St. Joe alumna Kristen Page Tomlan ’06, owner and founder of Cookie DŌ NYC, was the subject of an alumnae Lunch and Learn with SJA students to share the journey to her fresh and successful business.

Tomlan shared her experiences growing up in St. Louis and finding her inspiration and love of cooking from her mother. She then continued her career and found a job involving branding. Although she cherished her job, she always felt something was missing.

“Any free moment I got, I was cooking or baking…it was my escape,” Tomlan said.

The idea for her current cookie-dough company sparked when she was with her best friends in Philadelphia at a cookie shop. Despite the array of savory cookies in front of them, Tomlan and each of her friends agreed on simply buying and eating raw cookie dough. Then they took it to the car and passed the tub of deliciousness around.

“That was the moment that I thought, ‘why is this not a thing’,” she said.

After explaining to many people for months about her idea of creating a cookie dough shop, Tomlan finally decided to take the first step. She and her fiancé began making a business plan.

“[It’s] a huge risk because nobody had done this before. It’s not a traditional ice cream shop, it’s not a traditional bakery…Maybe nobody has done this because it shouldn’t be done or it can’t be done,” Tomlan said.

Finally, on Jan. 25, 2017, she opened a store for people to buy cookie dough that was safe to eat in many different flavors. The first opening days, the line wrapped around the block. She said even started running out of ingredients and unfortunately had to tell people nothing was left.

“I went to DŌ back in March and my sister and I had to wait across the street for nearly two hours in freezing rain, but the taste of the cookie dough and the cuteness of the store was well worth the wait,” Senior Emma Walsh, who attended the lunch and learn, said.

Kristen Page Tomlan was hugely surprised and thrilled over the fast success of her new, trendy store.

She admits: “it was all about creating this brand and a really happy place.”