In 1993, a newly single mother brought her three young children back to the United States from Europe and settled in Cooperstown, N.Y. The bucolic village of 2,035 is known to most as the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame. It seemed like a safe and welcoming place for her uprooted brood. And it proved to be fertile ground for starting a successful business to support the family.

In fact, in the past 16 years, Pati Drumm Grady has started three successful businesses using local talent. The first was an executive search firm; then she opened an outlet mall in her barn, with apparel from top names such as Ann Taylor and J Crew. She sold it when she realized that eBay would become a significant competitor

The most recent business--her After 55 business--was started one weekend on a whim. Standing in her kitchen, this lifelong baker said to her second husband, "Do you remember ever seeing any baseball-shaped cookies?" A fourth-generation Cooperstown resident, he didn't recall any cookies like that, and Cooperstown Cookie Company was born. Grady dusted off the family shortbread recipe and set to work. Unable to find a baseball cookie cutter, she made her first batches using a glass and a crimper for the stitching.

With confidence established by her previous successes, she committed to a quality product that would have a highly perceived value. Her next move was to engage a design service and a nationally known local illustrator to make sure her labels, nomenclature and design were accurate and engaging. A friend who owned the local printing company was also very knowledgeable about packaging. Grady decided that tins would be the best package to hold, display and ship her all-natural product and consulted with the Rochester Institute of Technology, only three hours away, on her packaging. The head of the institute concurred that reinforced tins would be the best option. She was on her way.

Grady soon made her sales presentation to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Her timing couldn't have been better. The organization was having its biggest annual event, the World Series Gala. She had product ready in several package sizes and conducted tastings during the event in October 2004. Now Cooperstown Cookie Co. was launched, but Grady realized she wouldn't be able to meet the demand the gala would generate by baking the cookies herself on weekends. She needed help--and a lot of it!

Her next call was to the Cornell University Food Entrepreneur Resource Center, 100 miles away. She said, "I need a cookie expert." The program had three. By February 2005, Grady had found her match. Shelly Freyn had years of experience as a food chemist and developed the recipe that enabled the cookies to be made in bulk.

That's when Grady's business relationship with Pathfinder Village, a local residential community for developmentally challenged children and adults, began. Pathfinder Village manufactured her cookies for the next 18 months, until demand outpaced its ability to keep up. (Cooperstown Cookie Co. now donates a percentage of its profits to support Pathfinder Village.)

It was time for Grady to take the next step, and fortunately she had the right person for the job. Freyn was instrumental in finding the current co-packer (cookie manufacturer) in Utica, N.Y., only 44 miles away. This company has enabled the cookie company to keep up with the growing demand.

How has Grady's business grown? Through smart, focused marketing. Early in the life of the company, Grady cold-called the head of marketing for the Yankees. She quickly admitted that she couldn't meet the order the team wanted to place for 19,000 cookies. But the marketing chief agreed to keep in touch, and two years and 37 calls later, the Yankees placed Grady's biggest order to date and the team remains a valued customer. In fact, that marketing director suggested that Cooperstown Cookie Co. become a licensee of the Major League Baseball Association. The association was so positive about the company that it walked Grady through the very complex process.

This leap in opportunity has caused Grady to re-envision the company to be much more team-centric, and she is rolling out the product to the various teams in a considered and controlled way. Cooperstown Cookies is also an approved vendor nationwide for Nordstrom and Whole Foods.

Grady's incredible five-year journey holds several important lessons:

1. When you have what seems to be a good idea, research it and then go with it. After Grady and her husband agreed they had never seen a baseball cookie, she did research to make sure they were right, and then she got to baking.
    
2. Bring in top talent. Aware of what she didn't know, Grady didn't hesitate to pick up the phone and find those who did. When the experts' opinions made sense to her, she knew she was on the right course.
    
3. When you find excellent colleagues, find a way to bring them on board. To give Freyn an abiding interest in the firm, Cooperstown Cookie Co. developed a compensation plan that helped retain her involvement with the company.
    
4. Make the calls. From calling on the Baseball Hall of Fame in her hometown to calling the Yankees and the Major League Baseball Association, Grady picked up the phone to make opportunities for her company.
    
5. Join industry associations. Grady has repeatedly said that without her industry association, the road would have been much harder. The industry wanted her to succeed, too.

It is clear that Grady is delighted, excited and energized by her young company. Being an After 55 has proved to be an enormous benefit. She has drawn on her years of business and life experience to hit her home run with Cooperstown Cookie Co.