Dirty Dough with Bennett Maxwell, Chairman, feature 113 of Together Talks

KLS
Mar 19, 2024
6 min read

Updated: 6 days ago

"Together Talks" feature 113: Bennett Maxwell presented by KLS, freight company

Some Background on Bennett Maxwell

For today's edition of "Together Talks" campaign, KLS had the chance to interview Bennett Maxwell, Chairman, of Dirty Dough. From dorm room kitchen in Tempe, AZ to franchise locations spreading across the United States, Dirty Dough has been founded on a simple idea—

It’s what’s on the inside that counts!

They’re bringing one-of-a-kind cookies to the masses, and helping entrepreneurs find passion and success.

The other guys can focus on making cutesy, clean cookies that look better than they taste. Dirty Dough sells cookies for real life, which can get a little messy. But, it sure is sweet! Dirty Dough cookies are engineered from the inside out, with every cookie featuring some combination of layers, mix-ins, or filling within the dough.

Dirty Dough strives to be a relatable, real-life brand that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Their tagline, “Proudly unique, inside and out”, refers to both their cookies and their people.

They aren’t worried about filters or getting the frosting just right.

They are all about substance and authentic goodness.

2020 Purchase

The beginning of Dirty Dough began in 2018. A classmate from high school of Bennett's saw the cookie craze going on in Utah. At the time there wasn't expansion into Arizona. His and his wife began making cookies in their apartment, posting on Facebook, and would sell out most nights. They had the idea to expand to a store front. At the end of 2020, Tempe, AZ was the first location for Dirty Dough. Bennett had approached his friend about franchising, but instead he was told they were looking to sell. Bennett jumped at the opportunity.

While Bennett believed in the franchising model, he told us he was cautious of the longevity of the brand as it is a very cyclical industry. He explained, "Consumers go through phases and the current craze then it fades out. I wanted to explore what companies in our industry had staying power. I found two." Mrs. Fields and Great American Cookie Company. Both started in 1977. They had one common thread, they used centralized production model.

Bennett had found his first differentiator.

He spent their time crafting their vision by focusing on unique cookies and highlighting on the "dirty" side. Bennett and his team made an incredible connection by also focusing heavily on mental health within all of their locations combining one of their biggest messages, "What is on the inside matters most". He told us it relates to life and their delicious cookies.

Machine Production

When he first took, the operations involved a training class called, "ballers". A team member would stand for over 6 hours hand rolling every cookie. Bennett admitted it was hard to maintain those employees. He immediately transitioned to the centralized production model. While the competition have team members doing everything by hand, Dirty Dough is by machine. Bennet explained that this came at a cost. "Before our first franchise opened we were 2 million into it." But he saw the potential and differentiating possibility.

Their cookies are all stuffed and sometimes 3 layers, which can't be done by hand at mass quantity. No other company is able to replicate what they are offering. The centralized production model allows the company to add new products with no costs to the franchise because the infrastructure is already in place for the franchise owners. When it comes to new products, Bennett said the team is open to additional products for their consumer base.

He shared they are expanding into edible cookie dough. Some stores have sodas now which are gaining in popularity, along with coffee and even ice cream sandwiches. It all comes back to their centralized model, everything fits within their current ingredients or machinery to easily be implemented by their franchise owners. One aspect that is very unique is that Dirty Dough uses their day old cookies to make their Cookie Shakes, which is a warm cookie with ice cream on top.

Quick Growth

Prior to opening their second store they had to deal with a lawsuit. Bennett said while it was a challenge, it ultimately propelled them forward. In 2022, they opened their first store and ended the year with seven stores. As of today they have 64 stores with 13 food trucks. Bennett credits their support of franchisees and their production facility. "We have taken headache out from running the franchise which has allowed us to keep up with fast growth.", Bennett explained.

He shared that the goal was to open 30 stores in 5 years, they hit that within a year. Jokingly, he always told himself what became a lie, "Everything will be better in 6 months", however that rarely is the case. However a goal that Bennett is incredible proud of is being able to reduce the cost of cookies to the franchisees by 20% within the first year and he said they are on track to reduce them another 10% in the near future.

The company is hoping to add another 65-75 stores with 45 leases already signed. Bennett credited the management company they brought on which is responsible for additional 10 other brands as helping them with their continued expansion. This paired with the advisors of the company are such a huge advantage for Dirty Dough. He continued about his lesson learned regarding advisors. "I took a startup course at Lehigh and learned about having advisors. I was under the impression in order to have a board you needed to pay them or hire them. But in selling them on your vision and finding members that align with that vision you can build a board by offering small amounts of equity in the company. This has been a game changer for us.", Bennet shared.

Running this company without and food or franchise experience, he realized the importance of having support around him who did have experience. In 2021 they hired their CEO, Jill Summerhays, who brings over 40 years of experience in the industry. Their continued growth and bringing on those to help grow the vision is what Bennett believes will give them the staying power he was so cautious about prior to buying the company.

Mission Statement

Being a few years into this endeavor, Bennett said he is most grateful for the community. He credited especially those in Utah, where he resides, he has been introduced and connected to masterminds. What is most impressive to him is how willing people are to help, constantly asking what he is working on (the answer is typically raising capital) and trying to make introductions. This way of giving back and helping has left a huge imprint on him as it correlates to what the company tries to push with their values. Bennett also shared that whenever he can fit something into his schedule, he always tries to return the favor by offering his time and knowledge to those seeking it.

While there have been many wins and celebrations for the company, we asked Bennett to share a mistake made by the company and what he learned from it. "We hired an individual to jumpstart our CPG/Wholesale side. His experience on the resume was incredible, essentially gave him the keys to the car without checking in. A year later we were out $300,000, with zero sales, and had to scale back the entire project." He immediately dissected what went wrong and realized he needed to dig much deeper to fully understand a candidate and what they brought to Dirty Dough specifically. Bennett continued, "We now understand the importance of cultural fit over paper fit. Being a CEO of a $100M company is vastly different than operating within a startup."

Reflecting back on his journey we inquired Bennett to share what he is most proud of and he told us how he changed his life around by reevaluating what mattered most. "6 months into buying Dirty Dough I still had my other venture, ultimately I sold that. All along I thought if I became a millionaire everything would be perfect, but that didn't last. The body goes back to normal levels of happiness." Bennet said he needed to reevaluate everything. He was 310 pounds at the time, he was barely spending time with his family because he was working so much. He sat down to dig in to himself and how he could change for the better. "I saw a therapist and focused on breaking the cycle. I lasered in on what my core values truly were. I created a mission statement for myself and my life. The coolest part is that become what is today's mission statement for Dirty Dough. 'Finding joy and fulfillment despite the dirtiness in yourself and others'. I understood I can't wait for life to be perfect. On all of the most difficult days I come back to how fulfilling it is that I and our company are embodying this mission statement.", Bennett concluded.

Piece of Advice

The conversation with Bennett ended with him sharing his piece of advice: "Know what your perfect life looks like if you have all the money in the world, what would you do? And figure out what is stopping you, and go after it."

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In Closing

KLS wants to thank Dirty Dough and Bennett Maxwell, Chairman, for today's "Together Talks" feature. Follow along for their journey with their social handles below!