Tell us a bit about you:
Cakes by MK
I was born and brought up in New Zealand, and am currently residing with my husband in Auckland. I am 28 years old, have two older brothers, and come from a Fijian Indian background. I am the owner of Cakes by MK (CBMK), which is a content creation business that provides free YouTube tutorials as well as paid courses all related to cakes!
What inspired you to start your business:
Growing up I was really into art, particularly fine art, having taken the subject formally in my latter years of high school. I also loved baking. So when I finally decorated my first cake a couple of years ago, I instantly fell in love with the art of creating cakes. Having the ability to use your mind creatively and explore different textures and techniques, while also creating a delicious treat at the same time was what really drew me to cake decorating. Shortly after, CBMK was born
Tell us a bit about how you got started
I initially began CBMK as a business selling cakes. I had no prior experience, and was relatively new to the cake decorating industry, so it took a while for me to figure out what I really wanted CBMK to be. The initial stages of CBMK was such a learning curve for me, and what I slowly came to learn was that it wasn’t so much the selling cakes side of the business that I enjoyed, it was more the creative element to it – the ability to try different designs and push your creative limits. It was at this point that my husband actually suggested taking a different approach to CBMK, and change it from a business selling cakes, to a business that teaches others how to make cakes. This meant that I could experiment and push my creative limits more often. It was a risky move as content creation isn’t an easy business to build, and often takes years to build a solid income. On top of that, I’m not a particularly extroverted person, so the thought of putting myself out there on public platforms was daunting. But my husband was the one who really encouraged me to take that leap of faith, so I decided to push myself out of my comfort zone and it was at this point that CBMK transformed into a content creation business. The support that I received from my friends and family was incredible, and that gave me a further push to really pour my heart into CBMK
YouTube: cakes by MK
Website: https://www.cakesbymk.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cakesbymk.nz/
How long has your business been around
CBMK as it is today, began just over a year ago when I released my first YouTube video