Love Fort Wayne Podcast
The Love Fort Wayne podcast amplifies the stories of everyday people who are loving and leading in Northeast Indiana to spark imagination, root inspiration, and ignite transformation.
Love Fort Wayne Podcast
Mike Reed's Cookies with a Cause | A Recipe for Change
Join us for an inspiring conversation with Mike Reed, the former financial planner who has turned his community-focused vision into reality as the owner of Dirty Dough Cookies in Fort Wayne. Mike's journey is anything but ordinary, as he shares how he left behind the world of finance to create a local bakery that champions authenticity over perfection, capturing the essence of what it means to find joy in life's messiness. Discover how Mike's store has become a cherished part of the Fort Wayne community, thanks to heartwarming initiatives like "Thank You for Being You," where cookies are gifted freely to lift spirits and spread goodwill.
This episode is packed with insights on the transformative power of creativity and risk-taking, both in personal endeavors and community engagement. Learn how Dirty Dough has forged powerful partnerships with organizations like Breastie Box and the Vera Bradley Foundation, using delicious cookies as a vehicle for meaningful change and support. From surpassing ambitious distribution goals to collaborating with the Ronald McDonald House and local schools, Mike's story serves as a testament to the impact of bold ideas and genuine community service. Tune in to be inspired by a business model that not only stands out but also encourages others to contribute to local causes with passion and purpose.
Welcome to season four of the Love Fort Wayne podcast. The Love Fort Wayne podcast amplifies the stories of everyday people who are loving and leading in Northeast Indiana to spark imagination, root inspiration and ignite transformation in our community and beyond. Root inspiration and ignite transformation in our community and beyond. At Love Fort Wayne, we believe the pillars of a flourishing community are its leaders, pastors, schools, families and prayer and in Season 4, we're excited to learn from and be encouraged by people who not only lead but love our city in these areas each day. Before we dive in, we want to say thank you to our partners at RemedyLive, dreamon Studios, star Financial, brotherhood, mutual and Shepherd Family Auto Group for making the podcast possible. Welcome everybody to the second episode of Season 5 of the Love Fort Wayne Podcast. I am Jeff King, along with my co-host and dear friend Mitch Cruz.
Speaker 2:Mitch, how are we doing?
Speaker 1:I'm doing well, good, good. It's good to be with you here in February as we are continuing again, starting a new year with some fresh, new podcasts, and we're really, really excited about this one. We're joined today by Mike Reed. Mike, how are you?
Speaker 3:I'm good Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:Good man, I'm so excited that you're here with us. I'm going to let Mike do a formal introduction of himself in a little bit, but I think, for the folks that are tuned in today, if you're watching, wherever however you're engaging with this today, you're going to love this story and I'm excited that you've joined us and to share a little bit of what you do and your heart and really the foundation of why you and your wife and your team have decided to do things the way that you do.
Speaker 3:And so folks are like okay, well, what does the doing of do mean?
Speaker 1:So I'm going to pull back and just let you introduce yourself, tell a little bit about your story and we'll go from there.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I'm Mike Reed and I can do 300 push-ups in five minutes.
Speaker 2:No, I'm just kidding. I'm like let's go.
Speaker 3:But yeah, I'm originally from Oregon, so I'm not from Fort Wayne, but I've lived here 23 years. So, technically I would say I'm from. Fort Wayne but married for 22 and I have four kids that all attend school here in Fort Wayne, so came into the financial planning world. That's kind of where I started and then got introduced to some different ideas, uh, as ways to give back to the community.
Speaker 1:So I think that's why we're here today. So glad to be here, yeah, Excited to have you man, and so share a little bit about. So you, you guys run, if folks are listening. From outside the Fort Wayne area there was a new phenomenon that hit our community you know, and what it's been a little over a year it'll be a year.
Speaker 3:Yeah, okay, in the december.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so a year, so you um dirty dough cookies.
Speaker 2:The doing of do is the doughy of dough yeah, we might have to steal that yeah mitch is the man.
Speaker 1:Could you tell us a little bit about dirty dough cookies and just the overall mission?
Speaker 3:yeah so. So, yeah, we, we kind of looked at some different things. So one of our passions was just finding, I think, unique ways to give back to the community. I think, uh, we kind of just sat down and said, hey, we've been giving back to the community, but just in that standard way. You know that I've had been accustomed to, I guess. And so one of the things I tell my kids is it's good to be different and try to be different. And if you were to ask me if I thought I was going to own a cookie store three, four years ago, I probably would have laughed but got introduced to really the concept it's. It's a franchise that the focus is that life is messy, and that that kind of rang true to me, because I feel like so often we're presented with trying to be perfect, you know and social media and everything, and had this product and talked to the founder, where it's just life is messy and you know it's really what's on the inside that counts.
Speaker 3:You know it's really what's on the inside that counts. And so I just fell in love with that idea and we started having conversations and said, hey, what if we bring that to the Midwest? And at that point I think there was just a couple locations out on the West Coast and and so we said, let's, let's see what happens.
Speaker 3:And so fast forward to today. We really wanted to use that concept to just bring joy in a different way and hopefully find the opportunity to make it profitable enough that we could use the proceeds to give back to the community. You're crossing your fingers when you open?
Speaker 3:that. But we were blessed. I mean, fort Wayne definitely embraced it to the point where I was in awe. I mean, people, people love cookies and it's a good product. But it's allowed us to do the mission that we wanted with the store, and that was to just find unique ways to partner with people or organizations, but also do unique things even in the store. An example I always use is we have just what's called thank you for being you, where we identify groupings or individuals, where we just say, hey, here you go, here's, here's cookies, and no questions asked. And and it was interesting, the first time we did it, it was almost as if people expected us to ask for more you know like well, what do I have to do?
Speaker 3:And remember our manager, Jennifer, who's awesome. She said she just kept repeating to one particular customer no, this is just, you can take it. And they were almost indisciplined. Well, do you need a blood sample, do you? Need a social security card, social Security card. But it was neat to hear those stories to say like this is something that we're able to do, and then with organizations as well. So it's been fun. It's been fun for sure, so good.
Speaker 2:What would you say makes a Dirty Dough cookie different than all other cookies?
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, I think what drew me to it and again it sounds silly is just being different and just that when you open up the box, the concept is you want to have a unique experience.
Speaker 2:It's like an Apple box. Yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so you open the box and it's just, it's messy. Yeah, I mean, there's stuff Like it's not this, like perfect topping cookie, it's got you know, you know frosting or you know cream cheese or what I mean. Every cookie is different. And then there's, you know, in some cookies there's crumbles just kind of thrown on them and but when you open it up it's a three-layer cookie. So the premise behind it and that's what kind of drew me to what it was preaching is it's what's on the inside that counts.
Speaker 3:So then you open up the cookie. Okay, this is different and it's unexpected, so it's just unique, it's different and I like that.
Speaker 2:You talk about taste and see that the Lord is good. I'm telling you that chocolate chip.
Speaker 3:it does it for me. Yeah, it's fire, as my son would say. Yeah, he's right it is fire.
Speaker 1:It's good stuff. You know I think about. You know it's what's on the inside that counts. You know you talked about some other. You know unique brand position statements that were that drew your attention, you know, drew you all's attention as you were looking at it. But then the heart to give proceeds back to the community. I know that's a foundational thing for you and for your wife. Where did that come from? Especially in business. You know some folks won't think that way first, but it's, it's rooted within you all.
Speaker 3:Well, and I think you know, from a faith-based standpoint, and how you run businesses you look at, you know, I always use the example of one of the most unique business owners is what I say was Jesus, how he approached just life and how he just approached everything. Everything that he did was different. And so if you're modeling, if you take Jesus as a mentor and you say, okay, he's running his business and I understand that's not necessarily what it was, but if you look at it from that standpoint, as a mentor for a business, I mean everything he did was different.
Speaker 3:And so I kind of looked at it and said, well, why can't we? Um? I kind of looked at it and said, well, why can't we? Um, and and what's? What's amazing and I guess feedback that I would give for other businesses is uh, dirty dough as a whole is a franchise, and so there's now over 70 locations um. The fort wayne store is the does more volume than any other store in the country.
Speaker 3:So so you know if you look at it from a just business standpoint, you know, if I were to lean into other businesses I would say well, obviously giving back to your community from a business management standpoint makes sense, and so it's just been neat. You know, does that always translate to every?
Speaker 3:you know, I always say Fort Wayne's different, that's true, and so but I think it's a great example where, when you do come alongside your community and you say, hey, here's, here's some opportunities to give in a different way, and you say, hey, here's some opportunities to give in a different way, it has showed me well, if I can do it with cookies, then why can't I do it with other things? And that's really kind of our hope is to continue to grow, even with other opportunities with the same idea or concept.
Speaker 1:So good.
Speaker 2:It dawned on me once teaching something about Jesus, that if you're gonna worship God 24 seven, you can do that the most where people expect it the least, and I think that's in a business transaction. And so it's so cool that you're doing that. And then I had a mentor say to me one time do you realize? Jesus was in the marketplace for the first 30 years of his life. You know I thought man that so everything you were saying yeah there's a strong marketplace application that he experienced, yeah.
Speaker 1:I love that. I'm just going to tap on that again. It's like I had a conversation about that as well. It's everything that he did in regards to loving people in the three year, three and a half years that we, that we've seen and recorded was was post requisite of how he was living his life in the marketplace before.
Speaker 1:Yes, and it was just, you know, it was just his time to do the thing he had been called to do, and so I love the example of, yeah, in the three plus years that we see as an example and the 30 that we have not seen or we only know bits about. Your example of this is how he ran. He did, he had a business, he was a carpenter and he gave to people and he loved people still in that way, and then that work as well. So it's really really good.
Speaker 1:It's really good. So there's been. I know you have some stories. I was going to say there's been some moments, you know, in you all's opening of the store where you just had some stories probably to tell you know of partnering with people in the community, and you've told us some before you know, people. You know what do I have to give blood sacrifice, but what are some other ones that have come to mind in regards to giving back to the community and partnering with people?
Speaker 3:Well, I think you know one thing that I would say that that surprised me probably the most is having having this not be my primary business is how many people wanted to partner, to the point where we had to set up a whole QR code system because we had over 300 requests of just hey, is maybe there's some opportunities to partner. That was probably the most unexpected, because I joke, I'm like you know you have other businesses that never get approached and then you have Dirty Dough's example that gets asked over 300 times and so choosing and being able to say hey, this is who, I think we could really come alongside. What it helped me do is dig deeper.
Speaker 3:I think Because it introduced me to organizations that I had heard of but didn't necessarily understand, like what exactly they were doing, until you start looking and saying, man, I could really partner with these organizations. So example, I guess. So we just came off of October which you know, is breast cancer awareness.
Speaker 3:So we were able to partner with one organization it's called Breastie Box which is breast cancer awareness. So we were able to partner with one organization it's called Breastie Box which is Erica Hyatt here in Fort Wayne Awesome gal, just creating these deliverables for individuals who find out that they have breast cancer. So a lot of thought, a lot of heart that went into these boxes that are very intentional. Just items in the box, handpicked story behind each item, like that say hey, um, here's an opportunity where, if people can, if they come and they buy dirty dough for a specific day, all the proceeds go to that organization. Or hey, we're going to supply cookies for people who participate in an event. Um, uh, and and even, you know, organize organizations like erica who are just getting going with all I mean so much heart, but not necessarily the backing. Our hope is too because Dirty Dough does have a following that then sometimes people just get introduced. What?
Speaker 2:is this.
Speaker 3:I don't know what she's doing. So we've seen some of that. Just to be able to use some of the social media side, which I am terrible at, but have some people that have come alongside us to help us with that. I think another, just larger scale is even the Vera Bradley Foundation, you know where we've come alongside them and worked with them.
Speaker 3:That's great and same story, just different focus and again great peoplehanie and her team just doing phenomenal things over there, and so those are cool opportunities that we were able to say, hey, this is a specific area in our community that we want to just come alongside, and so we've kind of done that almost on a systematic basis to say like here's organizations in specific areas. So, whether it's that or in the medical world, we've partnered with Ronald McDonald House. So tomorrow I won't be here, but we will be delivering three dozen to because they feed families. I mean, if people that are listening have not gone into, that was again an example where I had always heard of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:But until you go in and see you're like, wow, this is amazing that you guys do all this. I had no idea, I thought it was McDonald's you know, and you look at it and you're like how did I not know that this, all this was going on? You know, three miles from me you know so so those are.
Speaker 3:Those are examples where we're able to get introduced. And now, as we go into next year, one of the things we're saying is you know, in order to continue to do this, I say I want businesses to know hey, this is an opportunity. Yeah, because what I always say with owning other businesses is we buy bagels, we buy donuts, we buy, we do that all the time. And I said if businesses, you know, partner with us, even in a way of just hey, we're doing an event and I'm going to buy cookies instead of bagels this time, in essence they're a part of that.
Speaker 3:So they're a piece of that, that donation or that, even if it's monetary maybe it's not cookies in certain situations, it enables them that opportunity to say, hey, this could be something that we could partner with, and so we're trying, as we go into 2025, to look at what are some other ways to where people feel that they are a part of it and hopefully other businesses will copy us like they have in certain things, which is kind of cool.
Speaker 2:How much lead time do you need to bake a certain number of cookies? For like an event. Does somebody need to talk to you a week in advance, a month in advance, a day in advance? No, a month in advance a day in advance.
Speaker 3:What is it? No, so. So one of the things when, when, when I did this store, as I said, I wanted to be able to say to anyone in Fort Wayne yes, you know, like we don't. So so the infrastructure in there, um, I kind of said, you know, it might cost a little bit more, but, um, I want to make sure we have enough ovens, we have enough cooking power.
Speaker 3:I think is what our manager said to be able to take an order. So yeah, I mean they're baked fresh, so same day. I mean I always joke, since we're in Fort Wayne, I always say if we can handle Parkview, we can handle.
Speaker 2:That's true man view we can.
Speaker 3:We can handle um and, and you know so the the cool thing too is I said I want to be able to work with people too, so we have a team that you know companies can call and say, hey, I'm thinking this and kind of get creative, get unique, be different, um. So one of the things we try to convince businesses is to put thank you for being you stickers on the on the boxes. Not everybody does, but that's kind of our thing to just it's a feel-good.
Speaker 2:I mean people.
Speaker 3:I mean cookies. I always say they're calorie friendly. Somebody asked how many calories are in a cookie and I say you should never ask how many calories If one matter is worth every bite.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 3:But it's a treat-yourself time which everybody should have regardless of what's going on? But yeah, to answer your question, I mean it's seamless, it's baked to order, so I mean it's seamless. It's baked to order, so it can know it is.
Speaker 1:I mean the, the, the, the message behind the, the, the wonderful taste of the cookie is. I mean they, they collide in a positive way. You know, uh, mitch, you know Mike and uh in the team and the his team, that you just you spoke to there or been so helpful to some of the to us and some of the work we've done with schools and ensuring that you know, the staff during staff appreciation week has a fresh baked cookie in an individual box with a note on it and to let them know that they appreciate it. And you know that that was huge for us to have a community partner, like you all who are saying we believe in the work that you're, that you're doing, that we will partner with you in this one way. And you know, for Global Leadership Summit being there. And you know, as you mentioned, you partner with nonprofits and organizations to say this is a proceeds day.
Speaker 1:This is a portion of proceeds day for Love Fort Wayne. I mean that means a lot to those of us who feel like we're doing good work and we're called to do that good work in our community, to have a community partner that is saying, yeah, we're willing to meet you in a spot that'll work for you, work for us too.
Speaker 1:But, we want to be able to help you. It just it goes a long way and I think it just speaks to the collaborative heart of our city. There's something fresh and new that's happening here that all of us have since for a number of years now, where there's there's more humility, there's more lowering of ourselves to see the whole community thrive and flourish in the way that we desire to, and and and many different facets. So I just wanted to say that Thank you again, for you know we I can testify to the work that you all do and how great that team is there, and I know the fun thing is, you know, I go and pick up some of that stuff and I'm like, while I'm waiting which isn't very long, it's usually ready I'm like can I grab a?
Speaker 1:you know what do you think They've got the little the drinks now the dirty.
Speaker 3:What are those called? Yeah, so that's a unique one. That was. That was even a push for me. So, we introduced Dirty Sodas, which is just a mixture to the point where create your own. And it again came from. It's a Utah-based that has taken off again West Coast, and I just said, well, let's try it and bring it here. I'm not a soda drinker, but for those who like it, it's just it's definitely different.
Speaker 2:It's so good.
Speaker 3:And again, the concept behind that is the sodas are to take you back to a time, so they'll have a dreamsicle and it literally like. You taste it and you're like, oh yeah, I remember when I was a kid this kind of tastes like that popsicle, that dreamsicle, and that's the whole premise behind it.
Speaker 1:So it's different, it's different. Yeah, I'm not a soda drinker either and so I had to ask the gal. I'm like, if I'm gonna cheat, I need to cheat with yeah, yeah, or something like that she was like we can do one that has, like you know, yeah, you know, a non-caffeine soda in there, a pop in there we can do it for sure it's really really good that's man, that's fascinating it's different it's different you bring so much joy to people's faces.
Speaker 2:Like everything that you do. It just makes, makes you happy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's right. That's really really cool. It's good yeah.
Speaker 2:Um, where does your faith story come from? Because it's obvious that that's the catalyst to everything. Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 3:So I grew up conservative Christian. Go to church every 19 times a week is what I always say, and that's not enough. But yeah, I grew up faith-based a huge part of my life. But I think as I got older I realized, okay, some of the things I'm doing just purely out of habit, and so it wasn't until probably adult life where then I realized, okay, this is what it's actually like to know Christ and to try to follow his lead. And so I think you know, as I developed as a person, as a human being, you know we all make mistakes and you learn from those mistakes, but I think With Dirty Dough.
Speaker 3:I think having that background is primarily the reason why you do the things that you do. And I think it reminds you when you, when you have success in businesses and things of that nature, the tendency is always to think well, look at what I've accomplished and look at you know all these things. And I think I realized in other businesses there's only so much there. And so you know you, utilizing things like cookies, as weird as that sounds, to say, hey, how can I present a Christ-like behavior, how can I follow Christ's lead? And not to say that I haven't figured out.
Speaker 3:I mean, there's plenty of mistakes that I make every day and my kids remind me of that but but I do think there's so many opportunities and you know, I look at what, even what we've been able to accomplish with dirty dough. I think how cool would it be if, if one person sees that who has twice the intelligence of me, twice the knowledge, and says, well man, what if I do this in the mechanical world? Or what if I do this in something, then that's a win, that's a win.
Speaker 3:And so I think we as believers including myself sometimes get into those habits and I think that's what, what I wanted. I wanted to be different. I wanted to say you know what that's? That's the easy. I've always done easy. How can this be a little bit more challenging? Because anybody who's run a business it's not easy you know there's there's there's hiccups and there's issues, and so I think I've been able to just use my business background to help it be profitable, which allows us to give more back to the community. But I'm just a piece of the pie.
Speaker 3:I mean there's so many people that have been helpful and instrumental to be able to do the things that we're doing there.
Speaker 1:So good, so good. I think we uh it's a perfect segue to, I think, one of the last things we want to chat about, which and you've hit on it uh, just then, you hit on it earlier in our time together, where you've just talked about, um, what it means to be in the marketplace and to live your faith out loud through the work that you do in businesses. I mean, is there a word of encouragement, even utilizing that example of if you're a mechanic and you own a car lot.
Speaker 1:but like what would you tell your peers folks that are leading in the marketplace every day about living out the faith in their unique way, the same way that you all are?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, I think what I've realized is you don't have to be in front of the church and be a pastor, because I would be a terrible pastor and I would probably be asked to resign because I would say the wrong things or something.
Speaker 2:Not that I don't like pastors.
Speaker 3:But I think you can be a pastor in your own way. So you can be a pastor in your own way, so you can be different. And I think the key thing is is find opportunities to be different and to where people ask questions. You know, I think that's always been my game is, you know, I don't, I don't put on my shirt that it says Christian here, you know, thumbs up, but. But I would say I want people to be like well, what, what's, why? Why is he doing things different than the other guy? Um, and so I think you know, just just acting it out and you know, versus talking about it.
Speaker 3:You know, I, I, I think, that's that's. I'm a huge believer in that. If I were to give anybody advice, I think what I've realized is there's some extremely creative people here in Fort Wayne, absolutely that present ideas and my downside is, I'll take every idea and think how can I be a part of that?
Speaker 3:I, I'll take every idea and think how can I be a part of that, and. But I just think I would challenge other people that are similar to me or even just brainstorming um, take that next step, like that, uh. Instead of saying uh, I always say why not, why not? You know like, if it's a good idea, and you know like, okay, so five years from now, dirty dough, people hate cookies. We still were able to. And you know like, okay, so five years from now, dirty dough, people hate cookies. We still were able to have done.
Speaker 3:You know, we close our doors and I say, well, that, you know, didn't work out forever, but wow, we've given away you know x amount. I think. Year to date, we've given out 17,000 cookies, which is crazy, you know, but and our goal was 15,000. And then, obviously, monetary donations you know which, which we've exceeded that as well, and so it's just it's cool to see, to say, okay, what's next? And let's continue to look at other opportunities that may not even be food related or just service related. And how can we put that same spin of being different, being unique, and so that's kind of next steps, kind of where we're looking.
Speaker 2:You started off about how our culture and oftentimes it's our intrinsic values or our temperaments that tells us to be perfect, and it reminds me of a case study. Everything you've said has just brought me back to this. It reminds me of a case study where one art class was told to make the perfect piece of pottery and the other art class was told to make as many pieces of pottery as they could, and the question then became which one produced the perfect piece of pottery? And it was the one that produced as many as they could, because the one that was challenged with creating the perfect piece of pottery never made one. And taking that first step, taking that step of faith, that risk with God, is a powerful, powerful thing, and I just can't thank you enough for your approach and what you're doing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, mike. Yeah, we thank you. Thanks for joining us, thanks for the work that you're doing in our community, for the example that you're setting. Everything that you just said, mitch, is so true, and yeah, I think, about the stories that have been told and will be told because of you and your team's continual willingness to say yes to the unique mission of Dirty Dough here in Fort Wayne.
Speaker 1:I think it reminds me of what Mike just shared, mitch, that Paul said how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. And it's not just pastors, it's those who are being sought in light every day in the marketplace, in our business areas, the way in which we lead and we serve and we give back to the places that we live, work and play. And so thank you for that example, and I pray that those who have tuned in that this just listening or watching has been a huge blessing to you and your leadership journey, and maybe you receive some encouragements or, as we like to say, some gems, g-e-m's that you can take into your everyday life as you're parenting, as you're leading, as you're serving, as you're running your own business. That's what this podcast is for. It's about telling the stories of people who are making a transformational difference here in our community. So thank you again, mike for sharing your story and everyone else.
Speaker 1:Thank you for tuning in and we will catch up with you at the next Love Fort Wayne podcast. With you at the next Love.
Speaker 2:Fort Wayne podcast. Thank you so much for joining us this month. We drop a new episode the first Monday of every month. Love Fort Wayne has some amazing episodes coming up. You don't want to miss a single one, so subscribe today, wherever you are listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please like, share and leave a review. We want to share your thoughts and comments with listeners on future episodes. Thanks again for joining us today. Join us next time, as we hear from leaders that don't just lead but love our city.
