Cookie Queen | Olivia Trader, Cape Coral resident & sales superstar, has sold a record 50,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies
If you’ve purchased a box of Girl Scout Cookies here in Southwest Florida over the past decade-plus, there’s a chance you may have acquired your goodies from the “cookie queen.”
Olivia Trader, a Girl Scout Ambassador and senior at The Canterbury School, just sold her 50,000th box of Girl Scout Cookies, setting the Gulfcoast Council’s all-time record.
“It was very bittersweet to be honest,” Trader said of hitting the milestone. “I had council staff members there to support me, and my family there to support me. It was really nice to see all of my biggest cheerleaders who have been there since day one after I’ve worked so hard. They helped me along the way.
“I’m really going to miss the cookie program, but I can’t wait to see what other girls in my council do, and I know I’ve got them excited to sell more cookies.”
Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida CEO Mary Anne Servain said Trader’s accomplishment illustrates how the cookie program helps the girls develop leadership skills.
“Olivia Trader’s incredible achievement of selling 50,000 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies — a record-breaking milestone for our council — demonstrates the power of the Girl Scout Cookie Program in building the next generation of leaders,” Servain said. “Through this program, girls develop essential skills like goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics. Olivia’s success is a testament to the confidence, resilience, and entrepreneurial spirit that Girl Scouts instills, empowering girls to take on challenges, dream big, and make a lasting impact in their communities. We are proud of Olivia and the example she sets for young women with courage, confidence, and character to make the world a better place.”
The 17-year-old who calls Cape Coral home has an impressive resume for her 11 years with the Girl Scouts, and has demonstrated outstanding leadership, advocacy, and community service. She earned Girl Scouting’s highest award, the Girl Scout Gold Award, with a 100-plus hour project to prevent violence against women. She has represented her council on national and global stages, and serves as a personal mentor to young entrepreneurs. You can also find her on the cover of the “Tagalong” cookie box.
Countless days and hours after school were spent outside of Publix, smile on her face, talking with community members and selling boxes upon boxes of cookies.
“What got me through was the motivation to reach that lifetime goal,” Trader said. “It was the driver in getting me through and helped me work as hard as I could.”
Trader joined Girl Scouts when she was in first grade at the request of her mother, and said being a Girl Scout and the program has helped her develop her own sense of self and built confidence.
“When I first started, I was too shy to even order at restaurants,” Trader said. “When I did my very first cookie booth at Publix, I was too scared to even ask anyone to buy a box of cookies. It just shows how much the program has shaped me. Today, I am not only involved in Girl Scouts, I’m able to be very outgoing in the cookie program.”
Her confidence from selling cookies has translated into her life outside of the Girl Scouts. Trader is involved in cheerleading, thespians, Model United Nations, all of which require an outgoing personality. She said she’s also developed solid public speaking skills, which she said came directly from those hours outside of the supermarket and in being a mentor to younger females.
Trader said after attending her first meeting, she was overjoyed with how welcoming and friendly the atmosphere was, despite being intimidated.
“They welcomed me in with open arms, she said.
She recalls learning the song about making new friends, but keeping the old, which to her represented a sense of community.
With every box of cookies she sold, her drive and self fulfillment continued to rise.
“It showed me I could run a business, and I started learning new skills such as goal-setting, entrepreneurship, financing, and I started to see how these skills could apply to my daily life,” Trader said. “That was when I really began to see the true value of Girl Scouts.”
After her first year selling the delicious, colorful-box treats, Trader hit the 1,000-box mark. From there, she set a goal to surpass her previous year’s sales.
“I started on this journey from I’d say first to eighth grade where I ended up adding one-thousand boxes to my goal each year,” she said.
In 2018, she was named a Girl Scout National Cookie Pro, and traveled to New York City where she participated in a photo shoot to have her picture on the “Tagalong” box, which she still graces the cover to this day.
The National Cookie Pro program saw six Girls Scouts from across the country chosen, one at each level of Girl Scouting, with Trader winning for the Junior level.
Winners were not chosen based on the number of cookies sold, but more so the method and what tips a Girl Scout could give to others.
“It wasn’t just the photo shoot that was amazing, it was everything while we were there,” Trader said, detailing all of the different members of leadership she was able to interact with, and experiences shared.
“Of course the photoshoot was so much fun,” she said. “I don’t think it was like any other photo shoot that I would’ve ever experienced. Girl Scouts said ‘be yourself.'”
With the sounds of Taylor Swift playing in the background, the girls were told to have fun and be their genuine self.
“If you see the box, I’m having the time of my life on the cookie guitar,” Trader said. “The great part was that it was real. It was genuine. We were having fun. It was such an amazing experience.”
Cookie box designs are changed every 8 to 10 years, so Trader will grace the cover for quite some time, with the design she appeared on debuting in 2020.
Trader’s 7th grade year coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. Still riding the excitement of being named a National Cookie Pro and the “Tagalong” box being released, she felt that was going to be her year with a goal of 7,000 boxes.
“About halfway through cookie season, I was literally at a booth when we got the call that cookie booths were shut down due to COVID,” Trader recalled. “I was so disappointed. I was a little over halfway to my goal at that point, and I was in despair and looking for what to do.”
Trader didn’t let the news derail her journey of setting a council record, and she began to, pardon the pun, think outside the cookie box. She started doing contactless deliveries, a-la what many local restaurants and businesses turned to at the time. Trader used the power of social media and a list of previous buyers to reach out to prospective customers, old and new.
As if Girl Scout Cookies weren’t enticing enough, she even added a roll of toilet paper, which was a hot commodity at the time, into every cookie order.
“It was techniques like that that really got me through the season,” Trader said. “It was making lemonade out of lemons. It was definitely the most enriching year I had selling cookies, and I ended up reaching my goal.”
Trader sold 7,616 boxes that year, setting the Gulfcoast Council record, and was the emcee for the Young Women of Distinction Awards.
“I was able to talk to young girls about what I did — how I’m a cookie entrepreneur, and it really felt amazing to be able to do that and to have finally reached that goal,” Trader said.
With one major goal checked off the list, Trader only thought bigger, wanting to tackle the 50,000 mark, which she accomplished this year.
Trader’s next steps in life include the continuance of her prowess in the realm of business and entrepreneurship. She is undecided on where she will attend college next year, but has interviewed at some of the most prestigious universities in the country, including Harvard and Georgetown.
She plans on majoring in marketing and advertising wherever she winds up.
“I owe that to Girl Scouts,” Trader said. “It really helped me to build a passion for it. By running a cookie booth, I was able to develop product knowledge, enhance my booth, come up with marketing strategies to sell my cookies, and that all really formed into what became my passion today to go into marketing and advertising.”
Her message to girls in the area on why they should join Girl Scouts?
“Girl Scouts is just amazing for girls of all ages, and is an inclusive environment,” Trader said. “The thing that is great is that if you aren’t as much into the cookie program, you don’t have to do it. If you’re not interested in camping, you don’t have to do it. Girls Scouts has something for everyone. There are many badges and patches you can earn, experiences, travel — there’s just so many opportunities that Girl Scouts allows you to take advantage of. It really helps you develop your sense of self and confidence.”
Trader also encourages those who join Girl Scouts to stick with it through high school, as oftentimes members drop out as they get older. There is even a way for older Girl Scouts to not be tied to a troop, and be an independent Girl Scout.
“A lot of times at cookie booths, I will get the people who say it as a joke, but it does have some hidden meaning behind it, and say, ‘Aren’t you a little too old to be a Girl Scout?’ And those comments, while derogatory, there is a stigma around the ‘cute little Girl Scout’ that’s supposed to be standing outside of the Publix waiting to ask you to buy cookies. I just want people to know that Girl Scouts is for all ages and that you should be able to be proud of who you are, and do it at any age.”
Over her Girl Scout career, Trader earned the highest awards at each age level: bronze, silver and gold.
For her Gold Award project, she created a website and self-defense workshops for college-bound women and designed a Girl Scout patch program on personal safety.
“Given that there’s not a lot of conversation on the topic that is catered to high school students, I wanted to bring that to my high school and around the area,” said Trader, who led self-defense classes at her school. “This is an important topic that girls need to know before they go off to college. That was such a passion project that gave me the flexibility to teach others about my passions and what I wanted to learn more about in this world.”
So, what does she want her legacy to be?
“I want to send the message that Girl Scouts does in fact open doors for you,” Trader said. “A lot of people would say that about me — that Girl Scouts has opened a lot of doors. The main message is that you have to have the confidence to take advantage of opening those doors. You have to take advantage of those opportunities that Girl Scouts will give you. That’s one of the things I will never regret. I’ve been able to travel to the United Nations as a Girl Scout representative for the Commission on the Status of Women.
“Fill out those applications. Run that cookie business. Try the camping trip. Go to that troop meeting. Try out for that badge. Go for the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Award. Girls Scouts is truly one of the best things that has ever happened to me.”
Lastly, Trader provided some of her best cookie tips for Girl Scouts to implement.
First, always wear a smile.
“I know it sounds cheesy, but it’s definitely a really important part,” she said. “Smiling at someone can really make their day. If they see a smiling Girl Scout, they want to buy cookies.”
Second, always try to turn a “no” into a “yes.”
“That’s a marketing strategy I’ve learned over the years,” Trader said. “I’ve heard every excuse or reason to say ‘no’ under the sun.”
Vegan? The “Thin Mints” are a vegan cookie. Can’t eat gluten? There’s gluten-free “Toffee-Tastic.” Diabetic? Buy a box of cookies to support the “Mints for the Military” program where boxes are shipped overseas to deployed troops.
“Turning every ‘no’ into a ‘yes’ has been one of the most fulfilling parts of the cookie program for me,” Trader said.
For more information on Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida, visit gsgcf.org.