19-year-old boy earns 12,000 USD/month selling cakes
Justin Ellen has been learning to bake since she was 7 years old. Photo: Justin Ellen
When Justin Ellen received a “random” direct message on Instagram asking him if he wanted to be on a Netflix show called “Is It Cake?”, Ellen thought the invitation was “so simple.”
Only when they said there was an interview did the guy think, “Oh, that’s a prestige show,” shared the youngest contestant of the famous baking show.
After a Zoom interview and a month of waiting, Ellen – then 18 years old – was selected to participate. The show was epic, the young man admitted.
“Because I was so young… and I realized that I had to fly and stay in a hotel alone. Filmed for a month. I’ve never been away from my family for so long,” Ellen recalls.
Ellen even had to skip her high school graduation to film the show.
“Is It Cake?” is a baking contest. In this program, bakers create edible replicas of everyday objects – such as sneakers and bags.
At first glance, the 19-year-old doesn’t seem to have as much experience as the other contestants. The young baker only started creating art cakes two years ago. One of Ellen’s rivals even started baking before Ellen was born.
However, before appearing on Netflix, Ellen had a successful bakery business of her own, Everything Just Baked.
The 19-year-old, from New Jersey, said: “Last year, we made $100,000 in sales.
“With the Netflix show, I got more requests… I’m always full. I’m so grateful for that.”
Work hard and fail
Ellen learned how to make cakes from her mother and grandmother when she was 7 years old. They often bake cakes together during holidays like Thanksgiving.
From bread, to scones and cookies, they bake everything – but strangely “never pastry”.
However, the young man quickly moved out of the kitchen assistant position and when she was 14, Ellen started watching baking video tutorials on YouTube and was inspired to create her own cakes.
“I watch other people’s videos, YouTube is a great thing. You just need to practice and take the time to learn.”
“I failed so many times… I thought it was an easy cake to make and then everything went wrong.”
However, Ellen remained undaunted. The time when Ellen became interested in baking was when Ellen was in high school – And baking is indeed a difficult job because Ellen doesn’t have too much free time. Ellen recounted, when participating in a baking contest, he went to school at 5 am to practice.
“I’m very busy. But if you’re really determined, you’ll make the most of your free time,” Ellen said.
Know your worth
The biggest challenge Ellen faced as a young entrepreneur was determining her worth – he valued the cakes as if he were shopping for himself.
“Back then, I didn’t realize how valuable my art was. I asked my mother and she was like me – offered a very cheap price. Like ‘Mom won’t buy a $100 cake’. But now, people are easily paying that price.”
In the early days of the business, Justin Ellen sold a 6-inch cake for $60, but now “it’s easy to sell for $150 for the same size.”
From January this year, the young man started earning up to 12,000 USD/month after devoting full time to the business.
“I realized that people were buying designer wallets for thousands of dollars. You have to make your customers understand your brand value and what you are offering them because the cakes taste so good and I use high quality ingredients.”
Although Ellen’s cake prices have more than doubled over the years, his bakery is still profitable.
“Art is something of immense value and people will pay for it. Honestly, my prices go up slightly every day…depending on my mood,” he said.
And if a customer asks why are Ellen’s cakes so expensive? “I will answer honestly, every day I improve in my skills, so the cost will increase. You’re paying for someone’s expertise… it took me five years to learn how to do it.”
Always moving forward
Ellen’s big dream has paid off. What the young man envisioned for himself had come true. Currently, Ellen sells cake mixes and baking supplies online. Occasionally, he also organizes classes for aspiring bakers.
Ellen says he gets about six orders a week, and they’re “bigger orders now.” A typical day for Ellen would be waking up at 8 a.m., making orders herself in the family kitchen.
“Honestly, most of my clients don’t choose art cakes, they’re more like wedding cakes.”
Now, Ellen’s parents have “accepted” that the young man made the right decision to pursue a career in baking – in fact Ellen, who started off as a kitchen assistant, is now the boss.
“Now my mother helps me”, he happily said: “She helps me with many side jobs… such as delivery”.
Even as he marvels at what he has achieved at the age of 19, this young entrepreneur has yet to fulfill his dream.
“I am constantly thinking about my business and new ways to elevate it. I want a corporate office… but my ultimate goal is to be like Wilton, the cake decorating company.”
Headquartered in Illinois, Wilton manufactures a wide range of baking tools, decorations, baking tools and ingredients favored by bakers.
Meanwhile, Ellen remains very realistic because he knows things “won’t come true” without hard work.
“It will take a lot of time. But in the end, you will realize it was totally worth it.”
at Blogtuan.info – Source: cafebiz.vn – Read the original article here
