SEATTLE — Self-care comes in many forms — and sometimes, it comes in the form of delicious cookies.
Ashley Hernandez and Sam Padilla run Coping Cookies — a cookie business that began as a bake sale benefitting Ashley's coworkers.
"It was supposed to be a one time thing," Ashley says. "And then people started asking for more because really really liked the cookies."
So did their friends, and family, and other random people - and that's how Ashley and Sam ended up baking, filling and decorating a huge amount of huge cookies.
Coping Cookies gets its name from Ashley's mental health background. She works in a local hospital's psychiatric ward, and mental health is a huge part of their business. Along with baking delicious cookies, Ashley and Sam use Instagram to educate their customers about mental heath.
"We still keep the core value of centering mental health and mental health advocacy, and really exposing people to organizations that stand for parts of mental health that are not actively talked about," Ashley says.
And every month, Sam and Ashley donate a part of their cookie proceeds to a mental health-related non-profit. So, yes - by eating cookies, you can give back!
If you want to buy their cookies, Coping Cookies offers periodic pop-ups as well as ordering windows - as they are just a two-woman team! You can follow their Instagram for updates.
And Coping Cookies aren't just your average, everyday cookies. Sam and Ashley make up delightful, punny, mental health-themed named for each cookie. There's Safe and Sconed, Key Lime Climb, and many others. The cookies are also huge - each order is four cookies to a box, but that equates to roughly a dozen normal-sized cookies.
This is Sam and Ashley's way of helping people cope with whatever life throws at them - one giant cookie at a time.
KING 5's Evening celebrates the Northwest. Contact us: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Email.