In 2023, Harper Cook had a dream to walk the streets of New York City. She was determined to make her way to the Big Apple, and with hard work, determination, and a whole lot of butter, flour, and sugar, she made it happen. 

Harper turned 13 in August and stays busy attending school and with other various activities. She’s a member of Benton Middle School’s cheer team, a tumbler with Linda Clements, and a Vicki’s Dancer, where she’s danced for 11 years.

For the last 2 years, Harper has been an entrepreneur selling delicious goodies and juggling social life and extracurriculars with the help of her mom, Mary Lauren, who has appointed her title as “Momager.”

“I have to get a lot of help from my mom,” Harper said. “With school and friends, my mom is just always there for me. I’m in middle school…some things will go wrong, or things can be misunderstood, but my mom is always there, and with the baking part, she’s also always there because I cannot sugar a pan, let’s be honest.”

Her mom, AKA the Sous-Chef, assists with managing orders and creating a calendar that breaks down when pop-ups are and even how many cakes she needs to bake within a day to be on track. She’s also a stand-in to help with completing orders as needed. School always comes first, and her mom helps her manage that too. 

“She’s had to give up a lot of time with her friends. I’ll tell her, ‘You have orders you have to fill and that comes first,’ and she’s never complained,” Mary Lauren said. 

This hard work and determination got her to New York, where she paid for over 50% of her trip. Baked Goodies by Harper Cook helped fund all the shopping she did, and all of the Broadway shows she saw, like The Great Gatsby and Wicked. Harper’s success with raising the funds is inspiring. 

“It makes me really happy, and it makes me more hopeful of myself. It makes me feel like I can encourage others with, ‘Since I did this, anybody can..’,” Harper said. 

Her business has grown from posting pound cake samples on her mom’s personal Facebook to selling at various pop-ups in the area. 

“I like going to the pop-ups. It’s fun to hear people say, ‘Oh, you’re Harper Cook! You’re the one who bakes the pound cakes, right?,’ and we have a bunch of friends and family that come to support me.” 

This year, she sold 50 individual pound cakes in 45 minutes at Christmas on Douglas Drive, making it the largest amount of cakes she’s ever sold at a pop-up. This victory left her amazed, excited, and determined to do more. 

“I think she was surprised that this year she actually had people come to her table and say they had to come there first because they knew she’d sell out or that they came just for her,” her mom said. 

There have been a lot of lessons she’s been able to learn, but the biggest for Harper is that whenever you want something, you can always do it as long as you have Jesus, and pray and talk to God about it. 

“He will guide you along the way, and that’s what got me to New York and what made my dreams come true,” Harper said.

Harper’s current menu includes pumpkin pound cakes, snickerdoodle pound cakes, and her favorite, old-fashioned pound cakes. She also sells a variety of sourdough breads and sourdough cookies with the help of her Mimi, making this experience a true family affair. Her family loves to see her hard work come to fruition. 

“My favorite part is seeing her work on something and really get to her goal. With the New York trip, for example, she really wanted to go, and I was like, I will help you get there in certain ways but stuff that you want to do that costs a lot of money, you’ll need to save, and it’s sweet to see her determined,” her mom explained. “It’s nice to see her realize something and then make it happen for herself. I want her to learn that.” 

Harper’s next goal is to go to London within the next 5 years, and she plans to get there one pound cake at a time.

They are currently tackling baking 63 individual pound cakes in 3 days to prepare for their loftiest goal yet with the Town of Benton’s Christmas on the Square event, where she hopes to sell 100 pound cakes! 

If you’d like to try these tasty treats, you can follow her Facebook page, Baked Goodies by Harper Cook, where you can find the dates for the pop-ups she’ll be selling at. You can also comment on her selling posts or message the page to order. 

Support local this holiday season, and you might just help a 13-year-old’s dreams come true!