Cupcake Giant Baked by Melissa on Supercharging Sales and Social Media Reach to Drive Business

New financial leadership and surging brand awareness on social platforms position the dessert company for a critical inflection point in growth.

Almost 17 years ago, Baked by Melissa carved a niche in New York City’s saturated cupcake market with bite-sized treats, innovative flavors, and a distinctive tie-dye design. The endeavor started out as a comfort and distraction for Melissa Ben-Ishay, CEO and Co-founder, who baked cupcakes for friends and family in her Murray Hill, Manhattan, apartment after being fired from a media planning job at age 24. After partnering with her brother, Brian Bushell, to create a business for the baked goods, Ben-Ishay soon was fulfilling online orders on foot or via subway, picking up catering orders, and eventually opening her first retail location, a pick-up window in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood.

Now, the baked goods giant—estimated to have sold 400 million cupcakes since its inception—is ready for another turning point in growth. On the heels of a skyrocketing social media following, Baked by Melissa is embracing a self-described “supercharged” direct-to-consumer growth strategy and adding firepower to the C-suite by bringing on a former PepsiCo executive.

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