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!

Grandma Jane's No-Bake Cookies

One of the greatest memories I remember from my youth with my Grandma is making cookies with her.  Two of our favorites were Oatmeal Raisin and No-Bake Cookies.  Now I'm a huge fan of Otis Spunkmeyer's Oatmeal Raisin and have since crafted a recipe that I like a little more....nothing, I mean nothing can touch my Grandma's No-Bakes!

During #Snowpocalypse2015 we broke down last night and prepared to make the cookies.  I began the search for the recipe and Bodie teased he thought that I knew it by heart.  Looking at the recipe I should!

Rose and I got out the ingredients and got to cooking!  These may have turned out a little firmer than normal due to the extra peanut butter scooped out of the bottom of the jar, but I promise they ate just fine!  

We even delivered a little container to our neighbor who gave us flour last night so we could make our homemade pizzas!  

Recipe is as follows, hope you enjoy as much as I do!

Grandma Jane's No-Bake Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup cocoa

1/2 stick butter

1/2 cup milk

2 cups oatmeal

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Mix sugar, salt and cocoa in pan.  Add butter and milk.  Bring to a full boil.  Boil for 1 1/2 minutes (it's important that you don't start this time until you reach a full boil otherwise you will have  a goopy spoonworthy cookie!).  Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients.  Stir until cooled and thickened.  Drop by spoonfuls on aluminum foil or waxed paper.  Store in airtight container.

My lessons learned - layout foil before you start you won't have time when it's cooling.  Make sure you reach a full boil before starting your timer - have it ready to just hit go!  Let the pan cool before scrapping it for the leftover goodies!

Enjoy!

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!

Girl Scout Cookie Time 2

Ok - we are in full Girl Scout Cookie mode right now as lamented here......

And while I am feeling a little soothed by the Cookie Sales Tracker and all of its Excel glory, my marketing background is itching to come out!

Now before everyone jumps all over me - this is Rose's business.  She is extremely involved in every step.  For instance, while I may have created the Cookie Sales Tracker she and her brother have logged 90% of the orders.

This morning at church, she patiently waited for a conversation to end in order to ask for business. She wanted me to go with her but I reminded her that this is her business not mine.  She went and she asked and she received another order.....then came bounding back to me with the biggest smile on her face and a sense of pride for a job well done.

I remind her that people are going to say no (something I hate to hear myself and struggle with the fear failure in my own business), but am there to support her when they do and help her move on to the next customer graciously.

So cookies will make their way to our town tomorrow for the first round of disbursement and Rose is at about 350 of her 900 box goal.  Sorting and separating and preparing for delivery have my Six Sigma skills tingling!  (#nerdalert!)  So in order to do so, I have tried to think of what the flow will look like (big believer in setting something up right from the beginning if possible!).

Step 1 - Using the second column of the Cookie Sales Tracker we've got the sales broken down into different groups - church, friends, mom's work, etc. so that we can easily group the cookies.

Step 2 - We've gotten bags donated from a friend's husband who is a local State Farm Agent - you might remember Ann Kelly from Recipes We Love, she coordinates our monthly cooking nights that are being revitalized from the dead.  Anyways, this will make for easy grouping of cookies sold since they are generally 2-4 boxes.

Step 3 - I've made a Girl Scout Cookie Thank You card to help keep up with names, varieties purchased, amount owed (or can write "Previous" in the amount field if already paid), and number to purchase more cookies at if desired!  I searched Pintrest for one that I didn't have to buy and came up empty handed when looking for everything I wanted so I just made my own!  I hope that it may help you as well!  My thoughts were to write the name of the customer up top, then the Troop number in the blank.  You can indicate varieties ordered and amount total in the spaces provided.  Rose will sign everyone one of these below the "Thank You-" and then included my phone number for additional orders in the space provided.

Step 4 - The cookies will be sorted, grouped and a Thank You Card placed with it for delivery!

Step 5 - Rose will call all customers to let them know cookies have arrived and to step up a time for delivery!

Step 6 - Cookies will be delivered!

Good luck Girl Scouts!  And may the cookies be ever in your flavor! #cookieboss

Girl Scout Cookie Time!

In case you are living in a dark hole somewhere you have undoubtedly experienced Girl Scout cookies at some point in your life, and they are good.

Well it's that time of year that my girl and her troop are selling them again.

I will be honest last year, we sold a little here and there and participated in the booth sales as required but nothing major.

This year I have been volunteering as the co-leader and Rose really got involved and excited in the Fall Product Sales.  So when it came to Cookie Sales, she set her goal and we are helping her work towards it.

Now the thing I like, and am encouraging with her and all the girls, is that this is their business.  So her Dad and I will help her, as every business has employees, but it is her business and she has to do the brunt of the work.

Her goal this year is 900 boxes.  For some of you that might be chump change but for us, it's a lot! Plus it will allow her to earn a free week at camp - and when your momma just quit her job that's a big deal!

So I've got a Pintrest board going with Girl Scout Cookie ideas, and some she will probably elect to do - especially some form of the thank you cards for future business.

But my business background left me feeling a little lacking as we tried to track sales via the sales paper we were given.  So I created this Cookie Sales Tracker file (linked here to Google Docs - feel free to copy and use!) and Rose entered all of the sales so far!

		Total Boxes	0	Total Dollars	$0.00	Troop Dollars	$0.00			0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2015 Girl Scout Cookie Sales									$3.50	Cookie Share	Thanks-A-Lot	Cranberry Citrus Crunch	Lemonades	Shortbread	Thin Mints	Peanut Butter Patties	Caramel Delights	Peanut Butter Sandwiches	Total Packages	Amont Due	Paid
Sort	Group	First Name	Last Name	Address	City	State	Zip	Phone	Email										0	$0.00
1
2
3
4

Already I love it because it quickly allows us to quickly add totals, check dollar amounts, see counts on cases, etc. and for an Excel nerd like me it makes my heart smile.  It also made me very proud to see both of my kids want to type and enter the information and happy to see them learning to type!

I hope that it helps someone else and as I figure out some more I will add them! #cookieboss

A year in review

It's been a while.......

And I have missed this terribly.  I have pictures and stacks and notes of ideas, that I just keep piling up for when I have time to write.  However, like everything finding the time and making it a priority is hard.

The past year, specifically the past 6 months have been a life-changing whirlwind.

We welcomed #3 to the family!  We didn't know what our bundle of joy would be until he made his arrival but he has brought so much to our lives already.  You would think he is the biggest and shiniest toy in the world the way that his sis and bub make over him - we are lucky that they care so much!

Shortly after Bray made his arrival, my husband, Bodie, decided we had not spent enough time in the hospital and headed there himself with a mild heart attack.  For those that know us personally, you know that my strapping, handsome, beast of a husband has a huge scar down his chest as a forever reminder of his previous heart complications.  This one, three weeks after our son was born, hit a little close to home.

So needless to say, we've been really looking at what matters in life, to God, and to us - and hopefully all of those things align.  

In our search to discern where we are called and where we are supposed to be we have been spending most of our time with our family, friends, and church.  Those are the things that matter to us most in life.

Recently, as in this past Friday, we have made other big changes in our lives as I have left my nice-paying, cushy, miserable, full-time job to pursue a lifetime of teaching others.  Crazy right?!  I have a whole nother post, Following the Voice, that is coming that will detail this a little more for you nosy folks but suffice it to say - a BIG change in our lives.  We will take prayers and good tidings and positive karma along the way!  Needless to say we are trying to follow the below philosophy... I think we are doing ok!

~Tangent~ (yes, I write like I think and speak - good luck keeping up!) So Rose has just wandered up wanting to work on our Ancestry (that's been a new venture that we've loved as well!) and asked what I was doing.  I explained I was writing to my blog that I hadn't written to in over a year.  She said - do you think anyone will read it?  I told her that there had been over 900 views last year without me even writing anything!  "Wow Mom!  You could write about your gardening, and cooking, and put recipes and everything!"  She is definitely my daughter.  

Where are you going?

I'll be honest I struggle with setting goals, and therefore struggle with meeting them. I think for me personally, I sometimes try to bite of more than I can chew and end up trying without doing. Which is why I think over the past couple of months, we've just started "doing" things without necessarily an end goal in mind. One of the great cop-outs, er I mean benefits, of doing that is it's kind of like "trying" right? I mean if you don't really have an established goal, then you can never fail.....however can you really succeed?

My day job is working for a large Fortune 500 company that has a "pay for performance" plan for salary increases - much to the dismay of many of the new leaders within the company.  Employees set goals, or commitments, work towards those commitments throughout the year and then measured against the benchmark that they set in the end to determine their salary increase.  It's a similar plan across many businesses. 

One thing that I have seen my team members struggle with is setting SMART goals, and quite honestly this is one of the main areas where I struggle in setting personal goals.  I want to skip right over the moon and stars and go straight to another galaxy.  But that is the thing about setting SMART goals, when thought about and done correctly this technique doesn't allow you to skip the stars and you don't give up flying to the moon.

So what are SMART goals? 

S – Specific (or Significant).
M – Measurable (or Meaningful)
A – Attainable (or Action-Oriented)
R – Relevant (or Rewarding)
T – Time-bound (or Trackable)

So to say that my goal for my family is to eat healthier in 2014....if you look at it that is not really a goal - it's a lifestyle change, my dream or an end result.  The goal is the steps along the way to get there. 

So my goal might be "I will read food labels for each pre-packaged item that I bring into my home, every time I go shopping in 2014 to ensure that it is a healthy choice for my family."

Is it specific? Pretty daggone if you ask me :)
Is it measurable?  Every time I go shopping for each item - yep.
Is it attainable?  It might be a little big at first if I eat a lot of packaged items, and this is where it could be broken down to smaller goals may be helpful.
Is it relevant?  This is something I'm becoming very passionate and educated on so yes, very relevant to me!
Is it time-bound? Every time I go shopping in 2014 - check!

The other part of goal setting that I struggle with personally, (anyone else out there - come on I can't be by myself on this one) is sharing my goal so that others can help me along the way (and hold me accountable).  I guess, I almost feel like if I keep it to myself, once again no one can know if I fail (gee, can you see a reoccurring theme of fear of failure here?).  But any good support system will cheer you on in your goal when it is one to make you or the world around you better (I mean, I would really have to question your support system if your goal was to rob so many banks, or fart so many times a day - this should be the time they should step up and lovingly remind you that those are SMART goals - in any way, shape or form).

Some of my personal goals for 2014 (so you aren't getting the specific version - sorry that's reserved for the ones who actually know all of my innermost secrets!):

*Establish and maintain a monthly household budget and review it weekly
*Work out for 20-30 minutes 2-3 times a week
*Read to my munchkins at least 4 nights a week
*Remove the toxic chemicals from my home and convert to greener products
*Eat 2 fruits a day (seems silly I know, but seeing as how I don't do it daily it probably should be a goal)
*Have 1 date night a month with my hubby (no one said we had to spend money - maybe I just cook for him at home while the kids spend the night elsewhere - that counts as a date right?)

There they are published - now you can hold me accountable or cheer me along, however you best motivate!

What are your goals?  Where are you going?  How do you plan to get there?