Le Gourmet Baking, the perfect shortbread cookie

 

We’ve found the perfect shortbread cookie, and the owner of the company is a SMU alumna. Becky Nelson ’78 is the founder and owner of Le Gourmet Baking, home of the perfect shortbread cookie.

There is nothing like Le Gourmet currently on the market, and the cookie’s deliciousness has been proven by its success with Neiman Marcus (2015) and William's Sonoma (2021) customers. Many Neiman Marcus customers reach out to Becky personally after trying her cookies, and Becky says this has been a major partnership for her.

Becky’s journey to entrepreneurship is just as sweet as the cookies she bakes. We sat down with Becky as she shared her story of how she started, put her business on pause and is now solely dedicated to growing Le Gourmet.

Since the late 1800s, Becky’s family members have been entrepreneurs in the food industry. Becky’s grandfather came to the U.S. from Spain and started one of the leading seafood companies in the south; that was one of her inspirations behind starting Le Gourmet. Her second inspiration was Ina Garten. Garten spoke at a luncheon Becky attended in 2003, and it was there that she really discovered her calling.

“She [Garten]owned a specialty food store at the time, and I thought that’s what I want to do. I loved her philosophy of simple, fresh and delicious.”

Following Garten’s presentation, Becky emailed her, and Garten gave her the blueprint for starting a specialty food business. Immediately, Becky began checking off her to-do list. In 2006, Becky went through a divorce and instead of being able to commit all her time to building her business, she had to find a more stable stream of income.

In 2012, Becky realized she still had the dream of opening her own food business, and the work she was currently doing was not fulfilling. She connected with Jessica Burnham the MFA, Director and Clinical Assistant Professor at the Lyle School of Engineering to help create her branding. 

“At that point, I was 50 and I thought if I don’t do it now, I’ll always wonder if I could have done it or not. I wanted to at least have tried. I decided to just have my business be my single focus, and at that time it was a savory and catering business called Le Gourmet Valet and I was working out of my home.”

In January of 2021, Becky ended her savory business and catering and decided to focus solely on her signature product, the Le Gourmet cookie.

“I’ve heard that instead of spreading yourself out, its better to perfect [this] one thing, so that’s what I did and I’m going to experiment with just this one product whether that’s different glazes, sizes, flavors, fillings, etc.”

Le Gourmet shortbread cookies are truly one of a kind. After trying them, we can’t help but agree with Becky when she says, “This cookie is like no other.” They are soft and have the perfect amount of sweetness.

Becky’s partnership with Neiman Marcus has customers hooked on this cookie, just like we were after trying it. Neiman Marcus has helped take her business to new heights, and the connection was made by one of Becky’s close friends and SMU alumna, Missy Townsend ’78.

“When I decided I wanted to get into Nieman Marcus, I was too nervous to make the call, so Missy made the call and told them she had a friend who has an amazing cookie, and they asked me to email pictures, and now I have a very good partnership with them.”

Not only does Becky credit her partnership with Nieman Marcus to her friend and classmate, but many of her customers are also alumni and have connected her with customers as well, allowing her business to continue to grow.

“I’m really thankful to SMU. I think the size of the school is perfect not just classmate wise, but also with my professors. I’ve been able to learn so much from them that I still use today in my business. Being an SMU alumna has opened doors and given me more clientele.”

Becky also credits the design of her logo to Jessica Burnham, director and clinical assistant professor for Lyle School of Engineering.

Not only is Becky an alum, but one of her daughters graduated from Dedman School of Law and one graduated from Cox School of Business with her MBA. Also, Becky’s decorator, Kate Decker, is a current student who will graduate in December. Kate has convinced her sister to come to the Hilltop, similar to how Becky followed her brother here. A Mustang’s love for the Hilltop is forever.

Advise from an expert:

With 10-plus years of experience, what advice would you give young entrepreneurs? 

• I would do what Ina Garten told me - get as much experience in every part of the business as you can before you launch.
• It’s critical to connect with as many people as you can and get as many mentors as you can. There’s never too much advice that can be given to you. Every opportunity I had, I would reach out to someone.
• In the food business, one of the things that was helpful for me was to sell my food at the farmers’ market. It’s a great way to get good feedback and begin the whole process of becoming a shopkeeper yourself. It also allowed me to connect with other vendors, which was a very valuable experience.

What has being an entrepreneur taught you?

• It’s made me a lot stronger and showed me endurance I never knew I had.
• I learned from a mentor that your business is going to zig and zag, and you have to have grit to make it. You can’t expect things to be handed to you or always go the way you have planned.
• In food, it’s a long journey and hard to make it, but remembering how food can be comforting and make an occasion special reminds me that I can’t give up.

Fast Facts

What school did you graduate from?

• Cox '78 ; I was a marketing major

What were you involved in on campus?

• Kappa Kappa Gamma
• Internship with External affairs
• Internship with Neiman Marcus through the marketing department

What do you like to do in your free time?

• I like to be outside, except when it’s 106 degrees. I play a lot of tennis, and I’m trying to learn pickleball. I like to watch sports, too. I do little bits of gardening and try to be outside when I can since I spend a lot of time inside with my work.
• I’m going to have my first grandchild soon, too, so I’m excited about that as well.

Favorite SMU memory?

• I loved a lot of my courses, like I took art history and that was one of my favorite courses. I value the relationships I had with my professors. We truly have some of the best professors, and I felt special that they knew me and we could have a personal conversation. Some of my professors are still there today.
• I had such an excellent experience with my sorority life, and I met so many great girls and was able to participate in so many different things. I would highly recommend joining one.

 

You can purchase Le Gourmet Baking cookies on their website.