Cravings Paving the Way
Witten by Enoch McKie
So…you’re in a room and in walks a brownie and a cookie…sounds like a bad set-up for an even worse punchline, but this is the exact situation that Jovon English found herself in. Up late one night, her sweet tooth alarm went off. Specifically, she wanted a cookie and a brownie. But who makes and then just eats one cookie, one brownie? Portion control was the struggle when she came up with the idea of combining them in a cupcake form. Thus, the birth of the Brookie.
Working a job, being an ordinary American, her taste buds were set off by tasting the first Brookie. She had to let her sister taste it – who loved it. Then another friend, and another, and soon she wanted the whole world to taste Brookies. “I took Brookies to work for a holiday party and they loved it. Pretty soon, they started requesting orders from me, so they could take them to events. That’s how the business started.”
If you’ve never had a Brookie, then you’re missing out on one fantastic experience. “I didn’t just want the Brookie to come in any type of packaging. I wanted getting a Brookie to be an experience, like you’re opening up a present. I want it to be that thing that says, ‘thank you’, ‘I love you’, ‘Congratulations,’, and ‘I’m sorry,’ all rolled into one. Just be something that’s here to make your life a little better.”
From a late night craving to pitching her business idea on the critically acclaimed show Shark Tank, Milk + Brookie grew faster than anyone could have imagined, becoming a humbling and exciting adventure. “My sister had just had a baby, and my initial goal was how can I help alleviate some financial stress from her. Then, I blink my eyes, and we’re on Shark Tank! I tell you this, pitching to Shark Tank forced me to think about the company in a different light. It propelled me in a direction that perhaps I always had wanted to go in, but never did I think I’d get there via a brownie and a cookie.”
However, as the saying goes, “Haters gone hate,” and that’s exactly was Jovon found to be the most difficult thing on her journey. “I had to recognize that while this is amazing to you, this isn’t going to be amazing to everybody. People can be so amazingly brutal and try to kill you on Yelp, but you know what? You just gotta keep on going.”
Envisioning Milk + Brookies as a household name, Jovon sees the uphill battle she has ahead and embraces it. “When people think of business ownership, they think of the perks that come with it. They don’t see the sleepless nights, the lack of social interaction with your friends, or the sacrifices you make. People don’t talk about what it takes to go from starting a business to maintaining a profitable business. It’s one thing to want to follow in the footsteps of someone you don’t know, someone who can’t help you get through the day; it’s something totally different to have that inspiration cheering you on like I do. My family is what inspires me to continue on the path, no matter how difficult it becomes.”
After all of the success she’s had so far, what makes Jovon smile the most is seeing people’s reactions. “I remember going to La La Anthony’s book signing and her seeing the Milk + Brookie box and getting excited, saying, ‘Is that them?!’ The excitement that comes with the brand recognition is a huge highlight for us. Also, the support from our community has been phenomenal, and we know that’s the only thing that will take us to the next level because we’re not following the trend, we’re creating the trend.”