"It's been our dream to get back to Raleigh"

via WRAL Out & About

“Kirk Francis started making cookies at the age of four. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduate was able to turn that childhood hobby into an actual business.

Francis and his wife, Juliann, own and operate Captain Cookie and the Milkman, a mobile bakery and dairy bar serving up tasty treats. The couple started out with a food truck in Washington, D.C., in 2012 and have since expanded to become one of the first tenants in Transfer Co. Food Hall in downtown Raleigh.

"Ten years ago, I was living and working in D.C. I had a day job working as a contractor for homeland security, but on nights and weekends I was making cookie dough and bringing cookies in jars to coffee shops in D.C. to sell," Francis said.

After three years of that, Francis got inspired by a friend who started his own popsicle truck.

"Within six months he had quit his job and was just selling popsicles," he said. "So I bought a used 1988 van from a Washington Post delivery guy and spent a year turning it into a cookie truck."

Francis sold cookies on the streets of D.C. The business soon expanded to include three food trucks and two brick-and-mortar locations in the D.C. area. Despite their success there, Francis said they have wanted to get back to North Carolina. Juliann is a Raleigh native and the two met while students at UNC.

"It's been our dream to get back to Raleigh," Francis said. Francis relishes being one of the first vendors at Transfer Co. Food Hall.

"We are all in it together. All the owners are working every day in their shops. It's nice to be part of a team where everyone is working 110 hours a week to make it happen. Everyone is dedicated," he said. "We all know that the more success anyone of us has, the more success everyone has."“

Read the entire Out & About article here.