Kathleen King was born and raised in Southampton, New York, where she still lives and reigns as the country’s Queen of Cookies.

Although Kathleen stands as a queen today, she didn’t start out in a castle. Kathleen King was raised on a farm as the youngest of four children. She has two brothers and one sister. Kathleen’s father, Richard King, was known around town as Tate. As a little boy, he was so small, everyone in town called him “Little Tater Tot”. The name Tate stuck with him even as an old man. 

Kathleen’s mother taught Kathleen many things, including how to bake delicious cookies. Baking with her mom was one of her favorite things to do but there was lots of work to be done around the farm. When she wasn’t baking cookies, Kathleen had many chores to complete every day. One of her favorite chores was feeding the farm animals, like the calves and piglets. 

Caring for farm animals was a lot of responsibility but, Kathleen also enjoyed having fun being a kid. And, like all little girls, Kathleen wanted lots of nice clothes, toys, books, and stuff for school. Kathleen’s dad, Tate, told her that she can have and buy all the wonderful things that she wanted in the world. However, in order to buy them, she would have to work as hard as a farmer and save her money. 

Tate was a farmer and taught all of his children how to be smart and work hard. Farming was tough work, tackling that job together made the Kings one nice, but tough family. When she was a little girl, Kathleen learned how to be tough and responsible by watching her dad provide for them all.

It was at this early age that Kathleen decided to become an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur is a person who uses a good idea to form a money making business. Kathleen’s idea was to bake delicious cookies with the help of her mother and sell them to the people of Southampton. Kathleen put a lot of love and delicious ingredients into her cookies. She wanted everyone eating her cookies to have a wonderful tasty experience. Her wish came true. The people of Southampton loved Kathleen’s cookies and, as a result, Kathleen’s business was a success. She sold many cookies and was able to save money just like her father said. With her savings, she was finally able to buy all the wonderful things that little girls want, especially her school supplies.

Kathleen continued baking cookies all the way through college to pay for school and all of her expenses. As more people demanded her cookies, Kathleen thought of the great idea to open her own bakery. She wanted the perfect space to make the crispest, most delicious cookies the world has ever tasted.

Her secret was using lots of good ingredients and an extra dose of love. She also hired many awesome people to help her get the job done. At the age of twenty, the once young farm girl, now, a young woman, started to work hard with her team of cookie bakers to make the best cookies for her growing list of customers. She called her new business, Kathleen’s Bake Shop. 

To sell her cookies Kathleen and her team of bakers went all over to spread the news of their delicious cookie treats. They went to local businesses, the post office buildings, the firehouses, the police stations, City Hall, the banks, the schools, and the supermarkets. Before long, many people purchased large cookie orders from Kathleen’s Bake Shop. And, in no time, the word spread all over the region of the delicious crispy cookies she sells. Everyone loved them so much, Kathleen had won many new cookie customers.