Dr. Lucy Gibney

When Dr. Lucy Gibney, an ER doctor, discovered her baby suffered from severe food allergies, she shifted her attention from the hospital to the kitchen. Her goal was to develop baked goods that her son could enjoy while keeping him healthy and safe. What she didn’t realize at the time was that she was on her way to creating a line of gluten-free cookies that would become one of Starbucks picks for its stores nationwide, not to mention a favorite at Whole Foods Markets, Harris Teeter, Giant and Stop & Shop supermarkets.

After much testing, she was able to make a clean cookie based on one of her mother’s recipes, who she says, “is a fantastic cook and baker.” She makes sure her packaging has clear ingredient and allergen information—a tremendous help to people with food allergies—and carefully selects all the raw materials while implementing stringent quality control. Dr. Lucy’s cookies are available in Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal, Sugar and Cinnamon flavors, and baked without wheat, gluten, milk, butter, eggs, casein, peanuts or tree nuts. Although she left her job to focus on her cookie line, her husband Paul continues to work as an ER doctor, and also takes on the company's sales and distribution.

Lucy shared more of her story with us:

How did you find time to bake while you were a doctor?

Necessity. I discovered my son had severe food allergies when he was four months old, so as he got older I had to find the time to bake for him to ensure he had safe, delicious foods to choose from. Not to mention, a love of baking was instilled in me at an early age by my mother, so baking for my family is a source of great joy for me.

Where did you get the recipes that you used to launch your business?

My mother. After spending some time learning the nuances of successful gluten-free and vegan cooking, I was able to apply those tricks to my mother’s tried-and-true recipes. In fact, I often visualized my mother’s hands in place of my own while I worked in the kitchen to formulate the recipes. The perfect recipes didn’t happen overnight—I threw out quite a few batches before I got the cookies just right.

What's the biggest challenge when manufacturing allergen-free cookies? 

For us, manufacturing with food allergies in mind means extra effort in quality assurance. We put a special focus on sourcing our raw materials from select, careful producers. Then, we take extreme care in testing for trace allergens where any concerns exist. Though these steps provide additional challenges, we remain dedicated to manufacturing this way.

Are there any similarities between your job in the ER and a cookie maker?

Absolutely. Being an entrepreneur requires the ability to problem solve successfully on your feet—a skill that’s key to practicing medicine in the ER. Both also require intense multitasking. But, the strongest similarity is the deep satisfaction I have received from helping people in both positions. Providing families like mine with delicious, convenient foods that they can enjoy brings me such a genuine happiness. I went into medicine to help people and leaving the practice to run Lucy’s hasn’t stopped me from being able to do that. That’s a real blessing.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I probably wanted to get into at least ten different professions by the time I was a teenager, but the most dominating was the desire to help people. Other than that, I always wanted to be an artist too. I’m not particularly talented in this area, but just had a passion for it. In some ways I feel I’ve done it—just in the kitchen versus on a canvas. Food manufacturing is very creative work.

Aside from your products, what food can you always find in your kitchen?

I like to keep simple ingredients that can be combined in a variety of ways for a quick, tasty meal or snack. My staples include vegetables, fruits, rice, beans, gluten-free pasta, gluten-free oats, gluten-free flours, olive oil, sea salt, balsamic vinegar—and popcorn.—Denise Shoukas

Denise Shoukas is a regular foodspring.com contributor and is the author of foodspring’s food forager blog.