Meet Lyn Cortez | Owner of Soft Bites

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

Hi Lyn, how do you define success?
If I was asked this question ten years ago, my answer would unhesitatingly be money; I used to define success based on how much money I made. The richer people are, the more successful they become.

Now? my success is when I have a random person walking back to me and telling me my cookies tasted good, or when I have a mom checking the baseball snack bar to see if my cookies were in, or even when I randomly got a message from a stranger saying they tried my cookies and wondered if they could get more from other stores.

My success has shifted away from the amount of money I made to how much happiness I have created for myself, my customers, and my family.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My cookie business journey might be different from others. It started out purely from the love I have for kitchen gadgets. I find them fascinating and always want to own them. However, they can be expensive and that includes a stand mixer. I had an eye on one for a couple of years or so, but I hadn’t bought one yet because I couldn’t find a good enough reason to use it except for making a cookie dough. Eventually, I bid a used one from Goodwill to try and see if I could really find a reasonable purpose for potentially buying a new one. I started making cookies to my part-time job, and my coworkers fell in love with them. But to be fair, I love making cookies and brownies growing up already, so turning my passion into a business makes it a lot easier to do so.

Once it’s considered a business, there will always be a challenge to test your limit and see how much you’re willing to go. The hardest part for me was work-life balance. I’m a stay-at-home mom of 2 young kids with a part-time job working at a driving range near my house before I started Soft Bites. Now, I simply just add Soft Bites into my life but my prior schedule hasn’t changed. I still prioritize my kids and their schedules over everything else, so the only time to make cookies would be during the three 4 hour days a week and the rest would be at night. Some of them would be after I get off work from the driving range at 9:30pm, so planning ahead is very important to me because my priority for Soft Bites is to make sure my customers receive the freshest cookies possible.

The very first day I sold my cookies in an individually packed and sealed package at The Islands Golf Center, the driving range near my house, I sold 3 cookies, which one was bought by another coworker. To be honest, I was happy and excited. Since then, it has grown from 3 cookies a day to a dozen cookies a day within a week and hasn’t stopped growing.

I think there is a difference between making cookies for money and making cookies out of passion. I’m glad I get to do both. One of the most important things for me with this business is that I don’t sacrifice the quality over cost. I’m willing to spend a more to get the taste and texture I prefer because I care a lot more about what my customers think than just to sell them. Obviously selling a lot is great, but getting a positive feedback and repeating customers totally outweigh the sales number.

4 months in and I think the planning and scheduling start to settle. I’m proud of myself that I can make this work caring for my kids, working at night, and now having my own small business that one day, I would like to have a brick and mortar store to call home.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Ha! Not just because I work there, but I will definitely take them to The Islands Golf Center. It’s not an ordinary driving range like others. You hit golf balls into the water with some floating islands for target. It lights up beautifully at night and has a full kitchen. Their food is AMAZING!!

Now coming back to other places within approximately 50 miles of Orange. This can be tricky because I have best friends both with and without kids, so let’s based this itinerary on the ones with a kid. obviously some places can be for either.

For breakfast, I’d probably take them to Plums Cafe, down in Newport Beach for their famous Dutch Baby dish. I think they have good food and the food looks very presentable. If it’s a quick grab I would say Jumbo Donuts in Orange. It’s my kids’ favorite place to go for donuts and croissants. Another place that I like is Snooze. They have multiple locations. I’ve only been to the one in Tustin.

If we go hiking, I’d choose Crystal Cove. Instead of parking along the beach, I’d go park at El Moro Canyon Trail (you can google the name and it’ll take you directly to that parking lot) because when you walk up to the top, you’re walking facing the ocean and it’s so worth walking up that steep hill to see that view. Then when you’re done, you can drive down to Shake Shack nearby for a burger or a poke dish at Bear Flag.

Beaches! Toddler-to-young-kid-friendly beach that I’d 100% recommend would be Baby Beach in Dana Point. It’s in the harbor so water is still and very shallow. Sand is fine grain and soft. Another one for a young to preteen would be Marina Park Playground. It’s a beach in the harbor as well PLUS they have a playground right by the beach, so if your kid wants to change things up, they can do both. Water can be deeper than Baby Beach, but still calm. Now for a quiet and nice beach, but I’d recommend to just go without too many things to carry is Table Rock Beach. So pretty! The downside is that you have to park along PCH and walk down some flights of stairs. I heard the NEApolitan Pizzeria & Birreria across the street is good. I haven’t tried that place before though.

Let’s talk about lunch and dinner. I like korean bbq and shabu shabu, so my go to places are Wang Cho bbq all you can eat, but also do Mr. BBQ and Gen as well. Shabu Shabu would be Broth Shabu Shabu in Cerritos or House of Shabu. I’ve been to both ones in Anaheim and Irvine. I prefer Irvine because it’s bigger, but Anaheim has lamb. check their operating hours though. They some times change to only for dinner. Thai food I’d go to Nava Thai Cuisine in Orange. I love Tsukemen, which is a dipping ramen, and my super favorite place is Ramen Zetton in Costa Mesa. Din Tai Fung in Costa Mesa is famous for their Xiao Long Bao (soup stuffed dumpling). I also like Urban Plates for their healthy food.

Places to visit in the area for parents with kids would be Discovery Science Center (or most people call it Discovery Cube), Angels Stadium when there’s a game. Saturday night has a firework. Great Wolf Lodge is an indoor water park resort that my kids consider it their most favorite place to go to. Multiple playgrounds are very good to visit if you want to burn their energy out. My kids enjoy bringing my car on the Balboa Island Ferry. It’s not often you get to bring your car onto a ferry, so that’s pretty fun to do too.

What about ice-cream. Gelato Paradiso in Laguna Beach has been one of my favorite places to go to. You can buy ice cream there and walk across the street to finish their gigantic cone by the beach too.

I think this information is worth a week long trip. At least for food for sure.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The very first thing that came in mind after reading the question was what my husband always says, “I’ll support you with anything you want to do, and I’ll always be here for you when you need help”. I used to be the kind of person who was a little afraid to start something new, but with the full belief he has had in me, I went for it. Not only he has helped me with my business physically, he also helps me mentally in every way possible. How could he not be recognized?

My cookie store idea wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for The Islands Golf Center (Anaheim, CA). I work there as a part-timer, and they have been encouraging me to make it a business since I started bringing my homemade cookies to share. The amount of love I get from them is so incredible I never expected it was possible.

I think I’m a lucky person because I have an amazing group of friends and families. When I first promoted my business, a lot of them jumped in to buy my cookies because they simply wanted to support me, and I’m extremely grateful for that.

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