Alumni Cookie Dough owner Jennifer Dollander stands outside of Alumni Cookie Dough at 480 N. Thomas St. on Feb. 13. Dollander started her business in 2018 after a trip to New York City, New York for her daughter’s birthday inspired her. “We went to a little cookie dough place (and) I just could not get it off my mind how much this belonged in Athens,” Dollander said. Photo by Gillian Williams
Alumni Cookie Dough owner Jennifer Dollander discusses her experience of going from a teacher to business owner.
Viewpoints Staffer Gillian Williams: What was the process of starting your business like?
Alumni Cookie Dough Owner Jennifer Dollander: (My husband and I) started the business in 2018, and (at the time), I was a school teacher (and) I had already signed a contract for the next year. I took my daughter to New York City for her 18th birthday, and I saw in Greenwich Village a cookie dough cafe in that area that reminded me a lot of Athens. There’s a lot of green space, (New York University) is right there, (and) it reminded me a lot of (the University of Georgia). Then, once we got to the little cookie dough place, I just could not get it off my mind how much this belonged in Athens and thought, ”Why don’t we have a place like this in Athens? All of the students would go crazy over it. It would just be so much fun.” So, that was in July of 2018, (and) by the time our plane landed in Atlanta, (my husband) had already secured the Limited Liability Company (LLC) and we immediately started looking for properties in Downtown Athens. We are both graduates of UGA (and) love Downtown Athens (and) we knew that’s where we wanted to be, so we chose our location off of North Thomas Street.
GW: What does being a female business owner and founder mean to you?
Owner of Alumni Cookie Dough Jennifer Dollander serves customers at Alumni Cookie Dough on 480 N. Thomas St. on Feb. 13. Starting a business with limited experience was not easy for Dollander, but she learned how to manage it. “(Being a business owner) is really, really, really hard, and unless you are willing to make sacrifices and love it, you’ve got to love it so much. I love cookie dough. I dream about different flavors. I love it, and so that’s your foundation. You have got to love it,” Dollander said. Photo by Gillian Williams
JD: I love it. I think it’s really special, and luckily, my husband truly believes in me and supports me. I definitely would not have started (the business) if I did not have his support, (both) financially and emotionally. It is an emotional undertaking because if you really want to succeed, you have to put your blood, sweat and tears into it, and if you don’t have that support (from) your partner, it’s going to be a very rough road. So, as a woman, it makes me proud. I hope that I can inspire other women to do the same thing.
GW: What is one thing people should know about Alumni Cookie Dough?
JD: That it was started by two Georgia Bulldog fans that wanted the business in Downtown Athens, and (that) we had zero restaurant experience. My extent of my restaurant experience is that I was a hostess at an Applebee’s in high school, so I literally had zero experience. I was very comfortable in the kitchen (because) I used to bake with my grandmother, and so I knew that I was comfortable (and) confident that I could come up with some really good recipes. There was a lot of trial and error, (and) there were a lot of batches that went in the trash. But, I wanted a really good edible cookie dough, and I also wanted to be able to bake it, and that was a little tricky.
GW: What is your favorite part of Alumni Cookie Dough?
JD:Seeing the joy that it brings other people. We serve a lot of our wholesale business, which is the fastest-growing part of the business right now, so when we send samples to a university or when a place gets their first order, it flies off the shelf. They’re like, “We just ordered three days ago, but we need to place another order.” These people just can’t get enough of it that still, to this day, I’m like, “Wow, that is so cool.”
It just makes me so happy that we created this place that brings joy to other people.
GW: What have you learned about being a business owner?
JD: That it is really, really, really hard, and unless you are willing to make sacrifices and love it, you’ve got to love it so much. I love cookie dough. I dream about different flavors. I love it, and so that’s your foundation. You have got to love it. You’ve got to be a really, really hard worker, and know that it is a roller coaster. You’re going to have high-up times, and you’re going to have down, low times, and you’ve got to be able to push through both of them.
GW: What is the toughest part about being a business owner?
A cup of Brookie Cookie Dough is displayed inside Alumni Cookie Dough on 480 N. Thomas St. on Jan. 28. The recipes used at Alumni Cookie Dough are all family-made and were passed down from generation to generation. “I was very comfortable in the kitchen (because)I used to bake with my grandmother, and so I knew that I was comfortable (and) confident that I could come up with some really good recipes,” Alumni Cookie Dough owner Jennifer Dollander said. Photo by Grady Dunston
JD:Kknowing how hard you (have to) work and that some things don’t work out the way you envisioned it, it’s tough. It’s a blow to your self-confidence. Those are the times that you’ve really got to push through. Our lowest point as a business thus far is right when COVID hit, because 80% of our business at that time was college students walking through that door, and that 80% disappeared overnight, so that was terrifying, but we really switched how we operated as a business, and we are stronger because of COVID, and I think that’s why we survived, and that’s why we grew through the pandemic, instead of closing our doors like many did.
GW: What is your favorite thing about owning your business?
JD: I think creating something from scratch. Everything was a grassroots effort. The thought of what the cafe would look like (and) all of the recipes are mine. So, you have all of these pieces to the puzzle, and you think they’re going to come together, you think it’s all going to work out, but then when actually all those pieces do come together, and those moments that I still see those crowds in the cafe with those smiling faces, I literally get teary-eyed still to this day. It just makes me so happy that we created this place that brings joy to other people.
