Connie Rosendahl never wanted a business. A mother of five with a working husband, Rosendahl did not have free time.
Yet, one day when she and her daughters made cookies for her husband to take to work, everything changed.
The cookies were loved by coworkers, who suggested she sell them at the Moscow Farmers Market. She wasn’t keen on the idea.
Rosendahl said she decided to sell the cookies at a children’s booth for three weeks to give her daughters an opportunity to learn more about business and give them a fun opportunity.
When the third week came, the family showed up late to their booth and found a line had already formed.
“If these people are counting on our cookies, I feel bad about not continuing to show up,” she said.
Alex Brizee | Argonaut
Sisters Cookie Company recently opened a physical storefront on North Almon Street just outside of downtown Moscow.
Though Rosendahl said she may not have wanted to start a business, she is part of one now — Sisters Cookie Company, a staple in the Moscow community.
Recently, they added a physical storefront on North Almon Street, allowing customers to come in and enjoy a cookie at the bakery, she said.
“At this point, (the business’s storefront) is finishing the circle for me,” Rosendahl said. “Now, if the girls want to take it bigger and better, they can. But for me, balancing the wholesale, the retail, the market, the university, the online and now the storefront fills my cup up. I’m really happy — I really love this.”
Anna Rosendahl said she has started working with her mother as a full-time employee. She recently graduated from college and tried a few different jobs, but decided to come back to Sisters.
“I think I was drawn to (Sisters) because of the freedom and getting to spend time with my mom — that’s an awesome job,” Anna said.
When the family first began selling cookies at the farmers market 10 years ago, Connie Rosendahl said she made sure to give her daughters a role just as important as her own. At that point, she said her daughters were starting to get burnt out, so she decided to get matching aprons for everyone so they could truly feel like part of the business.
“We didn’t know what to call ourselves — my name is Connie Rosendahl, and they thought we should call it Connie’s Cookies, but this wasn’t about me,” she said. “It was about them, so I thought, ‘Let’s just call it Sisters.’”
After working the Moscow Farmers Market for some time, Rosendahl and her daughters decided to take a Saturday off. They received unexpected grievances from customers when they returned the next week, she said.
“‘But I brought my grandma — your cookies reminded me of her. She makes these German cookies at Christmas out of real butter, like you,’” Rosendahl said one customer told her. “‘She was in town, we brought her to meet you and you weren’t here.’”
She said the experience felt overwhelming for a while, as customers truly cared about the cookies and everything began to feel more like a business.
Anna said she has loved working at the business and feels it has always been a part of her life. Rosendahl said she never expected something such as cookies to take off in Moscow. They’re just extra-large, all butter cookies that seem to have found a home, she said.
“So now, I really love what we do,” she said. “ Somewhere along the line I quit saying, ‘I don’t want to be a business, and said, alright, let’s be a business.’”
Alex Brizee can be reached at [email protected] or Twitter @alex_brizee