DALLAS — Former Kansas City Chiefs lineman Jeff Allen and his wide Marrisa co-own Cookie Society, a gourmet cookie shop based out of Dallas, Texas.

During the 2021 NBA Finals, Cookie Society was one of four Black-owned businesses featured in “Champion Black Businesses”, a collaboration between The Undefeated and “sharks” from Shark Tank.

ESPN, in collaboration with The Undefeated, the NBA and ABC, continue to utilize the NBA Finals’ stage to promote Black-owned businesses and foster sustainable community impact. Together, we take action to support Black-owned businesses, an area hit hardest during the pandemic, that represented more than 40% of pandemic-induced business closures.

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Marrisa and Jeff sat down for a one-on-one with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban for advice on growing their business beyond the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Marissa, who started as a food blogger, would give Jeff cookies to take to work and he would share them with his coaches and teammates.

“She obviously some of the best cookies I’ve ever had in my life,” Jeff said. “But once I started taking them to the locker room when I was playing for the Houston Texans, coaches and teammates and other people outside of our household were giving her validation. That’s when we decided to make a business out of it.”

The Allen’s were able to ask Cuban questions in regards to expansion, investment and using Allen’s leverage as a former NFL football player to get Cookie Society products into stadiums across the country.

“I would go to the Texans first since you know them and basically say, ‘Who’s in charge?'” Cuban said. “They already know your cookies right? Because you’ve been giving them to them for several years and then, I would potentially guilt the hell out of them.”

“Once you get in that first one, that’s the key. If it does well, chances are whoever is running the F&B for the stadium down there, they’re also running it for other stadiums as well,” Cuban added.

Allen had two stints with the Chiefs (2012-2015 and 2018-2019) and former teammate Travis Kelce congratulated the former lineman and cookie lovers on Twitter.

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes also retweeted the video of the Allen’s business speaking with Cuban.

“You are helping someone,” Cuban said. “You are doing them a favor by letting them buy your cookies. Always remember that.”

You can watch the TV spot of Cookie Society’s Champion Black Business segment during the broadcast of the NBA Finals and all four full segments online.