This Pa. 6-year-old is the Girl Scout Cookie queen - she just sold 100,000 boxes
"I want to sell the most Girl Scout cookies," Pim Neill told her dad. And then she did.
Pim Neill, 6, means business.
“I want to sell the most Girl Scout cookies,” Pim told her dad, Luke Anorak-Neill early in the cookie-selling season.
Pim, a firecracker in blue glasses, likes a challenge, and her dad was game to help her try. So he took her to knock on doors in their Pittsburgh neighborhood. They handed out fliers and made phone calls. They asked around at church and at local businesses they frequent.
“If people are going to buy cookies, we want them to know that Pimmy’s selling them,” Anorak-Neill said.
By dint of hard work, Pim hit 5,000 boxes a few weeks ago. Anorak-Neill asked her what her ultimate goal was: she said 10,000.
Anorak-Neill shot a quick video of his daughter talking about her goal and uploaded it to TikTok. Social media could only help the cause, he figured.
“Hi, my name is Pim. Do you want to buy some Girl Scout cookies?” the pint-size entrepreneur said.
The video went viral — it’s been viewed more than 5 million times. And Pim’s sales soared.
First, she crushed the single-season sales record. Her new aim is to overtake the lifetime record - 180,000 boxes. (She’s got about a month left.)
On Sunday, moments after she passed the 100,000 boxes mark, Pim was nonchalant.
Why does she like selling cookies?
“It makes people happy,” said Pim.
A record breaker from way back
Pim “has always been a record breaker,” said Anorak-Neill.
She was a Top 10 reader at age 4, and loved selling popcorn for her school last year and collecting gifts for a local toy drive.
Girl Scout cookies seemed like a natural fit, though Pim and her dads had a bit of a rough start. The first troop Anorak-Neill approached for Pim rejected her because of her disabilities, Anorak-Neill said.
“They said, ‘We don’t want that in our troop,’” said Anorak-Neill. “They said, ‘Go find a playgroup for disabled kids.’”
Pim didn’t realize what happened, but Anorak-Neill was disheartened. But he forged on, and found a brand-new troop of Daisy Scouts — the youngest Girl Scouts — that welcomed Pim.
Her cookie-selling prowess has changed the game for the troop, whose initial goal was maybe being able to go on some camping trips. (Individual sales count, but Pim’s sales help her troop, too.) A trip to Niagara Falls — a prize for serious cookie sellers — went from being a lofty goal to being a lock.
At a recent troop meeting, the grown-ups noted that Pim and the other girls never needed to sell another box if they wanted to stop.
“But everybody wants to still do cookie booths and fundraise,” said Anorak-Neill. “This is fun for everybody. It’s a win for Girl Scouts.”
Unstoppable Pim
The online love for Pim has buoyed the family: Pim, Anorak-Neill, and his partner, Don Neill. Neill has had serious health challenges and is awaiting a double lung transplant, Anorak-Neill said.
Pim’s fans adore her.
“SHE IS 6 and 86 AT THE SAME TIME. OH MY GOD I LOVE HER SO MUCH,” someone commented on TikTok.
“Pim gonna sell the most cookies in the history of the Girl Scouts,” another person wrote.
“pim girl don’t worry I just brought 6 boxes,” said another.
Anorak-Neill described the global love for Pim — and appreciation for her sales savvy — as “life changing.”
But while the scope of Pim’s reach has been a surprise, her appeal is not, her dad said.
“Pim’s unstoppable,” he said.