Cookie Booth Basics

It's not only Girl Scout Cookie Sale time it is also Cookie Booth time!  Every where you turn you should see a Girl Scout Cookie Booth for the next month or so!  Corner of the drug store, Wal-mart, local school, everywhere you go you should see an adorable girl asking for your support of her cookie business.  

Here are 10 Cookie Booth Basics that a little experience has given us:

1) Have stock!  

      It's hard to sell cookies if you don't have any!  So make sure that you have at least a case of each variety as you never know what customers will love and you can't sell what you don't have.  I would recommend having two cases of the most popular varieties in your area - for us that is the Thin Mints, Peanut Butter Patties, and Caramel Delights.

2) Have change...

      This should seem pretty obvious, however it is very important to have change.  

3) But not too much change!  

      Our cookies are $3.50 in our area so it's important to have quarters but I would recommend the following to start your cookie change: $10 in quarters, $10-15 in $1's and approximately $20-$30 in $5's.  One of our local booths was given a counterfeit $50 the first weekend of cookie sales (I know stealing from a Girl Scout!) so I would not give change for anything over a $20.  You can also get those counterfeit pens, however we've heard of mixed results from them.

4) Make sure you have 2 adults to work the booth!

     This is extremely important so that some one can help watch girls and cookies while unloading vehicles as well as bathroom breaks!

5) Set out a donation jar

     Make sure you have a place that customers can donate to the cookie share program - the first day one booth received $30 in donations.  We simply attached this sign to the front of a mason jar and set it at the front of the table.

6) Ask for donations!

     Towards the beginning of our booth we were not getting much jingle in our donation jar, however after about 30 minutes the girls started asking customers if they would like to round up their change before giving their change to them.  Once they started asking to round up, almost every customer would drop $0.50 to all of their change into the donation jars.  Tell customers what you are donating to as well!

7) Practice, Practice, Practice with your Troop

     Before the booth we practiced with the girls how much 2 boxes of cookies cost, 3 boxes, etc. so that they could quickly do the math in their heads.  The booths get frenzied and customers want to get their cookies quickly!  We also practiced how to stand at a booth and how to greet customers.  Not to yell at them but to smile and say hello, ask how they are doing, etc.  The girls got a kick at the meeting because I acted out some things not to do.....like we don't pick our noses at the booth, we don't shout at customers, we don't scratch our butts, etc.  They thought it was hilarious!

8) Have a cheat sheet just in case!

     We had a clipboard with this sign attached to it to remind the girls of salesgirl tips as well as cookie multiples.  My daughter takes this clipboard around when selling by herself too!

9) Hold the change but let the girls do the math!

     This is their business!  Help them and keep the money safe, but let them make change for the customers.  Teach them to count it back to customers and let them do them math!

10) Have fun!

     Bring a snack and something to drink, sing a song.  We tried to break our booths into no longer than 1.5 hours for each girl but sometimes it was a little longer.  They will keep trucking as long as they are having fun!

Following the Voice

So I felt like I was starting to lose myself.... do you know what that feels like?  I felt like I was starting to become someone that I didn't want to be and I was no longer passionate about what I did. I wanted to be doing something I loved, something that helped others, to teach, to be where I was called, but how was I supposed to do that?

I mean, I was living the American Dream right? I had a good paying job and that's all anyone is supposed to want, right?  Never mind that I dreaded going to work every day, that negativity crept in to even my simplest actions, and that I dreamed of being in the classroom working with students daily instead of behind my desk wasting away.

I began to feel a prod in the direction of teaching again last May when I thought about restarting in my teaching program.  On a whim, I emailed the director to see about summer enrollment (what pregnant woman on restricted duty with two kids wouldn't want to add grad student to that fun mix?), doubting that I could get in before the summer classes started.  Mind you they did start the following week I think!

Magically, it worked! And I was able to enroll and start classes again.

Next came lots of opportunities this fall and less prodding and more pushing in this direction.

Over Christmas break, my hubby and I did lots of praying and talking and discussing and crying and came to the decision that it was time to leave my "perfect" job and pursue where the Lord was leading me into teaching.

So with the new year, came a new outlook and journey in life and I have left my full-time semi-stable job to work, for free for now, in the classroom and go to school to learn, practice, and perfect my craft.

The sermon that Sunday was on Following the Voice and 1 Samuel 3:9 and how sometimes we don't always understand right away what the Lord is calling on us to do, but if we listen and we lean on his support and guidance we will hear the directions to follow.

*I know, I know, crazy lady right? I have to say 5-10 years ago, I probably would have said the same thing, however I have seen over and over again how God's hand has been there and guided different events in my life and I cannot say with any more conviction that I believe his hand is guiding this as well (~crazy~)*

Sooooo I turned in my resignation, and stepped out on a leap of faith.  Each and every day I trust that he is leading me where he wants me to be and that when the time comes it will be plain to see!