Melissa Ben-Ishay on baking, delicious cupcakes, the secret to back-to-school lunches, and GoGo squeeZ
Melissa Ben-Ishay knows that what all kids want in their lunchbox is a nourishing meal and a nutritional GoGo squeeZ Apple Apple. However, she also knows how to get consumers excited about bite-sized cupcakes. But how did Baked by Melissa begin? Melissa Ben-Ishay goes in-depth, discussing how she created her business, how to prepare kids and adults for the school year, and the benefits of a GoGo squeeZ Apple Apple snack.
Culturess: We are in the height of Back-To-School season at the moment. What advice do you have for parents as they prepare to buy last-minute school supplies and help their kid with homework and projects?
Melissa Ben-Ishay: The advice that I have for parents while, for me, I'm very lucky to live in a district where the school supplies are provided, and I can't be more appreciative. But, back to school is stressful for everyone. It's a reset almost. You go from lack of routine or doing one thing for two to three months to doing something completely different. But I think just remembering that it's tough on everybody and being patient with yourself and your kids is really important first and foremost, and then other things are just do things as much as you can to make it easy for yourself. Pack lunches the night before if you can. Keep nourishing snacks and add-ons around. I love to have GoGo squeeZ Apple Apple pouches. Both my kids love them. I put them in their snacks, and also their lunch boxes. It's half a serving of fruit per pouch, no added sugar, and it makes me feel like I'm winning as a parent even when I don't have a nourishing meal per se, if they're having GoGo squeeZ Apple Apple, I feel good about it. It's okay to order in dinner. I think we live in a society where we're constantly being inundated as parents with memes and information on social media especially that tells you you're not doing enough or you could do better and I wouldn't let anybody get that into their heads. We're all doing a great job and the more patience we can have and the more attention we can give our kids the better we're setting them up for the school year ahead and the kids will be just fine.
Culturess: What went into the creation of your first cookbook, Cakes By Melissa?
Melissa Ben-Ishay: The reason I wrote my first cookbook, "Cakes By Melissa," is because it scared me. I remember going back and forth with my CEO at the time, trying to determine whether or not I would write it, and I looked at him and said, 'You know what? I have to write it." and he asked me why, and I said because it scares me. Legit, like how does one write a cookbook? It was very much outside of my comfort zone, and I'm so happy I went through that process. I chose my favorite recipes. I laid out the book in a way that I create. It follows my creative process, and my next book went on to be a New York Times Bestseller, "Come Hungry." So, it just goes to show the importance of going outside of your comfort zone and doing things that scare you as a way to learn and grow.
Culturess: What went into creating Baked By Melissa?
Melissa Ben-Ishay: A lot of things went into creating Baked By Melissa. Baked By Melissa started in 2008. I was actually working as an assistant media planner in advertising, and I was fired from my job, but at the time, I was baking my tie-dye cupcakes for anyone and everyone. So, I went home and baked cupcakes because that's what made me feel happy and I knew I needed to take control of the way that I was feeling on a day that was very terrible because I was fired. I sent the cupcakes into work with my best friend's little sister, who was interning at a PR agency, and the owner of the PR agency saw the cupcakes and loved them and asked if she could put me in touch with her caterer. Of course, I said okay, and then he brought me in for a tasting, and I decided to make them just a bite, and I started doing events with the caterer, as Melissa, Baked By Melissa, shortly after being fired from my job. I make it sound like it was easy. It wasn't. I make it sound like it happened overnight. It basically did.
But growing Baked By Melissa over the past sixteen years has been one of the most challenging and incredible experiences of my life, the other being my children and they definitely win over Baked By Melissa every day of the week. But, we created a product that makes people happy during good times and bad that you can ship anywhere in this country and have it arrive perfectly fresh and safe. We receive countless messages and comments from our customers telling us how we made their loved ones happy during dark times, or they can't believe how beautiful the cupcakes arrived and how delicious they tasted and it's just such an incredible thing to be able to have that impact on so many people as somebody who baked cupcakes for the people I love as a way to express my love only sixteen years ago.
Culturess: How do you work toward having a work-life balance in the Fall?
Melissa Ben-Ishay: That balance doesn't exist. I'm working on creating more boundaries. I'm trying to live wholeheartedly but I think having your priorities straight is very important and creating boundaries for yourself. It's very easy to get sucked into your laptop or your cellphone, and when I'm with my kids, I try to be with my kids. Although, in the Fall, a lot of that time is spent cleaning and making lunch, and all those things. But I'm just doing the best I can, and saying "no" and prioritizing my time with my family.
Culturess: What are your reccommendations for what to a child's school lunch box?
Melissa Ben-Ishay: The rule I have for my kids' lunch box is that the meal should be nourishing, as nourishing as possible. I always add a GoGo squeeZ Apple Apple pouch because they're made with 100% fruit. Each pouch is one-half of a serving of fruit, and there's no added sugar. So, today, for example, my six-year-old wanted mac and cheese in her thermus, okay, fine, I added a GoGo squeeZ Apple Apple pouch, and then I do give them a snack. But I actually ask my kids what they want every morning, and I make lunch in the morning, which I know a good hack is to make lunch the night before. My kids will know. It's just part of the morning routine. I wake up really early, and I leave enough time to get it done.
Culturess: How did you get your start in baking?
Melissa Ben-Ishay: I've always loved to bake. I see baking as arts and crafts because you can eat your project, and I love arts and crafts. My parents really empowered myself and also my brother, not only in the kitchen but in everything and anything we did; they would always tell us that we could do anything we set our minds to, and I don't know if I always believed them per se, but I have to believe that laid some really good groundwork for us and they really let us experience things with them, both on and off the field or in and outside of the kitchen. I think experience is the best way to learn. I have my kids alongside me in the kitchen even though it's stressful and creates more of a mess I believe that to be a huge part of why I love to bake so much and I owe that entirely to my parents.
Culturess: What inspired you to mostly focus on cupcakes?
Melissa Ben-Ishay: To me, the bite-sized cupcake is a vessel for every dessert I could ever imagine, and it gives me the opportunity to provide you with the perfect bite and ratio of flavors. So, the cake, icing, stuffing, and topping work together to give you an experience in dessert that I have really worked to create for you. There are two ways that we put the cupcakes together. They're either stuffed and iced, or they're overstuffed with an icing ring, and if they're overstuffed with an icing ring, it's because the stuffing and the icing have to come through together equally. If it's just stuffed and iced regularly, then the flavor from the icing comes through more so than the stuffing.
Culturess: What advice do you have for aspiring bakers?
Melissa Ben-Ishay: The advice I have for an aspiring baker is don't aspire. Just go bake. Go find some recipes online or in a cookbook and hop to it. You can do it. Keep baking.
Culturess: Are there any recipes that challenged you the most?
Melissa Ben-Ishay: I don't know. Not really. Sorry, I don't really have a good answer for that one.
Culturess: What is your favorite part of running a business focused on a subject you are passionate about?
Melissa Ben-Ishay: I have an incredible privilege to work hard toward something I love as my job, and I find that incredibly fulfilling, and to me, that's happiness.
I do that at Baked By Melissa, and I do that at home with my kids and my husband, and that's success, and that's what I work towards, and I love it, and whether it's mine or somebody else's, I think finding work that makes you feel fulfilled at the end of the day is happiness and success.
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