Daily Inspiration: Meet Abe Morris

Today we’d like to introduce you to Abe Morris

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My younger sister Janice Morris Corbin would periodically bake homemade chocolate chip cookies on a regular basis when we were growing up as teenagers in Woodstown, New Jersey. The smells and aroma would waffle throughout the entire house and we would head to the kitchen to snatch a few of the morsels right after they came out of oven. I fell in LOVE with homemade chocolate chip cookies. Then after I graduated from college at the University of Wyoming, I no longer had a girlfriend who would cook and bake for me. So, I knew that the only way I was going to have homemade chocolate chip cookies was to learn to bake them myself. Later on, I moved to Fort Collins, Colorado. I met a good friend at the Pulse Health Club, and we hit it off as racquetball players. Mike Bond (deceased) invited over for Thanksgiving Dinner with his family. I brought along my homemade chocolate chip cookies, and they were an instant hit. Mike later encouraged me to mass market them. It took me over 20 years before I officially launched “Cowboy Chute Out Cookies”. In the meantime, I handed out over 1,200 free cookie samples. One of my long-term goals is to someday be featured in “Black Enterprise” magazine. I wrote a monthly column for “Humps N’ Horns Bull Riding Magazine for over 14 years. I planned and coordinated an Inaugural Black Rodeo Cowboy/Cowgirl Meet & Greet in Las Vegas during the Wrangler National Final Rodeo in December 2024. It was held at the Gold Coast Casino. The event was very well attended by many friends, family and even some Hollywood celebrities. Roper and Wrangler sponsored the free dinner event, and it is already approved again for December 2025.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
So far, it’s been a very easy and smooth road. I’ve been a licensed insurance agent for well over 30 years. I learned how to market and sell insurance and other products. I became a top producer in insurance sales. I’d like to someday be able to mass produce and mass market my cookies. But, I’ll need to put together a team of very dedicated individuals before that is going to happen. As for right now, I’m a one-person operation. No one knows any of my recipes. My current employees consist of three very reliable people —- me, myself and I. I tell people that someday I’d like to become more famous than Amos. I also tell people at the rate I’m going right now, that for the rest of my life, I’m pretty sure I’ll make a lot of dough.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’ve been a Gold Card Lifetime member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association for several years. I’m a retired professional bull rider, television announcer and rodeo announcer. I’m the first Black cowboy in the PRCA to be certified to announce their sanctioned rodeos. Even after I received my PRCA announcer’s card, there are still only two Black announcers in the entire association. After I retired from my rodeo career, I obtained my securities licenses with the NASD (National Association of Securities Dealers) now known as FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) and worked for a few well-known life insurance companies. I wrote my first autobiography titled “My Cowboy Hat Still Fits.” I was married and divorced and endured a very contentious and lengthy court fight for custody of my son. This led to “Justin: A Father’s Fight for His Son”. It was so bad that I was awarded legal custody and my ex-wife had her visitation privileges revoked. This was my second autobiography. My third autobiography, “This Ain’t My First Rodeo” will be published sometime this year. I’m most proud of being a positive father and role model for my son Justin whom I endured an eight-year custody battle. In the process I was financially ruined, but I’ve made huge gains and eventually recovered. My never give up attitude from being a successful bull rider definitely helped. The American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming in Laramie is currently archiving my entire life through books, video tapes, television and radio interviews, newspaper and magazine articles in their museum repository. Unfortunately, a lot of my personal property, possessions and rodeo memorabilia were damaged by a very vicious and relentless storm that hit my home while living in Rahway, New Jersey. Sadly, many items that would have eventually been donated to my permanent museum file at the University of Wyoming were instead thrown out and are now buried deep in a landfill in Union County, New Jersey.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Dave Menard, my direct manager at CORE Financial Services in Fort Collins, Colorado deserves credit for my very successful financial services career. I learned a lot from him personally signing up more than 860 clients in the process. Mike Bond encouraged me to mass market my cookies. A personal friend from the Department of Veterans Affairs encouraged me to finally launch my cookie business and also write the third autobiography. My family, rodeo friends and clients have continued to support and encourage me to one day finally mass produce and eventually mass market my cookies. Keewin Barnes another co-worker in my department at the Department of Veterans Affairs chided, harassed and positively encouraged me on a regular basis until I finally gave in and launched my “Cowboy Chute Out Cookies” business.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://abemorris.com/
• Facebook: Abe Morris
• Other: http://cowboychuteoutcookies.com/