Interview: Melissa Ben-Ishay
Bite-Sized Cupcakes, XL Success: “Baked by Melissa”
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At the top of a rustic walk-up building a couple blocks from Union Square, a colorful office with a creative buzz bustles in between desks, computers, and an array of bite-sized treats. The leading brains behind the operations of this bite-sized cupcake empire, Baked by Melissa, is Melissa Ben-Ishay herself. After trying one (okay, 10) of Baked by Melissa’s signature cupcakes — a sweets phenomenon in New York City and beyond — we had to sit down with the founder herself to hear about how it all started.
What is “Baked by Melissa”, and what is your role in the company?
At Baked By Melissa we sell bite-sized treats. We have 14 retail locations and strive to make life sweeter. My role at BBM is President and Chief Product Officer. I oversee anything related to the brand: marketing, the way people experience BBM, and the product itself. I create everything you eat, I conceptualize every flavor and product because it is called “Baked by Melissa”.
How did you get started?
We started in 2008. I was working in advertising as an assistant media planner and was fired from my job because I wasn’t passionate about the work I was doing — that usually shows. My brother and I are best friends and always wanted to start a business together. When I was fired I went to his office crying. He told me, “Don’t worry, this is the best thing that ever happened to you; Go home and bake your cupcakes and we’ll start a business together”. At the time I was known for baking my tie-dye cupcakes and I loved making them, so it wasn’t crazy that he said that.
I took control of the way I felt, went home, stopped feeling sorry for myself and baked four batches of cupcakes. Allison Bride, who owns a PR agency in the city, saw them, loved them, and put me in touch with her caterer. Her caterer brought me in for a tasting — I made the cupcakes I brought miniature (similar to how they look today), they weren’t actually bite-sized, but they were smaller than normal cupcakes. At our tasting he suggested I make them bite-sized, that there was an opportunity there. I realized that if I wanted to do this I could, if I just figured out how to make my cupcakes bite-sized, so I figured that out very quickly.
If you fail it is an opportunity to learn and grow, if you feel challenged and are having a difficult day then you are going to be better, smarter, stronger, and wiser for it.
I started working events with a caterer and was fired less than a week after I started. I began cold calling catering companies and selling cupcakes baked out of my apartment and delivered via the subways. We created a website where you could order 100 cupcakes or more, delivered by me, baked in my apartment, and paid for using PayPal. We hustled. This was 10 years ago — it’ll be our 10th year anniversary this summer, in June.
What kept you going every day? When it was hot, when you were on the subway, when it was just you?
It wasn’t only me — I founded the company with four unbelievable co-founders, each with skills I didn’t have, my brother being one of those co-founders. He and his business partner at the time owned an interactive agency — they were doing very well, but BBM was an overnight phenomenon. After months they decided to focus full time on the company. They’re the reason why we had e-commerce before retail, they built us a website.
As far as what got me through working hard… I’m very self aware and one thing I’ve always known is that I want to work hard, and physically. I used to say “I wish I was a landscaper” because I enjoyed working with my hands and creating things. Ironically, I didn’t understand that I could do that by creating something I already knew I loved. I always wanted to find a job that would make me feel exhausted at the end of the day.
You always have to prioritize in life, and I definitely made BBM my top priority — I made other sacrifices that were well worth it, and I would do it all over again. Of course there were challenges, but I can’t say I wanted to give up because I always knew the opportunity I had. I appreciated it immensely, to have been able to do what I love every day.
Is there anyone you would like to give gratitude to that made your success possible?
There are so many people I’m grateful for that made this possible. First and foremost my parents, who raised my brother and I to believe that we could do anything we set our minds to. They literally gave us that speech every day — you’re smart and capable and can do anything you set your mind to. I do the same thing for my daughter. My parents empowered us to think creatively and pursue whatever we want.
My brother, my best friend, without him we wouldn’t be here. He’s three years older and we’ve always been very close. We have different skills and different strengths and are very much alike. He was our CEO for 8 years, it was the most magical time. Of course there were challenges, he’s my brother, anyone you talk to who has worked with their family will tell you that. But that made me who I am and he’d say the same thing. I didn’t make it easy for him and he didn’t make it easy for me because we were both equally passionate. There really were no questions — he’s my brother and I tell him everything. He taught me a lot about myself that I now use every day.
The caterer I met early on — he is a PR genius and one of our co-founders as well. Without him BBM wouldn’t have gotten the press we received so early on. If you were in a club in Manhattan from 2009 to 2015 you saw BBM, which is crazy and amazing and made us who we are today.
Daniel Armani, also a co-founder, gave us our first commercial kitchen space and retail location.
Matt Brer, our last co-founder, my brother’s business partner and my childhood friend, designed everything for BBM from the website to the logo.
Together the five of us founded BBM — we each had skills that the other didn’t, and that was our human capital that we developed really early on. Today I have this unbelievable team and together we get shit done, we can do anything. I happen to be the face, and of course I do so much more in the organization every day, but without those people we wouldn’t be here. We have over 250 employees in the company across all of our retail locations.
What are some ways you believe the culinary arts influences our world that some people don’t think about day to day?
The culinary arts is the food we eat, and without the food we eat we wouldn’t be alive. It influences us every day. Just like any other area of creativity there’s room for innovation, constant innovation. We innovated the cupcake by making it bite-sized and we continue to innovate every single day. I love Instagram because I follow all of these food companies, blogs, and media outlets that keep me inspired by seeing what other people are doing, and allow me to continue learning about food. There’s just so much opportunity out there.
Do you have any thoughts or opinions on the future of the baking industry and the ways it is being innovated?
I think the baking industry has gone through a lot of different phases in the past 10 years, and what I’ve learned is that if you create a product that is beautiful and delicious it stays, but you have to continue to create. You can’t just create one thing and keep it out there — people want new and different. I watch our product like a hawk — I’m in the bakery, teaching people how to ice and fill, and everything in between. Every time we make a new flavor I’m there to assure it tastes exactly how I want it to. You see a lot of concepts come and go all the time. It has to be real, authentic, genuine, and delicious, then it can stay.
What are some important life philosophies or values you encourage others to consider?
Every challenge is an opportunity. My attitude towards being fired is not only what got us to where we are today, but what we embody here at BBM and what allows us to continue to be successful. If you fail it is an opportunity to learn and grow, if you feel challenged and are having a difficult day then you are going to be better, smarter, stronger, and wiser for it. What I’ve learned over time — I obviously was not always this way and have felt like it’s the end of the world many many times — is that there is always tomorrow, and it’s important to keep sight of that. The hard things make you stronger and smarter.
I’ve also learned to never respond to anything when I’m feeling emotional. I think everybody should take these notes. We live in an age where it’s very easy to communicate. Like my father always told me: Measure twice, cut once. We all feel emotional, and what I’ve learned is to just pause and go to sleep. Then wake up the next day with clearer thoughts.
What are the next steps for BBM?
We have an unbelievable team, it’s an exciting time. We will continue to grow quicker than we have. In the next year or two we will open additional stores in new markets where we aren’t currently located.
West Coast?
Closer to home to start. Right now we’re in the New York area, there is still a lot to do on the East Coast. We will continue growing our retail imprint and focus on our e-commerce business. Everyone who visits our stores has the opportunity to learn about our brand, and then has the opportunity to give BBM to anyone they’d like, because we can ship our product anywhere.
