Today, we’re hanging out with Jackie Wilson of Jackie’s Sweet Shapes! She’s a Baton Rouge cookie decorator and instructor who teaches classes around town and makes custom cookies for ALL your parties. She’s sharing her journey from starting out with zero experience to now having sold out classes and growing into a full team to keep up with her demand!

p.s. you can watch us decorate cookies in our Facebook LIVE video here!

How did you get started in cookie decorating?

I learned about 6 years ago from a friend in Florida who did them for parties and showers. I asked her if I could come over and have her teach me so that when I moved to Louisiana, I could have them at tailgating parties and give them as gifts. She taught me all of the basics within 3 hours and from there, I took the skills and would occasionally do them for various parties and such.

Let me tell you though, I was not any good at that time! Ha! Then about 3 years after this time, I desperately needed money for school so I decided to sell my cookies for a profit. Within 3 months, I was able to pay for the school semester and had a small business that was actually thriving better than I expected it would. A short time after this at the end of 2016, my mom who is an accountant helped me to make Jackie’s Sweet Shapes an LLC and become an official business!

 

How did cookie decorating transition into teaching classes?

I started teaching classes in November 2018 when a corporation reached out to me about offering classes to gain awareness of each of our businesses. I had always wanted to do this so was grateful for the opportunity to try it out. I thought I would maybe get 15 people in a class and the next thing you know, I had 55 people in my first ever class. Talk about nerve racking!!

Then after the Thanksgiving class, we kept doing them every month and the numbers rose to 85 people in a decorating class! It has been fun but I will say that my background and career/experience in personal training, swim coaching and fitness instructing, gave me the confidence and skills I needed to teach in front of a big group of people. So now I am able to use multiple skills and talents when I get the pleasure to teach cookie classes.

 

Walk us through how a class works!

Each participant receives their own “cookie kit” which has everything that they will need for the class including cookies, personal icing bags, scissors, sprinkles, etc! Each class cookie kit is different depending on the theme and shapes that we are designing.

The first 10-15 minutes, I go over basics of royal icing, terminology, the designs for the day and how to outline using a practice worksheet before we begin. We outline and “flood” all of the cookies for about 45 minutes and then take a break to let the cookies dry and for me to answer any questions folks may have about baking/decorating.

Then we come back for another 45 minutes to detail all of the cookies. The last 15 minutes is used for closing statements, taking pictures and answering more questions! A typical class is about 2 hours long to decorate 6 cookies and go over all of the basics before and after class!

 

What’s your advice for people who say they can’t decorate cookies but want to come to your class?

Come try it out! It is so much fun no matter what your skill level is and even if the cookies don’t look anything like mine, they will still taste great and the whole experience will be worth it!

My tagline is “our sweetest shape is your smile” because my main goal in anything I do for my business is to make each and every person smile and a little more joyful when they leave or after they receive a custom order.

I always include cookies of different skill levels to suit each person whether beginner or advanced and walk them through step by step so that they can accomplish each and every design no matter how difficult.

 

my favorite thing is seeing how you use ONE cookie cutter and turn it into a variety of different of shapes/cookies. HOW DO YOU DO THAT!?

Sometimes, I stare a cookie cutter and think of all of the ways that I can use it. Many times, I have my husband guess what the shape is and he comes up with some crazy ideas. There are also a lot of “cookiers” out there who design different cookies using various cutters with the intention that other cookie artists will use their designs. So I can not take all of the credit because we all share ideas with each other! Some of them are my own and I am super proud of those but some are other amazing artists’ work!

you’re Also really into fitness! how to you balance the two passions?

Well, I graduated with a degree in Kinesiology (Fitness and Human Performance) and got a job as a personal trainer right out of college. My intention was actually to go to grad school and become an Occupational Therapist but my journey led me to pursue Jackie’s Sweet Shapes and focus on that since I was enjoying it so much.

I still work part time as a fitness instructor and personal trainer because I just love it and want to keep it up! I do hope to still go to grad school and become an OT but I am not quite sure when that will be.

Balancing sweets and fitness can be hard like anyone who works multiple jobs but I try to keep them separate since they are such polar opposites. I rarely advertise my cookies to my fitness clients and vice versa! If it comes up in conversation, of course I love to share but I don’t advocate for the opposite one while I am working the other one. Personally, I don’t object to eating my cookies whenever I want and crave one! :)

If you could decorate cookies for any event or famous person who would it be and why?!

Definitely for my future children(s)’ wedding day(s)!! That would bring me so much joy to be part of the wedding in a small way and to give them a gift like that to benefit them and others and put a smile on their face.

Or my favorite singer Lauren Daigle because she is my favorite and we are a lot alike!

As your business grows, how are you managing to do ALL the things?!

Yes, I do it ALL! Sometimes I am so busy during the week with orders and classes and fitness responsibilities that I feel like I can’t manage it all but I am getting better and better as time goes on deciding how much I can handle and when to say no to more orders and commitments. I do have some assistants who help me behind the scenes when I need it most especially with the baking, packaging and class preparations.

But other than that, I handle all of the social media, advertising, shopping, inventory, communicating, invoicing, decorating/detailing, shipping/delivering…!

Wow that was a mouth full and it can definitely be a lot, but I really love it and can’t see it being any other way at this time (until the day when I have kids maybe!) :)

Give us one pro tip For cookie decorating basics (for us newbies)

1. Don’t aim for perfection or compare yourself to others’ cookies; just enjoy the process and have fun with it!

2. Be patient with the royal icing and take your time with the details. Rushing not only makes you more stressed but can also affect the outlining and detailing of the cookies when it comes to the royal icing.

What’s your ultimate goal for Jackie’s Sweet Shapes?

One of my goals is to teach more cookie decorating classes and host private events for folks. I would love to focus on classes more because it is so rewarding connecting with my students and giving them skills that they can use in the future while still doing something that I love!

I want to be able to have a space of my own in a shopping center or free standing building where I can teach classes every week and sell cookies during the holidays or for special occasions. It may or may not be a bakery (we will see!) but just a space where I can do what I love teaching and still have the option to sell cookies from time to time if I want.

p.s. WATCH US DECORATE LIVE!