BBC Good Food podcast – cookie creator

BBC Good Food “I Can’t Believe I Get Paid to do This” podcast

Discover how to start a professional bakery with Blondie’s Kitchen co-founder Chelsie Collins. She discusses growing her business and all things cookies with Miriam Nice.

See our ultimate cookie recipe collection for inspiration, including classic chocolate chip and peanut butter.

Episode 6- Cookie creator

Chelsie’s recommendations

Chelsie Collins shares her tips and tricks for managing a career in the food industry.

1) “Listen to Guy Raz’s How I Built This podcast. It is really inspiring and you hear from so many entrepreneurs that made it and the journey they went on to get to where they are. We listened to the Ben & Jerry’s one about 4 years ago and we found ourselves laughing out loud because we resonated with some of their stories from their early days.”

2) “Don’t be afraid to leap into it. Roll with your idea and be prepared to adapt along the way. Brands and businesses evolve over time and that’s not a bad thing. You learn along the way and you don’t have to have the perfect idea on day 1.”

3) “Be on top of your numbers constantly. If you keep your eye on the ball and know your margins and costs, you’ll always know where you stand. We recommend being paperless and joining Xero or Quick Books. We’re on Xero and it means we can track our performance constantly. We take photos of receipts which can be uploaded directly onto the platform, then we can throw them away! Clear desk, clear mind.”

4) “Find a mentor. Myself and Kristelle have always felt lucky to have each other to bounce ideas off, but we also have people we can go to for support and advice. We have contacted so many food business owners we aspire to be like over the years and have got such valuable advice from them (the founders of Lola’s Cupcakes, Millie’s Cookies and Crosstown Doughnuts to name a few). You’d be surprised how many lovely people there are out there, willing to give their time to help. Just be bold and ask.”

5) “We recommend Holly Tucker’s book ‘Do what you love/love what you do’. Passion for the food industry comes first and if you don’t love it, you won’t succeed.”

Listen to the rest of the I Can’t Believe I Get Paid to do This series or see more podcast episodes.

Tune into our Health Podcast and Test Kitchen Troubleshooting series.

Blondies Kitchen was founded in 2016 by two professionally trained chefs, Kristelle and Chelsie. Kristelle’s background has always been in restaurants and Chelsie spent two years at BBC Good Food as a cookery writer.

It was a trip to New York that changed everything. The girls became obsessed with American-style cookies. Their crisp edge and chewy centre was like nothing they had ever tried. They realised the rest of UK needed to try these style of cookies, and Blondies Kitchen was born.

Since launching, Blondies has disrupted the food industry with its unique cookie flavours and irresistible taste.