Today we’d like to introduce you to Kome Alele.
Hi Kome, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Kome’s Cookie started in 2020, during COVID, when I was stuck at home and just needed something to do with my hands. I started baking cookies not to sell them, just to make something. My family is Nigerian, and food has always been how we show love and keep community alive. We’d share cookies after church when the world felt really disconnected, and something about that stuck with me.
I’m 20 now, a full-time college student in San Antonio, and what started as quarantine baking has turned into a real brand. I run weekly Friday cookie drops chocolate chip, Nutella stuffed, Biscoff stuffed and I also sell puff puff and chin chin, traditional Nigerian snacks that remind me of home and that nobody else here is pairing with gourmet cookies.
Faith is genuinely at the center of what I do. My slogan is ‘Cookies Made With Love Since 2020,’ and the love I mean is rooted in 1 Corinthians 13:4. Every order, every drop, every cookie is part of that.
I’m building this while studying, mostly on my own, in my own kitchen, on a college student schedule. It’s not fancy but its a community in the making.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest challenge is just the reality of being a full-time student running a food business . There’s no big budget. It’s me, my family, my schedule, and my faith that it’s going to work out. Some weeks, balancing exams and bake prep feels impossible.
Growing on social media has been slower than I expected too. Building trust with a local audience from zero no existing following, no big launch moment takes real consistency, and consistency is hard when you’re also studying.
There have also been product decisions that didn’t go the way I hoped. Not every flavor landed the way I thought it would. I had to learn that just because I love something doesn’t mean the market does, and that’s humbling.
And then there’s the invisible things too the doubt that shows up when a drop is slow, or when you’re baking at midnight before a Friday pickup and wondering if anyone’s actually going to show. That part doesn’t go away. You just learn to keep going anyway.
What keeps me grounded is knowing why I started community, culture, and love and having family beside me to make it happen.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m an accounting student at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, and alongside my studies I run Kome’s Cookie a gourmet cookie and traditional Nigerian snack business I founded in 2020.
What I specialize in is the intersection of two things most people wouldn’t pair: handcrafted cookies and authentic Nigerian street snacks like puff puff and chin chin. That combination is intentional. It’s my heritage showing up in my business, and it’s what makes Kome’s Cookie unlike anything else in San Antonio.
What I’m most proud of is that this is real built from scratch, in my own kitchen, on a student schedule, with my family. No investors, no shortcuts. I operate weekly Friday cookie drops, bake to order, and have built a loyal local customer base through consistency and community.
What sets me apart is the story behind the product. I’m not just selling cookies I’m sharing culture, faith, and family in every order. My accounting background also means I think about this like a business, not just a hobby. I’m building something with long-term structure, not just vibes.
I’m 20 years old and I’m just getting started.
What were you like growing up?
I was the kid in the middle of the circle at every party, dancing. That pretty much sums up my personality growing up goofy, energetic, and never afraid to take up space.
I was also deeply competitive. I liked to win, I liked to lead, and I took school seriously. Math was my favorite subject, which probably explains why I ended up in accounting. I genuinely loved learning picking up new hobbies, getting into fashion and makeup, figuring out how things worked.
Faith was the backbone of my childhood. Both of my parents are pastors, so church wasn’t just Sunday morning it was a way of life. I grew up volunteering, serving, being part of something bigger than myself. That shaped everything about how I show up now.
Before I ever had a cookie business, I was in the kitchen with my mom. Not running things just helping, learning, being nearby. I didn’t know then that it was laying the foundation for something.
I was also very aware, even as a kid, of the kind of environment I wanted to be in. I kept my distance from anything toxic. That discernment has stayed with me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sites.google.com/view/komescookie/home
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/komescookie/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esther-alele-645388312
