Thursday, January 16, 2025
Samantha Zola started her rainbow cookie business out of an apartment in South Beach, Miami to cure her longing for a New York classic.
Zola Bakes sells only rainbow cookies and in many varieties.
“I was feeling really homesick and I was having trouble finding a job, and I decided to make some rainbow cookies in my apartment since I wanted a little taste of New York,” Zola said. “I couldn’t find rainbow cookies anywhere in Miami and it seemed like no one knew what they were.”
Zola began baking her rainbow cookie business while her husband, Jesse Charnoff, Lawrence native and Lawrence High School alum, was doing his residency at University of Miami in 2016.
They both met at SUNY Binghamton and Charnoff is now an orthopedist with Hospital for Special Surgery.
Originally from Dix Hills, she attended the French Pastry School in Chicago in 2008 and worked at Magnolia Bakery for four years, where she moved up from a baker to a general manager. She helped open the Penn Station location in 2015.
At the beginning of her business, Charnoff helped in between shifts at the hospital, by cutting bars with a ruler by hand, folding boxes, and making deliveries.
“You’d think getting a medical degree would be enough to get out of the bakery,” Charnoff said. “But it’s not, I’m still the delivery and logistics person if she needs another hand.”
Her business officially took off, in 2017 when she launched her website and Instagram and started shipping orders. They moved back to New York in 2019 and currently work out of a 3,000-square-foot building in Central Islip.
“It’s been fun as a small business to have the family working together on something,” Charnoff added.
In the beginning stages of her business, they were going back and forth to Lawrence regularly as Wall’s Bake Shop in Hewlett inspired Charnoff.
“I told Sam that when she was baking the rainbow cookies, I would be surprised if she could outdo my local bakery,” Charnoff said. “But she was able to do so.”
The bakery is women-operated and Zola’s best friend, Shira Schwartz, director of operations and sales, has been working there since 2022.
“Sam is one of the most hardworking people and anything that she puts her mind to she it going to do it,” Schwartz said. “To see her really build this business from nothing into this incredible place we have now is really just amazing.”
At the beginning of the business, Schwartz was supporting her friend and then during the pandemic she felt lost with her job and Zola offered her a position at the bakery.
“It’s just been amazing to see what has been built the five years prior to me coming and what we’re able to do together, Schwartz added. “It’s really awesome.”
Prior to working with Zola, Schwartz was a senior account executive at wholesale apparel.
“We’ve known each other for almost 20 years and it’s been a very beautiful thing,” Schwartz said.
Zola Bakes has been featured on QVC, Oprah’s Favorite Things, PIX11, NY1 and on many news websites.
Zola’s cookies are shipped nationwide in all 50 states and Canada through her Instagram, @Zola_bakes and website, ZolaBakes.com. Her IG has a viral following with over 35,000 followers.
“Our goal is to introduce the cookie to people who don’t know what it is,” Zola said.
