Strictly Cookies has established itself as NYUSH’s number one cookie and guilty but amazing pleasure distributor. You know you are an NYUSH student when you crave one of these scrumptious cookies at spontaneous hours of the day, and find comfort and support in their blessed existence. OCA got in touch with owner of Strictly Cookies, Lexie Comstock, and asked her a few questions about what’s going on behind the magical brown bags. Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how Strictly Cookies Started? I’ve always been really interested in China, and came over here first when I was 12. I popped over to Beijing a few more times before majoring in East Asian Studies in college, and then spent my summers in between college here working and studying. So basically, when I told my friends and family I was moving to Shanghai after graduation (2010), they were like, "yeah, big surprise." I had a job at a Chinese marketing firm for a few months, but quickly got frustrated with the idea that I HAD to be in the office between 9 and 6 (you had to swipe in and out) no matter my work load. That just seemed crazy to me, and entirely inefficient. Boredom combined with a genuine longing for American-style cookies is what essentially birthed Strictly Cookies. For a while, I would sneak out at lunch to go deliver cookies to customers (this was back when I was just baking cookies out of my apartment), but I soon realized that now was the time to be bold (and by "I soon realized" I mean I read that quote somewhere), so I quit my job and went into Strictly Cookies full time, while picking up 5 odd jobs so I could continue eating 3 meals a day. Aside from cookie related activities, I love concerts and books and Saturday Night Live and my dog Mario. And walking around this city. What's your favorite part of running Strictly Cookies? My favorite part of running Strictly Cookies is getting to jump in between various tasks. I get bored easily, so it’s nice to be able to dive into marketing for a few hours, and then rush to the kitchen to test a recipe, and then work on a financial spreadsheet (JK THAT PART IS NEVER EVER FUN). But one thing that I always like is interacting with customers. That never gets old. People are so weird and funny and nice, and something about the tone of our communications, or maybe the fact that our cookies remind them of home, brings out this very sweet, very open side of people that I just love dealing with. Cookies, man. I tell ya. What are the biggest challenges you face with Strictly Cookies? The biggest challenge, at this stage at least, is being able to define or articulate to yourself and to people around you what your company’s priorities are. Beyond saying, “this is what is important to our company,” just like next steps and stuff. I get excited about things and projects very easily, so I have to constantly check myself and be like, ok, does it really make sense to offer Cat Fancy readers 10% off? Will that translate into sales, and even if it does, do I want to go in that direction? What do you think makes your cookies special? In a very strange way, I think you can kind of taste that these cookies were made in a happy place with good intentions. I know that sounds crazy, but our team is fantastic, and we really work hard at creating a fun, exciting, supportive and nice environment to work in, and I think you kind of get a sense of that when you eat our cookies. But I don’t know...my default answers to these things are also usually very cheesy, so it’s probably just the strength of my mom’s initial recipe, which I still use. That would probably make more sense. How do you feel about NYU Shanghai and being our number one cookie provider!? I f****** love you guys so much. First of all, everyone I meet from NYUSH is cool and nice and terrifyingly impressive, AND you like to eat cookies! Like, what more could I ask for? Honored, is the word. I am honored you choose to consume Strictly Cookies. And we are honored you choose to provide us Strictly Cookies! Check out http://strictlycookies.com/ if you’re looking to satisfy a cooking craving. This article was written by Enrique Menendez. Send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Meizhi Ng