Maude Gagnon has been baking cookies since she was 10 years old. She makes and hand-rolls each of them, one by one.
What began as a hobby is now her full time job, after leaving her marketing position to start Southie Cookie.
"My friends have always said, 'You should open your own business, your cookies are so good.' I did cookies on the side for two years until I quit my 9-5," she said. "I was doing marketing, so I actually quit that in March of this year."
Naturally shy, she took a leap of faith, quitting her job after reluctantly posting cookie pictures on Instagram. Southie Cookie was then born after looping lines formed outside her West Broadway apartment.
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"People would line up on my porch and line up down the stairs in my apartment. But once I saw that, that's when I knew I needed to take advantage of this," she said. "People want my cookies. To me, it means warmth and family and friends and gathering, and it's just been awesome trying to connect community through cookies which I never thought I could do."
Gagnon is now connecting Southie and the city through cookies while treating herself life lessons along the way.
"It's kind of cliché, but it's true that doing things that make you uncomfortable lead to really amazing things, and I encourage people to do that," Gagnon said. "I'm living proof that if I can do it, anybody can do it."
