ScaleUp Kitchen: Lamonica Cunningham's Recipe for Growth with Got Dough Cookies & More

Written and Photographed by Bailey Hughes

Long before Lamonica Cunningham created Got Dough Cookies & More for the Jackson community, she was just a kid who couldn't wait for Christmas. Not for the presents or the snow,  but for the chance to bake cookies for Santa.

"I have always loved baking, ever since I was a child. Every year, I couldn't wait for Christmas time so we could bake," Lamonica said.

That love followed her straight into adulthood, tucked away as a hobby for years before she gave it a second thought as a full-time career.

"I always knew how to bake, but I never sold any of it. I thought my stuff tasted pretty good, so one day, I just decided to start selling it," she said.

Cookies came first, with her first customers being family members and neighbors. Then came cakes, then cheesecakes, and before she knew it, online orders started flooding in. She was running a full-service bakeshop right out of her own kitchen. At that point, it wasn't just her hobby anymore–it was her brand.

"It took me a few months to land on the name, but one day, it just hit me: Got Dough Cookies & More. I wanted to specialize in gourmet cookies, not just your regular cookie," Lamonica said. "You don't really find many places that specialize in cookies here besides Crumbl, but I wanted mine to feel like a homestyle bakery–not just another big batch of generic cookies."

Lamonica didn't have a brick-and-mortar yet, but she had plenty of business. Online orders, pop-up shops, weddings, catering gigs, one booking leading to the next. Then, in early 2025, a Facebook post stopped her in her tracks: ScaleUp Kitchen was accepting applications for its second year.

ScaleUp Kitchen is a free program from theCO and Ford Philanthropy, built to help West Tennessee food and beverage businesses grow and reach more customers in the fast-expanding region. In 2025, participants completed a four-day accelerator, one-on-one consulting, and a series of workshops that led up to a public Taste & Tell showcase and a pitch competition with real money on the line. $50,000 total, split among ten winners.

Lamonica almost didn't apply.

"I thought that was so cool, but I knew I didn't have a building or anything like that, so I didn't even know if I would qualify. I was really hesitant," she said. 

But a friend of hers pushed back against the doubt.

"She told me I absolutely needed to apply, and that was just the push I needed. So I applied, and the rest is history," Lamonica said with a shrug and a smile.

Once accepted, Lamonica committed to the program wholeheartedly, taking advantage of every piece of it. Slowly, she began to believe in Got Dough's future the way others already did.

"I always tried to go to every class they had, and it made a big difference. I always brought my notebook and pens and wrote down everything," she said. "I learned quickly never to be too shy to ask another business owner a question, because they want to be honest with you and help you."

The financial side hit her the hardest. Up to that point, Lamonica had been running Got Dough mostly by feel.

"I learned to start writing everything down, and I mean everything. I also learned to keep up with inventory. I never went back once I started tracking it all," she said.

By September, it was time to put it all to the test. ScaleUp participants show their food to the public at Taste & Tell, then pitch to a panel of judges–marketing, business development, and lending experts–who score each concept on eight criteria, from idea strength to scalability. For Lamonica, that meant standing in front of strangers and pitching a business she'd built out of her own home oven.

"I'm so serious when I say I felt like I was on Shark Tank!" Lamonica said. "But it was worth it. Now I know who I am: I am the owner of Got Dough Cookies & More. I'm running it, and I'm the face of it."

She walked in confidently, trying not to get her hopes up too high, and walked out the winner, with the largest award of the night: $10,000.

"It was very astonishing. Words cannot express how I felt in that moment, and still do. I never thought I would win, but the hard work paid off, and look at me now," she said.

By her own account, Lamonica is a shy person, but that day after the pitch, something in her shifted.

"I think that shyness is completely gone. When you go through something like that and push yourself, it unlocks a whole new you. That day, I walked in with my chest up and brought it on," Lamonica said.

Winning came with more than a check. Somewhere along the way, Lamonica met fellow entrepreneur Stacy Hammond of Mocha Flava, and the friendship stuck.

The momentum didn't stop there. That December, Craft to Crumb, a national trade magazine for retail bakers, tapped Lamonica to headline a step-by-step tutorial called "Cookie, Meet Pizza," teaching bakers how to turn a cookie cake into a pizza-inspired showstopper. Got Dough Cookies & More was starting to become a name people recognized.

None of it has come easily, and Lamonica doesn't pretend otherwise.

"I had nights where I could have quit, but I chose to keep going, and now look what that's given me. I've got more catering orders, more fundraising orders, more everything. ScaleUp has really opened doors for Got Dough, and it's just the beginning," Lamonica said.

Through it all, she hasn't been carrying Got Dough on her own. She credits her boyfriend, Brandon Motton, as the backbone of the business.

"He's always in the kitchen with me, doing events, pop-ups, helping me prep. I couldn't have done this without him," she said.

As for what comes next, Lamonica isn't giving much away yet.

"Big things are coming for Got Dough Cookies & More very soon," Lamonica said. "We're going to give Jackson something they've been waiting for, and I feel like everyone. Kids, adults, people of all ages, are going to love it."

Ask her what she'd tell another food entrepreneur still on the fence, and her answer comes fast. It's the same thing she once told herself.

"Just start. You don't need a building or a food truck yet. You don't need a brick-and-mortar right away. I didn't have any of that.  I started straight out of my own home. I did events, created orders, and I got the word out. That is how you build a brand," Lamonica said. "You use the resources around you and run with it, but if you keep pushing yourself back, you won't get very far, will you?"

She circles back to one line more than any other.

"You know what they say: slow and steady wins the race. Every. Time. And you don't have to get it all done in a rush, because greatness comes with time."

Got Dough Cookies & More is based in Jackson, TN. Follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, and place an order through their website.

ScaleUp Kitchen is an ongoing program of theCO that supports food and beverage entrepreneurs in West Tennessee. Through workshops and resources, ScaleUp helps entrepreneurs improve operations, increase profitability, and maximize sales.

Learn more about ScaleUp Kitchen at theco.com/scaleup.