Baking & Snack - November 2024 - 114

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT
After surviving cancer, Kyri Mosley gave up a career
in health care to pursue her passion for baking.
Y
You can't keep a good woman down. Neither cancer nor
a difficult divorce was going to prevent Kyri Mosley,
PhD, from pursuing her dream. In 2021, she officially
traded in her scrubs for an apron.
It was a dream that started a decade prior. That is
when she decided to send cookies to troops overseas.
" I had just gone through a
divorce, " she explained. " I was
feeling completely abandoned.
I spoke to my then 12-year-old
son about the sacrifices the
troops were making in Iraq
and Afghanistan. I told him I
imagined they must feel abandoned
so far away from their
families. I asked if he would
like to help bake cookies for
them, and he agreed. This was
the beginning of us not only
serving soldiers but also serving
nurses, teachers, firefighters
and police officers. "
Ten years later, in October
2019, Mosley was diagnosed
with stage 4 Ewing's sarcoma,
a rare, cancerous tumor that
forms in bone or soft tissue.
Despite her illness, baking was
never far from mind. Once the
cancer was in remission, she
was convinced to make baking
her full-time profession.
Kyri Mosley offers
her cookies with
" a hug in every bite. "
Kyri's Kookies
" As a gesture of my gratitude, I presented members of the
clinical team with 'thank you' gifts of cookies, " she said. " I
mailed some and personally delivered others. I heard, 'Why
aren't you selling these?' My sister told me I should be baking
and selling my cookies for a living. I contacted my son
114 Baking & Snack November 2024 / www.bakingbusiness.com
and daughter and told them about my desire to start baking
again. They gave me their blessings. "
Launching a business in the baking industry as a
Black woman has not been easy, according to Mosley.
But lack of access to capital and funding wasn't going to
prevent her from achieving her goal.
" I have found it extremely difficult to obtain funding
as a consumer packaged goods (CPG) product, " Mosley
explained. " It is nearly impossible to secure funding
from traditional financial institutions. In addition, we
have found most angel investors prefer to invest in
technology and not CPG, regardless of the quality of
the product. We've worked very hard to secure partnerships
with Hyatt, Marriott, PGA, Nike and Hudson
News. But it has been a challenge to find those who
want to invest. "
The company produces cookies in 10 flavors, including
Chocolate Chunk, Chocolate Chunk with Walnuts,
Oatmeal Cran-Raisin, Zebra Macadamia, The Brooklyn
(a nod to her home state of New York) and The Georgia
Pecan Turtle (the company is based in Dallas, Ga.). Kyri's
Kookies also offers four plant-based varieties: Chocolate
Chunk, Chocolate Chunk with Pecan, Oatmeal Lemon
Cranberry Gluten-Free and Peanut Butter Gluten-Free.
The company uses organic ingredients; its cookies are
made without flour or white sugar.
For Mosley, the dream continues.
" We are starting an equity crowdfunding campaign, "
she explained. " We want to raise funding to build a
larger facility so we can increase our dough distribution
across multiple brands. "
Kyri's Kookies are sold in Hyatt hotels across the United
States and Hudson News outlets at Hartsfield-Jackson
Atlanta International Airport. In addition, the cookies
are available at the company's brick-and-mortar store in
Dallas or online at www.kyriskookies.com.
- Keith Moore
http://www.kyriskookies.com http://www.bakingbusiness.com
Baking & Snack - November 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Baking & Snack - November 2024
