Today we’d like to introduce you to Regina Horner.
Hi Regina, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
G’s Cookies is 20 years in the making! I have always had a knack for baking. I started baking when I was around eight years old. I baked all sorts of things that I would share with the elderly neighbors on my street. There were all kinds of pies, cupcakes, cakes, and cookies. Cookies seemed to be the one that stuck, as that is the one item I carried on into my early twenties. At first, it was just something I did for friends, family, and coworkers. Then friends started making requests for holidays and parties. Prior to the COVID pandemic, I had a cottage food license and attended some trade shows and local LA food events to promote my cookies for events. I participated in a food series called Clean Made LA where I could only make gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free, and soy-free cookies. Believe it or not, countless people told me that my gluten-free/refined sugar-free/dairy-free/soy-free pumpkin cookies were the best cookies they had ever had! Prior to the pandemic, I was also asked to participate in an Academy Awards gifting suite. It was so much fun! When the pandemic hit, of course there was no cookie baking for events. As the world started coming to life again, I wanted to get my brand back out into the world.
Only this time, I went big and opened an actual brick and mortar store. G’s Cookies opened in September of 2022 on Martin Luther King Jr Blvd in the City of Angels. I get so much joy watching my customer’s faces as they bite into G’s signature cookie for the first time. The smiles are priceless. Since opening G’s Cookies last year, I have had the pleasure of catering an after-school program in Inglewood. I made each child four cookies that spelled L O V E, along with icing bags and toppings, and boba drinks. These kids were so over the moon happy I could barely believe it. Long ago, before having my store was even on the horizon, someone asked me what I wanted people to feel when they ate my cookies. I said I wanted my cookies to induce happiness, I wanted everyone who ate my cookies to be filled with happiness. When I see the smiles on the faces of everyone who eats a G’s Cookie, it makes me feel like I have accomplished something, I used to tell people that I was going to change the world, one cookie at a time.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Heck no, it has not been a smooth road! I have kept my career while building this business. Juggling both can make for a really long day. I bet on myself when I opened G’s Cookies. I put everything I had into getting it off the ground…….and I am still working on getting it off the ground. It takes so many sacrifices to build something from scratch and make it successful. These sacrifices impact relationships, time, and finances….just to name a few. I am truly blessed to have so many understanding friends and family cheering me on along the way. Inventing G’s Cookies has truly been a hustle. There were so many times I did not have employees to help me keep up with everything that was going on in my life. Every time I thought there was no way I could move mountains, someone amazing showed up to help. There were times my son would sit at a trade show and pass out my cookies, friends who sold cookies at one booth while I was handing out cookies at another, friends who crossed state lines and stayed up with me until 2am packaging cookies for the next event.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
In my day job, I am the SVP of Finance for a virtual reality company named Immotion. Immotion partners primarily with zoos and aquariums to bring virtual experiences that humans would not likely get to experience in real life. A few experiences that we offer include being immersed into a gorilla family in the jungle swimming with sharks, and also humpback whales. Prior to this company, I spent ten years with a company named Thinkwell Group, which was an entertainment design firm that primarily designed theme parks. I have been told along the way by many that I am a different kind of finance person. So I guess it is fitting that I find myself with very creative companies. I’ve never been able to answer if I am more left brain or right brain. That is what sets me apart from other finance professionals, as well as creative professionals. I can see both sides of the coin and work on both sides of that coin every single day.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
There are so many lessons! Trying not to be too cliche, I would say the biggest lessons are:
1. Dream big – if your dreams don’t scare you, you’re not dreaming big enough.
2. Stay positive – the only thing standing in between you and your dreams is the 6 inches between your ears.
3. Nothing great comes without hard work.
4. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.gcookiecafe.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gs_cookies_la
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gscookiesla
Image Credits
Headshot photographed by Lawrence Leach photography.
