Black Entrepreneurs Month: Felicia Hudson & Walter Elliott

Felicia Hudson & Walter Elliott Walter’s Cookies West Hills (818) 584-6540 Email: [email protected] Website: www.walterscookies.com At Walter’s Cookies in West Hills, it may be Walter Elliott’s name on the product but it’s his wife Felicia who runs things. As chief executive of the business, Felicia Hudson said that she works more hours than ever before, even during her corporate career as a director of a major telecom company. “However, I knew that once I got started with this endeavor, I was all in,” Hudson said. “A steady paycheck would be nice but that’s not the only thing I’m working toward. I want to be a role model for other minority women to show them that we can do anything we put our minds to.” As a Black woman running a company called Walter’s Cookies, many people automatically assume that Walter is the boss. “When discussing business matters with contractors, suppliers, etc., they tend to assume he is the decision maker,” she said. “It puts a smile on my face when he tells them that I make the decisions.” The couple started the business after Walter had been baking cookies from his grandmother’s recipe as a hobby. “I would stand in her kitchen watching her bake cookies for me and my brothers,” Walter Elliott wrote at the business’s website. “I never saw her use a recipe. When I got older, my Nana taught me how to bake her delicious cookies.” After providing the cookies to family and friends and to others, such as their church, Felicia decided to turn the hobby into a business. The telecom company she worked for was being acquired and she figured it was the best time to strike out on her own. She spent many late nights on the internet researching answers to every question she could think of about starting a business. She then created the Walter’s Cookies logo and brand. “With the encouragement and support from my husband and a few thousand dollars in savings, Walter’s Cookies was born,” Felicia Hudson said. “Walter’s Cookies was started as a cottage food business run out of our home. It quickly outgrew our home and now we bake in a rented commercial kitchen.” But running the business does not come without complications. The most difficult part of it is the lack of work-life balance as most of her time is spent running the business, Hudson said. “As a small business owner, I must wear many hats,” Hudson added. “It does not leave much down time or time for other things. I’m looking forward to the day when I’m able to take a breath.” The coronavirus outbreak has been a particular challenge to the company. She had to quickly pivot to doing more online sales from her plans of getting out to farmers markets, festivals, street fairs and other public events. Instead, she revamped Walter’s Cookies website and began offering next day local deliveries of the baked treats, Hudson said. “We developed online advertising and promotions, and we expanded into a local market, Jim’s Fallbrook Market, where we have a kiosk with our freshly baked cookies and delicious ice cream cookie sandwiches,” she added. Once the pandemic ends, Hudson said her plans are to open a storefront in the San Fernando Valley. “We plan to expand our menu to include not just cookies and ice cream cookie sandwiches but also coffee drinks, teas, cookie cakes, ice desserts and even more,” Hudson said. Mark R. Madler