COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Baker is one of many titles for small business owners in Columbus, known for their specialty cookies. He is also a contestant on Drag Queen and Food Network.
Guangzhou native Alex Copeland, owner of Plenty O’Cookies, is a local baker who specializes in a line of cookies decorated with unique designs to celebrate various holidays, seasons, occasions and more . Inspired by Copeland’s drag character Plenty O’Smiles, this small business has been operating in central Ohio since 2014.
Copeland has built a clientele in central Ohio with thousands of followers on Instagram and Facebook. However, he said he was initially concerned that customers would reject the drag queen as the face of Plenty O’Cookies.
“I’m afraid to do it because I don’t think people like drag queens as part of the business,” Copeland said. “My personality as Alex is the same as my personality in drag, so it’s easy to intersect the two.”
Copeland is now meeting demand by running an online store where customers can order Hundreds of designs including pop culture influenced cookies and designs celebrating Valentine’s Day, baby showers, Halloween, birthdays, New Year’s Eve, weddings and more.
A lifelong baker, Copeland realized a year into his pursuit of drag that he wanted to maximize his passion. He began selling his cookies at local markets once a week while practicing and expanding his design portfolio.
Word of mouth spread, and Copeland began receiving many orders from central Ohio. In 2017, Copeland’s cookies landed him on the Food Network, where he competed with bakers from across North America in Season 3 of the “Christmas Cookie Challenge.”
For many of his customers, Copeland said he was the first drag queen they had ever dealt with. He said he was grateful for the opportunity to introduce the LGBTQ+ community to so many people and hoped he could play a role in combating negative stereotypes.
“Someone reached out to me on social media and said, ‘My kid is coming out, do you have any resources,’ or they thanked me for being out there because representation is important,” Copeland said. “It’s really great to bring people into the world of drag, into the LGBTQ+ community.”
To further his mission, Copeland teaches his cookie decorating skills through workshops at homes and colleges throughout the county. Additionally, Copeland is available for private decorating parties in Central Ohio.
Learn more here and order from Plenty O’Cookies.
