Since the fall of 2024, JohnMarko James ‘26 sells chocolate chip walnut cookies to students, faculty, and friends in the community.
James runs his business on Instagram, @johnmarkoscookies. Customersmessage requests for fresh batches of cookies a few days in advance for birthdays, teacher gifts, or other special events.
He delivers the batch with his packaging, including his logo and an ingredients label, which he gets customized from a Bolles parent. “Sometimes I even trade the stickers for cookies,” he said. “Bartering is great.”
James also posts updates to his Instagram account. If he makes extra cookies, James posts a story so students can find him at school and purchase the leftovers.
James spent two years in middle school crafting and perfecting his cookie recipe. “I quickly found out how ratios and new ingredients changed the overall texture and taste. I know too much about cookies.”
He started his business by bringing the treats to parties as favors. “The demand was there,” James said. “People already wanted it, and it got to the point where people wouldn’t even let me come over unless I was bringing the cookies. So I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to start charging you for it.’”
James usually takes about 30 minutes to bake each batch of chocolate chip walnut cookies. This is the only kind of cookie he sells because he refuses to sell other flavors that are not perfect yet. “I’m going to stick with what I’m good at until something stops working. Then I’ll push out one of the other things I have cooking in the back.”
James often experiments with other recipes, “but they’re either not marketable or they just simply aren’t the perfected version yet.” For example, peanut butter-flavored cookies cost more money to make, so James would be required to raise the price of these cookies, making them harder to sell than his traditional batch.
James is typically busiest with his small business around the holidays and at the end of semesters. Now, he is “making a batch per week minimum.”
In addition to baking and selling cookies, James also works as a lifeguard, photographer, and is a part of the Bolles crew team. Owning a small business while managing many other commitments taught James the importance of being strategic with his time. “Free time is a waste of time. Even if it’s watching TV, that’s not free time. That is time when you are quieting your brain so that you can get back to the things that matter.”
Another important lesson James learned from running a small business is to take risks. “The best moment is never going to come. It is never going to be convenient to start a business. You need to just decide you want to do it.”
James’s biggest supporters are his customers. “I’ll even give them free cookies every now and then. They deserve it.”
As long as he has access to a kitchen and a Publix, James hopes to bring his cookie business with him to college. “If I get certain ingredients from other places, it doesn’t turn out the same. I’ve tried. It is specifically Publix’s that I need.”
Additionally, he knows he will have a market. “If I’m baking them, the smell will sell the cookies.”
James hopes everyone knows that there is only one way to eat a cookie. “Our cookies are really better with milk. Anyone who says otherwise is either wrong or lactose intolerant.”
