Podcast Summary: Right About Now – Legendary Business Advice
Episode: Sawyer Hemsley – Cookie Crumbl: Organic Micro Influencing Using Instagram and TikTok
Host: Ryan Alford (The Radcast Network)
Guest: Sawyer Hemsley (Co-founder & COO, Crumbl Cookies)
Date: November 28, 2025
Overview
This episode features Sawyer Hemsley, the co-founder and COO of Crumbl Cookies, a tech-driven bakery that skyrocketed to viral success through strategic branding, social media mastery, and a relentless focus on customer experience. Host Ryan Alford dives deep into how Crumbl grew from a college side hustle into a bakery empire with over 500 stores by reimagining how cookies can be sold, marketed, and delivered—using both innovative technology and the power of organic micro-influencing via platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
The Origins of Crumbl Cookies
- Starting as a Side Hustle
- Sawyer launched Crumbl while at Utah State University, seeing an opportunity in the rising delivery app space:
"Crumble started out as a side hustle. Never anticipated it ever being a career… It was at the height of when DoorDash and GrubHub… were coming out. I said we should totally deliver warm cookies to people's doorsteps." — Sawyer Hemsley [03:31]
- Sawyer launched Crumbl while at Utah State University, seeing an opportunity in the rising delivery app space:
- Family Recipes & Early Development
- The initial recipe was a mash-up of family favorites with relentless home testing and amateur research:
"We actually mixed and blended my grandma's, some of Jason's… and we just tested, we just tried different brands of chocolate chips, of sugar, of flour, techniques." — Sawyer Hemsley [04:30]
- The initial recipe was a mash-up of family favorites with relentless home testing and amateur research:
Explosive Growth & Franchising
- Viral Expansion
- Crumbl opens 5 to 12 stores weekly; the franchise model arose organically because of overwhelming demand from their inner circle and beyond:
"We never actively sold a franchise. Everyone's always come to us… We want to open a store and own a business." — Sawyer Hemsley [05:07]
- Crumbl opens 5 to 12 stores weekly; the franchise model arose organically because of overwhelming demand from their inner circle and beyond:
Branding and the Iconic Pink Box
- Packaging as Marketing
- The pink box became a memorable—and Instagrammable—brand beacon:
"How the marketing started is it all came down to the packaging and the experience… that was our pink boxes. And that's memorable." — Sawyer Hemsley [06:00]
- "It's Instagrammable. People want to take pictures of it and sometimes people just show up so they can say they went to Crumbl and they post about it." — Sawyer Hemsley [07:34]
- The pink box became a memorable—and Instagrammable—brand beacon:
Organic Micro-Influencing and Social Media
- From Instagram to TikTok Domination
- At first, all focus was on Instagram and Facebook, responding to every comment and message, fueling organic word-of-mouth growth.
"It all came down to the packaging... From there we just knew we had to capitalize on Instagram... people were just tagging their friends and doing the marketing for us organically." — Sawyer Hemsley [06:00–06:40]
- The company evolved to put serious paid effort into TikTok and Instagram but notes their best results are still largely organic.
"Lots of micro-influencing going on and it's helped when the core of what you’re selling, the cookies, are so darn good." — Ryan Alford [07:10]
- At first, all focus was on Instagram and Facebook, responding to every comment and message, fueling organic word-of-mouth growth.
- How the Rotating Menu Fuels Content & Buzz
- Weekly cookie drops drive highly engaging content and social shares:
"It's like Christmas every Sunday night when we post about our new flavors because we're getting a return rate two times weekly from our customers." — Sawyer Hemsley [08:27]
- On TikTok, frequent posting, high-quality video, and embracing trends led to surging interest:
"TikTok is a whole nother story. We jumped on right at the right time… I remember it being… the TikTok boom of 2021… our stores just flooded and our volume just went up even more." — Sawyer Hemsley [14:22–15:13]
- Weekly cookie drops drive highly engaging content and social shares:
- Partnerships & "Borrowed Interest" Strategy
- The Crumbl team partners with major brands and leans into cultural moments for amplified social reach:
"Partnerships have been huge for us… with big brands like Oreo, Twix, Sour Patch… and they're starting to come to us now." — Sawyer Hemsley [16:11]
- The Crumbl team partners with major brands and leans into cultural moments for amplified social reach:
Product Innovation & Customer Feedback
- Innovative Flavor Testing & Relatability
- New flavors draw inspiration from universal childhood treats, cakes, snacks, and customer suggestions:
"The thing we found most successful is: what flavors are relatable to our consumers? So you think back to your childhood…" — Sawyer Hemsley [08:43]
- New flavors draw inspiration from universal childhood treats, cakes, snacks, and customer suggestions:
- Rigorous Testing Process
- Flavors are standardized and consumer-tested across dozens of locations before launch:
"We’ve now developed a testing program... They go out to about 25–30 testing sites... customers fill out a cute survey… If that cookie tanks, it's never going on the menu." — Sawyer Hemsley [09:44]
- Social media sometimes highlights "failures" (e.g., bubblegum flavor) as viral, attention-grabbing moments:
"Those cookies actually drive the most engagement on social media… It keeps us top of mind." — Sawyer Hemsley [10:27–10:32]
- Flavors are standardized and consumer-tested across dozens of locations before launch:
The In-Store Cookie Experience & Technology
- Retail as a Showroom
- Crumbl stores are designed as destination experiences, not just retail points:
"We made our stores almost the Apple store of cookies… people wanted the experience of coming in, smelling the aroma… watching us crack the eggs…" — Sawyer Hemsley [10:57]
- Crumbl stores are designed as destination experiences, not just retail points:
- Tech-Driven Operations
- All technology is built in-house, allowing rapid innovation and seamless customer/staff experience:
"We're not just a bakery, we're a tech driven bakery. We own the technology and we can adapt on a dime..." — Sawyer Hemsley [11:28]
- All technology is built in-house, allowing rapid innovation and seamless customer/staff experience:
- Staffing and Consistency Challenges
- With rapid expansion comes a challenge to maintain brand consistency, especially with a young workforce:
"Consistency is key... you can’t build a brand if one store is different than the other." — Sawyer Hemsley [13:21]
- With rapid expansion comes a challenge to maintain brand consistency, especially with a young workforce:
Entrepreneurial Lessons and Pain Points
- Candid Realities
- "It’s not kicks and giggles. It's hard, it's lonely. There’s a lot of days that you’re just working your guts out... Something that's been really tricky is I've been young, and so it's hard to earn respect..." — Sawyer Hemsley [13:21]
- Staying close to the product and being hands-on builds credibility as a leader.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
Secret to Cookie Success:
"A bunch of love we put in there and lots of sugar. No, I’m just kidding." — Sawyer Hemsley [03:12]
-
On Social Buzz:
"It's like Christmas every Sunday night when we post about our new flavors..." — Sawyer Hemsley [08:27]
-
On Organizational Mantra:
"We always live by the motto: what's going to be different, better, and special?" — Sawyer Hemsley [12:40]
-
On Failure and Social Media:
"Those cookies actually drive the most engagement on social media... It keeps us top of mind." — Sawyer Hemsley [10:27]
-
Favorite Cookie Reveal:
"If I had to nail down one right now… it’s the Kentucky Butter Cake. I just come to it. I love the butter notes." — Sawyer Hemsley [18:31]
Important Timestamps
- [03:31] – Origin of Crumbl as a college side hustle
- [04:30] – Family recipes, development, startup hustle
- [05:07] – Franchising, word of mouth, virality
- [06:00] – Branding, pink box, Instagram beginnnings
- [07:34] – The rotating menu, flavor innovation
- [08:43] – Flavor development process, customer relatability
- [09:44] – Flavors testing, market feedback
- [10:57] – In-store experience, retail as an event
- [11:28] – Custom, in-house technology and engineering
- [13:21] – Entrepreneurial hardships, challenges scaling
- [14:22] – Social media and content strategies
- [16:11] – Big brand partnerships
- [18:31] – Sawyer’s favorite Crumbl flavor
Connect with Crumbl & Sawyer
- Crumbl Cookies: @crumblcookies on TikTok, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook
- Sawyer Hemsley: Business advice and behind-the-scenes on LinkedIn & TikTok (@Sawyer Hemsley), and Instagram (@sawyerhemsley) [18:08]
Takeaways
- Crumbl’s explosive growth is built not just on great cookies but on creating memorable, shareable experiences (both in-store and online), proprietary tech, and a brand that listens to and interacts constantly with its customers.
- Organic social influence—fueled by simplicity, fun, and a bit of engineered scarcity—has been more potent than traditional marketing.
- The brand’s willingness to stay scrappy, adapt quickly, and genuinely care about product and people powers both innovation and virality.
This episode is a must-listen for business builders interested in marketing, branding, and customer-centric entrepreneurship—no sugarcoating necessary.