Before they got married, Sara and Doug Taylor spent a lot of time in the kitchen baking cookies. "It was something fun to do while we were dating," Sara recalled. "We wanted to perfect the chocolate chip cookie and create one that was huge, gooey and dense on the inside and crispy on the outside."

Their persistence in perfecting the recipe paid off, and the couple opened Taylor Chip in 2018. Now Sara has been named as one of the Forbes 30 under 30 in the "Food and Drink" category for 2024. The award honors 30 people under the age of 30 in 20 industries.

"I was shocked when I found out I'd been chosen," Sara said. "I actually thought the email was spam." Once she verified its validity, she was excited to travel to New York City, where she met with other winners.

Although Sara qualified for the award - she's 29 years old - Doug is 30 and just a little too old for the honor, but Sara emphasizes the business is a team effort. The couple began making their signature cookies as wedding favors, and the sweet treats were so well received, they decided to take a leap of faith and start a business.

Taylor Chip opened a small stand at the former Lancaster Marketplace on Fruitville Pike before expanding to its current four locations in Lancaster, York, Hershey and Intercourse. This year, the company expects to bring in more than $4 million in revenue.

"It's really crazy how it blew up," said Sara, a 2013 graduate of Donegal High School. "What we've done with Taylor Chip is incredible and kind of unheard of."

The Taylors credit the success of their business to hard work and their partnership, but they also say their faith in God has been instrumental in growing the company. They each quit their jobs in other industries to focus on Taylor Chip, trusting it was the right decision, Sara said.

"Dougie and I are both Christians, and we felt like the idea for starting this business came from the Lord," she explained.

Along with the local stores, Taylor Chip will soon expand into the Philadelphia area and Mechanicsburg, and the Taylors have lofty long-term goals.

"We want to open 40,000 locations in 100 countries," Sara said, noting they want the business to be "Starbucks size" within the next 25 years.

In the near future, they're focused on something closer to home: opening a 20,000-square-foot creamery on Columbia Avenue near Mountville.

"I've always had a love for ice cream, and my husband has had a love for cookies," Sara said. In 2019, the couple started experimenting with ice cream recipes, and they hope to open the creamery in early 2025.

When they're not working, the Taylors, who live in Mount Joy, are focused on parenting their almost-2-year-old daughter, Sage.

Sara noted that starting a business and working together has been challenging but fun for the couple.

"We jumped into this a year after we got married," she said. "It has helped us grow so much as a couple. I feel like in just the first couple years of business, we've gained about 10 years of marriage experience, and we've really learned how to work together."