If you ever have been to the farmers market, you may have seen the cookie man, Greg Cole, selling his popular product, Little Bits. Every Saturday morning, he can be found at the farmers market near Sedgwick County Park from 8 a.m. to noon selling his homemade cookies. 

Cole’s main inspiration for learning how to bake was his grandmother, who he grew up watching cook in the kitchen and even learned how to cook his first meal for the family at a young age.

“My grandmother, and she lived to be 96 years old, and I used to go into the kitchen and I used to watch her cook and I would say ‘Grandma how much did you put in there,” Cole said. “And she would say ‘baby that was just a smidgen’ and then the next time she’d say ‘that was just a hint’ then she’d say ‘that’s just a pinch’ and I, ever since I heard her say that, I was 13 years old, and I took an interest in learning how to bake and then, like I said, I played with Suzy Homemaker Oven when I was seven and I ended up being a baker.”

Cole has traveled to many different parts of the world, and the cookies he ate during his time in those several places were very special to him. While living in Hawaii, he had the most inspiration for his own cookies from interacting with the Hawaiian locals.

“I lived in Europe for three years, I lived in Asia for three years, and I lived in Hawaii for three years, and when I was over there, they had a cookie called Pfeffernüsse and this is a version of that cookie,” said Cole.

The Little Bits can be found at select stores locally but is also available in four other states. Future plans include the product being available nationwide.

“We’re in Oklahoma, we’re in Missouri, we’re in Kansas, and we’re in Nebraska, so the cookies are all over anywhere but locally I’m in all of your Green Acres Markets, The Spice Merchant, Exploration Place, Beau Monde Spa and Boutique. We’re in a host of different locations,” said Cole.

Cole’s favorite part of selling cookies is wishing them a good morning and greeting all of his customers is something that is meaningful to him.

“Saying ‘Good Morning’ over 500 times, that is my number one thrill of all,” said Cole.

After twelve years of selling cookies, the Little Bits have finally become so successful that they have reached the goal of becoming a national brand company.

“We’re national brand cookie here shortly, so the goal was to be a national brand so now we are a national brand and we’re already in four states, so I just moved into a brand new facility, everything. We are getting ready to get into 65 stores, so that was the goal, but it started out at the farmers market right here,” said Cole.

Mary, another vendor at the farmers market and a customer of Cole’s, enjoys his personality and enthusiasm he brings while running the stand.

“His personality, and the quality of his product, both of those,” said Mary.

When Cole first started out at the farmers market 12 years ago, fear of not succeeding with his stand was his biggest worry.

He overcame these fears by embracing mistakes and getting back up when he fell down.

“Fear, afraid to fail, once I got over that hurdle the rest was down hill,” Cole said. “You gotta overcome your fears first, then the rest is a piece of cake, ‘cause you’re gonna fall, you’re gonna tumble, you’re gonna lose out, you’re gonna do all of those make mistakes and all, but you gotta get back up and keep on going.”