Quickly mastering the art of combining her creative passions, Henegar discovered yet another new love during her high school sophomore year — cookies and music. An avid music listener, playlist maker, and concertgoer, she seized an opportunity to make cookies for Oh Wonder after they announced a show in her area. “Sure enough, it worked out great! After I saw them, the amount of concerts I went to with cookies began to rise, and so did a following for my ‘concert cookies.’” Henegar has since made cookies for over 35 artists and counting, including Travis Scott, Dua Lipa, LANY, The Head and the Heart, Maggie Rogers, and COIN. With major success and a quickly-escalating following, being both an entrepreneur and high school student began proving to be a difficult juggling act. The most strenuous era came during Henegar’s junior year. “I went to a pretty intense high school, and when life and academics began hitting hard in the fall, my parents put me on a ‘cookie ban’ for the entire year. While it was definitely helpful to not have to worry about cookies, it was frustrating to be completely paused and have to turn away any order I got.” When it came time to transition to college life at Belmont, a freshman Henegar faced the obstacle of not having an accessible oven at all times. “I wanted to focus on getting situated to life there, but it was still hard to not have the ability to make cookies whenever I wanted to. I was able to make cookies if I really wanted to by borrowing friends’ kitchens and decorating in my dorm’s communal kitchenette, but without a space of my own it was too much of a hassle to take orders regularly. Thankfully, I’m living in an apartment with a kitchen on campus this year.” Years devoted to the growth of Cookie in the Kitchen have proved more than fruitful. At only nineteen, Henegar sets herself apart as a weathered cookie architect and creative, and it’s in her nature to do so. “If you’re familiar with the Enneagram, I’m a Four, ‘The Individualist,’ which means I strive to create a unique identity for myself, I love all forms of art and beauty, and I long for deep, emotional depth in my relationships. Cookies beautifully fit all of those desires into one.” This individuality has led Henegar to finding her niche both in the saturated market of custom cookie-making and on social media. Instagram shout-outs from big names like Conan Gray, Dodie, Hippo Campus, Young the Giant, and authors John Green and Jenny Han (plus many, many more) have only added to Cookie in the Kitchen’s already immense and steadily-rising online following. Henegar carries a professionalism that seems to laugh in the face of obstacle, refusing to let her creativity rust when the balance of being both a young businesswoman and college student proves difficult. She has spent time learning how to go about this balance, albeit having to pull all-nighters to finish work, and the risk of becoming nocturnal. “I think the hardest thing I’ve learned and struggled with is time management. I tend to over-exert myself and think I can get everything done in a short period of time, but I end up either rushing to the last minute, not finishing something, doing sub-par work, or not getting any sleep. Even though college students are known for their crazy sleep schedules, trust me — it’s not fun pulling all-nighters back to back to back because you have to get everything done. It really takes the joy out of the work. I’ve learned it’s okay to say no to fun plans if I already have a cookie order, or no to fun cookie orders if I already have plans — it’s sad to miss out, but it’s so much better in the long run.” A double-major in entrepreneurship and graphic design, Henegar has her eyes steadily focused on the future. “I’ve wanted to have my own bakery since I started, so it’s been exciting to start taking classes and learning material that I can actually apply to my
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