Meet Mariko Dehning

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mariko Dehning. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mariko below.

Mariko, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

I moved from Japan to Kansas City about 6 years ago to marry my husband, we then welcomed 2 beautiful sons over the next 3 years.

I always liked Kawaii (cute) stuff and adorable anime characters, so when I saw the cute artistically designed sugar cookies on social media I was immediately drawn to them.

The first time I tried making sugar cookies was for my son’s first birthday. I taught myself baking and how to apply the icing by watching youtube and instagram videos. I started by just making cookies a couple times a year just for fun and for special occasions such as birthdays for friends and family.

After my second son was born I suffered from bad postpartum depression and could barely do anything, I honestly felt like I had lost hope. Thankfully my husband was very supportive and with the help of medical treatments I started feeling better. I realized how short life could be and began to think what I would like to do in my life outside of being a stay at home parent and raising my kids.

I had been making Chiefs cookies for the football games and for Super Bowl parties and they were always a big hit with people. So my husband encouraged me that I could sell my cookies and make a business of it.

I always had loved cooking and baking, so when I started making sugar cookies and other baked-good products it was a lot of fun and exciting. It had been awhile since I had felt this passionate and fulfilled by something, so I was very happy and enjoyed that I could make others happy as well.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I’m the owner of Mari’s Custom Cookies located in Lee’s Summit and servicing the Kansas City Metro area.

We specialize in making beautifully decorated custom designed sugar cookies. We also offer other baked treats such as cake pops, drop cookies, cupcakes and even cakes.

Since I’m from Japan and a huge fan of Asian sweets, I also offer unique Japanese flavors like Ube( purple sweet potato), and Matcha(green tea).

Some of the popular occasions that customers order our custom cookies for are; baby showers, birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, holiday parties, family gatherings, and even corporate branding and marketing.

I had previous working experience in a leading candy company in Japan, and I always believed the sweets can easily make any person happy in their daily life. Even though I worked mainly in marketing & sales within the company, starting my own business in a new country was a completely new experience for me. There were many hurdles, challenges, and opportunities along the way and I know I learned a lot from them and grew because of it.

I always loved Kawaii (cute) stuff and thought how special it would be to get a customized cute & delicious treats! I love to see my customers smile when they pickup the cookies. Sometimes they even give me a warm hug. I just enjoy making people happy with my cookies & sweets that I carefully made just for them.

We do pop ups at events and even at cafes and retail shops on occasion. I especially like making Asian cultural related designs such as Sushi cookies, Kimono cookies, etc. So I enjoy being a vendor at Asian community events and share my culture through delicious and cute cookies.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I think to have a successful business we need patience, great communication, and the ability to meet customer’s expectations.

I believe it takes time for a new business to grow and have regular customers. Since I’m not from KC, I didn’t have many people to spread words for me at first. I consistently posted in local Facebook pages, instagram, and slowly people started to find me, and they loved my work. It took me two whole years to start getting orders frequently. Word of mouth started to flow, and now I get so busy sometimes that I get fully booked. So you just need to be consistent and believe in what you love to do, be patient and you’ll start getting customers.

Great communication is always the key to be successful. But English is my second language for me, and I’m not a talkative person, so I struggled at first. What I try to do is to make sure what the customer needs in designs, colors, and flavors. After I hear their request, I make mock-up designs for them to see visually and make sure that it’s what they want. I don’t want to disappoint them and want to make sure i get it just how they envisioned it. I always love to see their reactions when I send the pictures of final products! It makes it worth all the time and hard work I put into every order.

The last skill is the Ability to meet customers expectations. Many of my customers are my repeat customers, and I believe that I met their expectations and made them happy, so they order again. I make sure what they want through messages and I’m always on time. I never cancelled orders and am always finished on time.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

It’s my husband for sure. He is the one who pushed me to start selling cookies and made me a business owner. He is always a very positive person. He has his MBA and had experience with entrepreneurship, so he was able to help me a lot with the other side of running a business so I can focus on baking and giving our customers great service.

I sometimes get stressed and overwhelmed by trying to finish all the orders in time when I’m busy, but he always helps me out with kids and with the house chores to make it easier for me.

I have also met many local success small business owners. I’ve learn a lot from them too and I feel like I’m not alone in going through this journey, so it’s definitely nice to do vendor events and pop-ups to meet other business owners and make new friends.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariscustomcookies?igsh=NmZlOGh1OXp4OHB4&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/16V7gAmrZA/?mibextid=wwXIfr