Over twelve years ago, One Hot Cookie opened its doors in a much different Downtown Youngstown, Ohio with a simple idea: serve warm, topped-to-order cookies with bold flavors, fun toppings, and a little bit of attitude. What we didn’t know then was just how much this one little cookie shop would shape our lives - and our future.
As we celebrate a dozen years of business, I’ve been reflecting on how far we’ve come and the unexpected (but incredible) ways this journey has helped me grow - not just as an entrepreneur, but as a community member, a dreamer, and now, a steward of an even more beloved local brand.
From Cookie Cravings to Community Connection
When I launched One Hot Cookie, I wasn’t trying to be the next big franchise or create a cookie empire. I just wanted to show my daughter that anything was possible. I wanted families, friends, and college students to come in, and celebrate the little wins of the day when a big celebratory dinner seemed out of reach.
But what happened next was bigger than I could have imagined. The Youngstown community didn’t just support us, they embraced us. They celebrated milestones with our cookies. They brought us into their homes, their holidays, their late-night cravings. That kind of support is what kept us going through the early years, the growing pains, and yes, even a pandemic.
Building on a Foundation of Flavor
One Hot Cookie provided more than a strong customer base - it provided a foundation. It taught us how to build a brand from scratch, how to listen to what people want, and how to be fearless when it comes to doing things differently.
Those lessons became the fuel that allowed me to build a team, find a partner, and take on new ventures, like purchasing and revitalizing Gorant Chocolates, and launching the Dessert Bar concept. It gave me the confidence to grow my portfolio in ways that felt authentic and aligned with who I am - someone who is driven and who believes desserts should be both delicious and fun. But, we’re more than just desserts.
What Happened Next? More Sweet Moves.
Sweet Marketing and Management Company oversees the marketing and management of our portfolio of companies, One Hot Cookie, Gorant Chocolates, the Dessert Bar at Gorant Chocolates, Sweet Sips mobile bar, and OH Donut Co. mobile coffee and donut trailer but we also help other small businesses and non-profits with marketing and fundraising. That’s right, we have clients that we don’t have ownership of, but we still treat them like we do. This is one of the things that sets up apart from other marketing firms. We’ve been in the trenches of business ownership, we learned how to do what we do because we couldn’t afford to pay other people to do it and we got good at it and then hired people who are even smarter and more educated to enhance our team.
Twelve years in on this thing called entrepreneurship and I’m not slowing down. If anything, I’m still dreaming bigger. As a team we’ve learned how to blend creativity with consistency, and how to scale while still staying true to our roots. Whether it’s launching new product lines, expanding retail offerings, or helping other companies and non-profits grow.
And I owe it all to that very first cookie. To that tiny shop with a pug sitting at the door and drunk girls laying on the floor at 1am. To the customers, who believed in us before we had it all figured out.
Bergen Giordani
Co-founder, One Hot Cookie
