We recently connected with Zachary Weiss and have shared our conversation below.
Zachary, thank you so much for making time for us today. We can’t wait to dive into your story and the lessons you’ve learned along the way, but maybe we can start with something foundational to your success. How have you gone about developing your ability to communicate effectively?
Communication is definitely an important part of running a small business. It starts with really putting in an effort to listen first, then understanding what the other party is saying. Whether you’re interacting with employees or customers, you need to establish a constructive relationship to make transactions beneficial for both of you.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I own and operate a cookie company based in Denver, Colorado, along with a few other projects. My Gnarly Mountain Cookie brand came from the idea that cookies should be fun and creative. It is really important to me that our customers not only enjoy the taste of the product, but also are a little surprised by the flavors. There is a certain “Wow” factor that really makes the experience special. My favorite part of this business is selling to small businesses all over the state. Having partners that put so much time and effort into what they do is really rewarding. You get to be a part of so many entrepreneur’s projects.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I think three important qualities or skills that have been impactful for me have been patience, persistence, and a willingness to listen to others. For most people in this field, success does not come quickly, so you really need to slow down sometimes and think bigger picture and not get too stuck in day to day issues. Understanding that certain parts of what we do are long term goals and not instantaneous is difficult for individuals that are used to completing tasks right away. It was extremely helpful for myself to finally be okay with giving the project some time to develop and still pushing hard every day in places where it was appropriate. It is tough to never have a break. There is never a time where you’re not working or at least thinking about how to improve and it becomes tiresome both physically and mentally. Being able to get through those rough times is definitely a skill that is learned.
Listening to everyone can be frustrating. They most likely do not know your business that way that you do. Most of the time, outsiders’ advice doesn’t take into account all the factors that you exhaust over every minute of every day, but listening does help you understand consumers wants and sometimes really gives you a great idea too!
As far as advice, everyone has their own journey for sure, but just make sure your time is spent in effective ways and most importantly, you need to trust yourself if what you’re doing is currently working.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
Gnarly Mountain is always looking for other companies to collaborate with. We try to include other local products as ingredients into our cookies. It’s really fun to learn about other people’s businesses and see if we can form a partnership that benefits both parties. Most of the time, I have reached out to them, but writing into our website is a great way to be a Gnarly collaborator!
Contact Info:
- Website: GnarlyMountainCookies.com
- Instagram: @GnarlyMountainCookies
- Facebook: Gnarly Mountain Cookies
- Linkedin: Gnarly Mountain Cookies
Image Credits
Geoff Worcester @rooster_shot
