Meet Maureen: Cookie Entrepreneur Officer

Maureen shared taste of the new Girl Scout S'mores cookie
with Chesapeake Vice-Mayor Rick West and Mayor Alan Krasnoff

Maureen is a 10-year-old on a mission. With her go-getter attitude and innovative ideas, she became the top Girl Scout Cookie seller in Chesapeake last year. This year, she has set her sights even higher and has set a goal to be the top cookie seller in the Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast council, which covers southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. Never afraid to step up and take on a challenge, she has set a hefty goal—intending to sell 3,500 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies this year.

For months, Maureen has been making plans to find success and reach her goal. Her first step is to contact her customers from the year before to see if they would like to place a cookie order again this year. She keeps a spreadsheet of customers on her computer and spends the first days of cookie season making phone calls, even reminding customers of the cookies they ordered last year and asking them if they would like to place the same order or update it. This year, she is excited to be able to offer her customers a new option—the Girl Scout S’mores cookie.

Maureen has also taken her sales online. She uses Digital Cookie, an online platform where she sets up her own store and sends emails to friends and family members asking them to purchase cookies online.

"With Digital Cookie, I send emails and then I am even selling cookies when I am sleeping or at school because people can log on to order when it’s convenient for them,” Maureen said. “I also love that I can track my sales online. There are pie charts, and I can see which cookie I sell the most of.”

Maureen’s inspiration for success comes from a fellow Girl Scout, Ashleigh Peterson, who held the region’s top cookie seller title for seven years before graduating from high school in June. Maureen has gotten to know Ashleigh over the years at Girl Scout events, and carries with her an inspiring and motivating message from Ashleigh.

“One time, Ashleigh told me that for every 10 times a customer says no, you will get one yes,” Maureen said. “This gives me the courage to keep asking people and not get discouraged if someone doesn’t want to buy cookies.”

Last year, Maureen helped load Gift of
Caring cookies into a truck to be donated
to the USO.

Part of Maureen’s goal includes selling cookies for the Gift of Caring program. Through this program, Maureen asks customers to purchase an extra box of cookies to be donated to members of the military. Inspired by her troop leader who is a veteran, Maureen likes to do her part to send a taste of home to soldiers overseas as a thank you for the sacrifices they make to protect our country.

After cookie season, Maureen and her fellow members of Troop 805 have big plans for their cookie earnings. They have scheduled a trip to attend the Girl Scout Jamboree in West Virginia. They are looking forward to a long weekend of high adventure activities, including zip lining, rappelling and mountain biking. They also intend to use a portion of the money they earn from cookies to give back to the community.

Last year, Maureen earned her Bronze Award, one of the top awards a girl can earn in Girl Scouting, for her project with the Crayon Initiative, which collects broken and used crayons and turns them into new crayons that are donated to children’s hospitals for patient entertainment and learning programs. Earning her Bronze Award showed Maureen how she can make the world a better place and has inspired her to continue to give back to others.