Episode 191 | How to Turn Your Passion into a Thriving Business: The Pivot That Built a Cookie Empire with Annette Conrad

After more than two decades in event planning, Annette Conrad transformed her creative side hustle into a thriving company, Edible Impressions. What started as a love for beautifully decorated cookies became a nationally recognized brand serving major corporations, trade shows, and events with custom-made, meaningful treats.

In this episode, Annette shares how her background in event management shaped her approach to business—focusing on client experience, relationships, and quality over quantity. She talks about the courage it took to leave a 24-year career to pursue entrepreneurship, the patience required to grow organically, and why generosity and persistence are key to long-term success.

With wisdom earned from real-world experience, Annette discusses knowing when to pivot, learning to say no, and how focusing on your “moose”—your ideal client—can transform a passion project into a sustainable business. Her message is clear: success doesn’t come overnight, but when you combine passion, patience, and purpose, every cookie can tell a story that leaves a lasting impression.

About Annette Conrad:

 With over 24 years in corporate event planning and brand experience design, Annette Conrad brings a unique blend of creativity and business precision to every project. As founder of Edible Impressions, she transforms cookies into powerful branding tools—each one beautifully crafted to tell a story and create connection. Known for her meticulous attention to detail and deep empathy for time-pressed professionals, Annette helps clients elevate their events, celebrate their brands, and make a lasting impression—one cookie at a time. 

Connect with Annette:

Website

LinkedIn

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Facebook

Check out Kay's Uncopyable Sales Secrets Video Series: https://www.beuncopyable.com/sales-course

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Transcript

 Today I am talking with Annette Conrad, founder of Edible Impressions.

Annette turned custom cookies into a serious business after more than two decades. As an event planner, Annette combined her talent for creating unforgettable experiences and her love of cookies. What began as a passion project has become a nationally recognized brand that helps, helps companies make an impact.

One beautifully crafted cookie at a time. Annette, welcome to the show. Oh, thank you so much. I am so thrilled to be here chatting with you. And I found you on LinkedIn. We connected on LinkedIn, and when I learned about you, I thought I absolutely want you to be on the show. A lot of business owners listen to the show and a lot of people, women who want to start a business maybe now or someday.

So this will be really a fascinating story. Uh, and I'd like you to start by telling us a little bit about your background in the event industry. I, I assume, and then how that all led to creating this company. Sure. Well, thank you so much again. So yeah, I didn't realize that I had a love for events planning until I was kind of just put in the middle of it.

And I had worked for the university here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, so you know where I'm tuning in from. So at Marquette University, and honestly, I just stumbled into that position there, which is kind of crazy when I look back. It was a position for reservationist and not really knowing much about the university and about planning.

I just. Thought, you know what? I'll give it a try. I had been doing temporary work. I was working at a temporary service full time and just needed something new. And 24 years later, leaving in the capacity of associate director at Marquette University, um, and then really kind of doing the microphone drop.

Um, after 24 years of service, I found my passion decorating cookies. So it's just kind of funny story, but it's fun to look back and just realize that. I never knew the event planning experience and all that I learned over those years, and all the connections and networking and all the, the events that I attended would turn into this.

Cookie business that is now, of course, my livelihood and let me tell you, okay. When I left Marquette and I kind of gave my notice, people were scratching their head going, wait, you're leaving to do cookies? And it was like, it was so much more than a cookie and I didn't really have time to explain it to everybody.

And I'm like, yeah, I am. Mm-hmm. I am. And it's just been great ever since. So, yeah, so now I've got the events planning and I've got my love for decorating cookies, and it just turns into this experience, um, which is a word that I really like to use when I'm talking with my clients or prospective clients because it's so much more than just a cookie.

We mentioned before we recorded, I actually have a program called The Experience is the marketing. And of course, cookies might be easier than some products to, to make a great experience around, but you know, a cookie isn't just a cookie. In your case, they are beautiful, stunning, really, uh, your talented and, um, they're delicious and all of the things we think of with cookies.

But you have put more behind that a brand and. Story. So how does that work? Yeah, I mean, honestly, like I said, I started really as a side gig. I recognized when I was in my capacity at Marquette that we were looking for something different when we were doing our catered events. And luckily the catering department was open.

They saw that I was doing this for fun. I started decorating cookies. My family and I really just started with non-profit organizations. I was making some donations. All of a sudden they started to get a little traction. People were noticing them and for a bit I was doing them for again nonprofits and just for fun.

And then all of a sudden I realized like, wait a minute, I got something here. And so when I got that first order, I really thought, you know, this is something that people want and there's definitely a need. And I just kind of went with it. Honestly. I am wondering about the rest of the story as Paul Harvey used to say, because as I, uh, we talked about a few minutes ago.

Yeah, I do talk with. People who want to become entrepreneurs, everyone says, oh, I wish I owned my own business, and not realizing what that really means. Right? But they, we wanna be business people. We wanna make our mark share our passion, but sometimes a good idea doesn't turn into something that's really profitable.

So I'd like you to share what do you think made that difference for you? Yeah, and I definitely dabbled while I was working full time. I always been. Somewhat of a creative person. And so I did the, you know, I don't wanna date myself, but I did the card making and the stamping, and I was making jewelry and I was monetizing, making jewelry.

And you know, the cookies just stuck. And honestly, the, for the first really couple years, I didn't think that I would ever be my livelihood. But I think what happened was I started to build relationships and the order started to come in on a more regular basis. And I do have the personality where I feel like I'm dedicated, committed.

I've, I don't wanna put myself in a box, but type A personality. I love to try things. I'm not worried if they didn't work out. So there's some amount of, do you have a good product? Do you enjoy what you're doing? Is there a market for it? And do you wanna sustain the time that it takes to create a business?

So there's so many variables, it's really hard to kind of answer that really quickly. But you know, I think, I think, and I was just talking to somebody about this who has a new business that she's starting, and I took, the one thing I told her is, please wait. Give yourself time. It's not gonna happen overnight, and you really have to wait because if, I don't know the stats off the top of my head, but it's amazing on how many businesses.

Start and then they stop, but they stop too soon. Like they have a great concept if you believe in it. You, you found the market for it, then stick with it. But I think people just give up because they want that immediate, um, I gotta make money, I gotta make money. And it's like, you know what? I started, my business has grown with zero ads from really giving it away for two full years, honestly.

And that really has come back. It's still coming back to me from being generous. You know, you be generous, you show, you share, you constantly talk about your passion and good things will happen, it's true. You get what you give. I totally believe that. And you are passionate and you're not exactly a, uh, wallflower.

You said your grandmother said you were a radio. She did. Yeah. She told me to turn around one day. I said, why? And she said, I'm looking for the off button. She's wonderful. Oh my gosh, that's great. Well, who doesn't love cookies? But, uh, you're. Your message about don't quit. I know we talked before about what mind shifts that you need to have if you really want to become a successful business owner.

Um, and that is a big one. When you say how many businesses fail, I don't know. It's, it's tremendous. The per the, uh, percentages. But you know what else fails a lot is podcasts. If you look through podcasts, there are so many podcasts that, that just go for a little while. Uh, maybe six months, maybe a year.

I'm in two years in, and I get a lot of people apply for the podcast now because once I hit that, you know, two years and 200 episodes, almost 200 that really has put me on the map. But the really big podcast. They have been out there for a long time, so I have to echo your sentiment. Don't quit because you're never gonna, there's no chance you'll succeed if you quit.

So yeah, and that's a shame because there are a lot of really good podcasts that I listened to and they just started to get traction, and then I look, I'm like, oh my gosh, their last episode was six months ago. It's like, oh, like. Why they had something really good and they just quit. It's like, hmm, well, and you know, podcasts, well keep it up.

Don't quit. I won't quit. I, I love, I, podcasts are, take a lot their work, they take time. Oh yeah, sure. But who knows where that is gonna go. And one fringe benefit, a huge fringe benefit is how much I've learned. I'm inspired, I'm gonna get off our call today feeling like. On top of the world, I could go get 'em.

So, uh, there are a lot of things that, that go into a podcast. But building a business, yes, very daunting. And so it's grit. I, I think with you it's just also grit, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. And I mean, I think another thing that when you talk about mindset, it's being open to changing your mind. Um, I have a really quick story.

When my son was in college, when I was working and he saw the business, he actually did a presentation on it and he saw how it was growing and he's like, mom, you gotta do this, you gotta do this. And I'm like, the moons just weren't quite aligned because, and I'm glad that I didn't pull the trigger to go further or to get a bigger space or do all that because.

My moose, if you will, was not right. It wasn't it just wasn't aligned because what I was doing and for who I was doing it for was not going to be sustainable. It, you know, we don't do small batch. We do a minimum 24, but they're also corporate, which leads to bigger events and orders, but. Doing an individual hand frosted cookie for the personal celebrations.

We really had to put almost a complete stop to those for us to get to that next level. We still do them selectively, but I'm glad that I didn't do it then because now you know, it's taken us a couple years to really drill down. Using my superpower, which is again, my events planning and my corporate friends, trade shows, conventions, corporate gifting, virtual decorating experiences.

Um, I've got some partnerships now, and now it is just exploding. And so when we talk about mindset, it's keeping open and not getting set in your ways and saying, you know what? Okay, I've got this idea. I've got this passion. I love decorating cookies. I love making baby shower cookies. But you know what that is now my hobby.

But my corporate gig, that is my livelihood, that's my business. That's also my, my passion. But those two worlds can't collide anymore because they were getting in each other's way. So you really have to just be like, okay. And constantly change, you know? We'll, we'll continue changing, but the more we change, the better it gets, honestly.

And less is more. Oh my gosh. We could talk about whole ha half hour, about less is more, but the more I let go, huh? The easier it is. I just kinda laugh and giggle because I look back, andm like, oh, I made it so much harder than it needed to be. So harder. Well, yeah, and I wish, you know, hopefully we'll have maybe a few minutes to talk about that too.

Yeah. I love you. Really were strategic from the beginning. I think that really is a big pitfall that that business owners fall into. You had moose. That would want your cookies. They'd wanna buy your cookies. Lovely. But could you scale that? No, you could not scale that. And I think, you know, as, as also as a business owner, it's sometimes hard to say no.

Right? Right. I can't say, I can't say yes to that because here's me focus, here's where I'm going. Yeah, that was a big lesson that I learned saying no, um, and realizing that when I say no to something or when I opposite, when I say yes to something, I'm sure you've heard this, you say no to something else.

And I've gotten really good at saying no really good at it. But again, it's only helped the business and it's helped my team members. It's helped my partners, my existing clients. It's. Like, we take rush orders, but again, very selectively, as long as it does not compromise what we've already committed to.

But it's very easy to say yes, yes, yes. And for a long time we did. But you know what, who stayed up late night to do that? So self-inflicted. And so yeah, a lot of lessons learned there for sure. So those are some good ones. Those are some really good ones. And yeah, to have the, the long range plan, the big picture in mind, really wise and hard earned wisdom it sounds like. But you also had this background, um, and you, you are a relationship builder. You were already in the events industry. So how did you use that to connect? Because you're selling, uh, hopefully people understand to corporations. Why don't you explain how your product is used?

Yeah, and you know, it's funny 'cause for the longest time I didn't really talk about my event planning and I didn't have that really front and center. And I thought, well, that's. Craziness because, and I realized it as I was shifting and, you know, finding my moose, you know, who is my, who are my people that I really, truly enjoyed working with, who I could speak their language, who I was, I was in their shoes.

So when that phone rings and I pick it up and their, I can hear the tone of that executive or that event planner. Or that experiential director who forgot to order a sweet treat or who forgot to call me for their next order. And that just happened recently. Um, even though I sent a reminder and then she's like, oh my gosh, I totally forgot.

Well, you know, things happen, but I know how to respond. I know what, how it feels to be in their shoes, and so I can react and respond and offer suggestions. And I try not to say no to those people because. I know, like the sense of urgency that comes with that kind of work. Um, you feel their pain, you know what?

And the relief when they have a resolution. And I mean, people tell me all the time, oh my gosh, Annette, you and your team like saved me. Anyone. Bottom line is like, okay, they're cookies really, like your trade show goes on. You don't have cookies. But boy, it feels good to be the hero. But again, I'm not the hero.

I always say, you know what? You're the one, I don't announce it to the world. I don't post, oh my gosh, we, you know, sent out 2000 cookies short notice for this client. We would never do that. It's not about us. You know, it's, it's about them and we're providing a service, but I would hope that we're being more of a partner with them.

And that, I think has really been how I've taken my events and my background into working with our clients is like I. I'm like, on their team, I try to be like, okay, like I'm here to help you. We're here to serve. When people say, oh my gosh, I have another question. I'm sorry. I'm like, no, no, no. Ask as many questions as you need.

We're here to serve you. I mean, we're here. If your numbers go up, go down, no problem. But sometimes they apologize. I'm like, okay, you should be apologizing because we're here to solve, you know, solve your problem and, and help you help your clients. 'cause there's always another client, and I would think with that, those that level, the verticals of those clients, and also word of mouth. Mm-hmm. It sounds like, you know, I don't, I know you don't do advertising, right. So it's not just you and your word of mouth, but your, your customers are happy customers, their customers. That I'm sure that's why part, a big part of why your business has exploded.

And part of it is also, you know how I get that word of mouth is, you know, not only, you know, with our existing clients and of course our ingredient label and our contact is on there, but when we do our corporate gifting and when we do. Um, shipping out boxes really besides that little ingredient label.

Our stuff is not on there. It really is about the company, but where I think we've got a lot of word of mouth and you can see this little sign behind me. This is from an event this week. I participate, I go to events particularly for our nonprofits in our corporate corporations. Um, if they have an event, I go to their events.

I go, I participate. You know, and that is huge. I mean, I'm in a room with my client and then their clients or their partners and I mean, I'm excited to go to the Baird Center next month for a holiday party with this Wisconsin Center district, um, and visit Milwaukee. And I'm right now in conversations with them to become a sponsor partner.

And of course, I'm gonna go to their holiday party. Why wouldn't I? You know? Or they're public. They're open to the public board meeting. I'm going to that too. I mean, so what I do is I get out there and I learn and I listen. I'm taking notes, I'm information gathering. That was the one big thing I learned in events planning is information gather and then be strategic.

You know? So that's a little bit of. Behind the scenes. Well, you are a go-getter. It makes it more fun to be a go-getter when you're so passionate about your product and what it can do. You're mm-hmm. Serving the nonprofit market, et cetera. Uh, I love the fact that you said you speak their language.

That's a big thing. We talk about your moose. When you hone in on who your moose is, you can speak to them in a way that that makes sense to both of you. And since you have this background, it makes it even Right. You know, a perfect. Fit. And, and of course the info gathering and the listening. Oh my gosh.

You know, I've, my, I started in sales, outside sales, and then all these years I've been working marketing and sales and branding for a business. But sales and everything is listening. And as you said, you're a radio, I'm a talker also, so it's a real discipline often to, yeah. Take in and say, I wanna know about you.

This is about you. Uh, interesting that you don't even have your label on your box, that is very telling, right? Yeah. I mean, some, some folks would, would like us to, um, but we're very sensitive to that. Because, you know, when they, we want, when they're, holiday gifts, for instance, when they open that box, we want that recipient to see, oh wow, this came from boot barn, you know, or this came from.

Google or Dior or whatever it is, and those are all three of our clients. But you know, instead of saying, oh, edible impressions, I mean, it's great. I mean, our branding is on the back, but it's not front and center because it really is about. That company who's taken that time to send this meaningful gift, when they open it up, it just screams their brand, you know, which is, which is what it should be about.

We're that, that catapult we're, that that vessel for them to get to that wow factor for their clients and putting edible impressions. It's kinda like when you get swag, it's like the last thing you're, it's team wants is the name of the company on a month. Right? It's like, write a quote, write something fun.

You know? We've got little bags that we give out. But it says, you know what? Every cookie has a story. Thank you for making us part of yours. A simple, simple thing, but it goes such a long way. And I mean, yeah, the edible impressions is on there, but it's not front and center. That quote is like more of what we want to, you know, in terms of the message.

So I think that's brilliant. I think it's brilliant and most of us, yeah, we want like, oh, we want our information on there somewhere. And as you said, how many pens do we have? What do I have on my pen today? Enumclaw Garden Club. So I don't even know where I got that. But that is pretty powerful statement to not put your, uh, info on the package with us.

I have to throw in what we do. It's. It's, uh, sure. Because we teach all of this and our branding color is orange, so that gives us a great way to also not put promotional stuff on the outside is that everything is orange. Everyone knows what that means, but however you figure this out, like Annette's talking about think about ways to make it about the customer so that they, yeah, they can gift that to someone and feel really good about that.

I think that's very valid. So let, let's talk about future entrepreneurs or people who have new businesses. And I know you've got, we've talked about some of your advice but you know, I know your brand is so personal and your brand naturally attracts clients. What advice would you give to someone else who's, who's starting a business?

Yeah, I mean, honestly, if you're starting a business, and you want to know if it is a. If you wanna validate it, I caution you on talking necessarily to your family and friends because you know you're gonna get the good, the bad, and the ugly. And it may not always be the advice or the thoughts that you wanna hear, especially early on because you can get very discouraged very quickly, or you could get motivated.

It just depends on who you're talking to, but you want really, some objective, uh, feedback. So it's good to share. Definitely. Especially if you're, you know, your spouse, your partner, you wanna make sure that whatever you are dedicating time-wise and, and financially wise, you wanna make sure you're on the same page.

But I would say, you know, be careful, you know, when you're, when you're doing that, I, I mean, like your program, I would say find something I did not do early on. I wish I did, and I'm only doing that now, is find a community, find a course, find something that you can. Really learn and follow. So if there's a roadmap, I mean, right now I'm, I don't really have one.

I have a Facebook group, so I do do a little bit of teaching and more kind of one-on-one and group Facebook master classes. But that would be one thing that I would urge people to do is just find a community of people that are in the same area that you are, but also find a community that has some that are ahead of you.

So it's good to see where people are like. There's that perfect group of like people that are behind you, same place. It's kinda like running a marathon and then the ones that are ahead of you, because you can get, you can motivate people to get them where you are. You can be, relating to the people that are exactly where you are.

But then you've got the people that are gonna inspire you. So right now I'm struggling to find a group. I'd like to get back into a community because there's a lot of 'em that are just, um. About money, money, money, money, scale, scale, scale, scale. And I, I'm not looking for that, you know, I'm looking for motivation, inspiration things like that.

So anyway, getting back to your question about, motivate and like new business owners. And here's the thing, another thing I'm gonna say really quickly is if you have a concept. You're worried about imposter syndrome? 'cause this came up with someone that is starting a business that I know and she was kind of worried 'cause there's so many people that are doing it and I'm like, okay.

Don't know. No, that's a good thing. If there, there's a need, then if you see so many other people doing that service or that product, that is your validation. Do it, but do it differently. And I know you talk about that in your book and it's Oh yeah, a great chapter that you, that I urge people to read your book.

'cause it's very, very good. And it is so important to not copy and not even mirror, but look what they're doing. So market research, look at what they're doing. That confirms that you have something. But then what can you do differently to make it your own? May I use your word be uncapable, which is like, brilliant.

That's so, so important because you don't want to look like everybody else. You don't, and so I think that's a big one because it's very tempting when you start a business. You're like, oh, I'm gonna make candles. I want them to look just like this candle shop. They have such cute colors and well, now what you've, you done, especially if they've got traction you're not gonna get noticed.

And they're gonna get confused. So I think, you know, kind of holding your ground and making a statement for yourself, um, is super important. Super important. Too many things I'm taking notes on. I like the fact that you say validate your business idea by finding out if others are doing it. I talk to clients, prospects who say, no one else is doing this, so I'm gonna come out and be the one who does it.

Boy, that's a big hard sell, isn't it? It could be a red flag. It's a red flag, and we call. Getting ideas from outside your world, stealing genius. So yes, you take what they're doing, you figure out how can I make it my own? And so within your industry you can do that, and especially outside your industry, right?

We're all in Copyable. I know you talk about authenticity in your story, so I think that we just need to be more open about that, about, yeah, who we are and be authentic and make ourselves different. We are UNC Copyable. I love to say that there are 7 billion people on the planet. No two fingerprints are alike, so you already are unique and UNC Copyable, so make that part of your message.

Super powerful. And let's see. I can't remember. You're a great networker. Networker. That's why I wanted to say too I've heard it's not who you know, but it's who knows you, which mm-hmm. And being involved in Facebook and you don't want to be the smartest person in the room. I think that's a big trait of the very best leaders.

So you're talking about that, having people that you can mentor and help. But also having people that will mentor and help you to get to the next level. Uh, so much here. Let me see what else I can ask you. In this limited amount of time, what about every cookie has a story. Oh, sure. Yeah. I love that because there's so many use cases and I'm doing a little, uh, fun.

A couple fun little things I'm doing here internally with my team is I have a map you know, we ship nationally and I'm just kind of curious, you know, have we. I'm pretty sure we've touched every state, but I wanna make sure that we have, you know, like cookies have traveled the entire United States multiple times.

Of course. Unfortunately we don't ship internationally right now. Um, but the other thing is the, the sheer number of use cases, like how the cookies can be shared and why they're shared is, endless. It's just completely endless. So for whether it be. Employee appreciation, corporate gifting, product launches trade shows, conventions you know, it, it just, it's endless.

It's endless. So there's like almost a reason for every cookie, um, making a difference. Fundraising, I mean, school spirit, I mean, it just goes on and on and on. So that's why I just kind of love that. That every cookie has a story, because it does. I mean, I, again, my information gathering, you know, I sometimes ask my, my prospective clients questions and they're probably thinking like, why do you need to know all this?

We just wanna order cookies. Like, come on. You know? But our form is. You know, not too long. It's pretty quick. But I do ask some pointy questions. You know, like, where's the event? When is the event you know who, you know, how many people are attending? What, where are they coming from and where are they going?

In a sense of like, because then it, it allows me to make the best presentation. I mean, if I had a dollar for every time someone said, well, yeah, we want the Clearview bags with the ribbon and the tag, but then I find out that they're gonna be offering them for dessert. Well, let's talk about our platter presentations.

But see then, then they want the wrapping. Well, you know what, we can take our platter presentations and we can wrap them for you. So, you know, we, I try to figure out like, what is the best presentation for you? I had a client that was ordering via e-commerce cookie kits, and I thought, oh, this is great.

Every year they order like 50 kits. We ship 'em out and then they have a new contact. And so she called me, she goes, I just have a quick question. Can we get extra frosting? And I'm like, nice to meet you. Let's try how that going? And then she explained what they were doing with these cookie kits. I'm like, oh my lord, I wish I would've known that.

And so now they're gonna get a better price. They're gonna be packaged more properly because they're doing this huge party. So instead of sending them these individual boxes, now we're gonna send them all in bulk. And now I've got a much better idea of what their need is. So my shop, if you will, has really gone down.

Not that I want people to have to talk to me every time, but that form helps me, helps my team be able to give the best quote and the best presentation based on their needs. If that makes any sense. So it does, it makes a lot of sense. Yeah. And, um, yeah, your ability to customize, but as you grow, uh, one thing that struck me is the way that you really you're selling cookies, which even though they're the best cookies in the world, they're beautiful, they are copyable.

They're copyable. So everything else that you're doing all around this is what sets you apart. Because as somebody else could have a cookie, that's the, probably not the same. Right. But maybe good enough. Oh yeah. I mean, there's some, there's some big brands out there that you can order logo cookies today, tonight, and you can, they'll show up on your door tomorrow.

I mean, you'll pay a lot, but they will show up. But you know what? We don't do next day because we have a process. We make everything scratch from scratch. We make all the frosting from scratch. We make all of our own colors so we can brand match your colors. We, you know, there's a drying technique to make sure that every cookie arrives intact and not smeared.

Okay, go order those cookies. Have them show up tomorrow. Tell me how many broke and how many are smeared and how do they taste? Because you know what? Those cookies have been sitting on a shelf somewhere waiting for that order to come in. All right, let's go. They, they need 300 cookies. Let's get 'em in a box and ship 'em out.

Today. We don't do that. We don't wanna do that. That's not what we do. And I've declined orders, I've, I've, you know, not to tell people too much what of our internal processes, but I'd let them know. You know, unfortunately there is a process for drying and we take good, great care before we send them.

So we do need a buffer. And the reality is, yeah, there are a million bakeries out there, a million bakeries, and we're making cookies. But you know what, we're personalizing them. They taste amazing. And the responsiveness and the service, like our event planners, they're busy. They're busy. They're, they're not bakers, you know?

And swag don't even get me started on swag. There's so much swag out there and I think cookies is like, of course I'm a little, eh, favor a little biased. I am a little bit, but you know what, you know, I don't know. There was some program I watched about all the clothes and the pens and the shoes and all that stuff that you get at conferences and where does it go in a landfill.

I know, right? Okay. This way at least you get your swag, you get to look at it, take a picture with it, post it to Instagram, and then you get to eat it, and then all your liquids, a little piece of packaging, right? I'm all for that because at my age I tell people, don't give me things. It has to be something I can use and.

Eat eating is one way to use things. So if you don't wanna eat them, you can share them with someone else. Yeah. Yeah. Mine wouldn't get shared, but um, maybe some people would. As we close out, I wanna talk about the fact that you do help other hobbyists turn their hobbies into businesses. So you wanna talk about that and then also where people can find you online as we close out.

Yeah, no problem. So I've, you know, I kinda, the person that just kind of can't sit still. And, uh, so I realized that people were asking I was doing some in-person decorating parties and some folks were asking about, you know, my journey. And so I thought I'll just start a Facebook group and I can answer questions and I mean, I have close to 5,000 people in my group and, um, you know, I get in there as much as I can.

Um, just last Sunday I did a, a masterclass. We were talking about. Sales strategies, if you will how to get more visibility. But I do have a website, annette conrad.com. So, hobby to business Made Simple. Inspired by Donald Miller. Um, his business made simple. I love story. All his books and story brand, right?

Yeah. And so, um, I just love sharing. So a lot of what's on my website, there's a lot of free resources. I am more than willing to share. For those that are thinking about it or have made the leap, but they're just not sure what to do next. Um, I'm hoping that I can kind of inspire people.

It's not my livelihood. It's not something that I'm looking to build revenue on right now. It's kind of my side gig, if you will. So, um, 'cause I like to talk and now that I left Marquette, you know, I don't, I don't get that interaction every day and all day with all those people I used to see. So creating this way of teaching and meeting people online has been a nice outlet for me.

Um, but then I also have my virtual decorating experiences too, through Edible Impressions that we do. We ship out our decorating kits. Uh, but yeah, you can also find me on edible impressions.net. So that's our company website. And I say our, because we are women owned, but family run. So I do have a team and most of my team members are all families.

So it's really, it's really fun. Yeah. Yeah. So edible impressions.net. Big destination there. Correct. So find Annette there and look at those beautiful cookies. Yeah. And then, and you can follow me on LinkedIn. I'm on LinkedIn primarily. I do have an Instagram page and Facebook and hobby to Business Made Simple is the Cookie Decorating.

Happy to make simple website. Hobby to business made simple. Yeah. Is that.com? Uh, no, actually just go to annette conrad.com Okay. And it'll get you everywhere. Yeah. Alright. Annette conrad.com. And I will put those links in the show notes so everyone can find that. Annette, this has been fascinating. Really fun.

Uh, we could have gone on and on, but we've got only 30 minutes, so I'm gonna end it here and just say thank you so much for being on the podcast. Yeah, thank you. I really do appreciate your time and, um, hope this has been helpful for a few folks.









Wow. I'm like, wait a minute, who is this supposed to be about?

Hey, I'm back with Annette Conrad, and we just had such a great conversation. Annette is the founder of Edible Impressions. What a great product. You have Cookies, beautiful, delicious cookies that could be used for corporate gifting and so much more. A lot of cool ideas there. Annette. Uh, let's talk a little bit about.

Some fun facts about you so we can get to know a little bit more about you. The first thing I would like to know is what did you wanna be when you grew up? I wanted to be in a high rise hiring and firing people. Donald Trump, you're fired. I really, I would look at the skyscrapers in Milwaukee. We don't have very many.

I think we've got one. And I'd be like, one day my office is gonna be at the top of that building and I'm gonna hire and fire people. I had a love for human resources and I, I, and I did that a little bit with the temporary service before I, of course got into event planning if you listen to the podcast a moment ago.

But, um, yeah, that was, and I'm so glad I didn't. It's no fun hiring and firing people. Yeah, I got a little taste of it on a temporary basis and no, I did not like it very much. Isn't that funny? It sounds so good until you do it. One of the jobs I left, they asked me to hire my re help hire my replacement and I, it came down to literally looking at their shoes 'cause I couldn't figure out which one was best.

Firing would be worse. So, so let's talk about, uh, something that you want to do but you haven't done yet. I would love and it's a little scary to me, but I would love to travel internationally by myself. We'll see if I do that one day, probably not. You could totally handle it. You can totally handle it.

So, uh, that's fun though. Um, why, why do you think by yourself? Just 'cause you can do whatever you want. Yeah. I just, it would put me out, out in a, outta my comfort zone. Whether it be language, the culture, you know, just geography. Just making my way around the different transportations. Yeah. It's just, I am, when I travel, I'm typically with my family or group and I'm not really the one in charge, I'm a follower.

So that would be something that would, would, uh, would be interesting. Yeah, it would, well you have to report back when you do that. So what is something Annette, that you especially like about yourself? I do like how outgoing I am. Sometimes it's troublesome, but I do like that I can pretty much talk to anybody.

And I, I feel like I'm pretty observant when I'm in a group. Like if someone's not included, I tend to gravitate towards them and try to bring 'em in a little bit to the group. Or if they don't wanna come over to the group, maybe just sit and just. Converse with them on a one-on-one. But yeah, it's, it's, uh, something that I, I, I think I'm pretty good at.

Well, that's something to be very good at. That's a great quality because when you can talk to anyone, and I don't know, I think a lot of it, like you talked mindset before we get in our head that we can't talk to someone asking questions is always a great place to start. Yeah. You are obviously good at that.

Uh, is there something about yourself that you'd like to change or that you don't particularly like? Um, it's something I don't like, and this is kind of a funny thing. Um, I told you earlier when we were chatting on the podcast that my grandmother used to call me a radio. So I think sometimes I talk too much.

I talk too fast, too much, so I'm really trying to slow it down, try to be a better listener. Um, and it's funny because, occasionally someone will make reference to that and I'm like, you know what? Hey, at least you can go home. I have to live with myself. I'm trying. I'm trying. So yeah, sometimes, like I said, the question before, it's great that I'm outgoing, talk to anybody, but then sometimes it's like, whoa, like.

Let's pull back a little bit. So the flip side, but I was talking to one of my friends, I said, same thing. I feel like I talked too much. And she said, are you kidding? You have the gift of gab. I like that. Oh, I might have to use that. Yeah. So, and uh, it's a great, you know, sometimes it's great when you're around introverts, they don't really wanna talk, so there's never a dull moment when we're there, right?

Mm-hmm. So, uh, last but not least, what is your favorite vacation spot so far? Yeah. I mean, I have to say, because we've gone several times, um, we travel with family and friends to Marathon, Florida down in the Keys, and it is low key. We're head back there in January and for a while we are going every other year.

And what I love about the area is that there's really not a lot to do. So it's just r and r. It is just, we are present with each other. We just take walks. Sit by the water just is just chill. I actually read a couple books, like more than one. So I really, really have come to just really look forward to that time.

With some close friends. We go in my family, so. I would say that sounds, that sounds wonderful, especially for a type A personality. Yeah. Like you said, you know you need that downtime. You just stop. Yes, Annette, thank you for participating in the fun fact bonus round again. You listening. Please tune into 1 91, episode 1 91.

Annette has quite the story that you will want to hear whether or not you wanna be an entrepreneur, but, uh, especially if you do are interested or ever wanna explore that idea, she's got tons of gold nuggets for you. So Annette, thank you so much for your time and being on the podcast. Yeah, thank you. I really appreciate it.

All righty. Gee, we are, we're done. Yeah. 45 minutes. C