Cureston "Cookie" Brice

Cureston Brice goes by Cookie, and if you spend five minutes with her, you understand why the name sticks. She is warm, quick to laugh, and the kind of person people gravitate toward without quite knowing why. She will tell you she is shy, but it doesn’t show.

Cookie grew up in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and left home in 1997 to join the U.S. Army. Her first duty station was Italy. From there, the career took on a life of its own. She eventually landed in Fayetteville, near Fort Bragg, in 1999 and never really left. She did a stretch as a Department of Defense civilian supporting operations in Kuwait, then came back and settled in. By the time she opened Graze Craze, she had nearly 29 years of combined military and government service behind her, and she was still going.

The idea of owning a business had been in the back of Cookie’s mind for a while. She had money to invest and wanted to put it to work. A good friend who had served alongside her in the Army had recently opened her own franchise, and that planted the seed. 

She pointed her toward the Vetrepreneur Program, where Cookie was paired with coach Sarah Brown, who helped her work through the process of finding the right franchise fit. Three concepts stood out from the assessment. Graze Craze rose to the top. 

What sealed it was a lunch meeting with Graze Craze Regional Vice President Greg Quisito, who flew out to the Charlotte area to sit down with Cookie in person. The conversation was easy, the energy was right, and Cookie walked away feeling like she had found something worth betting on.

Cookie came in with some confidence from her military food service background. She knew her way around a kitchen and felt like the operational side would come naturally. She was right that it would come. She is also quick to laugh at how much she still had to learn.

Here is what a typical week looks like for Cookie Brice: she is still an Army Civilian employee serving her country full time and runs Graze Craze. Both at 100%.

She jokes that she sometimes wishes she were three people, one for each job and one just to handle the marketing. She is not entirely joking. Cookie opened her doors on January 29th after a training week and a soft opening, and she has been navigating the pace ever since. When a big catering job comes in and she needs to be the one in the room, she shows up. She drove over an hour to set up five brunch boards herself for a catering event, stayed until things wound down, and broke everything down before leaving. That is just how she operates.

Cookie is honest about the fact that the full weight of what she had taken on did not register right away. Opening a business, maintaining it, growing it, doing all of it while serving as an Army Civilian employee, is a lot. There were sleepless nights. There still are sometimes. But when she reflects on what has surprised her most, she points to the community.

Cookie joined the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce and the Hope Mills Chamber, and the connections started coming in fast. Organizations, nonprofits, venues, and event coordinators. Her hospitality background from her military MOS opened doors she had not anticipated, including outreach to tourism venues and wedding vendors looking for a reliable charcuterie partner. The B2B side of the business is still ramping up, but Cookie can see exactly where it is headed, and she is working on it deliberately.

One of her biggest upcoming events says everything about where she is planting her flag. She landed a Brigadier General’s promotion ceremony, and the excitement is palpable.

Cookie’s military background shows up in how she leads her team more than anywhere else. Punctuality is non-negotiable. If a setup is scheduled for a certain time, she will be there. She holds her staff to the same standard and is direct about it. 

She is also learning, as many veteran owners do, that managing civilian employees requires a different touch. The expectations are the same, but the approach has to flex.

The discipline, the sense of accountability, and the ability to execute under pressure translate directly. The way she talks about her team reflects the same instinct that made her effective in uniform: make sure the people around you have what they need to do the job, then trust them to do it.

If someone is sitting on the fence, Cookie’s message is simple: get off it.

She does add some practical wisdom. Think carefully about your reasons for wanting to do this. Be ready to get out in your community and talk to people every single day. Marketing is not optional. It is the job. And if you are someone who naturally keeps to yourself, you will need to work on that, because the business grows when you do.

Cookie is clear about one thing: every time she has reached out for help, someone has picked up.

Her business advisor responds quickly. Greg Quisito picks up the phone. And the franchisee network has been a genuine resource, especially the veterans in the system who have gone out of their way to support her as a newer owner. For Cookie, that attentiveness has meant everything during the early months.

Ask Cookie where she sees herself in five years and she laughs a little before she answers. She is honest that expansion would probably mean stepping away from her civil service role at Fort Bragg, which is not a small thing after nearly three decades of service. But if the opportunity presents itself, she admits, she might have to have that conversation with herself.

For now, she is focused on the vision she has for Fayetteville. She wants to get deeper into Fort Bragg, build real relationships with the USO and other military organizations, and position Graze Craze as the go-to name for events in her market.

When asked about her proudest moment so far, she does not hesitate. It was opening day. The grand opening, the people who came out to support her, the doors finally being open after months of waiting. That was it.

Cookie Brice spent most of her adult life showing up for her country. Now she is showing up for her community, one board at a time.

She also has a not-so-secret secret weapon waiting in the wings. Her son has been one of her greatest inspirations throughout this journey. An active duty soldier currently serving overseas, he checks in regularly, asks how she is doing, and keeps her grounded. He is a college graduate with a degree in Business Management, and Cookie is quick to note with a laugh that she already has plans for him once she is ready to sit down. He will be home in a few months, and she cannot wait for him to see the store for the first time.

Through all of it, Cookie is quick to point to what has carried her: her faith, the unwavering support of her family and closest friends, and the angels she believes have been watching over her every step of the way.