Meet Ross Canter | baker, cookie shop owner

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

Hi Ross, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I don’t think of myself as a risk-taker. I’d often look with envy at other people who seem to just go for it, leap in, take no prisoners — the opposite of how I see myself. I am definitely a thinker (sometimes, too much maybe). But the truth is: as I write this, I’m sitting in my office at a cookie shop in Santa Monica we opened nearly 10 years that has so far weathered Covid, Hollywood actors/writers strikes, and 3 freezers and 2 refrigerators that all decided to die at the same time. The point is, if I really think about it (and clearly, I do), we didn’t get here without choices being made and, yes, risks having been taken.

For me, rather than making big leaps, I take smaller steps. I break things into manageable parts so the decisions don’t feel so weighty. If my answer to the question “what’s the worst that could happen” isn’t truly life-altering or energy-draining, I’ll go for it. Signing our initial 5-year lease was probably the first major decision we had to make – lots of careful thought and discussion went into it – but once we decided that if the worst happened, if our business was a failure, we’d just figure out how to dig ourselves out of the financial hole (as we have throughout our lives) and we’d be okay. So, we signed (and have signed two more leases since).

Nothing in business is guaranteed. Just when we think we’ve got things down pat, there’s a new kink that forces us to reconsider how and what we’re doing. We’re always pivoting, figuring it out, and truthfully, navigating the unknown usually involves risk of some kind. How do I – a self-proclaimed non-risk taker – work through it? Beyond all the thinking and all the planning, it really comes down to a combination of hope and faith. Hope that everything works out and faith that if it doesn’t we’ll be able to pick ourselves and be okay in the end.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’ve been at this for a while now and I’m still learning new lessons every day – from employees to ingredients to social media/market practices, there are a ton of moving parts that are constantly changing so there’s always something new to figure out. But almost more importantly, I’ve realized that the lessons I haven’t yet learned – typically the issues I’ve tried to avoid or punted along the way – will continue to resurface and dog me until I’ve faced them and learned the lessons once and for all. Running a business is not just about products and profits and numbers – it’s an opportunity (whether you want it or you don’t) to learn about yourself, face your fears and insecurities, and grow as a human being.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Anne Lamott’s Bird By Bird which helped me understand the importance of breaking things down into manageable parts so the leap doesn’t feel so far.

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