A family recently turned its pain into purpose after unexpectedly losing a loved one. The Cooks, Kim, Lindsey, Brittney, and Calin Cook of Sacramento, California, started Something Sweet in 2022. It’s a premium, frozen cookie dough brand that ships nationwide. Fox News Digital spoke with mom Kim Cook, Lindsey Cook, and Brittney Cook about their journey to becoming entrepreneurs and how one particular family member continues to be their “why.”

Dan Cook, husband of Kim Cook and father of the three girls, unexpectedly passed away in Nov. 2021 — something Kim Cook said was like a “theme to a country song.” She said, referencing her 20-year career in consumer-packaged goods, “In a very short window of time, I lost my husband and my job.” However, The loss of Dan Cook was a moment that shaped the tight-knit family, a unit the late dad of three deemed “Team Cook” years ago. Kim Cook recalled of her family from the start, “Every time I was pregnant and kept popping out these girls, we all joked that we had a team. We made a lot of decisions on the way we approached life as a team and as a family.”

The family members, through tears, shared the impact Dan Cook had on their lives — and how they’ve chosen to take that pain and turn it into purpose.  “This was a dream that we talked about as a family for as long as I can remember,” daughter and sister Brittney Cook said. “I know my dad and I would always spark up the different business ideas we wanted to do as a family,” she said. Around the same time that Kim Cook lost her job, Brittney Cook was brainstorming steps the family could take to honor their loved one’s legacy.

Kim Cook recalled that her husband used to love it when she would bake her uber-popular brown butter chocolate chip cookies, always joking that she should sell them. “Mom, Dad always wanted you to do something with your baked goods,” Kim Cook recalled her daughter Brittney Cook saying to her one day. As a self-taught baker and self-described foodie, Kim Cook said she’d always thought about selling her cookies, but the timing was never right. “We had kids in college, and we were always trying to be practical,” Kim Cook said. “I just knew a brick-and-mortar style bakery was not really the path I wanted to take.”

Brittney Cook said, “I have this idea. You always had frozen cookie dough in our freezer with us growing up, and Dad loved your brown butter chocolate chip cookies. Maybe we should sell that.” After a family meeting with the other two sisters, the family came together to build Something Sweet — and “Team Cook” was back.  The brand launched two months later on the first anniversary of Dan Cook’s passing. Within two months of the launch, Something Sweet was shipping nationwide, and less than a year later, it was on retail shelves in California. “It was such a God moment,” Brittney Cook said.

Lindsey Cook, who handles the marketing side of the venture and lives in Denver, Colorado, told Fox News Digital that her father always encouraged her and her sisters to chase their dreams. “He was full of life and just kind of always had this can-do attitude — nothing was ever too big,” she said. The 27-year-old said her father left a lasting impact on them, saying that “no dream or goal is too big — just go for it.”

The family has tried to incorporate Dan Cook into their operation as much as possible. That includes drawing up a logo that incorporates their family and their faith. The Cook tile has four circles for the women — with a center spot for Dan Cook. Inside the overlapping circles, a cross is shown, which represents their continued faith in the future. Kim Cook said that although the family carries the loss with them daily, they have chosen to believe that there’s a reason for all of it. She said, “We may not understand it, but we have to believe this is what’s supposed to be, and it doesn’t make it hurt any less, but we are just on this path.”