How Morgan Lunn Started an Online Cookie Delivery Service

Sometimes you just have to go for it. That’s exactly what Morgan Lunn, first-time entrepreneur and founder of Girl Gang Goodies, did.

On a brisk Toronto day — January 29th, 2018 — Morgan decided she wanted to start her own business.

You know how New Year’s resolutions go — they’re often fleeting self-improvement plans that never come to fruition. Like sticking to a strict daily gym regimen, or reading one book a week. We’ve all been there. For Morgan, this was more than just an idea that fizzled away.

Morgan decided she wanted to launch right before Valentine’s Day, meaning she had two weeks to get her business up and running. But first, she needed a logo, website, and all of the other pieces of setting up a company. She went onto Looka and designed her logo THAT DAY. Here’s what it looks like:

After finalizing her logo, Morgan had a few other tasks on her list to complete:

Miraculously, in under two weeks, Morgan launched her online cookie delivery service. It was only eight days later that she left her corporate job at Starbucks to work on Girl Gang Goodies full-time.

Since then, Morgan has delivered thousands of cookies across Toronto. She’s also been busy building up an online and offline community, and working with top brands like Facebook and Wealthsimple.

Why cookie delivery?

Selling baked goods online wasn’t one of Morgan’s childhood dreams — but it came to be through some magical thing called fate.

Morgan says her “family’s claim to fame” is an old cookie recipe that came from her father’s ex-girlfriend in the 1970s. Her mother found the recipe cards when she moved in, added the secret spice, and the rest is history.

Every time the family is attending an event or saying thanks, they bring these cookies. Holiday parties, dance recitals, birthdays, you name it. Morgan now uses this same family favorite recipe to bake the cookies sold on her website.

Morgan’s mission from the very start has been to encourage people to share their love and thanks to the women in their lives.

As her website puts it: Regardless of what gender you identify with, we all have powerful women in our life who support and empower us, enabling us to be who we are and help us through the tough and the triumphant. This is your GIRL GANG, and they deserve to be celebrated.

“I would have never anticipated being an online cookie delivery service,” Morgan admits.

But a beautiful box of homemade cookies just happens to be the perfect vessel for celebration and appreciation. Because hey…who doesn’t love some fresh, homemade, ooey gooey chocolate chip cookies?!

Building a brand from scratch

After working at big companies like Hudson’s Bay Company, Lululemon, and Starbucks, Morgan is well-versed in the art of developing a brand that shines. She’s a talented businesswoman and storyteller who knows how to captivate an audience through great content — and a great product.

Because her boxes are pretty and photogenic, people love to capture and share them on social media. This is where her word-of-mouth marketing really shines – people love to give and to get her goodies!

Morgan also sources content from various partnerships and events she attends, which helps to further develop and grow her #girlgang community.

Using her brand guidelines from Looka, she replicates the exact color and font in her logo across the majority of her marketing materials. The guidelines also make it easy to share her logo in different sizes and file formats with partners and media outlets.

This consistency is key to strong visual branding, and helps makes her brand easily recognizable.

Morgan uses her logo, iconic company name, and brand colors wherever she can. From her website and social channels, to actual swag and printed goods. Her Girl Gang arsenal consists of:

Developing strategic partnerships

Morgan describes Girl Gang as, “Empowerment, community, gratitude, and delicious…”

Though her company is still very young, her goal is to develop a community around Girl Gang — more of a “360 experience outside of just cookies.” Partnerships and branding are a crucial part of this.

“The entrepreneur community in Toronto is so welcoming, willing to collaborate and vibrant,” Morgan explains. “When determining who we want to work with, alignment on values is key. It’s also why we have been able to work with amazing fellow female-entrepreneurs and brands who have the same values and look to elevate women in some capacity.”

She has already worked with some of the most notable brands around, including Bumble, Smashbox, Facebook, and Wealthsimple. By partnering with companies who share a similar mission — to empower and celebrate women — Morgan is able to organically spread the Girl Gang brand.

 

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A post shared by GIRL GANG GOODIES INC (@girlganggoodies) on Nov 15, 2018 at 5:09am PST

Morgan’s tips for new entrepreneurs and side hustlers

Reflecting on her experience with Girl Gang Goodies so far, she makes sure to stress that “running a business is just generally very challenging.” Particularly when you’re a sole entrepreneur doing most things for the first time!

When Morgan first had the idea, she really didn’t know how to start her own company at home. She used her experience, drive, and the support of her girl gang to turn this idea into a full-fledged brand and business.

Though she used her own resources to get her side hustle going, there are various small business loans and grants for women out there, as well as for 25-and-under entrepreneurs, creative and innovative companies, and so on.

These grants can often be found on your local government’s website, or through a quick Google search.

The takeaway? If you want to see something succeed, it takes lots of hard work and dedication (of course), but it also takes self trust and confidence. As Morgan stresses, “Why not you? There’s absolutely no reason that you can’t do this.”

We agree! Want to learn more about becoming an entrepreneur? Check out our “you can do it” guide to starting a small business.