FoundHER Baking Up a Viral Brand 👩🍳🍪✨🤎
Hello CWBS,
Happy November! We are super excited to share this month’s issue of The Scope featuring Gabrielle & Elise Brulotte. The sisters are the passionate founders behind Hot Take Dough, a brand that’s redefining the take-and-bake cookie experience. With a shared commitment to quality, they set out to create a frozen cookie dough that combines superior taste and high-quality ingredients (like grass-fed, organic butter, and fair-trade chocolate) in convenient single-serve portions. Their mission is to change the way people think about and eat dessert.
Hope you enjoy reading!
Best,
Alexandra Ouzounian, Platform & Outreach Chair, 2024-2025
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WOMAN OF THE SCOPE - spotlighting members of The Scope Community
“I’m Sofia a Junior at Barnard majoring in Economics. This year, I’m part of the PD committee, and I’m beyond excited to host fun events for CWBS with Grace, Liana, and all the other CM’s. I’ve always been really interested in finance, however, one of the things I’ve found most challenging with regard to my career path is narrowing down what exactly it is I want to do. I used to think that the job I chose out of school would set the path for the rest of my life, and often found myself feeling like Barry B. Benson from the Bee movie. Soon after taking the Corporate Finance class at the Business School I knew Investment Banking wasn’t for me. I started learning more about the other fields within finance, like Asset Management, Wealth Management, and investor relations. I realized it would be a good idea to try these other fields out until I found one that aligned with my interests and skills. This past summer I was working at a Hedge Fund specialized in securitized credit. I learned a ton about the field as well as what the day-to-day life of an investor relations analyst looks like. It really reaffirmed my interest and passion for finance and would love to share my experience with anyone interested. This upcoming summer, I’ll be a summer analyst at GS, working with their XIG division under the Petershill GP Services team. I’m looking forward to learning more about alternative space and value creation in private markets. I’ve slowly learned that rather than finding our “calling” or choosing the right job, it is considerably easier to approach career decisions as a process of elimination”
-Sofia Ramirez Vergara
“Stay a little bit naive and trust your gut. You will get a lot of opinions from people who know you and who don’t know you. There is no such thing as bad decisions–just lessons! It’s helpful sometimes to think of worst-case scenarios and know that even in worst situations, you’ll be okay!” - Gabrielle & Elise Brulotte
Sisters Gabby and Elise Brulotte are the passionate founders behind Hot Take Dough, a brand that’s redefining the take-and-bake cookie experience. With a shared commitment to quality, they set out to create a frozen cookie dough that combines superior taste and high-quality ingredients (like grass-fed, organic butter, and fair-trade chocolate) in convenient single-serve portions. Their mission is to change the way people think about and eat dessert.
What was your “aha” moment that made you realize this could be more than just an idea and an actual business concept?
The whole business has been a fake it till you make it situation! I remember we had a video go viral really early on and thought maybe we could try to do something fun, but I didn’t think for at least a year it could be an actual business.
Building a brand from the ground up can be overwhelming. Are there any key mentors or resources that helped guide you through the process?
Our parents both owned a restaurant and brewery in our hometown! Very different kind of businesses, but they’ve been mentors in all things business. I have listened to so many podcasts and had conversations. I think it’s a delicate balance between taking in all the info and also being naive because we wouldn’t have done this business without being a bit naive for all of the craziness.
The pre-made cookie dough market is quite competitive with so many different options. What do you think has allowed Hot Take Dough to successfully differentiate itself?
We initially were the first to have the crazy idea of shipping it frozen, with really quality ingredients, at a luxury price point. I think our story, but also having it be a fresh take on cookie dough (a market that has been dominated by the “my grandma taught me this recipe” vibe for so many years), allowed us to push in a different direction. Collaborating with influencers and making it trendy.
You have found incredible success through marketing Hot Take Dough on TikTok and Instagram — with over 64.9K and 16K followers respectively. What do you think has allowed you to go so viral?
Honestly a bit of bad PR and a good story. Our price point is high, and that always means lots of engagement. We’ve tried to share the highs and lows of starting this business, and so many followers have been there since the beginning! Sometimes, we know if a video will catch before we post; sometimes, it is completely random. We've had our story go viral but also videos of our honest process: like when we had to donate hundreds of pounds of dough because we got sent the wrong flour (when it's shipped on pallets, it's unmarked sometimes) and people of course had something to say about what we did with the extra dough etc. Videos that draw out comments, good and bad, will go viral. I do advise, though, to have it be genuine and record life because life has drama anyway, and not just create it for the views. In business, there is always a stressful situation, so it's just about bringing that to life on social. Don't be afraid to record everything and then decide what to post when some of the emotion has passed.
You've recently collaborated with influencers like Paige Lorenze and brands like Pop Up Bagels and Pop Up Grocer. How do you go about selecting partners whose vision aligns with Hot Take Dough, and what types of future collaborations do you have in mind?
The criteria have always just been: Will it be fun? And do we like them personally or the product? We only want to work with people who are excited about the collab and genuinely love Hot Take so that it feels organic.
Your current focus is on your cookies and expanding your flavors of doughs. Could you share more about the process behind developing new products?
It’s one of the best parts of the job! It is so creative. We want to be able to push the boundaries with the dough but are building trust with the flavors people know and love first. Elise does the recipe testing and it can be nail on the head within two trials, or sometimes 24 which is what we experienced with the new gluten-free / dairy-free flavor coming out in collaboration with Parke.
What are some of the biggest challenges you encountered while founding Hot Take Dough?
There are honestly so many. Shipping frozen and how to ensure a solid experience especially when people are paying a lot of money. The transition to co-packer and ensuring the product was meeting standards that we hold after self-producing for two years. Trying to decide if all of the craziness is worth pursuing! And then trying to find ways to support ourselves while building the business because everyone who starts a business knows sometimes the money doesn’t come right away, or at all for awhile. It’s tough!
Do you have any advice for young women looking to start their own businesses?
Stay a little bit naive and trust your gut. You will get a lot of opinions from people who know you and who don’t know you. There is no such thing as bad decisions–just lessons! It’s helpful sometimes to think of worst-case scenarios and know that even in the worst situations, you’ll be okay! We are always here if anyone wants to chat!!!
Quick Takes:
If you had to describe your brand in three words what would they be
Genuine, enthusiastic, bold
Favorite type of cookie?
The birthday cake cookie that’s coming out is INSANE. But nothing hits like the OG chocolate chip.
Where do you see Hot Take Dough in five years? Ten years?
Taking over the retail space! Making the best cookies you’ve ever had at an accessible price point with high quality ingredients.
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