Yahoo Finance Meet the Girl Scout who's sold over 100,000 boxes of cookies
That’s a lot of Thin Mints! Fifteen-year-old Katie Francis is the all-time Girl Scout cookie selling champion.
The high school freshman from Oklahoma City has sold a record 100,100 boxes of Girl Scout cookies during her seven years as a scout. The honor couldn’t have come at a more apropos time—2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scout cookie program.
During cookie season, Katie sells for several hours each day. She says she has the most luck when she sets up shop outside her local supermarket.
She shared her top tips with me in the video above:
Have fun and enjoy what you do.
Know your product.
Always dress professionally and wear a smile.
A little song and dance doesn’t hurt, either. Katie has been known to sing songs about Girl Scout cookies set to Christmas carols or pop tunes. For example, a couple of years ago she used the tune, “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” from the Disney animated-hit “Frozen” and changed it to, “Do You Want to Buy a Cookie?”
It’s that kind of creativity that’s helped put Katie at the top of the cookie-selling leader board. Thin mints are her bestsellers—as they are nationally—but her personal favorite is the caramel-and-chocolate smothered Samoas.
In case you’re wondering, Katie says she does all of her own selling and doesn’t enlist family and friends to sell cookies on her behalf. She admits her mom does make cookie-money deposits at the bank and helps her keep a spreadsheet to keep track of sales and inventory.
Katie’s best year was 2015, when she sold a whopping 22,200 boxes in seven weeks, raising over $90,000. All proceeds from the cookie sales go to the local Girl Scout council and troops. This year, Katie’s troop is using the money to fund a trip to Barbados, where the girls will vacation and make time for some volunteer work. The proceeds will also help support a local Girl Scout troop in a low-income area.
Despite her sales prowess, Katie says she she hasn’t decided on a career path yet, but says she’s considering becoming an aerospace engineer—what a smart cookie.
