Courtesy of Olivia Rose
Meet Olivia Rose, an NYU junior studying Nutrition in the Food Studies Program, whose passion for food inspired her to start her culinary journey. Olivia had dreamed of moving to France ever since she went on a trip with her family when she was young. She fulfilled her dream by doing her first year of college at the American University of Paris and fell in love with French food and culture. She set out to tackle the intensely difficult task of perfecting a macaron, which she achieved through a solid year of practicing. She infused her love and knowledge of French food into the foundation that she had learned from her mom and grandma about cooking, and started further exploring the world of YouTube to start experimenting with unique recipes. Food has always played an important role in her family, who loves throwing feasts–occasion or no occasion. The kitchen is where Olivia comes alive and expresses her creativity through food.
Olivia has taken her passion for baking and recently turned it into a small business she named The Rising Rose! We’ll hand it over to Olivia to tell us about her business and how she started it.
Q: To get us started, can you give us a rundown of how The Rising Rose came about & what inspired you to start?
Courtesy of Olivia Rose
Olivia: I started The Rising Rose when I was a Junior in high school. During the pandemic, I was baking a lot and my best friend and I decided to start making TikTok videos of my creations. Our first ASMR cinnamon roll video went viral, so we kept making videos. This was the first time I realized that my baking could be something more, beyond just the enjoyment of myself and my friends and family. From there, I coined “The Rising Rose,” which is a spin on my last name. I started a baking blog where I posted my favorite recipes and started selling pastries at a local coffee shop on the weekends. When I came to New York, I wanted to continue with The Rising Rose but I didn’t have a clear outlet.
I hosted dinner parties for my friends and tried to keep up with my Instagram account, but I found it difficult to connect with new people through the screen. So this past September, I started doing “cookie drops” in Tompkins Square Park, inspired by New York City’s rich pop-up culture, setting up a table and selling a batch of cookies–classic bake sale style. It went better than I ever could have imagined. I sold 150 cookies in just a few hours and met so many new people, many of whom have become loyal customers. I’ve continued doing pop-ups every few weeks, highlighting three unique flavors each time alongside my signature chocolate chip! I even started taking special orders for cookies and birthday cakes.
My goal for the cookie drops was to expand to different parts of the city or collaborate with other food brands, and I’m so excited to be doing exactly that this weekend! I will be doing a pop-up at a French wine bar in Soho as part of their “Little Paris Bazaar” market on Sunday, November 17th from 12 to 4:30pm. Beyond any number of Instagram followers or virtual “success,” my biggest hope for The Rising Rose going forward is to keep building community. I have already felt so much love and support from my New York neighbors, and I can’t wait to share my passion with more people.
Q: Tell us more about your cookie drops! What has been the best part about them?
Courtesy of Olivia Rose
Olivia: My favorite part about the cookie drops has been meeting new people and seeing them love my cookies. New York can be an intimidating place, and I’ve found comfort and confidence in talking to strangers over our shared love for food. A cookie is one of those universal symbols that pretty much anyone can relate to. When I shout out, “Would you like to try a cookie?” to strangers passing by my pop-up, and they say, “Why yes I do, who doesn’t like cookies?” I feel like we’ve broken an important barrier. That is what I love so much about food–it can bring people together, no matter how different their experiences or backgrounds may be. It has also been incredibly rewarding to build a loyal customer base and hear from my customers how much they love my product. It’s one thing when my friends and family tell me it's good, but when someone I just met passing by in the park comes to every one of my pop-ups, I feel assured that what I am doing is worthwhile. People often come and stay for a while, mingling with my friends and me, and sometimes even buying another cookie for the road.
Q: Amazing! We are so excited to check out the Pop-Up! You mentioned your cookies, do you like to make other types of desserts? Which desserts do you most enjoy making?
Courtesy of Olivia Rose
Olivia: Anything and everything! Like I mentioned before, I spent a lot of time as a kid experimenting with fun recipes–everything from churros to truffles to cake pops. Cupcakes were my signature for a while, and I love making and decorating cakes. But recently, I’ve been really into sourdough cookies. I have some of my family’s heirloom sourdough starter here in New York, and I’ve had a lot of fun playing around with that. Sourdough is a live bacteria, and you have to feed it flour and water to activate it before making bread. But this process also generates a lot of “discard,” which is the inactive sourdough starter. Rather than throwing this away, I started adding it to my other pastries, like cookies. It gives a really nice, subtle tangy flavor to the cookies and makes them perfectly chewy yet crisp. I’ve been experimenting with fun flavors for my pop-ups. Some of my favorites have been brown butter miso chocolate (the “BBMC”) and black sesame earl grey. Cookies are just the beginning for me until I expand my business (and get a bigger kitchen!).
Q: Who doesn’t love a cookie! Thank you for sharing your story, super cool to see you bringing New Yorkers together one cookie at a time. Do you have any advice for students who are looking to also connect with community members through food by starting a small business?
Courtesy of Olivia Rose
Olivia: The Rising Rose is just getting started, and I have so much more to learn and explore in this exciting food world. But one thing I’ve taken away from my experience so far is to just do it. I know it’s cliche, but it was the thing that made all the difference for me. I was so hesitant to start selling my baked goods because I was being a perfectionist–I wanted the perfect logo, a more professional website, more IG content, my “signature” pastry (but didn’t want to limit myself), and on and on and on. But I finally realized that there are no rules to starting your own business. It is up to you to hold yourself back or decide to take the leap. If there’s ever an idea you are passionate about, just give it a chance. It doesn’t have to be perfect, and it’s okay to fail. But you never know unless you try.
WHERE TO FIND OLIVIA
Olivia’s Instagram account is @_TheRisingRose_ and has all of her pop-up dates and info. She also takes custom DMS!
Support Olivia at her next pop-up!
📍La Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels, a natural wine bar in Soho
Sunday, November 17th, 12 - 4:30pm.
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