Lucy Warenski, Sticky Fingers Cooking franchise owner business owner in the Chicago area, believes in dreaming big. When it came time for this former teacher to consider leveling up her business by adding two new territories, she was ready to make the leap. 

“For the past 15 months or so I’ve really been working on building an intentional and meaningful life,” she said during an interview. “Impact and community are things that really speak to my core. By expanding Sticky Fingers Cooking into all of these new schools and communities, I tap into that. And I was ready to spread my entrepreneurial wings!”

Sticky Fingers Cooking founder and CEO, Erin Fletter, is leading the cheering section for Lucy’s expansion. 

“Lucy has been a force at Sticky Fingers Cooking® for 14 years where she started as a chef instructor, then a manager, and she is now our most successful franchise owner,” said Erin Fletter, founder and CEO of Sticky Fingers Cooking. "In just two years, she’s doubled her business–now FOUR territories strong! This is the highest honor I can imagine! Lucy is writing the recipe for what success looks like at Sticky Fingers Cooking. She is leading with heart, hustle, and brilliance. She’s not just expanding her footprint, she’s building a legacy. I trust her completely. We’re in awe and wildly proud.”

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Sticky Fingers Cooking New Locations

Lucy’s original territory was in Chicago’s North Shore, and her second territory was in a western suburb. As of July 2025, she is also going to offer after-school enrichment cooking classes in the Chicago Loop Central area and southwest of the city. 

Another way to explain it, she said, is that Sticky Fingers Cooking will now be available almost to Wisconsin and almost touching the border of Indiana–north to south for this pocket of Illinois. 

“It’s a lot of cooking classes, a lot of locations, a lot of zip codes, a lot of wonderful schools,” she said. 

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Taking a Chance on Her Future

For Lucy, inspiring children is her “why” and made it possible for her to take this chance. 

“I also get a lot of enjoyment out of being an employer,” she said. “I currently have 50 chef instructors and that’s going to expand–to double–soon.”

Ever the humble success, Lucy says her business growth isn’t about her. “I truly think it’s not me, this isn’t the Lucy show,” she explained. “It is the team I have built, my admin team–Nicole and Justin–and it is collaborating and working together.”

In addition, she has the support of her family. “My husband, Mike, is my biggest cheerleader, and when I got some butterflies about this he said, ‘You have so many people in your corner cheering you on.’ 

She added, “Four territories is a lot, but knowing that I have the Sticky Fingers Cooking community, my friends and my family just saying to me that I’m a force and to lean into that has been something that helps me know I have a great community behind me to do big and lofty things.”

It’s not her style to wing it, and she described this growth phase as “intentional and thoughtful.”

For anyone else out there who has a vision for a different life–being your own boss, becoming an employer, freedom from the corporate 9 to 5, following a passion–let this former Montessori teacher give you some lessons. 

Lucy said she lives by these rules and motivations: 

1. Don’t panic. 
2. There is always a solution, you just have to find it. 
3. Dream big. 
4. Trust yourself.
5. Set your eyes on a beautiful future. 

“I feel really empowered,” she said. “I have a really good plan in place to scale up.”

If Lucy has inspired you to dream big and pursue the Sticky Fingers Cooking franchise opportunity, contact us today to start the conversation and see if we’re a good fit.