"Are You a CEO, Director, or Founder interested in a Feature Interview?"
All Interviews are 100% FREE of Charge
Baking has always been Melissa Ben-Ishay’s “love language,” so when she was laid off from her advertising job at age 24, it seemed like the ideal opportunity to turn her passion into a business. Her brother, Brian Bushell, She was encouraged to seize it: “We had built an amazing product that was going to make people happy, in good times and bad,” Ben-Yishai says.
Image courtesy of Baked By Melissa. Co-founder and CEO Melissa Ben-Ishay.
Ben Ishay launched the bite-sized cupcake brand in 2008 with co-founders Brian Bushell, Matt Baer, ​​Danny Omari and Ben Zion.
RELATED: Unable to satisfy her craving for European food in America, she started a business that grossed more than $30 million last year
The company, which recently celebrated its “Sweet 16,” has grown significantly over the years to become a multi-million dollar business with national distribution and 13 retail stores in the New York City area and in Boston.
Baked By Melissa has sold more than 350 million cupcakes, built an online community with 3.8 million followers, and expanded into new categories, partnering with big brands like Oatly and Entenmann’s along the way.
Ben-Yishai has also grown as an entrepreneur and leader over the past decade. She became CEO in 2019 just before the pandemic and became popular on TikTok in 2021 for her recipe for Green Goddess Salad. Her cookbook Please come hungry Published earlier this year, The New York Times bestseller.
RELATED: She envisioned a specific type of culture before starting her business, then grew it from one cart to cult status: “There’s something magical happening.”
Ben-Yishai says her success is driven by her ability to understand what she doesn’t know and then rely on those who do.
“I love to be wrong,” Ben-Yishai says. “I don’t think I know everything. In fact, the older I get and the more experience I have, the less I know. And that’s something I’m very certain of. And I think that’s a really important mindset for leaders and entrepreneurs.”
Images/Photos Courtesy: Baked By Melissa
Ben Yishai said. Entrepreneur Here are some key examples of how that mindset has contributed greatly to Baked By Melissa’s success.
In the early days, the company relied on human resources
At first, Ben-Ishay made cupcakes in the kitchen of her New York City apartment, delivered them on the subway and called catering companies to promote them. The following year, she opened Baked by Melissa’s first retail store, a small pickup window in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood.
In the early days, all of Baked By Melissa’s profits were put directly back into the business. The company never received any outside funding and remains privately owned to this day. Ben-Yishai says her co-founders each brought unique and complementary skills to the table, providing valuable human capital.
RELATED: These friends are using an underrated strategy to run a charcuterie side business and are on track to make at least $80,000 in December
Ben-Yishai said her brother, Bushell, a “born entrepreneur,” saw the potential of Baked by Melissa before her and served as the company’s CEO for eight years.
Baer created and designed all visual aspects of the brand in its early days, and Omari’s Cafe Bali, located on the corner of Spring Street and Broadway, was home to Baked by Melissa’s first commercial kitchen and retail store.
Plus, Zion “was a fantastic networker and was able to deliver our bite-sized treats to every movie premiere, nightclub, red carpet event and celebrity green room you could imagine,” Ben Yishai recalls.
He became CEO somewhat unwillingly.
Ben Ishay didn’t become CEO until December 2019, more than a decade after launching Baked by Melissa. “I never wanted to be a CEO,” she admits. “I never had any intention of becoming a CEO. There were circumstances that led to the board suddenly appointing me as CEO.”
At first, Ben-Ishay was “terrified” about taking on the role, especially as the company headed into its busy holiday season. But she also recognized the incredible opportunity. Ben-Ishay rose to the challenge, and it paid off.
“That month, we broke our holiday sales record,” Ben Yishai recalls, “and two months later, we broke it again on Valentine’s Day, our busiest holiday season. Shortly after, I led my team through a global pandemic (while working from home with two young children) and we emerged from this crisis stronger than ever.”
RELATED: This math major hired by Goldman Sachs is familiar with the “problematic” phrase that undermines corporate America and female leaders — and now she’s fighting back
The experience taught Ben Yishai the importance of asserting himself and pursuing big goals.
“Some may think it’s just a dream and impossible, but I believe it is possible,” Ben-Yishai said. “I learned that you need to do the things that scares you the most. I’ve always believed that you should see every challenge as an opportunity. Although the CEO role felt like it was way out of my comfort zone, it ultimately taught me and helped me grow a lot.”
Images/Photos Courtesy: Baked By Melissa
Green Goddess Salad goes viral on TikTok
Just a few years after Ben-Ishay became the company’s CEO, she took on another key role: social media content creator. “I love social media,” Ben-Ishay says. “I’m really inspired by it and I understand what a tool it can be for business.”
According to Ben Ishay, Baked by Melissa “missed the boat a little bit” when it came to Instagram. The company was founded before the social media platform existed, so it wasn’t able to capitalize on it right away. “It took me about a year to understand the opportunity,” Ben Ishay explains. “I made a silent promise to myself that the next social media channel that came along, I’d learn about it and use it right away.”
RELATED: This TikTok star who made $1 million in 2021 tackles the “taboo” topic of money and exposes major flaws in Dave Ramsey’s approach
In 2020, TikTok gave her the chance to do just that. Ben Ishay saw the platform’s potential but found it difficult to give Baked By Melissa’s creative team members actionable feedback on the content they produced. So Ben Ishay began trying out TikTok herself, recording herself making desserts and dinner for her family.
“One day, I randomly posted a salad and it became a hot topic. [with] “We got millions of views,” Ben-Yishai says, “and I quickly realized that this was an opportunity for my business, which was to build a community of people who were coming to us for something. Even if it wasn’t showcasing a product that we sell directly, the relationships and connections that I was able to make with so many people is something that money can’t buy.”
Images/Photos Courtesy: Baked By Melissa
As Ben Yishai looks ahead to the next 16+ years for Baked By Melissa, he is excited to continue leading the company’s growth.
“We have a lot of opportunity,” she says. “We have a product that makes people happy in good times and bad times, and we can deliver it perfectly, with the highest quality, wherever you are in America. I think there’s a lot of opportunity to do that on a much larger scale.”
This article is part of our ongoing Women Entrepreneur® series, showcasing the stories, challenges and successes of running a business as a woman.
"Elevate Your Brand with an Exclusive Feature Interview!"