Baked By Melissa On Building A Brand, Community And Staying Authentic

Forbes

Melissa Ben-Ishay, cofounder and CEO of Baked by Melissa, shares how getting fired at 24 led to building a cupcake empire and a viral social media following. In this interview, she opens up about launching the brand, embracing the CEO role, and using authentic content to build a loyal community. Melissa also discusses balancing motherhood and leadership, how TikTok transformed her business, and what it means to be the face of a brand. With over 300 million cupcakes sold, she’s now blending business strategy with viral salad recipes and smart partnerships. Watch to hear her journey from tie-dye cupcakes to digital creator and beyond.  00:00 – Intro: Meet Baked by Melissa’s Founder 00:32 – How Getting Fired Sparked a Business Idea 01:49 – The Origin of Tie-Dye Cupcakes 02:55 – Hardest Moments in the Early Days 04:14 – Naming the Brand “Baked by Melissa” 05:39 – Market Research That Changed Everything 07:04 – Owning the Role as Brand’s Face 09:02 – The Strategy Behind Her Viral Salad Content 10:55 – How Social Media Drives Business Growth 13:06 – Brand Partnerships and Building Community 16:07 – Becoming the CEO—And Why She Said Yes 20:47 – Blending Work and Motherhood 23:35 – What’s Next for Melissa and Baked by Melissa 24:27 – Cupcake Favorites and Everyday Sweet Treats 25:58 – What Mother’s Day Means to Melissa  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Hi, everyone. I'm Maggie McGrath, editor of Forbes Women. From turning a personal passion

00:08into a nationally recognized brand that has sold more than 300 million cupcakes,

00:15our next guest has sweetened countless lives. She is Melissa Ben Ishai, the co-founder and CEO of

00:21Baked by Melissa. You might know her from her cupcakes or, like me, you might religiously

00:26follow her for her salad recipes on Instagram and TikTok. Melissa, thank you so much for being

00:30here. Thanks for having me. I just teased it part of where this interview will go, but let's go back

00:35to the beginning because Baked by Melissa would not exist. A very happy company, if you will, but

00:41would not exist if not for a moment of professional setback. Can you talk about the inspiration and

00:47what led to this company? Well, I was 24 years old working as an assistant media planner at

00:52Deutsch Advertising. I was not passionate about the work I was doing, and it showed, so I was fired.

01:00At the time, I was baking my tie-dye cupcakes for everyone and anyone if it was your birthday,

01:04and I loved you. I baked you tie-dye cupcakes. That is my love language to this day, as you know.

01:12So I went to my brother's office from being fired. He said, go home, bake your cupcakes. We'll start a

01:17business together. I make it sound like it was like such a quick thing, but I mean, it was pretty

01:24quick, but it wasn't easy. I went home and I baked four batches of cupcakes and sent them into work

01:31with my best friend's little sister the following day. She was interning at a PR agency. The owner

01:36of the PR agency tried the cupcakes, loved them, and put me in touch with her caterer.

01:42I think a lot of people associate you with the tie-dye, but I don't think I've ever heard the

01:45origin story. Where does the love for tie-dye come from?

01:49Tie-dye represents so many great things. It's colorful. It represents a time in history where

01:56people were, there was a revolution. Peace, love, happiness, acceptance. It's beautiful, inclusive.

02:06What's not to like?

02:08What's not to like? As someone who bakes very amateurly, I've always wondered about the pans

02:14for these cupcakes. So in the early days, like I don't have a baking pan that would create something

02:19quite like this. How were you physically making these?

02:23Well, the caterer called me in for a tasting. I made them mini for that tasting. And then he said,

02:32oh my God, people freak out over these like cute little bite-sized things. If you could figure out how

02:37to make them just a bite, oh my God. I saw that as my challenge. And I left his apartment where we

02:44had the tasting and I asked strangers on the street if they knew where baking supply stores were.

02:49I didn't know that they exist, but they do. And I found a very temporary solution to make them just

02:54a bite.

02:56Interesting. So you talk about it sounds easy. And I've heard you say in other interviews,

02:59when we lead with these big numbers, like 300 million, it kind of glosses over some of the harder

03:04moments. What was one of the harder moments in those earliest days?

03:09There are so many hard moments every single day. Being an entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart.

03:14And there are so many different types of entrepreneurs. In those early days, I would say

03:18believing in myself first and foremost, doing it with my big brother. We founded the company together

03:25with three others. So Baked by Melissa has five co-founders. I can equate it to parenting a child

03:33when you start a business. It's something that you love so dearly and you're passionate about. Learning

03:39how to lead that company with others who love it the same way is a challenge at times, but also the

03:47most beautiful thing. I was an assistant media planner. So I had never managed anybody before.

03:56I didn't believe in myself the way my brother believed in me. And he had the vision of Baked by

04:02Melissa before anybody else did. And did you want to be the face of the brand? You said you had to

04:09build that confidence and it's named after you. How did you come to the naming of the company?

04:14After the tasting was scheduled with the caterer, I ran to my brother's office. Like, oh my God,

04:19I just got a tasting with this caterer. Let's go in there like we have a business already and he could

04:23be a part of it. And that's when we decided on the name and the logo. My brother insisted it have

04:28a personal tie. He said, the name of the PR agency was Alison Broad PR. And he said, I wouldn't even

04:34know who Alison was if her name wasn't in the name of the business. So I think that was a great point.

04:41And we settled on Baked by Melissa, which was like a natural extension of myself at the time. I got to

04:48get everyone baked by Melissa. His business partner, our childhood friend, designed the logo while we were

04:55having that conversation. And when I saw it, I think I cried because if I were a logo, that would

05:00be me. I used to refer to Matt as my brother from another mother. We were all like super close and he

05:06knew me just as well as my brother at the time. So it was perfect. As you talk about building the

05:15company name around you, I'm thinking of an interview you gave earlier this year where you talked about

05:20some market research you did many years later. It was 2017. You spent some money to kind of analyze

05:26what consumers thought of the brand. And they came back and said, you're the heart, you're the soul.

05:32Can you talk about what that did for you and also then how you marketed the company after getting that

05:37market research back? I want to start by saying that being the face of a brand is a very humbling

05:43experience. And there's a lot of weight that comes with it. It's a huge responsibility to be the face

05:49of a brand. And I take it very seriously from the very beginning. Everything I do is under a

05:55microscope, whether it's within the walls of our office or when I'm in the stores or now when I'm

06:01out in public, everybody's watching me. And I was constantly reminded of that in the early days.

06:06So I had this really big responsibility and pressure was put on me. And I was told when

06:14maybe I didn't do something the way I should have. It was a little whatever at the time. But

06:20I kind of learned that responsibility and I saw it as such an incredible opportunity. There's

06:28something bigger than me that requires me to be the best version of myself that I could possibly be.

06:35Perception versus reality is such an interesting thing to me, especially when you're in business

06:40and you're the face of a brand. I wasn't involved in the nitty gritty of creative and marketing. I was

06:48the face of the brand. I was creating the product. And my brother was our CEO for the first eight years

06:54we were in business. And then we hired another CEO so my brother could go on and continue to do what

07:00he does best, which is like create. And he also taught me a lot. And he came from a different

07:11background. He wanted to do market research, which we did. And it was such an incredible opportunity to

07:16learn about our customer, who she is, the value that we provide her with. And at the end of the day,

07:26like the market research agency, like they were just like, Melissa is the soul of baked by Melissa.

07:32And like the brand lives with inside of her. And that was a moment. I remember where I was sitting

07:38when I heard it and it gave me a certain amount of confidence, I think that I didn't have before I

07:47heard it. So was that moment more important for you personally in your professional journey,

07:52or was it, did you alter the marketing and the way you interacted on social media after that moment?

07:58I think the perception from the outside looking in was that it's the way it has always been.

08:04It's baked by Melissa. And I think even within the walls of our company,

08:09in certain ways, people felt that, but I didn't because

08:13it takes, I don't know. I'm not like that. It's just like, I don't have an ego.

08:22I would never act in a way that something revolves entirely around me. That's weird,

08:28you know, or that's not who I am. I guess I should say it's not weird.

08:31So hearing that gave me the confidence I needed to act a certain way.

08:38That's interesting.

08:39And to share my thoughts and feedback and ideas more freely.

08:44So perhaps had that research not existed, we would not have the viral green goddess salad moment,

08:50do you think?

08:51There were a lot of things that happened over the course of a few years that led to that viral

09:00green goddess.

09:01So we come to the portion of the interview where I say, I think half of the people watching might

09:05know you more for your salad and lunch recipes that you post on social than the cupcakes, which

09:12also many people know you for, and rightly so. Can you talk about, was that an intentional decision to

09:19do that recipe and to lean into the salad portion? It feels authentic to you. You're often talking about

09:24what you eat for lunch. And I think what has drawn me to your videos is it doesn't feel like you're putting

09:29on a persona. It feels very natural, but I don't want to assume. So what was your thesis behind that?

09:36It was very intentional. I had made a silent promise to myself that when the next channel of

09:43social media comes out, I was going to get on it and learn it myself because I love social media and

09:49I am a creator first or creative both. My team was creating content for TikTok and I felt like it could

10:00be better, but I couldn't provide actionable feedback. As a way to do so, I got on TikTok. I created my own

10:08personal account, Melissa Beneshi, and I got to TikToking. Like I started filming the desserts and the meals I

10:17was making at home. It was during COVID. I cook dinner every night because I enjoy it. And dessert, oftentimes,

10:24I'll bake something like it's nothing because that's why Baked by Melissa exists. In doing that

10:32and posting to learn, I quickly saw that the content I was creating was getting very good engagement and my

10:42following was growing. But my job is to lead Baked by Melissa as the CEO. And it felt like

10:49if I'm doing something that's working, I should be using it for Baked by Melissa.

10:55So I just, I was like chopping a salad and filming it. And I was like, I'm going to post this from

11:02Baked by Melissa. What's the worst thing that's going to happen? Nobody will see it. And it has like

11:0740 million views. It was a Mediterranean salad. And I started the voiceover with, this salad is the

11:14reason I married my husband, which is a great hook. And then I immediately saw the opportunity it

11:21provided Baked by Melissa with, to create a community of people who feel a real connection

11:29to me and come to me for something. Recipes. Nobody needs cupcakes every day. Also, like they're amazing.

11:39They're the best gift ever. They're the best dessert. They make everybody happy because of

11:44a variety of flavors that make you feel like a kid again. And like chocolate, vanilla, cookie dough,

11:49like you name it. But it's not, you don't need it the way you need recipes so you can nourish your

11:55body and be the best version of yourself. I didn't even realize how much of myself I was sharing

12:03because food is my, food is my, I love food. I have been chopping salads and eating them with chips

12:11for just as long as I've been making my tie dye cupcakes. It was just another piece of me that

12:16I was sharing. And I think that on social media, what works is genuine and authentic content. I was

12:26truly doing what makes me happy and people felt a connection to that. And I was giving people what

12:32they want. Right. You also tend to not use measuring cups, which is like the most remarkable

12:39thing, watching you eyeball ingredients. I have to say, I think that's what drew me in as someone

12:46who has all of her measuring cups off to the side. So it comes off as very passionate.

12:51And like free spirited, like it's just fun.

12:54Cooking should be fun. I think a lot of people grow up with feeling like it's this obligation.

12:57And then that adds so many layers of emotion that can make family dinners frustrating.

13:03Side note, what do you make on an average weeknight if you're baking?

13:06Yesterday I worked from home. I, what did I have for lunch? Oh, I made, we had leftover like string

13:13beans and broccoli. And I like made this like tofu thing with string beans and broccoli, but then you

13:21need something sweet. So I like mashed up a banana and I put a little bit of flour and vanilla and I

13:29made a little mug cake in the microwave and ate that. And then for dessert last night, I made chicken,

13:37like sheet pan chicken for dinner.

13:40Have you seen your social media create business opportunities for Baked by Melissa? I know

13:44you're posting from. Of course. So that, that is the opportunity I immediately saw was to create a

13:50community of people that come to me for something to build real, genuine and authentic relationships.

13:55That was the first order of business. Why? Because there's such value there, but also I'm not one to

14:03abuse it if that makes sense. So yes, this community of people has provided so much opportunity,

14:10not only for Baked by Melissa, but also for myself personally, they breathed new life into my company

14:16and into me because now I get to share a whole other part of me that people clearly connect with,

14:25but I so genuinely enjoy. So are you seeing that in the number of cupcakes sold or the cookbook

14:30opportunities, or is it more brands approaching you? Because you do some really cool- It's all of

14:35the above. So like I walked in here and I apologize because I had my phone in your face basically,

14:39and I said, like, I'm, I'm filming a day in the life. I'm sorry. They're like, it is the craziest

14:46thing to do. Like, because you're always doing two things at once. And I'm, and I wake up at four

14:52o'clock in the morning, like I've already done so much today. So I'm filming a day in the life as a way

14:57to provide my community with more information about me, which they love, which is just funny,

15:02but also as a way to share what goes into being a working mom ahead of Mother's Day. And as a mom

15:12on Mother's Day, I have so many thoughts and I have so much to say about so many things. So it's,

15:19it's great for everyone. I get to share more. I get to share my point of view on what it's like to be a

15:25mom, all the crazy things, all of us moms do. Cause like it's insane and impossible. Share about my

15:33product that I sell. That's the perfect gift for the moms in your life. And also makes dessert easy

15:39if you're entertaining for Mother's Day. It just like, it checks all the boxes for all of us. And

15:45I think that's the part of it that I love so much. It's strategic. Like it's smart.

15:53Oh, it's very smart.

15:54Yeah.

15:54I mentioned in that bucket of opportunities that can come, the partnerships. You have some really

15:59cool partnerships, including Squishmallows. And did I hear correctly that you are Madison Square

16:04Garden's birthday sponsor?

16:06We are.

16:07How do these opportunities come about? Is it you saying, I want to be the birthday sponsor for every

16:12birthday that comes on the big screen at MSG? Or is it they're coming to you saying, we love your

16:17product?

16:17In that case, Madison Square Garden came to us, which is incredible and very humbling. Like not

16:22what you think. It's the opposite. It's like, like what? Many of the brands we work with come to us.

16:30It's a challenge that I give myself to always be thinking about brands that I want to work with.

16:38Because I'm not, I'm a mom, I'm a CEO, I'm a creator. Like I don't get out much. Like that is

16:47what I'm doing. So I'm not like with it. But of course, like my team has lots of ideas and we do

16:54do outreach as well. It's a combination of both. And how amazing is it? These brands that I,

17:02I used to go to see Nick's games in the garden. I saw my first like jingle ball was at MSG. Now I have

17:11a kiosk there that sells a product that bears my name. That is, there are no words to, to say how,

17:22what that feels like. But it's what makes the challenging days worth it. Because it's very

17:35challenging at times.

17:37It can be. Has there been a partnership that's been most crucial in taking your brand to the next level?

17:43You know, it's interesting. The brands are coming to us for our reach. I know that. But I won't work

17:49with a brand unless I genuinely love them or value, like, like that mutual respect has to be there.

17:56The first thing we, like every partnership is different because as it should be, right? Each

18:04brand has different goals that they're looking to achieve. And my job is to come up with a plan

18:12that achieves the goals for both sides. And that's what makes for a successful partnership.

18:19That makes sense. We talked about how you approached being the face of the brand and you

18:25called yourself creative first, but you are also now the CEO of the brand. And you've been public

18:30about saying that you didn't want the CEO job. How did you come to take that role and grow into that

18:38role? What was the, the growth lever there?

18:40Oh man. I think I'm a product of the way I respond to the things that happen that are completely out of

18:49my control. I guess being fired was maybe more in my control, but I had a CEO after my brother

18:59who was amazing. And like one of my closest friends, he taught me so much. I appreciated the partnership.

19:06I loved being the face of the brand or like the president to like president CEO. It's like a nice

19:14partnership. And it puts me in a position to do what I am best at. One day, unfortunately, he can no longer

19:20be our CEO anymore. And it happened immediately. And I said to my investor, like, don't worry. Like I'm a very

19:29calm all the time person. And I've been through a lot, like with this business, we're almost 17 years

19:35old. Like, don't worry, everything's going to be okay. And then I got on a board call that evening

19:41from my apartment and my board, like without thought, they just said, okay, Melissa will be the CEO.

19:48And I remember mouthing to my husband, like, and I was like, like, I, like, I was happy. I was

19:57excited. I was scared out of my mind. I was so far. I was like propelled outside of my comfort zone.

20:05In hindsight, I think I knew, I knew what was happening and what it meant for me.

20:11And it was like amazing. What an incredible opportunity for me, like to grow personally

20:19and professionally. Shame on me for not ever thinking I wanted to or should be the CEO. And

20:25I think that's something like for all women to really hear and ask themselves if there's anything

20:34they want for themselves that maybe they never considered before because society tells us we

20:39shouldn't or the people we work with who may be mostly male make us feel like we shouldn't, we should.

20:47I was going to say, now that you are CEO, do you wish you had taken that role earlier in the

20:51company's life? No. No. Some days I like hate my job. I love my, I'm like, some days I love it. Some

20:58days I, I, I love it less, but that's because it's not an easy job to have. And anybody who is the CEO

21:05of a business can relate to that. It's lonely, it's challenging. Everything is your fault when it

21:12isn't going well. Everything is because of everybody else when it is, as it should be. My job is to

21:20listen and seek to understand, which is what makes a good leader in my opinion. And

21:28it's just, I, I have two small kids. I am also creating content to post on social media.

21:36So I'm wearing many hats and I don't know if I'll always be the CEO and that will be great too.

21:43But what a privilege it is. That's a really healthy perspective. Now you've mentioned your kids,

21:49you've mentioned Mother's Day and having thoughts, and I really hate asking women the balance question

21:53because a lot, no, no, no, no. Well, I, it's a version of that, which is how do you incorporate

21:58your familial identity, your mother identity into your professional life?

22:03Oh, there are no lines. It's all, it's all blended. It's, I'm all in, in everything I do. And how lucky

22:09am I to be able to work that way? Because I understand how unique it is, but I think that's

22:15what the community I've built and my team, even that's what inspires my team. Like the

22:23more I can like bring it up and, and share how I'm feeling, the more it inspires my team when done

22:33properly. And the more I can share with the community that I've built, I think the more

22:39they feel connection to Baked by Melissa, which is exactly what I want. You can't be it if you can't

22:45see it. So you're being it. Yeah. I'm really tired. But like, I like, I had the thought the other day,

22:51like, I feel like one day I'm going to be, and my kids are going to be like 18. I'm like,

22:56what, what just happened? Like, it's a lot. I'm nonstop, but that's who I am. And I love to be

23:03busy. Like, I, I don't want to sit on a couch and relax. Like, that's what, like, I, sometimes I see

23:09my husband like laying on the couch and I'm like, like, but I don't want to be doing that. I like to

23:14be busy. I love to be going from one thing to the next. My definition of happiness is working

23:20hard towards things you love. And that's how I get my fulfillment. And I get to do that for my kids

23:25at home and my husband, but I also get to do it for this, this company that I've built with

23:32incredible people. And it's awesome. Working hard for things you love. So knowing that you're working

23:38hard, you don't like to sit still. What's next? Oh, there are so many things. There are so many

23:43things. I'm also not one to speak about, I'm not one to say what I'm going to do. I like to show you.

23:52Okay. Cause I usually say, if we were to speak in a year, what would you like to tell the Forbes

23:56audience that you have accomplished in that year? I can't tell you that. But we're working on,

24:03this is so annoying. I, and I hate to do this, but we are working on some really exciting projects.

24:08And I could not be more proud of what we have built and the direction we are heading and the

24:16team, my team, it's true. See like this, my team is incredible. And I've spent a lot of my time and

24:24energy building it and we're there. Okay. So you can't tell me what's next. Can you do some rapid

24:29fire about cupcakes? Can you tell me what is your favorite flavor on this? In this assortment,

24:35it's Blondie. And then this, this one is cookie butter brownie. It's so good. And then s'mores is

24:40one of the OG flavors. But what's your favorite? Okay. So then Blondie came first. I like to pick

24:47the Blondie piece off and eat it. Actually the first one I'll eat, I will, it's like 9 AM. Otherwise I'm

24:53so I also like don't eat breakfast. And the first thing there's like a, I'm crazy. Do you start every

24:59day with a cupcake? No way. I can't. It's sugar. You need to, like I, what I was going to say is

25:06like the, I'm very thoughtful about the first, I love food. I'm thinking about food all the time.

25:10What I'm having for lunch, I actually don't know yet, but it will be delicious. That will be the

25:15first thing I eat. It will probably be in the 11 o'clock hour because I get hungry because I've been up

25:19for so long. And then I will eat cupcakes and I do eat cupcakes almost every single day.

25:24How many cupcakes do you eat in a week? Oh man, it's not good. Many. It depends. It depends what

25:31I'm doing. Today I'm filming a day in the life. And I also want to speak to this Mother's Day assortment

25:37we have leading up to Mother's Day. It's the best gift. You could ship it anywhere in the United States.

25:42It's also an easy dessert to like give you peace of mind because even though you're a mom

25:47and it's your day, you're still the one who's responsible for like making everybody happy

25:53because that's like what moms do. We're the makers of magic. What's the food that you want to eat on

26:00Mother's Day? You personally. Oh my God, I don't know. I never know what I want. I'm focused on what

26:04everybody else wants. Like truly. Spoken like a founder, CEO, and a mother, Melissa Beneshy,

26:09thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me.

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