After being fired from a corporate job in advertising, Melissa Ben-Ishay started a cupcake business by cold-calling from her bedroom and hand-delivering orders via the subway.
Now operating as CEO of the company she founded, Ben-Ishay has also gone viral as a chef and cookbook author, with millions of followers on TikTok and celebrities recreating her recipes – not just the cupcake ones.Count Baked by Melissa founder Melissa Ben-Ishay among the entrepreneurial success stories founded on getting out of the corporate rat race.
Baked by Melissa would sprinkle the city with bite-sized cupcakes in tie-dye boxes for the next few years, with her big break coming when the owner of Cafe Bari, who had fallen in love with the bite-sized cupcakes, offered Ben-Ishay the opportunity to use his commercial kitchen in exchange for selling him cupcakes at cost for the NYC holiday markets.
Becoming a cookbook author backed by social media success has helped Ben-Ishay move beyond the cupcake brand.