Typically, looking out your window and seeing four strangers standing on your deck would cause alarm or at least some concern.
But not for Maude Gagnon. In fact, she is no stranger to having a whole line of strangers standing outside her East 6th apartment or waiting in cars on the street just so they could get their fix – of cookies, of course.
If anything, it was comforting rather than concerning to know that people would wait outside a stranger’s apartment for their weekly batch.
Before she baked for a community, she baked for her friends and family. At 10 years old she would ask to bake with her mom and grew up watching Food Network and Shark Tank, which perhaps lit the entrepreneurship flame. But, as for how she truly got into the sweet side hustle?
“I don’t know where it came from,” Gagnon said. “It’s within me.”
She does know three things, though:
1) She has always loved baking
2) All her teeth are sweet tooths
3) Cookies are her thing
Specifically, thick cookies.
“I realized there was nowhere to get thick and gooey cookies in Southie (or even Boston), so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to create cookies and flavors people couldn’t get anywhere else!” Gagnon said.
She would come home from her marketing 9 to 5 and be in the kitchen until midnight baking, experimenting and perfecting her cookie recipe (which she has been working on for the last 10 years).
What started as posting pictures of what she baked because she was hesitant to initiate selling, turned into people sending her direct messages asking if they could buy them and eventually, Southie Cookie was born.
Two years later this is now her full-time job and on top of her baking hat, she wears the accounting, social media, website and sourcing hats as well. All of that to say, she finds it extremely rewarding and can’t believe her lifelong dream has come true.
She sells out of her weekly restocks on Sundays, has over 6,000 followers on Instagram, and collaborates with three local Southie businesses.
One year ago Gagnon reached out to In Good Company because she felt that it would be a great fit considering Owner Kait McKenna Radkowski chooses a lot of handmade, local products to sell. Every Friday from 1:00-6:00 pm you can pick up your online order of Southie Cookies and use a 15% discount at the shop!
Deja Brew and The Broadway reached out to her so they could get their share of the pie (or in this case, cookie). For the coffee shop, Gagnon makes an exclusive oatmeal chocolate chip cookie that pairs perfectly with their Oat Oat drink. And if you find yourself eating at The Broadway during the week, look for a Southie Cookie on their specials menu!
For now, those are the places to get your hands on a Southie Cookie, but Gagnon hopes to start shipping regionally soon and eventually nationally. But, she will always have some sort of presence here in Southie.
“It’s been amazing being part of the community and getting to know people,” Gagnon said. “The heart of Southie Cookie will always be in South Boston.”
Megan Klein is a freelance writer and Boston University graduate who currently works for the Boston Celtics. She loves making small world connections when meeting new people, trying new restaurants and capturing the life of Boston locals through her writing.
Very interesting article about an amazing small business. Keep up the good work Southie Cookie!
The cookies from Southie Cookie are amazing!