Baked by Melissa: How This Mama Sold Over 100 Million

The Baked by Melissa story

For Melissa Ben-Ishay, her goal in life has always been to find something that she was passionate about and would leave me exhausted from hard work at the end of the day. On family vacations, her brother and she would lie on the beach and think up new business ideas; then they would come home and actually try to implement them.

She didn’t realize at the time, but all that dreaming would come in handy. In 2008 I was working as an assistant media planner. She certainly wasn’t passionate about her job, and she guesses it was clear to the people at the company because – she was fired. On that day, she called her brother, and he told her, “Don’t worry, it’s the best thing that could ever happen to you.”

He was right.

“Go home and bake your cupcakes; we’ll start a business out of it” is what he told her. She ran to the supermarket, looking for flavor inspiration. That’s when I thought up s’mores, cookie dough, and peanut butter cup cupcakes — three of her favorite things in the world. These went along with the flavor I famously had been making for all her family and friends — tie-dye.

Launching her own mega-brand, Baked by Melissa, Melissa followed the advice from her best friend and brother, Brian, and set out baking 250 cupcakes distributed to the right people at the right time; a PR firm that was smitten with the tasty treats Baked by Melissa was born.

She described the biggest challenge and the biggest help when starting your business. “There are so many challenges when starting your own business. You must make it your topmost priority over everything else, and you have to be willing to put in the hours and make sacrifices. For me, having the self-confidence that it was even possible was a big challenge. My parents and brother’s support during that time made all the difference.”

Now they have 14 locations and ship our baked goods nationwide. It’s been a magical ride, and there is so much more to come. She feels so fortunate to wake up each day and make life sweeter for people everywhere.

Sources: