Bite Me! Cookies

Deborah Tuggle didn't plan to open a bakery. As a single mother, she desired to get an education that would allow her a job with the security she craved to take care of her young son, so she enrolled in college. To help her make ends meet, she started selling cookies to her classmates. The cookies were so popular that she started selling them every Friday.

After college, Deb tried the corporate world and decided it was not for her. She had an entrepreneurial spirit and knew how successful her cookies were at school, so she decided to go all in on starting her own business. Without looking back, she opened her first bakery in Tacoma's Hilltop neighborhood on MLK Jr. Way, and aptly named it “Friday’s Cookies”.

Deb soon sought a mentor in the cookie business and became quick friends with the owners of Bite Me Cookies. She later purchased the company and merged her two brands under one cookie roof, Bite Me, Inc. Today, Bite Me is a wholesale bakery, producing cookies under the Bite Me, Friday’s, and Bite Free brands. Bite Me products can be found in high-end grocery stores including Metropolitan Markets, Pavilions, Whole Foods, New Seasons and AJ’s Fine Foods as well as coffee shops, gift companies and other retailers. Bite Me also produces private label cookies and is a third-party manufacturer for many bakery items sold throughout the country. Deborah is also co-owner of Seattle Shortbread, a gluten free cookie company and majority owner of Bite Free Cookies, a vegan, paleo and keto-friendly cookie company.

As a board member for Culinary Arts at Clover Park Technical College and WorkForce Central, Deb stays actively involved in the local community to help support the next generation and help ensure economic vitality across the region. Deb believes in empowering woman and immigrants through job creation and skill development, this is what drives her to make cookies that make jobs that change lives.