It's true -- she’s real. There really is a Melissa at Baked by Melissa, the popular and unique New York born bakery  known for its seemingly endless varieties of tiny cupcakes— with 14 retail locations and a burgeoning ecommerce business that now outpaces the brick and mortar.  She’s a mom, a company president, and a self-described mad scientist——and rarely do you see the leader of a successful brand, much less one that has weathered the bursting of a trend bubble, who remains so in love with their business and continually creates new and exciting recipes, product concepts, and inventive marketing and partnership strategies. Melissa Ben-Ishay  shares her journey and insights with hosts Chris Hansen (IgnitionOne) and Rebecca Fitts.

In this episode:

• How Baked by Melissa has grown and adapted from a small retail store at the tail end of the recession of 2008 to a company that has grown its reputation in retail as well as growing its e-commerce presence 
• Baked by Melissa’s origin as an e-commerce company operating out of Melissa’s apartment after she was fired from her marketing job, where you could PayPal Melissa and she would bake and deliver cupcakes around New York City
• How Melissa solved a problem she faced picking up cupcakes on her way home from work every day and turned it into an instantly recognizable brand identity, with 70% of customers having discovered Baked by Melissa through word of mouth
• What the future looks like for Baked by Melissa, and why they are putting a focus on e-commerce and pop-ups in the coming year
• The challenges of selling a product that has a relatively short shelf life span, and what the company is doing to reduce the amount of time the product spends exposed to air so customers receive their cupcakes as fresh as possible
• Melissa shares some upcoming cupcakes for summer 2019
• How Melissa has found a balance between taking suggestions from customers and fans about what they want to see as future flavors and staying true to her own values and taste
• Why the tie-dye cupcake is the most popular BbM offering
• The importance of aesthetically pleasing cupcakes, and the thought process behind the designs and the recipes to make them as enticing as possible
• How Baked by Melissa is able to scale at the rate it has and still offer hand-baked cupcakes made with the best ingredients
• The team behind Melissa that has helped build the brand, from CEO Seth Horowitz to Ashley Shears, who has become the brand’s photographer since working with Melissa on her cookbook
• The three principles that customers love about Baked by Melissa, and how the future marketing and branding directions plan to emphasize that the cupcakes are handmade, in a variety of flavors, and that Melissa is a real person
• How Baked by Melissa is using new technologies to link the customer experience in store and online and to educate the customer in all the ways they can engage with the brand
• The B2B aspect of Baked by Melissa, and the high conversion rates for salespeople who send cupcakes as gifts
• How a gluten sensitivity during her pregnancy drove Melissa to finally work on developing a gluten-free cupcake, and the plans to develop vegan options
• Melissa’s passion for sustainability and protecting the environment, and how the company has refined its products and packaging to utilize less waste and to use recycled paper and plastic products to lessen their  impact on the planet 
• Why Melissa believes the message of her brand is to see challenges as opportunities to learn and grow, and not to fall into the trap of self-loathing and feeling defeated, and how this viewpoint is embraced and encouraged within the company
• Melissa shares the backstory behind their campaign to give away 100,000 cupcakes in the name of love in response to the 2016 election
• How Melissa leads by example as a mother to her two children, and how she tries to instill the values that have made her successful in life on to the next generation
• The unique opportunities and inspirations New York City offers, and why it’s the only place Baked by Melissa could  have started
• How Melissa met her husband, then a bartender and now her co-product developer, on the first day Baked by Melissa opened as a pickup window at Cafe Bari
• Plus, Melissa brings in some of her favorite Baked by Melissa offerings as well as some of her favorite snacks, and offers an insight into how she comes up with new recipes!

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