Meet Maddy Norton | Baker and Cookie Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Maddy Norton and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Maddy, what is the most important factor behind your success?
For my company, DMG Cookies (which stands for Dough My Goodness! Cookies), I bake and decorate custom cookies for special events in people’s lives. I think what makes me successful is that I absolutely LOVE what I do, which makes me eager to create quality products and experiences for my customers. This translates to a successful brand because I work very hard to create beautiful and delicious cookies. Everything I make is to the best of my ability. I am constantly learning new techniques to improve my skills, and to provide the highest quality product for my customers. I also enjoy creating meaningful connections with my clients, building relationships, and making new friends by discussing how I can make someone’s cookie dreams come true. I personally consult with every client, so I learn more about them and share my own experiences too. I have previously worked in customer service so I know how important that is to maintaining a successful business. After all, without customers there would be no business. Along with customer service, another important part of “success” for me is finding success within myself. To me, I am successful if I try my best, love the result, and make my client happy. Another thing that makes me feel successful is setting a variety of short-term and long-term goals. Once I reach one of them, I add another. A short-term goal can be something as simple as “make extra cookies as a gift for a friend” so that I can quickly check it off the list and feel a sense of accomplishment from doing it. A long-term goal may be something like “grow enough to hire employees.” The long-term goals won’t happen overnight, but I will feel proud when I reach them one day. Everyone defines “success” differently, so I think it’s important to find that myself rather than searching for validation from others. If I thought of “success” as simply reaching all my goals, I would never achieve that because there are always new goals to reach.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I make decorated cookies with royal icing for special events, holidays, or just because! What sets me apart from others is that my cookies are a direct reflection of me. I love to include my own personal style whenever I can, which includes pretty colors and cute faces on inanimate objects. I also love to relate certain cookies to my own life. My favorite example is making cookies that look like my 2 weenie dogs. I am most proud at how much my cookie decorating skills have grown, and most excited to see how much they will continue to grow. Three years ago, I had no cookie decorating experience whatsoever. Now I can refer back to pictures from the beginning of my cookie journey and scroll through the improvement. How I got to where I am is quite unique. I graduated from UC San Diego with a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Science in 2018, a year ahead of my 4-year program. Instead of immediately jumping into a career in a field I wasn’t passionate about, I decided to try some new hobbies in the year that I would have normally been finishing my degree. One hobby I tried was cookie decorating and immediately I was hooked. I started posting my cookies online and pretty soon I had friends interested in purchasing them. I couldn’t believe it! It was then that I made the jump into starting my own business and selling cookies. Pretty soon I became so busy that I was able to make DMG Cookies my full-time job.
While the majority of my experience has been great, I have been met with several challenges. I’ve made countless mistakes, like messing up a recipe, baking the cookies too long/not enough, or ruining the icing on cookies that weren’t fully dry. Luckily for errors that I make, I have friends and family that will gladly eat any rejects, and I can move on into fixing them. The way I overcome any challenge is by focusing the overall positive experience I get from decorating cookies. I remind myself that any problems will only help me improve. It can be frustrating to make mistakes, but I always learn from them and try not to make the same mistake twice. I have never had a negative experience that outweighs the joy I get from making cookies for people.
The most important lesson I’ve learned is to stay true to myself and to keep enjoying what I do. For me this means trying my best and not giving up, and making sure to take breaks to keep creativity and productivity at the highest they can be. Because I love what I do, I am willing to put in the work it takes to keep going. So maintaining that relationship with my job is important to keep up the same level of quality I am used to.
I want the world to know that DMG Cookies is a product of love and hard work, and it is my dream job! I love having a physical product to look at after hours of work, and I love being able to bring joy to the people who eat them. It is the best feeling when a client tells me that they loved the cookies I made for them, because I spend a lot of time making sure they are as perfect as they can be. It is super cool to me that I can actually create something artistic and delicious that people love.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I was born and raised in San Diego, and there is so much to do here! You will need more than a week to experience San Diego in all of its perfection, but a week is a great amount of time to see a lot of cool things. The beaches are a must-see, so for our first day my bestie and I would go to Pacific Beach. Food is one of my favorite things, so that would be a priority for everyday of the trip. First stop is Konos for breakfast, then grab a to-go sandwich for later at Board and Brew since it’s practically next door. Spend the whole day laying out on a towel in the sand, and swimming in the ocean. End the night with a frosé (frozen rosé!) at El Prez on the rooftop around sunset. Day 2 we would check out La Jolla, starting with brunch at Sugar and Scribe. There are some fun stores to shop at on the way down the main streets as we walk down to La Jolla Cove. The view is gorgeous and it’s so fun to see the seals and sea lions that hang out on the beach. Jose’s is a great close place for dinner, and dessert has to be gelato at Bobboi. They have a charcoal vanilla gelato that is the best! Day 3 would start by riding bikes along the boardwalk of Crown Point and Mission Beach. Ending up in Belmont Park for some food, an escape room, mini golfing, and riding The Big Dipper rollercoaster! Then make our way down to South Mission Beach and play volleyball on their courts, and ending the night with a beach bonfire with all of our friends. Day 4 would be fun to walk along Mission Bay, then head south for lunch at one of my favorite restaurants El Indio. Everything they make is delicious! After lunch, head further south for a mini trip to Coronado. They have a really cool and unique downtown area, but my favorite thing to do is walk around Hotel del Coronado. For dinner, Village Pizzeria Coronado had a gorgeous view of the San Diego Bay as its located right near the Coronado Ferry Landing. Day 5 starts at Breakfast Republic in Point Loma. Then Liberty Public Market right next door, which has a bunch of fun things to shop for. The market is filled with small business vendors to support, from food, jewelry, clothes, pet supplies, and more. Lunch would be across the street at Con Pane, for a sandwich on their fresh bread and some pastries. The grassy area nearby is a great place for a picnic, and to walk around checking out Liberty Station. Day 6 would be spent at the San Diego Zoo. There is a reason it is world famous! It’s a really fun place to go see the animals and get some good exercise as there are lots of places to walk around. My favorite animals to see are the tortoises, they have such funny personalities! Day 7 would start with brunch at The Trails Eatery and then a nice walk at nearby Lake Murray afterward. To round off the trip, taquitos and margaritas at Casa de Pico nearby. Now I need my besties to come into town soon so we can do all of this together!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would love to specially shoutout my mom Tammy, my dad Mike, my sister Kaitlin, and my boyfriend Jeff. They are the behind-the-scenes that really keep my business running smoothly. My dad is very outgoing and personal, and he tells anyone he meets to check out my cookie business. He has helped get more people interested in my work, which has really helped my growth. Kaitlin is a graphic designer and artist, and does all of my branding. She designed my logo, ingredient labels, and all the cute graphics I use (including some that we have put on merchandise). She also designs certain graphics that I turn into cookies! Jeff helps with quality assurance (we like to call him the official “taste-tester”), as well as helping me with cleaning and packaging. Finally my mom helps with practically everything! She is my bookkeeper, she taught me the base cookie recipe that I use, she helps with creative ideas, merchandise, cleaning, packaging, and she even became a licensed food handler to help with making dough on busy weeks. Of course, all of this help from my family is specific to my business, but they also are very loving and fun in our personal lives which allows me to be in the best mindset to run my own business. I wish I could individually shoutout every one of my friends, family, and clients for their support, too. Whether it’s purchasing cookies, sharing my work, reaching out to me, or engaging on social media, everything has helped me get to where I am today. I am extremely grateful for everyone who has played a part in my business journey!

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Image Credits
DMG Cookies