this last weekend, i bought 5 boxes of girl scout cookies. while this might not seem like an innovative activity for a woman who spent the majority of her life in girl scouts, i actually haven’t purchased girl scout cookies for YEARS. this is because i have 1 rule.

i only buy girl scout cookies from GIRLS.

not parents. not leaders. not from a facebook post from someone’s family member. i only buy girl scout cookies directly from girls. because when you see parents or leaders taking the lead and trying to make the sale, they’ve missed the whole point of why girl scouts sell girl scout cookies.

when i first joined girl scouts all those years ago (not sure of the exact number, but at least 25 years ago now), i remember the excitement of getting our order sheets in preparation for our girl scout cookie sale. we would learn all about the new cookies. memorize how much they where and when they would be arriving for delivery. we would even practice selling cookies to each other so we were ready to knock on doors and pitch to people we didn’t know.

we would set our troop goals. decide which summer camps and events we wanted to go to and how much we would need to earn so we could all participate. we would peruse through all the prize incentives and set our personal goals based on what prizes we really wanted.

and then we would SELL! we would go door to door, we would call our family members, we would set up cookie booths outside of stores. we would ask people, ‘do you want to buy some girl scout cookies?’ easy as that, but teaching a lifetime of lessons and skills.

this weekend, i was at the mall with my mom and the girl scouts had a booth set up and were selling girl scout cookies. i’ve seen this many times in previous years. but this year, a little daisy girl scout saw me, actually came up and asked if i wanted to buy girl scout cookies! i said YES and went over to learn more!

i asked her what her favorites were, if there were actually cookies in the giant display boxes they had set up (alas there was not), how much they were and which ones i should buy. her and her friend answered all of my questions, they got my $20 and i got 5 boxes of girl scout cookies!

selling girl scout cookies isn’t just about ‘making money.’ it’s a program. girl scouts are teaching entrepreneurship, business skills, social skills, financial literacy, confidence, goal setting, the list goes on and on and on!

when parents and leaders are selling girl scout cookies, the girls aren’t gaining these skills and learning from these experiences. this is why i don’t buy girl scout cookies from parents or leaders.

girl scouts PLUS cookies PRODUCES amazing girl bosses who can do anything! so go and buy some girl scout cookies from GIRLS!