Girl (Scout) Power Nets Sales Gold

She's 10 years old, likes the color lavender and chowing down on homemade apple pie.

She's also a Girl Scout cookie-selling phenom.

During the 2011 Girl Scout cookie season, Katy Pendleton sold 670 boxes of Girl Scout cookies from January to March - the most of any Girl Scout in the Carrollwood area. That's a total of $2,345 in cookies at $3.50 a box.

Katy, a fifth-grader at Carrollwood Elementary School, has been a part of the Girl Scouts since she was in kindergarten, says her mom, Laura Pendleton. Katy, who is one of eight girls in Troop 433, said the key to her success was being persistent.

"My Dad really helped me, and took me around my whole neighborhood to sell cookies to everybody," Katy said. "Because my schedule is so busy, we went on weekends and walked around."

Added her mom, smiling: "It made for some very long days."

Katy was also aware of her customer base.

"One lady started with six boxes, then eight, then 10," said Laura Pendleton. "Last year was 12, this year was 18. She has regular customers every year who wait for her to come. We even get emails."

For every box sold by Katy, $.60 goes back to the troop, and the rest to the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida.

Susan Barnes, spokeswoman for the organization, said there are about 260 Girl Scouts in the Carrollwood area. There are 22,000 girls in the eight counties served by the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida: Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Marion, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk and Sumter.

Barnes said Katy had a "terrific" Girl Scout Cookie Program in 2011, and that she's looking forward to what she achieves this year.

"Through the Girl Scout Cookie Program, Katy is learning life skills, including goal-setting, decision-making, money management, people skills and business ethics - all of which she'll carry with her throughout her life."

With Girl Scouts cookie season underway, Pendleton is getting ready to start booth sales on Feb. 24, once she decides which locations to sell at in Carrollwood.

While her favorite type of cookie is Samoas, she said another type of cookie led her sales last year.

"The most I sold is Thin Mints," she said. "Everybody likes those a lot."