For Ashley Fields, the “nepo baby” jokes come with the territory as she launches her own Austin-based cookie brand created for the wellness era. Ashley is the daughter of Debbi Fields, founder of the Mrs. Fields mall-court cookie empire of the '80s and '90s. On May 27, Ashley and longtime friend and co-founder Kim Anderson started pre-orders for Fields Good, which sells functional cookies to supplement personal goals such as focus, protein, and sleep support.

Three varieties are currently available online: the protein cookie, with 10 grams of protein, 4 grams of fiber, and a peanut butter flavor; the focus cookie with 250 milligrams of citicoline and creatine, and a mocha chocolate flavor; and the sleep cookie with 250 milligrams of L-theanine and an oatmeal raisin recipe. A cookie is still a cookie, but these have the supplement built in.

Teens who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s practically lived their social lives in and around shopping malls. Mrs. Fields was that warm chocolate chip cookie in the food court, sold alongside Orange Julius, Auntie Anne's and Sbarro. When the company was sold in 1993 to TCBY, the frozen yogurt chain, it had 900 locations. Debbi Fields, who was closely associated with the brand, was really "all that" in the '90s.

Ashley Fields, unlike some second-generation founders, seems perfectly comfortable acknowledging her family legacy. In an Inc. profile this week, she humorously referred to herself as a “nepo baker,” embracing the connection while building a very different kind of cookie company for a generation raised on TikTok wellness culture and direct-to-consumer startups. A non-compete agreement means her mother has yet to taste her cookies, Ashley said in the profile.

"Today, @fieldsgoodco officially launched," Ashley Fields wrote on Instagram on Wednesday. "I've been training for this since I was a baby with my hands and face in a bowl of dough. I just didn't know it yet."

The genesis of Fields Good began when Ashley and Kim first met during their freshman year at Stanford University, later becoming roommates and baking together in college before eventually launching their company. Previously, and before they moved to Austin, they worked at the California-based THC-infused drink company Cann.

Fields Good officially launched this week after roughly 18 months of recipe development and branding work. With pre-orders now open, the company is offering 15 percent off first orders for email subscribers, free shipping on orders over $75, and branded merchandise for the first 100 subscribers.

The company's rollout has leaned heavily into the self-aware internet humor now common among direct-to-consumer startups. On Instagram and TikTok, Fields Good combines polished product photography with jokes about startup culture, “cookies with benefits,” and Ashley's own inherited cookie pedigree.

Fields Good is also positioning itself within the rapidly growing “functional food” market, where snacks and beverages are increasingly marketed for benefits tied to mood, focus, energy, protein, gut health, or sleep. This approach places the company squarely within Austin's growing ecosystem of wellness-focused consumer packaged goods brands.

Companies like Siete Foods, Vital Farms, Poppi, and Nutrabolt have helped turn Austin into a national hub for “better-for-you” food and beverage startups that blend lifestyle branding with wellness claims.

In a launch post shared on Instagram, Ashley described the company as “a love letter to the cookie,” reflecting on how cookies have become part of birthdays, breakups, graduations, and everyday moments alike.

“My hope is simple,” Ashley wrote in Instagram. “That one cookie at a time, we help people feel a little happier. A little more comforted. A little more human.”