Your New Favorite Cookies Hail From Dirty Dough Cookies, But it is What Founder Bennett Maxwell is Doing for Mental Health That Will Make You Stick Around

To put it frankly, the Dirty Dough Cookies franchise is blowing up! Founder Bennett Maxwell has already seen 98 locations purchased. The company will have a presence across 13 different states in just a few short months. That’s the way the cookie crumbles.

Dirty Dough Cookies has a devoted following, thanks in part to its surprising cookie combinations, unique recipes and show-stopping ‘dirty’ fillings. What the company is doing with its flavor pairings is changing the pastry game. Cookie enthusiasts take to the company website every month to vote on the ‘fan favorite’, based on combinations and concepts, which will make its way into the rotation for the next month’s cycle, proving that ‘It’s What’s Inside That Counts’.

“Businesses should be driven, first and foremost, by a higher purpose,” Maxwell said. “I love Dirty Dough because it’s perfect for showcasing that life isn’t perfect. It’s okay to not be okay, life gets Dirty, and it’s most definitely okay to have a cookie once in a while!”

Maxwell’s professional career didn’t begin in cookies, but he did have previous experience in selling cookie dough to raise the necessary funds to join both his high school rugby and wrestling teams. One could say that he was bound to turn raw cookie dough into a formidable cookie.

Having worked in solar system sales, smart home systems and installations and even pest control, he has had quite the journey to becoming a prominent figure in the cookie industry. In 2020, he co-founded Switch to Solar, a sustainable energy company that, to date, has already generated millions of dollars in sales. In just 18 months on the job, the founders sold the company for impressive profit and that is what led to Maxwell founding Dirty Dough Cookies to kick off the new year in January, 2021.

His entrepreneurial spirit and efforts has seen exponential growth and the sky’s the limit for Maxwell and his company.

Cookies with a Purpose

Maxwell is not just a cookie entrepreneur, but he is also a father. After tuning in for a Jonathan Haidt podcast, and hearing the staggering statistics in the direct correlation between social media and the self-deprecation among young adults and teenagers, he made it his mission to make something happen.

“He said one of the reasons regarding the drastic self-harm increase was in the unrealistic comparison that young people make between influencers and themselves,” said Maxwell. “These girls look at the seemingly-perfect women (and girls their same age) on social media and think, ‘Why can’t I look, feel, think, be like that?’ But they have no idea how those influencers got there — photoshop, dangerous diets, a poor non-digital social life, or a combination of those.”

Needless to say, the eye-opening information he garnered from the podcast, along with his own research he conducted, prompted him to put into motion efforts that would help in countering a nationwide epidemic of self-harm. He decided to begin a campaign to battle both depression, negative mental health and promote suicide prevention.

“There is an unfortunate correlation between social media and self-harm, which has only increased since the rise of social platforms,” said Maxwell. “People tend to often compare themselves and target their imperfections or flaws because of what is portrayed on social media. Dirty Dough has the potential to be the solution in helping reducing suicides.”

His solution: Wellness rooms in schools, via his forthcoming nonprofit initiative.

Partnering with individual Dirty Dough Cookies franchisees, Maxwell and Co. are actively donating proceeds from sales to not only prevent suicide in teenagers and young adults, but also to provide the proper mental health education to them as well. In the establishment of wellness rooms, this gives students a place to feel safe, decompress and talk about their feelings or simply take time to themselves.

The wellness rooms will include sensory items and tablets so students can focus on their mindfulness, being present, and optimizing positive mental health. Ultimately, the rooms will offer students valuable tools to help them deal in the day-to-day rigors of school and life.

“These rooms are meant for all students to be aware and proactive about mental health. When we hear about physical health, we think ‘gym’ and healthy eating. When we hear about mental health, we think about ‘anxiety’ and ‘depression’,” stated Maxwell. “We focus on the negative and being reactive too much. I want to change this by teaching all kids that mental health should be a proactive approach and work on weekly, if not daily.”

About Bennett Maxwell

Bennett Maxwell, Founder of Dirty Dough Cookies, started selling franchises in December 2021. Passionate about building purpose-driven companies, Bennett believes businesses should be driven first and foremost by a higher purpose. He saw the potential of Dirty Dough to show others that life isn’t always clean and perfect. Sometimes it is Dirty and imperfect. Find out more about impacting lives with Dirty Dough Cookies at https://dirtydoughcookies.com/

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