DOVER — Anastasia “Cookie” Jackson, the first Black woman to open a paper flower shop in the United States, knows a thing or two about business development and now she gets to glue together the pieces for dreamers like herself in Kent County.
Jackson is Delaware’s Division of Small Business’ regional small business manager for the central county where she now gets to put her years of entrepreneurship to the test every day in a variety of industries. To her credit, she told the Delaware Business Times that entrepreneurship runs in her bloodline, having watched her mother operate a laundry and cleaning service while Jackson was young, along with the daycare run by her late-grandmother, also affectionately known as Cookie.
Evenso, the younger Cookie didn’t originally follow in the family footsteps with entrepreneurship. In fact, she didn’t get into business ownership until she was well into adulthood with her own family – then she quit her state job.
“I had to learn to pivot quickly,” she told DBT.
She decided to take her art-based hobby of paper flower making from her patio to a store in Milford just over the Sussex County line and opened Cookie’s Paper Petals – the first of its kind in the entire East Coast. Her business took her across the country while teaching during Pinterest conferences and other opportunities, such as the time she taught a group of African women how to make paper flowers via a virtual class complete with an interpreter.
Although her time in business was cut short when the space she occupied was sold, the memories hold strong for Jackson and play a lasting part in her journey to help develop more businesses in Delaware.
With new dreams of her own of opening another business at some point – dog treat vending machines with her three dogs in mind – she celebrates the opportunities she has now with the Division of Small Business in helping other dreamers find a new reality in their own businesses in Kent County.
“In my role now, if a business owner were to call and reach out to ask questions, I can help them navigate that. I can’t tell you how to set it up, but I can show you what the options are,” she told DBT. “I’m the liaison, the connector. It’s definitely been really helpful being a person who worked for the state for so long in knowing where to go and also having had my own business. . . Every day that I get up, I always think about how I’m going to make an impact in somebody’s life today. That could be listening, that could be taking action or that could be me from the past making an inspirational post or product. I know we’re put on this earth for a purpose. That’s what keeps me going and keeps me motivated and hopefully my children and the community, too.”
For Jackson, one thing is clear when she walks into her office in Dover every day – everybody’s dreams are valid.
“I opened up a paper flower shop, it can’t get any crazier than that. Whatever idea you have, let’s talk about it. Bring it on. I never discourage anyone when I hear about their business idea – that’s something that’s been planted on you, this idea, this dream… It’s not my idea, it’s yours,” she said.
Jackson also encourages new business owners to really dive deep into their new business community through SCORE Delaware, other business owners and, of course, the Division of Small Business which can help them navigate financing and certification for minority, veteran or women-owned businesses, among other aspects of their soon-to-be business.
“Being a business owner served its purpose in that season of my life. I learned so much in that season of being a business owner so that I can now help other owners. Not every business owner is looking for grants or loan, but all of them need connections to thrive,” she told DBT.
Along with conferences and virtual visits with community members in other countries, her connections have also taken her to high schools around Kent County to discuss the Division of Small Business, Smryna High School to support Junior Achievement projects and Delaware State University to meet with business classes, to name just a few.
The Leadership Central Delaware graduate has also received accolades along the way, including a tribute from Delaware’s current Governor John Carney after being honored with the 2024 Frank J. Masley Small Business Champion award from the U.S. Small Business Administration.
But one honor recently stood out to her in the hustle and bustle of business development in Delaware, highlighting connection building and a community touch – She found out that the largest paper flower she ever made with her Cricut still adds texture in the home of a family friend, purchased for around $250 years ago when Jackson was finding her own way as a small business owner in Delaware.
“The fact that that piece of art that I made was still there. . . I remember when Mr. Cliff and his wife came to the shop. They lived in Elkton and they came in and said, ‘Your grandfather is so proud of you.’ [Mr. Cliff and] his wife picked it out together,” she said, acknowledging the recent passing of the husband.
“To see the picture of that flower there now was. . .,” she trailed off with her hand on her chest as she spoke with DBT, signifying how much the moment meant to her in her own business journey.
