E15 - Don't Tell Charles - The creator of the concrete cake! How she went from winging it to building a mature and successful career in the cake industry yet refusing to sit still.
Today, we have an open an honest discussion about choosing your right path and making sure you’re happy doing it.
We’re speaking today with Thao who is the brain behind the brand Don’t Tell Charles from Melbourne Australia. If you’ve ever created a concrete cake, you can thank Thao for that as she was the first one to make it.
Thao has taught thousands through her cake school. But it all started way before that. Going against the grain of family expectations, she started a cafe and went through a lot of changes to get to where she is today. It’s taught her so much about herself and through this journey she has then gone on to teach so many others in all manner of skills not just with baking, but with business ownership, entrepreneurship, and being an inspiring soul to so many.
We personally loved this chat because Thao beautifully opens up about the ups and downs of it all but through this discussion has the positivity and determination to continue to succeed no matter where life takes her.
For those of you who constantly question what you’re doing in life, sit back and take a listen. We think you’ll get a lot out of this one.
Learn more about Thao here:
Website
Instagram
Facebook
Pinterest
This podcast is produced in London and Madrid by OLBAA.
OLBAA makes the best dessert packaging on the market because it's designed by a baker and not by a spreadsheet. From strong and tall cake boxes, to the game-changing tall cupcake boxes, OLBAA loves to innovate the packaging to make bakers' bakes look the best they can be. After all, you've spent hours making all those amazing desserts, why put them in a cheap and flimsy box? Show it off and make a statement with OLBAA.
To find out more, head over to www.olbaa.shop
Sponsorship enquires (starting at as little as £50) and any questions you may have, send them over to info@olbaa.uk
See you next time on My Baking Journey!
-Haf & Rachel
E14 - Anjali (Cakes and Co) - Building your own baking journey from nothing, and in a far remote place too!
Hey everyone! So you all know by now, we started this podcast to help build something of a support network for bakers. A place where you can listen, learn, relate, be inspired, and most importantly, not feel alone in your own baking journey.
So imagine, if you really are baking on your own, in a country where the style of baking you do is non-existent. Where the ingredients, accessories, and access to training all comes from overseas. Imagine, your favourite sprinkles, or palm spears coming from thousands of miles away!
Say hello to Anjali - or Cakes and Co as she goes by online. Anjali lives in Panama. Think Central America. Definitely not the middle of nowhere, but in the baking world, some days it can certainly feel that way.
Through all of this though Anjali has built a brand, a style, and a significant following on social media by her inspiring cakes, patterns, use of colours, and designs. She’s created something out of nothing and so we were really interested to speak with her.
Just a note, English is her third language so she spoke so well about her challenges even though it’s not her mother tongue. Right, let’s not keep you waiting and hear Anjali’s baking journey. Enjoy.
Learn more about Anjali here:
Instagram
This podcast is produced in London and Madrid by OLBAA.
OLBAA makes the best dessert packaging on the market because it's designed by a baker and not by a spreadsheet. From strong and tall cake boxes, to the game-changing tall cupcake boxes, OLBAA loves to innovate the packaging to make bakers' bakes look the best they can be. After all, you've spent hours making all those amazing desserts, why put them in a cheap and flimsy box? Show it off and make a statement with OLBAA.
To find out more, head over to www.olbaa.shop
Sponsorship enquires (starting at as little as £50) and any questions you may have, send them over to info@olbaa.uk
See you next time on My Baking Journey!
-Haf & Rachel
E13 - Jenna Rae Cakes - Best friends, best cheerleaders, best in what they do. How twin sisters overcame it all to build a highly successful bakery brand!
Hey everyone, this week we are really excited to head to Winnipeg in Canada to speak with two very well-known twin sisters Jenna and Ashley of Jenna Rae Cakes.
This is quite a story because what you see today of there amazing company has so much behind to get it to where It is. Jenna is the baker and Ashley is the designer. The beauty about this pairing meant that Ashley always had Jenna's back when it came to an outside mind to help style, present, and market Jenna’a creations.
But it wasn’t easy. Jenna spent years working in a commercial kitchen through the night to bake as she couldn’t bake at home. Then going off to do her day job in between.
Ashley was working in graphic design and had her own career but could see how she could help her sister in marketing these beautiful creations. But it wasn’t always planned this way. It never is right?
But look at them now. Food Network cake judges, numerous TV and magazine features, 3 shops, a best-selling recipe book.....it’s amazing! I can’t wait for you to hear their story…. So let’s jump right in with Jenna Rae Cakes.
Website:
Instagram
Facebook
Youtube
Their book:
Amazon Canada
Amazon USA
Amazon UK
Amazon Australia
This podcast is produced in London and Madrid by OLBAA.
OLBAA makes the best dessert packaging on the market because it's designed by a baker and not by a spreadsheet. From strong and tall cake boxes, to the game-changing tall cupcake boxes, OLBAA loves to innovate the packaging to make bakers' bakes look the best they can be. After all, you've spent hours making all those amazing desserts, why put them in a cheap and flimsy box? Show it off and make a statement with OLBAA.
To find out more, head over to www.olbaa.shop
Sponsorship enquires (starting at as little as £50) and any questions you may have, send them over to info@olbaa.uk
See you next time on My Baking Journey!
-Haf & Rachel
E12 - Cotton and Crumbs - How employing my husband to do the boring bits of the business helped me grow.
Hey everyone, this week it’s back to northern England to chat with Tracy of Cotton and Crumbs. Just 2 years into running her business she realised that not every aspect of running a cake business is exciting. For most of us, it’s the decorating or designing bit - the art - that we all really enjoy.
So, she employed her husband to do all the boring bits. Baking the cakes, making the buttercream or ganache, cleaning! This then allowed Tracy to focus on what she did best and what she enjoys the most. Designing cakes, and especially making flowers.
Tracy’s ability to create flowers for her cakes are some of the best we’ve seen. Her style is all about elegance with contemporary wedding cake design. You notice I say the word “design” a lot because you guys are ARTISTS and what you design on a cake is nothing short of incredible!
It’s good to remind yourself of that because you don’t just make cakes, you create art that’s edible! Tracy’s been in this game for a while now and has a lot of sound advice to share especially for wedding cake listeners.
So, let’s jump right in…. Enjoy this one.
Find out more on Tracy here:
Website
Instagram
Facebook
This podcast is produced in London and Madrid by OLBAA.
OLBAA makes the best dessert packaging on the market because it's designed by a baker and not by a spreadsheet. From strong and tall cake boxes, to the game-changing tall cupcake boxes, OLBAA loves to innovate the packaging to make bakers' bakes look the best they can be. After all, you've spent hours making all those amazing desserts, why put them in a cheap and flimsy box? Show it off and make a statement with OLBAA.
To find out more, head over to www.olbaa.shop
Sponsorship enquires (starting at as little as £50) and any questions you may have, send them over to info@olbaa.uk
See you next time on My Baking Journey!
-Haf & Rachel
E11 - Ekaterina (Ekats) - How to leave the corporate life, become a couture cake artist, and enjoy every moment doing it.
Hey everyone, we’re off to Brisbane Australia this week to sit down with Ekaterina, or Ekats as you may know her by. The timing of this conversation is fitting as you’re about to find out and we meet Ekats at a point in her career where although she’s done so much it still feels like she’s just getting started.
She’s a highly creative person - I mean, just go look at her instagram feed where she can match a her incredible style of dress to a cake over and over - and she finds inspiration in so many things and channels that into so many different areas.
After all, her corporate life was in sales and marketing for various well-known brands so she’s got a lot of experience to draw on - but she’s not keeping it to herself and shares extensively what she’s learnt and teaches so many in her own courses.
This conversation is full of inspiring stories so lets not waste any more time and here get right to it. Enjoy this one!
To find out more about Ekats....
Website
Instagram
This podcast is produced in London and Madrid by OLBAA.
OLBAA makes the best dessert packaging on the market because it's designed by a baker and not by a spreadsheet. From strong and tall cake boxes, to the game-changing tall cupcake boxes, OLBAA loves to innovate the packaging to make bakers' bakes look the best they can be. After all, you've spent hours making all those amazing desserts, why put them in a cheap and flimsy box? Show it off and make a statement with OLBAA.
To find out more, head over to www.olbaa.shop
Sponsorship enquires (starting at as little as £50) and any questions you may have, send them over to info@olbaa.uk
See you next time on My Baking Journey!
-Haf & Rachel
E10 - Finch Bakery - The story of Finch told for the first time! They were told it just wouldn't work. So how did they make Finch the brand they are today?
This week we’re talking to one of our most requested bakers to interview for this podcast - Finch Bakery - Rachel and Lauren, twin sisters who started this journey just over 10 years ago have built a well-known UK bakery bakery in the North West of England. Throughout this journey, it's amazing to see how they have stayed humble, true to themselves, and so transparent during the whole process.
If you want to know what it takes, and I mean what it TRULY takes in those first years of running a business, you must give this one a listen. It’s just not something you can learn in a business degree. You need to hear it from Rachel and Lauren. The hours, the hard work, and the desire to stay in it loving what you do even if you’re spending 18 hours a day on it. This… is genuine entrepreneurship.
This is a bit longer than most of our usual episodes, but we’re talking to two people not one so there’s a bit more to say! Stay with us as the untold story of Finch Bakery is about to be heard for the first time. Enjoy…
Website:
www.finchbakery.com
Instagram
Facebook
Get their book!
(UK)
(USA)
(Canada)
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This podcast is produced in London and Madrid by OLBAA.
OLBAA makes the best dessert packaging on the market because it's designed by a baker and not by a spreadsheet. From strong and tall cake boxes, to the game-changing tall cupcake boxes, OLBAA loves to innovate the packaging to make bakers' bakes look the best they can be. After all, you've spent hours making all those amazing desserts, why put them in a cheap and flimsy box? Show it off and make a statement with OLBAA.
To find out more, head over to www.olbaa.shop
Sponsorship enquires (starting at as little as £50) and any questions you may have, send them over to info@olbaa.uk
See you next time on My Baking Journey!
-Haf & Rachel
E09 - Amy's Little Cakery - How to play the fine balancing act of having a day job and a baking job. Plus, what it's like to go viral!
Welcome back to season 2! Have you missed us? We are so excited to be back and really happy to have another line-up of amazing bakers for this season.
Today, we’re in the North of England to speak with Amy of Amy’s Little Cakery. You may know her from some of her cartoon cakes she’s recently done, but this story goes back a little further.
Holding down a busy day job while also baking on the weekends is not easy, but welcome to Amy’s life. Regardless of this Amy has been able to put out all kinds of cakes. And not just fondant or buttercream. There are been florals, gravity-defying architectural cakes, wedding cakes, and of course, cartoon cakes to name a few.
Her desire to keep pushing herself and try new things has got her some interesting attention. Just this past week she went viral and ended up being interviewed on a US news channel. What does it feel like to go viral? How does one keep on top of all the busy schedules? What truly keeps this woman going? We’re about to find, so enjoy this episode and it’s good to be back!
Find out more about Amy here:
This podcast is produced in London and Madrid by OLBAA.
OLBAA makes the best dessert packaging on the market because it's designed by a baker and not by a spreadsheet. From strong and tall cake boxes, to the game-changing tall cupcake boxes, OLBAA loves to innovate the packaging to make bakers' bakes look the best they can be. After all, you've spent hours making all those amazing desserts, why put them in a cheap and flimsy box? Show it off and make a statement with OLBAA.
To find out more, head over to www.olbaa.shop
Sponsorship enquires (starting at as little as £50) and any questions you may have, send them over to info@olbaa.uk
See you next time on My Baking Journey!
-Haf & Rachel
E08 - Jenne (Posh Little Cakes). Starting a baking business after having to sacrifice a high-profile and successful corporate career.
Hey everyone, listen the person you’re about to hear from in this episode is where Rachel really found the start of her cake inspiration. I’m talking about Jenne from Posh Little Cakes in Perth, Australia.
For many of you bakers, your baking career is your second career. You’ve given up the corporate or day job for one of many reasons and moved into baking. Jenne did just that.
This is a story about making that sacrifice of a life as a high flying executive at a large multi-national company. Kid-free and a travelling the world. But that all changed when she had to quit. It took lots of determination, grit, and perseverance to build the cake business and school she has today.
It’s safe to say making that transition was hugely difficult for an ambitious female where her world was turned upside down. But to hear the story of how she made it happen is just amazing.
You’ll hear a bit about Rachel and I in this episode, and also we start off talking about cake stands of all things and oh, and excuse the dog barking. Hey what can I say? This is us, this is real life, and we’re just happy you’re tuning to hear the journey. We really enjoyed this conversation and I hope you do to….let’s crack on with Jenne from Posh Little Cakes….
Learn more about Jenne here:
Website
Instagram
This podcast is produced in London and Madrid by OLBAA.
OLBAA makes the best dessert packaging on the market because it's designed by a baker and not by a spreadsheet. From strong and tall cake boxes, to the game-changing tall cupcake boxes, OLBAA loves to innovate the packaging to make bakers' bakes look the best they can be. After all, you've spent hours making all those amazing desserts, why put them in a cheap and flimsy box? Show it off and make a statement with OLBAA.
To find out more, head over to www.olbaa.shop
Sponsorship enquires (starting at as little as £50) and any questions you may have, send them over to info@olbaa.uk
See you next time on My Baking Journey!
-Haf & Rachel
E07 - Chell Bells Cakes - Finding what inspires YOU and making your mark in the cake world.
Where do you go to find your inspiration? You could say looking online, you could say in books, you could say you're inspired by other people.
For our guest this week, inspiration for her is everywhere. Here we have another one person business, run by a somebody who is obsessed with managing her time efficiently, and really does try to get the absolute most out of her work on a daily basis.
She has created her own style by way of choosing what cakes she did NOT want to make. This has led to her growing her brand and cake design very quickly leading to brand ambassador partnerships, and now teaching at a cake school.
Who are we talking about? Chell of ChellBells Cakes based in South East London. Her cakes drive emotion, fun, style, and elegance. She’s not shy to share the behind the scenes her on social media and now she sits down with us to share her baking journey. So let’s get right to it with Chell. Hope you like this one.
Follow Chell and her baking journey here:
Instagram
Website
This podcast is produced in London and Madrid by OLBAA.
OLBAA makes the best dessert packaging on the market because it's designed by a baker and not by a spreadsheet. From strong and tall cake boxes, to the game-changing tall cupcake boxes, OLBAA loves to innovate the packaging to make bakers' bakes look the best they can be. After all, you've spent hours making all those amazing desserts, why put them in a cheap and flimsy box? Show it off and make a statement with OLBAA.
To find out more, head over to www.olbaa.shop
Sponsorship enquires (starting at as little as £50) and any questions you may have, send them over to info@olbaa.uk
See you next time on My Baking Journey!
-Haf & Rachel
E06 - Lindsay (The Flour Girl) - High performance and over achieving, yet still finds more room to grow.
This week we are off to Canada to sit down with Lindsay also known for her brand The Flour Girl.
Lindsay is truly a high performer. She has 3 educational degrees (one in neurosceince). She still maintains a full time job. She has built her own brand and manufactures her own line of baking tools which in turn has allowed her to build a huge following on social media (more than 350K on IG) She has an academy to learn how to bake and on top of all that runs an e-commerce store with her partner!
Are you exhausted yet?
Baking started to counter her anxiety with juggling so many things. It's been her form of therapy and she speaks openly about that which is fascinating to learn and understand. Her story is inspiring as it teaches us that no matter where you are in life, you always have room to grow. Here we go then with Lindsay’s baking journey…. enjoy….
Learn more about Lindsay here:
Instagram
Her online store
YouTube
Pinterest
This podcast is produced in London and Madrid by OLBAA.
OLBAA makes the best dessert packaging on the market because it's designed by a baker and not by a spreadsheet. From strong and tall cake boxes, to the game-changing tall cupcake boxes, OLBAA loves to innovate the packaging to make bakers' bakes look the best they can be. After all, you've spent hours making all those amazing desserts, why put them in a cheap and flimsy box? Show it off and make a statement with OLBAA.
To find out more, head over to www.olbaa.shop
Sponsorship enquires (starting at as little as £50) and any questions you may have, send them over to info@olbaa.uk
See you next time on My Baking Journey!
-Haf & Rachel
E05 - Hellen (Dportsweets) - LA's baking queen and former Food Network Contestant.
This week we’re going international! We are off to LA to sit down with Hellen, the former Food Network contestant and owner of Dport Sweets - an online bakery. But this story far from straight forward.
She’s not from LA and moved to the US at a young age. She had to learn English, and she had to find her feet as a teenager in a new country. So when her dad decided to buy her that first mixer, it all just seemed to make sense from there.
Hellen offers all kinds of desserts at Dport Sweets because she refuses to believe she can’t perfect something. However, she goes a lot further to get into the details of the full customer experience and why this is so important to her, and ultimately makes her stand out in a crowded California market.
With millions of views on her social media, we can tell you she doesn’t need a celebrity to help promote her work even if she lives amongst them. So let’s get stuck in with Hellen’s baking journey….we hope you like it.
Follow Hellen's journey here:
Instagram
Website
This podcast is produced in London and Madrid by OLBAA.
OLBAA makes the best dessert packaging on the market because it's designed by a baker and not by a spreadsheet. From strong and tall cake boxes, to the game-changing tall cupcake boxes, OLBAA loves to innovate the packaging to make bakers' bakes look the best they can be. After all, you've spent hours making all those amazing desserts, why put them in a cheap and flimsy box? Show it off and make a statement with OLBAA.
To find out more, head over to www.olbaa.shop
Sponsorship enquires (starting at as little as £50) and any questions you may have, send them over to info@olbaa.uk
See you next time on My Baking Journey!
-Haf & Rachel
E04 - Carly (Wish Upon A Cupcake) - I lost my business overnight; it was my biggest loss and my biggest gain.
This week we’re off to Wales to speak with non-other than the queen of Dalmatian print and pastels, Carly, or Wish Upon a Cupcake as you might know her on social media.
Carly has such an interesting story because she’s been able to make a career change within the baking world going from weddings to well, not doing weddings. But starting new trends, helping to start a business in the dried flower space, becoming a brand ambassador, and of course, baking different things to what se used to do.
What is quite a shock in all of this is she literally lost her business overnight and had to start from scratch all over again. How did she do it? Well, it’s time to find out, so here we go with episode 4 and a chat with Carly.
Follow Carly here:
Instagram
TikTok
Her Website
This podcast is produced in London and Madrid by OLBAA.
OLBAA makes the best dessert packaging on the market because it's designed by a baker and not by a spreadsheet. From strong and tall cake boxes, to the game-changing tall cupcake boxes, OLBAA loves to innovate the packaging to make bakers' bakes look the best they can be. After all, you've spent hours making all those amazing desserts, why put them in a cheap and flimsy box? Show it off and make a statement with OLBAA.
To find out more, head over to www.olbaa.shop
Sponsorship enquires (starting at as little as £50) and any questions you may have, send them over to info@olbaa.uk
See you next time on My Baking Journey!
-Haf & Rachel
E03 - Halima (Halima's Cake Artistry) - Never settle for average and know your worth.
This week, we're off to Nottingham, England to chat with Halima who runs Halima’s Cake Artistry. An inspiring, articulate, and passionate baker who has really taken her baking skills to new highs by continually pushing herself to cement her own design.
This is a chat that's full of insight considering she's taken her time to build her reputation and business in her area to set herself apart. Halima's skills are varied with her contemporary and elegant designs but her sugar flowers are something quite special.
This conversation is not about getting big on social media but more about focusing on the key aspects of your business as a baker to build your brand in your area and establishing yourself among key demographics. There's so much to learn here!
Fun fact: This was the first episode we ever recorded to kick off this Podcast!
Find out more about Halima here:
Instagram
This podcast is produced in London and Madrid by OLBAA.
OLBAA makes the best dessert packaging on the market because it's designed by a baker and not by a spreadsheet. From strong and tall cake boxes, to the game-changing tall cupcake boxes, OLBAA loves to innovate the packaging to make bakers' bakes look the best they can be. After all, you've spent hours making all those amazing desserts, why put them in a cheap and flimsy box? Show it off and make a statement with OLBAA.
To find out more, head over to www.olbaa.shop
Sponsorship enquires (starting at as little as £50) and any questions you may have, send them over to info@olbaa.uk
See you next time on My Baking Journey!
-Haf & Rachel
E02 - Harry Bakess - the aircraft engineer who throws cakes in the air.
This week, we sit down with a relative newcomer to the baking world, and our first male guest - Harry. Harry started baking 2020 but has very quickly developed his skills, built an incredible social media following on both Instagram and TikTok, and is now even teaching at a cake school not far from where he lives!
How has he achieved such success so quickly? We find out and also learn that Harry's laid back attitude and ability to balance his day job - an aircraft engineer - with this baking life is definitely not an easy task but he has managed to make it work!
Harry is incredibly easy going to chat with and this episode he takes the time to give healthy insight into how he was able to build his social media following so quickly. Within 18 months he's closing in on 100k followers on Instagram and over 50k on TikTok. This is after Instagrams algorithm changes from 2021 that made this so much harder for many to grow their accounts.
We hope he inspires many of you who are just starting or who have been doing this a while to grab opportunity when it comes and have a lot of fun doing it!
Follow Harry here:
Instagram
TikTok
This podcast is produced in London and Madrid by OLBAA.
OLBAA makes the best dessert packaging on the market because it's designed by a baker and not by a spreadsheet. From strong and tall cake boxes, to the game-changing tall cupcake boxes, OLBAA loves to innovate the packaging to make bakers' bakes look the best they can be. After all, you've spent hours making all those amazing desserts, why put them in a cheap and flimsy box? Show it off and make a statement with OLBAA.
To find out more, head over to www.olbaa.shop enquires (starting at as little as £50) and any questions you may have, send them over to info@olbaa.uk
See you next time on My Baking Journey!
-Haf & Rachel
E01 - Jane Taylor - Dream big, work smart, and look for the signs.
Welcome to the first episode of MBJ! This week we have one of the most incredible floral cupcake bakers around - Jane Taylor. Jane started from nothing after having her 5th (!!) child and decided to get to work on something she always enjoyed - baking!
The journey has been a great one but with some help along the way in the form of some some great friends to keep her going, she has built her cake business into something now that looks very different to when she started. An online cake school, mastering the art of buttercream flowers, and teaching and inspiring so many other bakers. She has over 300,000 followers on Instagram who marvel at her work.
Jane is no nonsense, and isn't afraid to say what is necessary. But she's also extremely caring, and full of positive energy. We think you'll get a lot of our this first episode!
Learn more about Jane:
Website
Instagram
Youtube
Twitter
Facebook
This podcast is produced in London and Madrid by OLBAA.
OLBAA makes the best dessert packaging on the market because it's designed by a baker and not by a spreadsheet. From strong and tall cake boxes, to the game-changing tall cupcake boxes, OLBAA loves to innovate the packaging to make bakers' bakes look the best they can be. After all, you've spent hours making all those amazing desserts, why put them in a cheap and flimsy box? Show it off and make a statement with OLBAA.
To find out more, head over to www.olbaa.shop
Sponsorship enquires (starting at as little as £50) and any questions you may have, send them over to info@olbaa.uk
See you next time on My Baking Journey!
-Haf & Rachel
Welcome to the My Baking Journey Podcast!
Sit down with Rachel and Haf, the co-founders of OLBAA as we chat with some of the worlds’ top home bakers to get an understanding about how they built their businesses into what they are today. Ups, down, surprises, and disasters!
Get some great knowledge from bakers just like you who have been through it all and come out stronger and better for it. Whether you’re new to baking or have been running your baking business for a while, this podcast is for YOU!
Our podcast launches every Monday when a season is live.
Our podcast is also available on your favourite podcast app. Just search “OLBAA” or “My making journey”. You can also click the pink button above to take you directly to the podcast.