Never Too Old to Get Rich

CHAPTER 11Cookie Contessas

Bergen Giordani (r) & Morgen GiordaniReamer (l), One Hot CookieThis picture is credited to ICON of Youngstown.

For Bergen Giordani and her daughter, Morgen Giordani Reamer, starting a business together has been sweet in more ways than one.

In 2013, when they launched their retail dessert shop, One Hot Cookie (onehotcookie.com), in their hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, it was a win-win. “The idea for the business came from our desire to do something together,” says Bergen, president of the company and a single mom. “We both love hot, gooey desserts and sweets, and since Morgen, now vice president of the operation, was a child, we would go out and get a dessert somewhere and have that special time together.”

Moreover, it was an opportunity for Bergen to find work she loved and a chance to combine that with baking cookies alongside her then-teenage daughter, an activity they had relished doing together since Morgen was tiny.

While waiting to see if the business would gain traction and become profitable, Bergen worked full time until recently outside the business as development director at the Rich Center for Autism, located on the campus of Youngstown State University, where she led a half-million-dollar-a-year campaign to support children affected by autism. And initially she worked part time as a bartender, as well. “I wanted to make sure Morgen, who ...