just the break, but it's recirculating blood flow, which I assume is why blood cells. Sure.

[B]

Yeah, I, I, I have liked it, but mine is not a roll. It's definitely your hand feels like it's getting squeezed to tomorrow. If you had your handheld in a long time, this would make up for that squeeze.

[A]

All that loving. And our other host, Heather, what's your.

[B]

Favorite gift from Christmas?

[A]

Okay. I want to tell you this. I'm in the trenches, kids. She's starting a new hobby. It's like watching someone be born and a deer walking at the same time.

[B]

Listen, us cookiers, you know what you're going through, Baby Girl, we know it, unfortunately.

[A]

And there's different types of learners.

[B]

Oh, there's different type of learners.

[A]

I am. And I hate.

[B]

There's the giver uppers.

[A]

I got that in myself too. But I'm the one who's like, let me get knee deep and realize I needed to have bought overalls. That's me. Where I'm struggling. I'm like, it has to be a better way. Oh, wait, there's this whole better way that.

[B]

That is. The best part, though, is discovering.

[A]

And we've all. We've all done it.

[B]

Like, we've started off with, like, you know, the hand mixer. And someone's like, there's got to be a better way.

[A]

YouTube. I'm just figuring it out. YouTube. Wow.

[B]

It's an almost heart. I'm curious, why didn't you finish him? You've had four days since you started.

[A]

Because I needed that thing that came last night. I can't hear. Make that. I needed yarn. The yarn tufting gun needs a consistent feed of yarn to it. And. But unlike cross stitching, where you are providing the tension, the tufting gun is constantly cutting the tension of yarn, so there's actually no tension at all. So if at any point the yarn ball. Yeah, yarn ball. Pulls too much, it pulls it out of the gun. You gotta start over. That's why my lines get wonky.

[B]

I actually let go of a hobby yesterday.

[A]

Who got the cut? Who got the axis calligraphy?

[B]

No mandalas.

[A]

You know, sometimes it was there for a season.

[B]

I said. I said Nate was like, are you tossing your dot mandala kit? And I said, it served its purpose, and now it's not serving the purpose.

[A]

Here's the thing.

[B]

Let go.

[A]

Look out. Sometimes it was here for a season, and the season was what it was supposed to be here for. To hold on. They say there's two types of Quinton. Quitting when you figured it out and quitting when you knew you weren't going to it. And both are healthy. Yes. Yes.

[B]

And that's kind of what the podcast leads to today. I could say, corey, you sucked at mandala painting.

[A]

I thought your rocks were showing up.

[B]

You thought my rocks rocked, rocked, rocked my socks, actually. But to let go of something is. I want to put my attention towards something else. So I'm not down on myself for getting rid of my hobby, but I.

[A]

Want to put my heart recognizing what the hobby is. And that's what I was talking about. Older sister Corey. Twin sister. We. We're at that age, the three of us. Yeah. End of our 30s. Yeah. I think Ashley will be 39. She will in like two weeks. In two weeks. So what it is, is kind of speaking better to yourself now. I love listening to psychology podcasts and books. I don't know why it's my favorite thing to listen to, but a lot of it comes back down to how you treat yourself. Thank you, printer. I agree with you as well. How you speak to yourself. How you treat yourself is actually how you interface with the rest of the world.

[B]

You never know. You're always like, oh, I talk to my husband probably 99% of the time. No, you talk to yourself so much more. The person who's always in your ear is you.

[A]

If you are not your best friend, you can't expect anybody else to be. I know, right? So if you don't like you, you won't be successful. You're not rooting for you. Yeah. And what you don't understand is if you don't like you, you actually turn to other people for validation, which puts them in a weird place. They didn't ask you.

[B]

I'm gonna give someone that much power over you. Insane.

[A]

But they also don't want the power. Nobody wants to have to have you as the burden they have to bring up every morning.

[B]

They're trying to get themselves up every morning.

[A]

Right. And I see it a lot. Cory and I see it a lot. And Amy see it a lot in the cookie group where you, like, you sulk so that other people pick you up off the floor because you don't know how to pick you up off the floor.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And if you don't know how to pick you up at the floor and people are too busy to pick you up off the floor.

[B]

I want to tell you what's crazy, though. In a post like that, there'll be probably 50 comments of people validating and then one comment that speaks that little bit of truth you have in your own mind, and that's the only one that gets the response, get out of my head.

[A]

I know, I know. I always tell Corey, a lot of people are really nice, but. But I have my own self doubt. But when somebody says, hey, you seem like you have a self. Get up, get away, shut the door. Yeah.

[B]

How dare you point out why I.

[A]

Was pointing my face. I'm chilling out. I'm vulnerable. So speaking to yourself in regards to that. And I don't want anyone to think this is the flu. Flu. Everybody's right. You're all great. The hunky door. And just. Was it toxic positivity yeah. No, we're just going to reframe, which is why we're calling this lose the loser. We're going to reframe how we look at our goals in 2026. Tis the season to talk about goals. And this is a baked time of year where we have to come to terms. Come to terms with the fact that we didn't meet our goals last year.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Oh, you're a loser. You're a failure. You didn't meet it. You can't do anything. Right. Right. That is not how you should be talking to yourself. But we're also not going to say you're the best. And those for losers themselves, not you. That's toxic positivity. So right in between both of those is a kind action step to talk to yourself. Right. So, great one, Thomas Edison. If he was a bully to Tesla, I don't know. We'll never know. It seems like he was kind of a bully. That said he had this quote, have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.

[B]

So you could say that he failed 10,000 times.

[A]

So he's accurate. He did not do the thing right 10,000 times.

[B]

Yeah, but what he did was reframe it. He found 10,000 ways. It didn't work until. Until he found the one way that it did work.

[A]

Both are accurate. He failed 10,000 times. It didn't work. He figured out 10,000 ways it doesn't work until he came to the one that works. Both are accurate statements. One reframes him to be more gentle to himself. And I don't think you're gonna be successful if you're constantly beating yourself up.

[B]

Oh, you're gonna beat yourself into a little pulp, and you're just gonna be in the corner.

[A]

So you have to be nice to yourself or you're not gonna be successful in this. This is already a lonely job. Granted, we have these Facebook groups, which is great, but they' time not for a long time. Who knows when this will ever shutter, right? Come on, Zuck, pull it together. Ray Ban. Meta Sunglasses Carry the team.

[B]

Listen, I. For some reason at the gym, I was staring at the stock market. That's how bored I was. It was just up there. Meta was like the only green one amidst the sea of red.

[A]

Cheers to you, Zach. So for while we have these groups. It's great. But how you speak to yourself will also help you show up in groups differently. Yeah, always say there's way to ask questions. Pre sales don't work for me. I'M not doing it anymore. Pre sales haven't worked for me. What strategy can I build in? So that's what we're going to talk about. The first year. The first example. It's the last two days of 2025. I'll be honest, typing 2025 into my keyboard was a perfect stretch for my hand. I like a 5, 6 just out of reach. And I've been accidentally peppering 5.

[B]

5 is just a nice looking number to me.

[A]

2, 025 halfway point. We got 5 out of 10. It was 20 out of 10.

[B]

It was aesthetically pleasing.

[A]

2026. Not my favorite but even number. So maybe okay with it. New Year's resolutions. The bully baker. The baker who does not like themselves will say, I didn't accomplish any of my resolutions. Yeah.

[B]

What they'll do is even if they accomplished one of them, a really big.

[A]

One, they'll be like, well look, I.

[B]

Didn'T finish the nine other ones.

[A]

So you're not a fan of you.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So you're going to constantly. You are your biggest hater. Yeah. You're not going to let you have that one. You're going to let you focus on those nine you get. Right. So you don't like yourself. You're not going to like your business. The believer baker. The baker who believes in the self says, I recalibrated this here. How big my resolutions can be before they become too overwhelming for me.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So Corey and I were saying, like I'm gonna do. I'll tell you guys, I did a fitness competition years and years ago and I did hire a guy. Cause I thought that would be smart because you know, they're like better than me.

[B]

He was giving her a meal plan. She was checking in with each.

[A]

I'm a full, full fan of hiring somebody smarter than you to help you. Massive, massive upswing. Right. So he would say, listen, we're gonna put. We're gonna do a meal pan. High protein, high greens, low carbs, no sugar. It was gross. Yeah. It's mostly chicken actually. But on Fridays, every Friday between 5 and 8pm There are no rules. And I was like, well, that's weird. He was like, right. Two reasons. He said, if you can never have something, it becomes the only thing you think about. Sure. He said, but if you can have something every week, it becomes a thing you look forward to. Yeah. And I was like, okay. I said, but wouldn't that undo all the effort? He's like, at the end of the day, you're still gonn even. It's on Oreos, you can only eat something. You should see me try. But having that less restrictive approach to.

[B]

Things and more of a positive thing.

[A]

So it's funny, the older sister and Corey, oddly, have come to this realization that maybe TikTok is too addictive.

[B]

It is.

[A]

So Ashley text me yesterday. She said, I have had to uninstall TikTok like you do. And she said it like I do because I actually install it every Friday. Yeah, I treat TikTok exactly the same way I treated those Oreos. Double stuffed, triple stuffed, negative stuffed. That I get it to look forward to on Friday. It's my ceremonial. The week is done. Work is over for now. I go upstairs.

[B]

A little sweet treat.

[A]

A little sweet treat. Sometimes I even get a little sweet treat. Even better, double sweets, a little talenti and a little TikTok. Never heard nobody. So Ashley's like, I feel so. Like I'm so addicted to TikTok because it is addicting. It's entertaining. But she's like, but I feel so bad after I watch it. So she has. Has us reading a book together called the Dose. And I'm listening to it. I'm not reading it. And I was listening to the first chapter. And the guy says, you gotta understand this. Your brain is constantly in a state of equilibrium. So when something goes too far left, it starts swinging right. Cause it needs you to stay in the center. And that's what dopamine is. And he says, if you are always in the feel good period, when you're done with the feel good period, the brain has to swing into the negative. So a lot of, like, hangovers. Yeah. So you have alcohol. It feels great. Dopamine released. No alcohol. Your brain swings into the negative, and that's why you have a hangover. Yeah. Anxiety. So New Year's resolutions. I. I didn't accomplish any of my resolutions. What does that make you want to do anymore? Yeah. Give up. Right. Why would I beat myself up and then sign up to be beat up again?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Or the belief Rebaker.

[B]

You know what?

[A]

Those were a little too aggressive. I've learned a lot this year. I'm going to recalibrate these to be my brick lakes to be talked about in the last podcast. Yeah.

[B]

But also to celebrate the. The things you did accomplish. So let's say if you had 10 goals and you accomplished one goal really well, you failed at nine. You didn't accomplish nine. You can celebrate that you did one really, really well.

[A]

That was one goal that was really outfitted for your mental State classes. Classes. Corn and I were saying, fascinating. Who hasn't bought a class and everything?

[B]

And not classes in teaching classes.

[A]

Courses.

[B]

Courses that you. Online courses.

[A]

Yeah, we sell the cookie college. I'm right there with you. I. The trench you're in without your overalls. Me as well. The bully baker and Corey was talking about macaron. She said, you know, your macarons taste great. Thanks. Cory had us buy macarons from not a local baker. It was a chain bakery. And she was like, I want everyone to see how much better these are than mine. That's what you're saying, right? And you're like, look at the caps. The caps. The caps. The caps are solid. Look at the feet, look at the feet, look at the feet. Where are the feet? I second macarons, and I don't enjoy making them. That's what the bully baker would say. Cory's caps hollow. So she could say, well, it's just not for me. Which I almost feel like you. For the last six months, I haven't seen a lot of Mac action.

[B]

It's just when you're good at something.

[A]

You do it again. But per the book called the Dose, he said the act of doing something that you don't want is actually building up a dopamine release because you put the negative.

[B]

The dopamine I'll get when I crack open a Mac and it's filled.

[A]

Mac crack.

[B]

Oh, it'll be unlike.

[A]

So you said you got two options. You can either do the fun thing now and the brain swings into the negative, or you can do the negative thing now and the brain swings into the positive. Corey, didn't you sit down, take a macaron Mac class?

[B]

What's funny is I had bought the pies and tacos macaron class one year ago, and it has sat as a boulder in my brain that I have purchased something and not done it. So I said, in this weird time, you sit down and you take it. My husband, every time you finish a little course, it has a little song, little doodad. He came up, he said, if I hear that song one more time, because I was retaking one to make sure I'd. He was just hearing this, and I took it.

[A]

How did it feel mentally? Dopamine when you finished class? I.

[B]

To finish the class with a dopamine hit. Were my macarons good after class?

[A]

No, no. But you. But you know that if you work towards that, the dopamine hit when that cap is full. Oh, it'll. It'll be so the Believer baker says, I'm really close, close to figuring out macarons. I just need one final course to close out the gap. You see how the other one said, like, this isn't for me. I don't like it. Get these courses away. I'm a loser. I bought this stuff. Very negative self talk. Right? The believer baker said, hey, listen, I have all the materials now to crack the code. Yeah, crack the Mac.

[B]

Crack the Mac.

[A]

And I'm close. People love the way they taste. They decently like the way they look. I know they're not there yet, but I am so close to solving the equation. Yeah. And right at the end of the.

[B]

Day, my macarons look good, they taste good, they mature. That you wouldn't even know that they weren't filled. So I always can rest back on the fact that they're fine.

[A]

Instead of seeing the gap between full caps and empty caps as the mile long thing, you can look at it as the last few feet of the ridge. Yeah, you're done.

[B]

I'm almost there. And I just said, I said my macarons at the end of the day, totally fine. People would punch the air to have a macaron that grows feet in a little Shelly cap.

[A]

Punching it. Yeah.

[B]

But at the end of the day, I want to be confident. So much so that when something comes in, I'm not holding my breath the entire time.

[A]

Unfortunately, the. The counterpoint to confidence is at one point you were very unconfident and you. And you stomached it. Still there. But you're getting there because everybody. And we talked about this in last podcast, every Everest summiter had a Burke Lake. Yeah, right. But when you're walking around Berkeley, are you calling yourself a loser who can't handle Mount Everest? Are you saying, wow, I've never walked Burke Lake before. Here I go.

[B]

I know. So what? I told myself a palpable instead of. So I took the course, made the macarons. They still sucked.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Okay, that could be where I see, I took the course and I still suck.

[A]

What if they didn't suck? What if they're pretty close? They're just not there yet.

[B]

They're just not. So what I'm saying is I'll make one batch a week for my family to eat.

[A]

Thank goodness. Yeah, time it out with my little Fridays. I made them yesterday. Cracks. Half.

[B]

Not cracks.

[A]

Cracks in the caps.

[B]

Cracks in the caps.

[A]

Half of them did.

[B]

Half of them did.

[A]

Okay, so. And it's one thing, and that's why I like to say that we try to keep sugar cookie marketing a pretty safe space. So you can fail forward. Right. Hey, I've cracked some of my caps. What am I doing wrong here? And nobody's going to laugh, react at you. If they do, they'll get banned. So you don't have to worry about that. Right. So you can be as vulnerable as possible and have people brainstorm with you. You're so close. I've actually cracked the code and here's.

[B]

How I cracked it, Right?

[A]

Yeah. Cracked the code. So I didn't crack my max.

[B]

But here's the thing. You have to. I'd have to fail a little bit, which is sad. An anti dopamine.

[A]

But build in the failure as part of the process. Yeah, I know that. Me and rug tufting. It's not going to be a song and dance. I'm not naturally gifted. Almost. That sets me free.

[B]

You're naturally more gifted than I. I'm not.

[A]

I'm naturally more consistent, I think. Okay. I decided to buy a motorcycle. And I bought a motorcycle. It was too big, so then I had to buy a small motorcycle. So now I have two motorcycles. I have two insurance payments on these motorcycles. I have to pay to park these motorcycles. And I have all this gear. It was a lot of money. But the thought of getting on the motorcycle, the thought of potentially injuring myself and not being good at it and then being mocked like if I ended.

[B]

Up entering the motorcycle, which apparently is. And I'm not a motorcyclist cyclist motorcycle.

[A]

You can injure the motorcycles. There's a lot of.

[B]

Injure that. Which apparently is so embarrassing because it's a.

[A]

You can actually see it's a visual representation of being a loser. So I said, well, the overwhelming thought is, don't fail, don't go. Don't get on it. Oh, you'll never fail if you don't get on it. Don't sweat. I don't have to be hungry. I don't have to be tired to be sweaty if I don't. So I said, right there, Heather, there's a problem. Right there. Right there. 20 minutes. Give me 20 minutes. Give me 20 minutes. Get to go on the bike, sit on it. I don't care if you don't leave the parking lot. Be on it for 20 minutes.

[B]

So your 20 minutes was my one batch a week. Yeah.

[A]

And my dopamine is that I did the 20 minutes. Not that I'm excellent at motorcycles. Yeah, enough. 20 minutes. You're going to be pretty good at something. So me and Rec tufting got another 20 minutes a day.

[B]

There you go.

[A]

Suck. But my crown is that I did the 20 minutes, not that I created a perfect rug. Here's the thing.

[B]

You're not gonna create a perfect rug.

[A]

You're not build in failure. It's a part of the process. It's the 10,000 ways it doesn't work to get to the one where it does. And I just know if we fall in love with a newborn baby deer feeling. Because that's the secret to no cracks in your max. Photography Bully Baker. See this one a lot. My photos just suck. Like, they're just not good.

[B]

They're just. I see those comments and I'm like, that's a person who's given up on trying.

[A]

Well, because you're like, but girls, I did the 20. I did it. I did all the things. It's still not working. I'm not getting what I want. Here's the thing. You're close. You're cracking the code. Yeah. You're still on the path. Don't turn back now. You see that meme? It's always these two men digging. Yes, one's like, sad and the other guy.

[B]

But on the other side, I think a diamonds.

[A]

I might post it in the group, but it's saying, like, he was so close to that one last 20 minutes where it clicks. Where the. Where it clicks and he turns away because he's like, it's just not for me. The bully Baker is that my photos suck. I've tried. Listen, whatever the sun, whatever you guys are staging, it's just not for me. I am going to give up on this. The believer Baker says, I'm glad I'm consistently taking photos, but I understand there's a gap between what I want and what I'm getting. I'm going to approach each aspect individually now. Lighting, staging, and post processing. And then we're going to work from there. So the person's like, I'm taking the photos. I don't like them, but I am taking them. Right. Let me tell you, every time you take that photo, you're getting a little better. You just don't realize.

[B]

I promise. I. I told Heather as I was clearing out my Google Drive of old photos, I sucked.

[A]

But you loved it then and you failed for it. Without taking the photos three years ago and taking photos for three more years, Corey wouldn't have the one day. Cora will look at the photos today and hate them just as much.

[B]

For sure, I'll be like, she'll be a lot better.

[A]

She even said, my blown out era. I deleted my blown out error. So the believer baker is going to say, okay, okay, we've got the bones. We just need the meat and potatoes. It's got good bone. You know, I say the house. It's got good bones. It's got good bones. Right. It needs time and it needs conditioning. Right. It needs that, that, like, putting in that little extra J. Right. So it's okay. Lighting. Let me just focus on lighting. The other stuff, the staging, the props. Let me take those out of the picture. We're closer. I've got them. I've got. I know I'm there. You can see Corey's surrounded by tufting equipment. Yeah. I have no idea what to do with it, but it's here. It's here. I'm going to do it.

[B]

20 minutes.

[A]

That will be solved eventually, whatever that powder is behind you. But I'm going to approach each aspect. Okay. Lighting, guys. Hey, guys, here's my picture. I have big shadows. Okay. You guys are telling me indirect natural light. Like, where do I go in the house? Like, can somebody post a picture of what indirect natural light is? And direct, like, explain it to me. I'm a newborn baby deer and I.

[B]

Heather doesn't realize she's in a tufting group that is public.

[A]

I hate it. I know. Listen, I fully realize you guys are.

[B]

Seeing my questions, but because I interact with Heather so much on social media, anything. If Heather farts once, it's going to show it to me.

[A]

Corey's like, saw what you asked.

[B]

And Heather's asking baby deer questions.

[A]

I even say, I'd like to apologize for the childlike nature of this question. But listen, man, I'm going to get it. Yeah. And I think you know that I'm going to get it.

[B]

Oh, you're asking the right questions. And every time I've started something new because I've started many a new thing. Cake pops, macarons, cookies, mandala, painting. It takes those questions where you look dumb.

[A]

But once you say, like, that's a part of the process. The dumb is the win. It's. It's.

[B]

What I'm proud of you is asking the dumb question. Because that means you're trying. When people are just like, I tried. I hate it doesn't work for me. People who say, I hate taking my. My stage photo suck.

[A]

You're done.

[B]

There's a period at the end of that sentence. But if you're like, my stage photo sucks question, where can I find natural light?

[A]

I'm like, when I was 19, there's a glimpse. I bought a manual transmission car, did not know how to drive it. I don't know why. My ego should is unbridled at the time by the car. Cannot figure it out. My dad doesn't know to formulate the words that get it to click in my brain. We would go out for hours and just stall, stall, stall, stall, stall. And he'd be like, why? Why, why, why, why? And then we'd drive home. But we go back. So finally I was like, okay, we have Glenn, we have me, we have the car. These three things aren't the completed picture. So I joined a Facebook group. Oh, no, I'm sorry. It was a forum on a website for the. The car. And I. I put on my big girl panties amongst a lot of men. And I said, hello, I cannot figure out the clutch. And it was about 50 comments calling me an idiot. But Guy said, listen, do not worry about the gas pedal yet. He said, as slow as your toes could possibly move from the floor to the top of that clutch pedal, let it out as slow as possible. He said, somewhere along that line, the car will start lurching forward. That's your catch point. He said, until you know exactly where that is, don't worry about the gas. And so I figured out. He's like, now that you've learned where it is, which is actually 75% up on the pedal, now add gas. And it clicked. That was it. That guy said it. In a way, my brain was there. But if I had listened to all the other guys. Yeah.

[B]

Oh, you would have been. You were like automatic right now. What they would have been telling you was what you were already telling yourself.

[A]

I'm a loser.

[B]

I will say the way I learned is I was selling cars, and every time another sales associate helped a customer, they got half the sale of the car.

[A]

It's a lot in CarMax math.

[B]

Yeah. So I couldn't drive stick. So anytime I asked someone to help me drive a stick, shift to the.

[A]

What is it?

[B]

The route that you take. Little test drive. I lost half the sale for nothing. So one guy said, come with me.

[A]

He said, you have.

[B]

I hope you have nothing to do.

[A]

With people like this. I was like, okay.

[B]

We went to a. It had a gradient, a little hill, and it was a Jeep with no ac.

[A]

Oh. He really kind of made you start there on the.

[B]

And I said, why are we on a hill? Why doesn't have ac? He's like, you're going to learn faster.

[A]

When you're hot because you're going to try to get in the car. Love it. I'll hear him for. Aight.

[B]

What is it when you don't go.

[A]

When you stall. So I stalled 52.

[B]

Probably 52 times in a row. We went probably 2 inches forward. And he was like, you're gonna get it. Keep doing it. He was not pressured. He was on his phone.

[A]

He was just on his.

[B]

That's how, you know, you learn.

[A]

Got some neck. So failing. Literally failing and lurching forward inch by inch. But that is how it clicks. Is that the trap? And I always say, Corey and I love Top Gun too. Right? Yeah. We always call it Coffin's Corner. Like, you're like, can we make. Can we take the jet at full speed around Coffin Corner?

[B]

If you've.

[A]

This isn't gonna.

[B]

You're not. It's not gonna lose you. When they're testing if they could do Coffin's Corner, everyone says this flight is impossible. Thomas. Thomas Delanor Cruz. I don't know if that's his. Takes this little jetty out and he's like, it's not impossible. He believed in himself. And so he did.

[A]

Because he said, I am the guy who's capable of this. And I. And I think it's kind of pie in the sky. Woo. Woo. I believe in yourself. Toxic. And I think the way you speak to yourself and the way you look at failures, reframing it as not a failure, but another way we learned it didn't work for me.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Makes the difference between the baker, you say, I just wish I could be them. And the baker who's like, I quit a couple years ago because market saturation. Yeah.

[B]

In my notes app, because pies and tacos says, every time you bake, take a note.

[A]

That's smart.

[B]

Mine says five cracks.

[A]

Cory said, I'm gonna cough right into that air. You take a little swig. Heimlich. Heimlich. You're doing the Jaime. No, not right. Do you need some little Jaime action? It's in my throat. Some jaimie head action. You're still listening. Sorry.

[B]

I'm sorry.

[A]

I don't know. As you exhale into their ear. Okay. Okay. Photography. Corey's gonna try to survive. Podcast can watch real life high like maneuver. You guys subscribe Big breaks. We're in. We're. We're exiting the holiday rush and we're entering the era of baker's big breaks.

[B]

It's not the.

[A]

The lull.

[B]

It's not the doldrums of the summer.

[A]

It's the overwhelmed double candle burnout break. Yes. Where you Turn to your social media and you say, you people and your last minute orders. Yeah, I'm taking a break. Whether you announce it end date or until I feel better. Breaks are hard to market around. I'll be honest. If you take a big break, you're hurting your marketing. I want to save life.

[B]

I can tell the verbiage that the baker's saying to themselves, they, they pushed you beyond your limits. They begged you for last minute orders. They were showing up and you, your boundaries were honestly like a, like a hurdle.

[A]

And they were trying to get you, like, if you will, Ironman the ground metal.

[B]

And you've, you're saying to yourself, it's.

[A]

Me against these customers. Yeah. Cory and I constantly say, can't hate the clients. You can't hate your clients. A lot of the times we say, no client bashing. And you guys are like, yeah, because drama breeds drama. Yeah, that's part of it for sure. The other side is, once you hate your clients, you're beginning to close. Oh, the clients are the lifeblood. And yes, they're frustrating. The minute you hate everybody for the actions of a few is the minute you just let your competition get a one over on you. Yeah.

[B]

And so you're like, oh, the twins don't allow action.

[A]

No.

[B]

We're trying to save you from getting to that point.

[A]

That because it's always in your head. Turn around. That voice in your head that says, put on your boxing gloves. We got another inquiry.

[B]

Don't you know how long it takes to make cookies?

[A]

So we're reframing this. The bully baker said, I'm gonna take this break. It's gonna ruin my business. I know. And because the twin said breaks ruin business.

[B]

No.

[A]

They slow it down for sure. Right. Can't. I can't. But here's what we can believe in. Yourself. Instead of taking off the entire month, I'm gonna take off one full week.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I gotta get myself that. I'm take the full week off. Not gonna work. Work the next week. I'm going to not take orders, but I'm going to sit down and I'm going to reframe a little bit of my approach to business. I'm going to come up with a strategy. I'm going to update some spreadsheets or some data I wish I had last year that I don't have this year. I heard the Burke Lake podcast. Maybe I'm going to be listening to the twins while I do this. And I'm going to reacquaint myself with a business That I like. So instead of the big break, I'm hanging up the old apron. You guys won't get a hold of me. I don't know when I'm coming back. I. Screw you. Yeah, we're going to do that. Like, I do need a little break. I need a little breaky break. I think that's very humanizing. Sure. But this year, I'm going to build a strategy that has little breaks throughout.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

So I don't hate these clients. Yeah. And maybe there's a couple clients that are not making the cut this year.

[B]

Right.

[A]

We tried you. We put you out on A team, B team, C team. You're not it. We're going to blacklist you.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because I'm getting rid of you. I can love everybody else more.

[B]

Absolutely. What bakers like to tell them. And Heather's right. When you start hating the people who.

[A]

Pay your bills, it's.

[B]

It's rough to get back to liking them. Um, so if we have to shave off a few of the annoying clients, let's do that. If we have to create a boundary around big holidays so we don't feel the burnout, let's do that.

[A]

Right. And then I say to Corey, them asking, hey, are you available? It's fine. Par for the course. Who's to know how long it takes to make. Yeah, it's a question. I. I say, hey, can I get on your. Can I get my car detailed? Can I do it tomorrow? I said, my grandmother, she wanted to get some leaf cleaning up around. She immediately submits the inquiry. Yeah. She looks at me, not even a joke in her eyes. She said, do you think they'll come here in the next hour? I said, I've got to get into your mind right now. Okay. To that.

[B]

I got a star chip in my windshield.

[A]

Cory got a rock in her windshield.

[B]

Rock in my windshield.

[A]

I did Google mobile immediate a little.

[B]

Bit in my brain. That's what I thought. Because you're mobile.

[A]

So I said, hey, why don't I have you in this state of leaf removal? Why do you think they'd be available in the next hour? And she's like, well, maybe they have nothing to do, and I'd be the only thing they have to do. That's where it was such an innocent. If you see Ruthanne, you see pure innocence on her face. Right. She genuinely thought this big company has nothing to do and they might be able to be, you know what?

[B]

Fall is gone. She barely has any leave. So I can see where she could.

[A]

Come at and she is a. If we picture every client as gams. As I'm saying, they probably meant this innocently. They just don't know any better. Maybe we could stop hating our clients. There are those rotten buggers out there that need to be for sure.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Beat them up. Send me out there, give me their. Just to find out how they are. I'll take them out back and teach them a lesson.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

But for everybody else, they pay our bills. They are special. They are great. They had many, many choices at a saturated market and they picked you. Yeah, you treat them like royalty. But someone said to me, don't tell them to refund that you're training them that she'll bake cookies and give them their money back. I was like, you're training them that she'll bake cookies and if you're not happy, she'll make sure you're happy.

[B]

Reframe, refrain.

[A]

A lot of us. I was telling Corey, I really hate talking to strangers. I just. It's a new experience every time. You just don't know what you're gonna get. Yeah. I am not going forth and saying, hey, can I order your cupcakes? Aha. I'm going to get my money back. And these cupcakes, I don't. That would be way too much for me. And I think most people are like, I just. I just wanted the cupcakes. I just wanted the cupcakes. And no problem. I recently got my car washed at the mall. Has this car wash. It looks like they almost forgot to bend over and wash the bottom half of the car. And I said, wow, I don't like my results here. But I reached out to them and I said, it's really important for me to give you guys full access to make this right. How can we work? No, we'll have to be. I'm going to take that. I'm actually running a mental test for them and me to see where's the point at which they would.

[B]

I wonder if anyone's even manning the test.

[A]

So I said for me to assume that granted, it was like text us your thoughts.

[B]

I know.

[A]

Okay. Maybe nobody's checking it. Maybe nobody that can call the shots is checking it. I'm going to go try to find an email address and just see where this goes.

[B]

Sure, sure, sure.

[A]

Because instead of running to that one starvey which nobody likes, let's see if we can find a common ground. I don't want you to give me your firstborn child. Yeah, but I would like this wheels a little hook laid yeah. So with breaks, you know that breaks suck in terms of marketing and strategy, but they are also a necessary thing, especially if you burnt the candle from both ends. Yeah.

[B]

So instead of saying, guys, I am a loser, you burnt me out, I'm done. Clients don't contact me. We can say, hey, guys, trying to come back to bigger, better, stronger, faster.

[A]

On the flip side, instead of beating yourself up for taking this break because you know, I'm a loser and I can't handle the heat in the kitchen and now everyone's going to take my leads, you can say, hedge, you need a break. Right, let's take off a week. A week? A week. What's a week? A week is nothing. And then the next week we have our inquiry turned up, but we're going to re strategize and maybe take a break, a quarter. And maybe that break is three full days instead of seven, instead of 14 instead of 28. So you can talk to yourself better and still do things that advocate for yourself without being. Because a break where you just spent seven days beating yourself up. What kind of break is that?

[B]

Yeah, right, right.

[A]

That's when I find that people probably leave sugar cooking Martin group because they don't feel adequate. There's a lot of people posting wins and I see that, that quote going around, you know, just surviving is a win. It is, Right. But when you're beating yourself up and you see people winning, you're taking their wins as a punch to the gut. That's. That's you.

[B]

Your win took something off my. Yeah, I know, I'm even worse than I was.

[A]

But what if we reframe that? Their win is one more access point to a strategy you didn't have otherwise. Because I would say, and this is what I say to people like, I love that win. How did you get there? Yeah. What did you do differently? Give us a little tidbit, Let us.

[B]

Look behind the curtain.

[A]

I'll tell you right now, if somebody posts they win, they would love for you to ask how they got there. They would love to tell you how they need you to ask.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So you got to ask them. Instead of saying, well, you suck because I didn't have as many wins, so I'm a loser and you make me feel bad on myself, so I never want to see you again, I'm going to leave the sugar cookie marketing group. Instead you can say, I like what you did. I didn't do that. How did you get there? Help me get there. Yeah. Five example. And we see this around this Week as well. I barely made any Christmas pre sales. The bully baker would say to himself, competition has taken over market share. There's too many bakers, not enough buyers. That's why my pre sale failed. Yeah, the believer baker I recognize. I've actually not cultivated an audience for pre sales. I'm going to host more pre sales this year leading up to Christmas so that come Christmas, my clients know how it works. Corey. Corey does not run many pre sales.

[B]

I just do DIY kits as pre sales. They do fairly well. I haven't done anything. One time, years ago, I did those pencils.

[A]

Do you remember?

[B]

I sold a hundred of them. And it scared me.

[A]

There's too many people. So Corey said, heather, this year we're actually one of the boot camps that we're going to do is a pre sale boot camp. But Corey said, I'm going to bake in some pre sales leading up to Christmas. So she's got her Christmas strategy going. She knows that throughout the year, her strategy will morph as she gets more data points to making a decision here. But she was like, here's what I'm going to do. So now we're talking about. Instead of like, pretty tight, we're going to say, okay, what. What do the. The logistics need to be? Yeah, what are the. What are the themes? And you see a lot of people like, what are the themes? What are the packets? What's the price point? How are we going to handle with cottage laws checkout? Like, how are we going to. Are we going to man this? We're going to presale how it's going to look. What's pickup going to look like? So that's the, like, instead of Corey doing a presale, her audience doesn't even know what the word is. They don't know what it means. They never even interface with her that way. Obviously, she got scared of pencils two years ago. They'd be like, well, pre sales aren't for me. My audience doesn't like them. Yeah. They don't know what they are. Right.

[B]

I can't fault them for that. And I can't fault myself for my first pre sale not knocking it out of the park when I haven't even dipped my big toe in there.

[A]

I want to tell you, when Corey and I started teaching cookie classes, had to cancel first one. It was also timed poorly with COVID Yeah, we had to cancel it for no attendance. Yeah. Had we say the market doesn't like cooking classes. Oh, okay. How do we gotten to the fifth one? We didn't sell out. We didn't start selling out. We also taught a lot more, so it was harder to sell out. We didn't start selling out three years later. Yeah. Had we said, well, I haven't sold out yet. And this is, I'm only saying 10 seats, bucko. I know. Filling 10 seats. I was like, it's just not my area. Just doesn't support it. Which you see a lot of people at this point. Now we're five or six years into these classes. There's a wait list, there's people saying, where are your courses? Why aren't you posted? And then we want to sign up, we want to give gift cards. We like them so much. Had we made the first, the second, the fifth, the tenth, make the decision for the, the 50th, 60th, 70th, we would have missed out on so much opportunity.

[B]

So much. My first, My Valentine's Day presale is not going to be for the record books, let me tell you.

[A]

She's going to be one of the 10,000 ways not to run a pre sale, for sure.

[B]

But what I've, what I'm going to do is my audience is going to be introduced to something new that's already a win.

[A]

So Corey and I, we've already started talking about how we can word it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because just the phrase, like, how can we get them to understand what this is? So instead of presale, actually going to call it pre order. See how that works. Maybe we'll go back to pre sale. I don't know. We're going to say, what does the marketing campaign look like this? Does it need to be eight weeks? Does it need to be impulsive? Does it need to be two weeks? What does it look like if we do it six weeks and she doesn't sell out? Does it mean it needs more or less? Sure.

[B]

But what I'm going to have is more knowledge going into my next one. Let's say Easter.

[A]

And you're going to retool it. You're going to make borrowing this, scrapping that moving forward by Christmas, If Corey does, let's say she does three, and then the fourth one is Christmas, do you think she'll be better or worse than if she only did one for Christmas? We all know the answer better. We all know the answer. So why aren't we operating in accordance with the answers? And I think it's because quitting almost relieves the lack of dopamine. It's like, because I'm not struggling. I don't have to suffer.

[B]

It's because you struggled for a little bit and then you're like, it didn't work. Then you're relinquished from having to ever struggle again.

[A]

But if you struggle for a little bit and then you struggle for a lot of bit, you gain the benefits of both a little bit and a lot of it. Cause you win.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So it kind of sucks to struggle a little bit and quit each time because you're like, I struggled, I struggled. I did the thing and then I quit. But then I did this thing and I quit. You're doing a lot of struggling and very little winning.

[B]

How I see bakers do it is they only do a pre sale, pre order around Christmas time because they see everyone else selling out of theirs. But they still never cultivated the audience from the last one. That didn't go well. So of course this one has no data points. You did it. You've one whole year's gone and you never. Now you have side by side, both failures.

[A]

I see a lot of Eddies getting sold to around this time. You can't sell in the Eddie group, but I'm in the other groups where you can sell. Right. And then they're just posting on the page. And I think it was. And that's why people say, should I get these direct to Food Printers? Yeah, yeah, they're great. They're a great aspect of business. They'll bring you more revenue. But they don't bring in revenue just because you bought it. Sure. They bring in revenue because you hit the pavement multiple, multiple, multiple times over months and months and months and months and told people and explained to people and showed people and brought them to networking events and gave them away and did this and posted that and reeled this. That's how the Eddie works. Yeah, that's how the big blue works. The small blue, whatever it is, the thing that you have did not. It's not. If you build it, they will come. And so if you build it, I mark you market it over a long period of time, it'll come. And I think it's like. But I did the hard part about the $3,000 thing. Oh, I'm so sorry. There was more to the hard part.

[B]

And for the pre sales, I bought all the cute packaging and cutters.

[A]

I did the price points that you guys said. I popcorned it. I popcorned it.

[B]

My Valentine's Day is not going to be for the record books, but what it's going to do is help me get a record book. Maybe December.

[A]

Corey's Compassionate talk to herself will be the A plus is because you did it, not because it won. Yeah, right.

[B]

If I make no sales, I'm still going to be happy because I did it.

[A]

My motorcycle, my tufting won't be because I made a rug today. It's because I did it for 20 minutes. Yeah, but 20 minutes over a long period of time equals really cool looking rugs. That is just the way it is. There is no other way around this. We're not naturally gifted. And in that is the blessing.

[B]

Yeah. It's almost releasing in the small dopamine hit that I'm giving myself. It's not Corey, if you make a thousand dollars on Valentine's Day. That's your dopamine hit. My dopamine hit in my little Friday Oreo stash eating thing. My TikTok download is Corey.

[A]

If you do it you want, you've. There's a lot of suffering into getting it done right. And it won't be the best. It won't be even kind of good. It will be okay. But that is the gift is Corey. And that's that reframing. Find one of the 10,000 ways it doesn't work. And congratulations. Only nine. 9,999. So like that is the goal. And failing Forward, feeling forward continually. The lurch of the stalled clutch moving the car forward. To eventually be able to drive it without even thinking about it is the thing. We have a new cousin. He is a cousin. He's my cousin's kid. The baby. The baby. I look at him and I'm like, wow. Everything he's doing, he's having to learn it. And we're watching just to be. Just to cry. He had to think about like. Like. Because you're like. I need to convey information. And I have no idea how my body works. I just got this thing. I have no idea how my fingers work. So when he first came, I think he's six months old. Four. Four months old. Yeah. When he first came over, I was like, that is just a fleshy person. Little ball. No. No facial expressions. All I hadn't learned of him. Then he comes over two months. I'm like, wow. He is looking at people in the eyes. He wasn't able to look at people in the eyes. Now his head bobbling about a true bobblehead. He is looking at each person's face. He came over at Christmas.

[B]

The man could stand.

[A]

We were holding him. He was smiling and he was laughing. I was like, this dude has to put in the 20 minutes a day that's literally his. But he is failing forward, right. I got him a rattle. He gripped it and he shook it. Yes. Giggled like, wow, that's so much progress in four months, buddy. His dopamine hit a little milk at the end of it. At the end of it, he is. So we are newborn babies ripping things and trying to learn how our facial muscles work. And his mom, Sarah, our cousin. Law.

[B]

Cousin in law, I guess.

[A]

Yeah, cousin law, cousin. She was like watching him. She's like, I'm watching him form the brain cells. The brain cells that connect these things, like the neurons, they're forming little connections. And she's like, yeah. Every time he gets more and more engaging. That is us. We're newborn baby bakers. And everything we do, it starts over the clock. And you can do 20 minutes. And that's the A plus.

[B]

And the thing about it is being kind to yourself. I did the 20 minutes. That's the goal. Not I made a rug in 20 minutes. I did something hard for 20 minutes while Heather's undone. Rug is right there. It's probably got five lines of a heart.

[A]

Cute shape, by the way.

[B]

Would make a great cookie cutter.

[A]

Yeah, big old gap. I ran out of thread. I really was. I was throwing things against the wall when I tuft pulled out of the tufting gun.

[B]

Did the it pull out and then you have to restart the line. Is that why it's going off?

[A]

Yeah, that's why we're just going off, really. It's my cortisol level if you want to see it in graph form.

[B]

But here's the thing. Heather doesn't have a rug made yet.

[A]

Yet.

[B]

But she has 20 minutes under her belt of things she did wrong that she's learning from to be better things.

[A]

I know how to make this canvas. There you go. How to how to set up a tufting guy.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Turns out you need to oil the thing, set it in the instructions. Wouldn't have known that until I opened the box.

[B]

And probably when we went to the tufting class. They've already been oiled.

[A]

You see right there. Oil came in the other day. You have to oil them every four hours. Now, I know yarn math doesn't make sense. Some of it's 12, some of it's 2.

[B]

You don't know.

[A]

Did I go to Michael's? Have I been to a Michael's in years?

[B]

No, I went went with Heather.

[A]

Cory watched me struggle. She watched my baby legs walk to the yard, grab guys as us with.

[B]

So many cookie cutters. It was a Child walking for the first time.

[A]

Should I get this pink or this red?

[B]

Anyways.

[A]

So that is what it is. And I. I know sometimes you get that aggressive. Baker's like, take being kind to yourself is quitting. We're in business. We don't quit. Right? We don't quit. We're. You're listening to this podcast about making money because that's what you're here to do. So I'm not going to tell you to quit. Not going to tell you to take them the first quarter off. I'm going to tell you. Let's bake in that baby centric A plus for showing up into the strategy.

[B]

With all the factors in a solopreneurship against you. Don't make another one yourself.

[A]

I know.

[B]

And that's the.

[A]

And Ashley said it the other day. She was like. She said something about how she speaks to herself, and I was like, I'm pretty. I'm pretty understanding. Like, if you heard my internal monologue about myself, a lot of times I call myself, like, baby girl. It's pretty close. Getting a little crazy. Slow down just a little bit. Just take it in stride and it's good. But she's like, I'm massively rude to myself. One time I was talking to my cousin and I. Our older cousin, Jen. Yeah. And she was like, if you hurt. She's like, nobody can hurt my feelings because I already hurt my feelings. That's how I speak to myself. And I was like, yeah. That would be a very stressful existence. You'd be in fear of anybody else who mirrors what you said to yourself. The way you speak to yourself really does matter. It does.

[B]

It does.

[A]

And how do you speak to yourself?

[B]

Pretty kindly.

[A]

Just hear it.

[B]

Okay. The macarons. I'm like, shoot.

[A]

Let me count.

[B]

35 worked out on this sheet, but 10 worked out on the next sheet. You're getting it, girl.

[A]

Great. But 60, only 15 worked out. What if you said out of 60, only 15 worked out. You're not good at this. Just let it go.

[B]

Oh, absolutely.

[A]

Yeah. You speak yourself. Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo. Stuff. How you speak to yourself does set the tone if you're going to be successful or not. And I can see through the way you post on social media how you speak to yourself. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

My son, he's a teenage, almost 16 at this point, talks very negatively to himself, even to me. So I couldn't imagine what's going on in his brain.

[A]

I know.

[B]

So I'm like, dude, you got to be your number one fan.

[A]

You got to, man. Yeah, you got to. Wants to be your number one thing.

[B]

That's what I'm trying. I'm getting his teeth straight. We're getting acne taken care. I'm doing all I can outside, dude.

[A]

The rest of it, a lot of it is psychology. Yeah. It's just. It's the internal monologue. Do you know some people can't talk, don't talk to themselves. They don't know how. They didn't know they were. Because they never heard of it before.

[B]

I don't. I don't think I ever learned.

[A]

Happier probably. No, it's. Their brain's incapable of it. It's not that it's a learning. I like. I talk to myself all the time. I do a lot of reasoning and I like to get in my own head. There's. There. It's where we make big problems, small problems. Massive.

[B]

You know how you explained your color pants today? You said purple pants, gray top, black. I could picture that. Am I right? Some people don't have the ability to picture that.

[A]

That's the internal monologue where they cannot picture, they cannot do outside of the verbal actual exchange of information. There's no more dialogue. Yeah. Crazy, crazy girls.

[B]

You'd be just discovering everything for the first time. You say you don't have to brain.

[A]

Because you're not, not doing it.

[B]

I know, but I liked when I'm like, looking at a cutter shape. I can pre gain it in my brain before I do it. But if I didn't have to, I would just be learning as I went. I'd be seeing it as I go.

[A]

You know, I'm pretty good at parallel parking. It's because I can picture the overhead vision of the car as I'm backing in.

[B]

But if you got that, you would be.

[A]

I would be flying blind.

[B]

You might be hitting curbs.

[A]

I'd be hitting cars. So that takes us through today's podcast. I hope you understand that big takeaway is like, yeah, yes, there is. There's winning and there's losing. That's true. But there's small wins that make big wins, and then there's looking at small wins as losses that make big losses. And how you look at that and how you reframe it, and maybe you're like, I've really, really trained myself to be a bully to myself. But what if you have the first thought as bully? And I've been doing. I was looking into psychology, some podcasts, and it was like, the first thought's always the first thought, but the Second thought is your choice. True. So the first thought, you're a loser. The second thought, you either confirm you're a loser or you say, you know what? Actually. Actually, I am not a loser. I am closer to being a winner than I ever was. Yeah.

[B]

I'm gonna say if you can reframe your negativity into positivity, you're gonna have a great 20, 26, regardless of what happens.

[A]

It's. Cory and I were talking about retraining stuff. People, actions, approaches. You just don't. It's not a switch. It's a constant effort. And over time, that effort starts showing. Just like in the gym I went to. I. I took a massive hiatus from the gym, I'll be honest. So I went the other day, lightweight deadlift. I was at 55s on each side. I went back down to 25. I could hardly walk. Oh. Next day. Interesting, right? If I had gone there and gone straight to 55s on the deadlift, I would have been, like, it up.

[B]

I'm quitting.

[A]

I'm a loser. Yeah. Okay. Instead, I said, you know what? I'm here. Here was the problem. That was the goal.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then we retrain that. And just like, the muscle takes time to get stronger. So is talking to yourself. If you have been a bully for 37 years in the. In 37 years, in one day, you're not going to suddenly be the nicest person to yourself.

[B]

If you can just recognize it.

[A]

Yes. See it. See it.

[B]

I see. I. I was really mean to myself right there.

[A]

Yes. A lot of the times. And you guys are going to hate this. This. They say journaling and meditation are the way to retrain that brain, because you get in front of that anxiety, that anxiousness, and you say, okay, what I'm going to say to myself today, what I'm going to write down that I'm going to say to myself today is xyz. If.

[B]

If anything, wake up in the morning, write one thing down you like.

[A]

They say it really changes it. You have to think about yourself, positive. I don't like anything about myself. Then write three, buddy.

[B]

Yeah, you do. So there's something you gotta break through, whatever that is.

[A]

And then I'm gonna just. If you have a really hard time looking at yourself positively, maybe it's time to talk to a therapist. Maybe outside help is the help that you need. So that takes us through this, the cookie college, and the rebirth of the podcast, which won't be violent, but it'll just be more structured in a new avenue and have more guests. And Corey wants a gossip column. Talk about that. What's up? Well, that starts in the new year, but also in the new year, we're launching bootcamps and it's 1212 marketing focused business boot camps.

[B]

But listen, these are in the trenches. The first boot camp, how to teach an in person cookie class. You're going to know everything I know.

[A]

By the end of it. I'm. I'm wrapping up the storyboard. I do believe in storyboarding.

[B]

Who loves a storyboard?

[A]

Explain to them what it is.

[B]

What a storyboard is just an outline by which we take you step by baby step. Instead of listening to someone drone down and be like, oh, yeah, I forgot about this. What the outline does is keep us on pace, on target, so that at the end you know everything that we know because it has been storyboarded.

[A]

Right. So it has more structure. You know where to look, we know what to say. So I'm wrapping up the storyboard, the template, templating out this one. So this is. The boot camps will be a very low cost. Why it's not for your money. Because if you sign up for the cookie college, when the doors open, you'll get that, that, that, that fee refunded to you. It's our thanks for joining. But however, you could just buy this and have it for the three days. Right? Okay. So you got some options there. Well, I'll talk more about that later. It's not important. When you sign up, you join a private Facebook group for this boot camp only.

[B]

Just this one boot camp.

[A]

Just this boot camp. So all the things about this boot camp are in this group. Cookie college members. Yes, it's including membership.

[B]

So if you are listening, you're like, I don't want to teach classes. You won't be joining this boot camp.

[A]

Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. You'll get to. We got 12 of these suckers coming at you. You. In the weeks leading up to the final week where the bootcamp launches, you're getting worksheets. Worksheets about finding locations to teach cookie classes. Contacting locations, the templating out this white file to send the email. Yeah. In a way that they know that you want to work with them and you kind of want to do it for free. And then worksheet negotiating fees and doing the math. Okay. Those are our worksheets. Now the boot camps are between two hours and six hours, depending on the content. Yeah. I think you'll find most of them fall into the four Hours. Day one pre recorded we're going to do creating an eventbrite listing and setting up an event with add ons. It's going to be an hour, just going to let it play. Then the next one we're going to be planning out the marketing campaign for this in person cookie class that focuses on a six week runtime.

[B]

One hour.

[A]

You guys can let these play in the background. Yeah, you watch them five times. Day two, Day two, another two hours class setup and supplies. Corey and I are going to our classroom. We're going to show you what we bought, why we bought it, how we use it, why you should use it and what other alternatives you'll have that'll be on site and we'll be live, it'll be pre recorded so you don't have to watch this newborn baby deer. But don't worry, there is a live Q and A. Then we're going to spend an hour showing you how we teach a cookie class and why we do it that way. Yeah, I'm going to give you the script. Yeah, you've had the script but it's going to be an updated 2026 scripts of why we do this and it mirrors those class kit PowerPoints so it stays structured because our goal is to always teach a class in an hour and a half. Always, always. Now day three for one hour we're going to do a follow up up marketing so the things that you do to class participants and then it's going to talk about the marketing cookie class group that we have. The email follow up that I have and a few other aspects of that to make sure that we get these people captured and into our CRM so we don't have to do this again the next time we want to class. And then finally it ends on a live Q and A session and a pitch to join the cookie college where you get that fee refunded and all this content then archives to the cookie college. Yeah.

[B]

And then if you wanted to you could listen to it over and over and over again in the cook college.

[A]

And then you have the whole mastermind, the strategy, the worksheets. It's forever there however you feel like. I just wanted this. I'm here for a good time, not for a long time. Just take the boot camp and join us the next couple of boot camps. Now Corey has a couple of these tentative. I don't need feedback on this. We're still, we're still in the planning phase. Yes. But here's some boot camps that we got. February photography boot Camp. Yeah, there you go. You hate that photography. Join the boot camp. You get the same setup, you're gonna have three days private Facebook group.

[B]

You know what my dopamine hit every set that I made. That photo that I get to have for a lifetime, that's my dopamine hit. I love taking the photo so.

[A]

And you love the likes you get on it when the photo's really good and then march. Corey. This is why she's got pre sales on the brain. We're doing a pre sale boot camp so she is going to fail up for that and tell us everything she's learned. We're going to set it up online, market it and talk about pre sales. And we have a bunch more of these. We got 12 of them. I think it's a great fun strategy and all that information archives to the cookie college and which doors are closing on January 7th.

[B]

Yeah, the thing the biggest feedback is the cookie college is a little overwhelming. So what these boot camps will do would be allow us to combine a lot of these updates, streamline, lengthen.

[A]

Yeah, that's what you guys wanted and that's what you're getting. So just the in person cookie class course will take three archived now archived courses and make them fresh and ready to go.

[B]

And we heard you, you just want.

[A]

To let us play. You don't like really small modules and you're looking gonna have six hours of this.

[B]

That's why they asked for this podcast to be longer.

[A]

You guys got what you wanted even if you realized you didn't really want it. So the bootcamps are gonna be a lot of fun. That is what we're working on. And oh, in the in person cookie classes boot camp, if you only do the fee to sign up, you still get that fruits class that you can use to taste test. Now if you're like okay, I like it, I like what I'm seeing here. I wanna do this. You can join the cookie college and get 39. Yeah, 39 class classes. And I've been working on this 20, 26 January class. I'm more than halfway done with it. You guys will get it very, very nice noise. So you guys can say ask like how do I learn more about the bootcamp? Don't worry, I'm going to post about it in the first week of January, get you signed up and then that bootcamp will launch at the end of January with all this pre recorded information. You're going to love it. You're going to say, how did I live without this?

[B]

Actually well it's everything I know about. And I've taught a bazillion cookie classes. So it's everything I know to get the max amount of money for the least amount of time.

[A]

I was saying to go to this. This tufting thing, but I wouldn't give for a course that just tells me how to get started. I know, just tell me someone tell me, Tell me. Somewhere in a course it just gets dark. Tell me what to buy. Yeah, tell me what to do. Let me just see how you do it so I can figure out how to do it on my own. With your brain. And that's what these boot camps are. The person who's like, okay, 20, 26, I want to do the classes. They talk about them a lot. They never shut up about them. They say they have the highest profit margin of anything a cookier offers. Just where do I start? Yeah, don't worry girl. This boot camp is where you start. Stop and fin watch ya. Yeah. So I'll have more information on that. That said, moving on to the STL me about it segment, I used cookie design labor. Amalia, if you're listening, I know you saw Corey's little wiry fingers on Saturday. You're like, why is she making three.

[B]

Of the same cutter?

[A]

A year and a week ago, Amalia gave both Corey and I one free year to cookie design lab. Me used my year recklessly. Yeah, I used it reckless, abandoned. I use it all the time. Then I had to go pay for it. Fair.

[B]

Fair.

[A]

Should have used code twins, but I didn't want them to their grade. Then Corey said to me, and I hate this because she was teaching, treating me like her secretary. She said, what's the code for the cookie design? What the code figured out? No, I had to pull it up. Corey redeemed her code and has downloaded. And I seen you fever pitch printing all of a sudden. Yeah. Did you make a cutter?

[B]

I made a cutter.

[A]

How easy was it?

[B]

Oh, I'm. There was a tutorial. I said, ah, tutorials are for babies. I'm just gonna dive in there.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

I uploaded the image. What the customer wanted was a weird AI boot with spaghetti coming out of the top.

[A]

I do remember this order.

[B]

Nobody has a cutter like that because it's weird.

[A]

So I uploaded the image is in our tooth.

[B]

No, that if there was one to have, it would have been that this was so far gone because her little kid, her one year old, likes spaghetti and cowboys and. And she's combined the thing. That's what it is. Yeah. It's A cowboy boot with spaghetti coming out. So what I did put the image in there. It gave you points. So you could say I went 100 million points to make it very tight. Very tight. Or you could say, you know, the.

[A]

Shape is pretty easy.

[B]

If it was a square.

[A]

Have a spread rest.

[B]

Yeah. So I got in there and I moved my little points around because it was.

[A]

But it's a live view of what it looks like as you move. I know. It was crazy.

[B]

So I ended up up forming the boot with the sketti around it with a little area at the bottom for my sketti to pull up.

[A]

Very nice. And then can you please show us that in the group when you're done with Sketchy?

[B]

Yeah, sure. I have to make it this week, so I'll definitely show you.

[A]

Let us see the cutter and tell us you got it from cookies. I couldn't believe her. And then you just choose its little.

[B]

Size and then save stl. And then it was easy breezy.

[A]

Now they've recently launched a preview. If you guys are like, I'm interested in this, but I don't. I'm not sure if it's for me. You can actually do all this except for save the STL if you want to see how the software works. Pretty cool.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Anyways, if you use code twins, you get 15% off on that. But if you text into 571-5565644, you also have the option to win a month of that. Now, you have done a lot of competition. Yeah. So might as well try it. Yeah. Two texts in two.

[B]

Ah, two.

[A]

Two. One person. One is like never one.

[B]

I know.

[A]

I'm revamping my newsletter for 2026. This is area code 713-713. Email me at heather sugarcookingmarketing.com Pennsylvania. Houston. Houston.

[B]

Houston, Texas. I want to say 716 was last week.

[A]

I should have guessed it was Houston 713, but close. I send one big email at the beginning of the month that includes my upcoming availability, any pre sales that are coming soon, my upcoming classes, a coloring sheet from the cookie glass kit. What are some other content ideas I can include that will be value added while still relevant?

[B]

Okay, we actually went over this. My husband is texting me and someone else is texting me.

[A]

What do they say? It's nothing. As expected.

[B]

Nothing great. What I was. I actually talked about it this in the cookie college every Monday. I've been doing a Monday morning roll call and it's just going live and I talk about a topic A week. So we are going to talk about blog posts coming up because they're so valuable on your website but they're also valuable as content for your newsletter. A big one coming up is places date ideas around your area to take your loved one. That's great for Valentine's Day coming up.

[A]

SEO now we talked about this AEO A I E I E. Okay. The new thing strategy in the SEO world is answering questions because that's what typically people are using AI for. So instead of five great date ideas, where can I take my crafting loving date to learn a new skill? And then you would answer it with the sugar. So that one of featuring local businesses and I know we say that a lot. I know we say that a lot because listen, there's a lot of content we gotta compete with. I find myself following creators who tell me great sushi restaurants. Yeah, right. Because you went I don't know where to go. I want you to tell me how it was. If they tell me the parking, they tell me how to order, they tell me what the cost is. I'm in. Yeah. So that is something that you can do that's violent. And I really like the content you're doing.

[B]

Me?

[A]

No, this person. Yeah.

[B]

Well she's doing her presales and everything. Yeah. But what we want to do is make it just a tinge bit more valuable to the end user. Right now it's very internal. Here's my pre sale is my availability. I love that. But what we want to do is because people probably order once or twice a year.

[A]

I'm gonna have the subject line. You gotta try the sushi place. Yeah. I would be opening it especially if your subject line has always been January availability. Yeah.

[B]

So you could add a whole section my, my local business highlight and that just be the section in there.

[A]

We're actually doing that. We have come up, we're gonna do a collab a month. We're pre planning this a cookie collab a month. And one of them will be featuring a local business.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Right. So more on that soon as well. Cory and I can see 20, 26 structured telling you guys where we're at, what we're doing and how we're doing it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I think I like a business that runs that way. It's very predictable and I think people like to another one.

[B]

I checked out this local park. Here's my favorite features about it.

[A]

New Year's Eve fireworks.

[B]

New Year's Eve fireworks.

[A]

People love that.

[B]

People are asking that right now.

[A]

Facebook groups are going to Tell you.

[B]

The questions want free things to do when the kids get out in the.

[A]

Summer I see a lot of people saying I don't know how to my kids right now. I've run out of ideas.

[B]

Yeah Apple orchards come the fall and.

[A]

I don't have kids but if you did like 24 ways to hide that.

[B]

Elf guy that'll find the elf on the shelf ideas.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. Again that content is again you're a local baker. You're competing with many many emails. It's just that one little thing that sets you and you got the interactive coloring sheet which is great because actually make the I was hoping people used them. You got availability now let's make it a little bit. A little bit a little bit relevant. Yeah. Area focus. Yeah. A lot of real estate agents have realized posting up houses is kind of boring. It's a part whether they do but they'll post up houses and they'll tell you what's opening in the area which I if I was moving to an area would really really like.

[B]

Absolutely. The up and coming when they get a knowledge of a business that's opening before the rest of us. Oh they yeah. I love the Burn.

[A]

There's a a local commercial I think commercial real estate agent anyways they run a website called the Burn it's about Ashburn but it for some reason because they're commercial they're constantly looking at web businesses are coming and they post about them.

[B]

We're like what business coming, business going. People will be like oh no, you.

[A]

Tell me business is closing. I haven't been to in years. I'll suddenly miss. I know, I know. So very interesting. You can kind of scour the local moms groups to see what the questions they're asking there and that would be what I'd gear my content towards. Not a winner. The second text I got to reach. Hi Corey and Heather. When is the right time to start a website to take orders from? I was thinking Shopify is the way to go for me because I need simple talk about that in a second. Selling on social platforms is taking up time and energy. I want everything in one place. I don't want to. I don't have a huge following but I do have some faithful support. What are the pros and cons of starting a Shopify or e commerce website? Is the expense worth it if I'm mostly doing pre sales and just a few customs. Thank you for all your expert advice. I'm Jennifer from California.

[B]

Jennifer.

[A]

California. Love that I tell you Jennifer, if you want Simple. If you are like, if it's complicated, you lost me. Yeah. Step back from Shopify.

[B]

Shopify.

[A]

I'm not saying it's overwhelming. I'm saying it's got a little bit more tool options under the hood than most. Yeah, I think people can get lost in the option sauce you want really simple. Seems like Bakesy.

[B]

My custom bakes.

[A]

My custom bakes square is more simple than Shopify. Just some options for you on plate. Pretty simple. Textbook space. If you want simple, ask yourself, do I want a website or do I want a simple website? If you know that a complicated website's going to overwhelm you, don't even think about Shopify right yet. Don't think of those complex. Don't even, don't even say the word WordPress. You don't need it. Okay, I went simple. Start with Bakesie.

[B]

And I want to say Shopify can get pricier.

[A]

Shopify. I always thought the base price of Shopify was pretty high. 30 bucks.

[B]

30 bucks a month. Okay. Bake. See, and I want to say buying custom bakes. $10 a month for sure.

[A]

I know my custom bakes is $10 a month. Yeah. So we got. So now we got Shopify is a little more expensive, a little bit more time involved. Great place to end up one day. You wrote in all caps. Simple. Yes. So we're not going to talk about Shopify, but every other question you're saying yes, the website helps. The best time to start it is whenever you have a minute to do it.

[B]

Listen, the website will help with your pre sales if that, if you're like, I'm honestly, it's better for kind of pre sales because you can set limits.

[A]

Right. So you could, you could even do this in Jotform which has. Has 10 transactions free a month. And then beyond that it's not that much more expensive. Right. Depending on the plan you choose.

[B]

I think with a pre sale, if it's a form is every time someone wants a pre sale is at a new form submission, she might run out.

[A]

Of that real fast if she's doing pre sale. I'm saying the transactions is limited to 10. Does that make sense? Yeah, transactions, form submissions like 500.

[B]

Okay, nice.

[A]

And it resets every. Okay, nice. Okay.

[B]

So then, yeah, you have more options.

[A]

Yeah. So if you were doing pre sale and you weren't taking Money, you got 500 options there for free. Corey uses job. It's very easy to load up a product. You connect it to your PayPal if you want to. If you don't even want to connect it to your PayPal. You got 500 submissions on there. Very simple things. Bake. See my custom Bakes More website. That's form. Yeah, Big C hybrid. My custom Bakes website directory. Listing. Yes, listing. But either way, yes. The answer to your question is yes. The website, yes. Shopify. Not now. Pick one of these easier ones. Just get it up there. It doesn't have to be perfect. Yeah.

[B]

One thing I do like about Jotform that you're not getting by taking your social media, your orders through social media, DMs and things like that, I can look up a name in Jotform and see how many times they've ordered and it allows me somewhat of a CRM that you're not getting currently.

[A]

I couldn't imagine the hell it is to take orders through DMs. Yeah. Because a lot. It's a lot.

[B]

And it's a little bit easier when you're doing pre sales because you're not doing a lot of back and forth. You've made the pre sale, they're ordering whatever it is. But it would be nice to know that, you know, Claudia ordered three times this year and she'll probably order next time. But to leave it up to social media algorithms for Claudia to see my next pre sale.

[A]

Risky business. Risky business. So when we do the form, we automatically get their email address. When they submit the form, they get a copy of what they said. Yeah. Love it. I love it. I need an instant receipt. I'm an instant receipt girl.

[B]

If I don't.

[A]

I ordered some supplies for the Snake from this obscure website in North Carolina. Got nothing from them.

[B]

And you were worried.

[A]

I said, oh, my goodness, I got it. Suddenly package arrived. Thanks. Yeah. Oh, we could have. That could have been easier, but okay.

[B]

One thing I like about Etsy in why I buy from places on Etsy. Granted, I know I feel bad for the fees that they charge, whatever, but I like Etsy because every time you do one thing I get, you're one closer, one step closer to getting your order. Your order is being offered. Your has arrived. I'm like, I feel very taken care of.

[A]

YouTube. Do you see the page pants somewhere? You see the pant shirt combo? Yeah. I did not remember what this size was, but I wanted it again. So I went to Athleta and I went to sign in and I got my order details from last time and now we can do that if we have something that sends an immediate form confirmation with the history and Jotform Automatically does. Yeah. So Jennifer from California, you're in the right headspace. Step away from Shopify. It's a little overwhelming. You can do it whenever. Yeah. But get you something up now just. And then you could do Shopify.

[B]

Then you're going to be loving the fact that you're tracking things and it's coming in and you're not having to.

[A]

Do so much back and forth outside of the consolidation and organization. You will just make more money and.

[B]

Then you own your customer list at.

[A]

The rest of the day. I rest my case. Yeah. That is the STL me about it segment. We're gonna wrap this up because we've been talking forever. I can tell camera's about to quit.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Coming close, Coming close. Our sponsors that keep this whole thing going, they do.

[B]

They keep keeper going.

[A]

I can already tell you're gonna hear a lot more about cookie design lab now that Corey's downloaded it. Shoot.

[B]

That was way too Easy.

[A]

Code Twins 15 on cookie design lab. And then they have that preview option. Baking me crazy code. Favorite twin is 10 off all baking supplies.

[B]

Ton. They have so many sprinkles. They are working on a meringue powder kind of where you could taste test.

[A]

Now I think is the time to be like inventory. I lost a lot of it in Christmas. Thank goodness. Now let's kind of build it up and maybe some vanilla tie. And Stacy. Yeah. All the cutter shops are talking. I saw that royal badge. Code twins 10%. It's the meringue powder of your dreams. You dream. Do you dream of maring powder? Do you talk to yourself? Internal monologue. You're going to want to talk about this. It's the one I use. Daisy makes cake pops. If you've struggled. If you struggled in the cake pop ball world, go check out Daisy mix. Yeah. They have a. What would you call it? It's not a ball. It's a.

[B]

It's a puck kind of.

[A]

The mold is what they're using. The mold.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The whole concept revitalizes your relationship with cake pops. If that was your 2020 kind to legal, you're going to want to go use code Twins10 there.

[B]

The one thing that she does sell that I have used so much is there's. It's. It's a back massager, but you're using it to actually get the excess chocolate. It's a back massager.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And you had them. They have four little points. You actually put that on the end of the stick. She actually sent it to me. That's the only reason I figured out put on the stick. What it does is vibrates the bubbles out because cake pops. We don't like bubbles and cake pops because that's how.

[A]

How the liquid don't like anything. They don't like you either.

[B]

There's no positive thing you can say about that. It gets the excess chocolate off and it puffs the air bubbles on them.

[A]

It's fantastic. The bubbles do weird stuff. Yeah.

[B]

The bubbles allow the liquid to leak back out of the cake pop and you have like yellow balls on it and it looks ugly.

[A]

Surfactants.

[B]

Surfactants, Eddie.

[A]

The edible food printer. We talk about them a ton. Not on sale. Never on sale.

[B]

But. But I think their meetup is coming up.

[A]

Oh, yeah, and it's sold out. But I can see now if you join the Facebook group, you could see some tickets being sold at cost or at early bird pricing if you want to squeak on in there.

[B]

Yeah, I can't wait to hear what they learn.

[A]

Two full days of on hands on Eddie print strategy.

[B]

Isn't it Minnesota?

[A]

No, it's. They're just based in. Oh, they're based in Minnesota. Florida.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Florida. Yeah.

[B]

I want to say in a very Disney close area.

[A]

Bosch, Nutra Mill. Their sale ends tomorrow. Code sugar cookie saves you $20. $20. I'm sorry. The sale ends on the 1st. Tomorrow's the 31st. Forgot 31 days. Those are sponsors. You buy from them, you support them. You support the podcast if you like what you listen here. Without them, there's none of this. Yeah, there's none of this. You're lost in the sauce without these voices in your head telling you each week on Tuesdays at around 3 to 5, how to have a better conversation with yourself and have a better business. I want to tell everyone before we.

[B]

Close up here, I'm proud of each and every single one of you. You've shown up for your business, even listening to these annoying voices. You have shown up for your business in more ways and you've accomplished so much in 2025. Was everything a win? No. Did we learn something from everything?

[A]

Yes. And that is a win. Proud of you guys.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Stop being mean to Tessa.

[B]

Stop being mean to yourself.

[A]

Stop being mean to yourself.

[B]

Love yourself like I love you.

[A]

Do you love yourself? Love, love him. Never met a better person. You know, I'll be honest. You love yourself. Yeah. I think it shows.

[B]

Oh, good.

[A]

I don't think you care what a lot of people think. Oh, no.

[B]

You can say whatever you want.

[A]

You also have a lot of opinions on other People.

[B]

Because I love myself so much, I would like to share that with other people.

[A]

Do you have a transition? Introduce myself. Lover.

[B]

Do I got these shoes.

[A]

They're.

[B]

I'm not pronouncing the word Kizzix.

[A]

I think. How do you pronounce it any other way?

[B]

Kizix. I don't know.

[A]

Kizikes.

[B]

Kizike it. It was a gift for my Christmas. My other shoes, as we know, had holes in them.

[A]

K I, Z I, K S. If you guys are like, to follow the.

[B]

Twinterest and what they are, you can. It's almost like I. Not 3D printed on the back, but it's a mold, like a silicone mold that allows you to step into the shoe and it bounces the back up.

[A]

So it doesn't hold great for. Well, it's actually great for anyone who doesn't want to bend over. But if you have a senior. Yeah. Elderly member who has lower back problems. Anybody with back problems at all. This whole company strategy was that you could just slide your foot in and it wouldn't degrade the quality of the shoe. You know, like, okay, I'm sliding my.

[B]

Foot in, step on the backs, and I'm like, oh, you just slide into your shoe.

[A]

And now the shoe's, like, losing its degradation. Like, it's like degrading the thing.

[B]

They call it the couch with no bones.

[A]

Yes. So this one has an actual mechanism inside. I think it is plastic with spring.

[B]

It's on the outside.

[A]

And this is on the outside. Yeah, yeah. Anyways, you can slide the foot into the shoe and it doesn't cause the shoe any damage. The shoe's designed to capsize and then spring right back up.

[B]

So I've been.

[A]

I've been wearing it. Now, as far as the shoe itself, the comfortability. Oh, very.

[B]

It's very spacious in there.

[A]

But the whole store is full of these shoes with the backs like this. Yeah.

[B]

So you can test them all. It was pretty interesting how it works. They have ties on the front so.

[A]

It looks like a normal shoe.

[B]

You wouldn't say that looks like a weirdo shoe.

[A]

They had tons of style heels, Kizik. They had tons of style. I was impressed because we had never gone to this.

[B]

I don't think my toe's gonna pop.

[A]

Through the top shoes.

[B]

Oh, really? Oh, that might make sense for.

[A]

If you go to the website, it shows you exactly how that mechanism works. It's got somebody just shoving the shoe.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But yeah, some cute walking shoes. They even have the. Like a. Not a clog, but you know the shoes that don't have ties or slip ins. Athletes, they just have a ton of them. 15% off if you go to the website. Some really cute stuff too. The.

[B]

The tops where my toe usually pops through, you know cuz I walk with apparently my big toe facing the sun is very structured. I don't think my toe could pop through.

[A]

Really? It's thick.

[B]

Thick on top.

[A]

You should get that Amazon toe patch. Literally. Somebody is designed for toes like that. I know.

[B]

I'm just curious because this is so thick on top.

[A]

Test them until there's a hole. I won't have a hole there. Definitely got a pop up though. I can't even get out of this one.

[B]

Do you have a twin dress?

[A]

Yeah. I'm gonna say Corey for Quemoth. Got me an air wrap id. Don't look up the price. Don't look it up. Don't look it up. This is a one time gifty. Okay. I had the Dyson okay. Dyson vacuums except for they do blow dryers as well. Movement of air. So they have the Dyson blow dryer that looks like a jet engine. Yeah. That thing is powerful.

[B]

Isn't that what I have?

[A]

You have that. I sold mine to mom and some so I could buy the Dyson Airwrap. Now the Dyson Airwrap I think has been around for seven years. Sure. Our older sister has stunning hair and it has one and you're like wow. It uses the interior brush. I'm going to say if you have one of those like Revlon dry brushes where the heat comes from, it's a lot different than that. It's a lot less powered. So it is. It took me a while to blow dry my hair however because of the way that the thing works with the cool shot and this. It does add a lot of volume, which I liked. Yeah. Then they come out with this wrap ID and I think the ID stands for it being able to kind of read your hair type and adjust how the blow dryer ear stick works in relationship to your hair and the styling that you want. So you literally download the aperture hate. But it tells you when you press this button, it's power button, you slide up, it tells you it's going to count down hot, cold. And then it kind of lowers the suction completely so your hair falls off the. What if you didn't.

[B]

What if your phone died and you.

[A]

Didn'T have access to the app? Can you still. You can disable that button from even being active. And then if you disable if you have the app not on, it's still going to work how you last assigned it. Oh, I see. See, so you can disable that and just have the cool shot.

[B]

Are you assigning it a hairstyle?

[A]

You're like. It does like a little quiz like.

[B]

Of what you're looking.

[A]

What hair do you have, what's the thickness of your hair and what styles do you like? Then based on that, it comes up with what it thinks your ID should be. Oh, so if you say I like volume, it's going to do a longer cold shot. And it says only use the cold. That button with the barrels. Don't use it with the blow dryer and the brushes. Yeah. So the barrels are the wire brush. Yeah. Then it's these two cones which I gave you. You also gave Corey my other one. So it was a trans transfer of Dysons. So the other one will wrap your hair around it. Now that's where you get that curly hair that Ashley has.

[B]

Oh, so I don't necessarily.

[A]

Don't want curly hair. You're not going to look at those cones. Okay. But the new one, it has cones that just adjust. Before they used to have to give you two cones, one for each direction. Oh, interesting. Then they came out with the cones that they can just shift directions with the. Than the singular. Interesting. Very interesting. And then now you can get a lot of the like, like cones knockoffs on Amazon. Oh, Dyson never sent me the. Yeah, they never did. Forgot I existed. So I bought some stuff. You could get a diffuser on there. Oh yeah.

[B]

I usually think I had all the.

[A]

Diffuser if you want to. Oh, I use that one. Yeah.

[B]

Well, I guess you said if mine's more powerful to just dry my hair with that.

[A]

There's a little difference in the power in there. So I did get the wrap ID and it has a stronger motor, so there is more airflow. Yeah. And I did blow dry my hair with the last. Last night just to see. And it blow dries my hair quite a bit faster.

[B]

Is it so much different than the one you had?

[A]

No. You'd still get more power out of the blow dryer that you have.

[B]

But do you think the ID is worth the. The ID being amazing?

[A]

If you had no Dyson, if you had a really old blow dryer from Revlon and you were like, I want to make hair styling my thing in 2026.

[B]

Remember I bought the Dyson blow dryer before you did just a blow dryer and you tried it at CookieCon. And I said, wow, And I said, I, I don't know why it's blow drying so fast, but it is truly.

[A]

Impressive that you don't know what you don't know. But if you have a Dyson store, which we have one at Tysons, you can go demonstrate and just be like, wow, those blow dryers. However, if you want volume and style and volume is the thing I would actually say make the investment or I wouldn't actually buy a used one because there's so many knockoffs from like AliExpress. Yeah. So it's kind of dangerous to get a used one. If you can get the VIN in it. You got a rest. Maybe that like I'm giving, giving you a real one. Then I would say if you really wanted some stylish volume, which I did a couple years ago, I said I would really like more of a style with my hair and it's not just so flat. So that's why I did make that purchase. And I will say yes, I do agree that the results are worth the purchase. It ain't the cheapest though. However, it goes on sale, especially when Sephora runs its sale, you get 20% off. Yeah.

[B]

That's about the only discount you can find.

[A]

Yeah. Or get one your twin and she give you your old one. I would love for you to challenge yourself to try.

[B]

I'm going to try. Maybe I'll do it Saturday to show you.

[A]

I would love to see if you like it. It'll take some practice. Oh, I'm sure.

[B]

As we said, I'll be kind to myself.

[A]

20 minutes in with the die. So those are our. If you want to check it out. It's Dyson's airwrap id And I didn't realize they actually had two different types from people who go have straight hair and want wavy hair. I went from wavy hair to straight hair and there's two different types of air wraps.

[B]

Yeah, I did not know that.

[A]

Didn't either.

[B]

Thank you guys for tuning in.

[A]

Happy 2025 the last two days and may we welcome 2026 with new strategy and a rediscovered Earth hope Earth Phoenix rising from the ashes of the candle burnt at both ends as we look fresh faced and bright eyed toward what the future holds. Far bigger than. Thank you guys for listening to the Baking it Down podcast with Sugar Cookie. You take it and we'll see here soon.