In this episode of Eating While Broke, host Coline Witt sits down with entrepreneur Zakiya Elick, Founder & CEO of The Cookie Dip Company, to talk food, money, mindset, and building a premium brand from a simple idea.

We taste-test Zakiya’s refrigerated, all-organic cookie dip flavors—think banana cream, piña colada, and milk chocolate horchata plus we talk about the growing demand for cannabis-infused options and what it takes to scale a product line responsibly.

Then Zakiya makes her ultimate comfort meal: “cush-cush” (corn porridge) a humble cornmeal dish made with water, milk, butter, and sugar. While the pot simmers, she shares the real story behind her rise:


- How a childhood craving for the “cream part” of ambrosia inspired cookie dip  
- The moment people at the Playboy Jazz Festival asked to *buy* her dip (and sparked the business)  
- How a financial coach helped her identify an affluent target customer and price with confidence  
- What she learned from pop-ups, selling out, and building consistent online sales  
- Her Sip and Dip wine + cookie dip pairing event (November 8 in Gardena)  
- Why she launched Dipping Into Change, a nonprofit supporting neurodivergent learners with financial literacy and entrepreneurship

If you’re into small business, food entrepreneurship, product-based brands, pricing strategy, and how to turn a comfort-meal story into a scalable company, this episode is for you.

In this episode of Eating While Broke, host Coline Witt sits down with entrepreneur Zakiya Elick, Founder &amp; CEO of The Cookie Dip Company, to talk food, money, mindset, and building a premium brand from a simple idea.
We taste-test Zakiya&rsquo;s refrigerated, all-organic cookie dip flavors&mdash;think banana cream, pi&ntilde;a colada, and milk chocolate horchata plus we talk about the growing demand for cannabis-infused options and what it takes to scale a product line responsibly.
Then Zakiya makes her ultimate comfort meal: &ldquo;cush-cush&rdquo; (corn porridge) a humble cornmeal dish made with water, milk, butter, and sugar. While the pot simmers, she shares the real story behind her rise:
 - How a childhood craving for the &ldquo;cream part&rdquo; of ambrosia inspired cookie dip &nbsp; - The moment people at the Playboy Jazz Festival asked to *buy* her dip (and sparked the business) &nbsp; - How a financial coach helped her identify an affluent target customer and price with confidence &nbsp; - What she learned from pop-ups, selling out, and building consistent online sales &nbsp; - Her Sip and Dip wine + cookie dip pairing event (November 8 in Gardena) &nbsp; - Why she launched Dipping Into Change, a nonprofit supporting neurodivergent learners with financial literacy and entrepreneurship
If you&rsquo;re into small business, food entrepreneurship, product-based brands, pricing strategy, and how to turn a comfort-meal story into a scalable company, this episode is for you.

Hosted by media maven Coline Witt, ‘Eating While Broke’ podcast is a new interview series centered around self-made celebrities, influencers, disruptors and entrepreneurs eating meals they once ate when they were broke. Episodes will also feature guest who are in the mood to recreate some of their favorite low cost meals. EWB guest will introduce the dish, as the dish is revealed to the host, before the chow down begins, while discussing life, some of the their most pivotal moments and more. In this intimate setting the interview begins with a journey of tales from the trenches not matter if you're Eating While Broke or Eating While on a Budget.

Eating While Broke

ZAKIYA ELLICK - Stirring Cush, Scaling a Brand

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/e3f9bad8-7d4f-4601-9e4d-b4ef012c3756/transcript