Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Brandi Neal. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Brandi , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think it takes to be successful?

A lot of people think you need money to be successful or if you put in a lot of hours doing what you love you will be successful. For me, I think in order to be successful you need to have discipline. It’s not something that comes overnight and still to this day I struggle with discipline in certain areas of my life. I think to be successful you have to want it more than anything else. And again, it ties into that discipline piece because there are going to be some days when you don’t want to get out of the bed, but that is when it is going to count the most. I also think in order to be successful you need a great team behind you. A lot of people like to say they got to where they are on their own, while some of that may be true in terms of the amount of labor put in, but for me I look beyond that. I have people that have supported me, prayed for me, rooted for me, and on those days I don’t have discipline I use that motivation to keep me going.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’ve always loved being in the kitchen experimenting with flavors and textures. What I didn’t know is that I would eventually own my own business. Bombshell Bakes started in 2018 while I was working on my Ph.D. at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. I’ve always cooked/baked for family and friends. I just love bringing people together through food, so it wasn’t something I seen as a career. A college friend ordered a cake from me and I dropped it off at the barbershop where he worked. The owner of the barbershop asked if I baked as a business and for other people. I replied, “I do now!” That is how Bombshell Bakes was born! I knew nothing about running a baking business, but I learned along the way. Bombshell Bakes got its name from a few different places. My best friend gave me 3 names to choose from, Bombshell being one of them and I took the choices to social media. From there I let social media choose the name. They chose Bombshell Bakes. It was easy to grow a brand around Bombshell Bakes because I’ve always been known for the way my desserts taste. Our tagline became Premium Baked Goods With Explosions of Taste!

Bombshell offers custom cakes, cupcakes, cheesecakes, cobblers, and last but certainly not least cookies! Our cookies are our number one seller. We offer classic flavors like chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, and sugar but we also offer specialty flavors like cookies and cream, strawberry, s’mores, and strawberry cheesecake just to name a few. We offer premium baked goods for any special occasion (birthdays, weddings, baby showers, office parties, etc.) or just because! At Bombshell Bakes we like to introduce our customers to the sweeter part of life.

Our customers love our products because you’re getting exceptional quality from taste, to appearance, to customer service. Bombshell can turn any bad day into a good day. I’ve had customers tell me about a bad day, and how excited they get when Bombshell is waiting for them on their doorstep.

In addition to offering premium baked goods I have ventured out into offering cupcake and cake decorating classes. I love teaching others my tips and tricks and letting them see the potential they have in themselves to create edible art. That is one thing that I am most proud of. I love to see others doing what they love and enjoying themselves. I am working on switching to private classes and events. I am a relational person and by switching to private classes and events I get to build better relationships with my customers.

Another thing I am the most proud of would have to be being featured on Food Network’s Holiday Baking Championship: Gingerbread Showdown. Hands down one of the best experiences I’ve participated in. It is a partner competition where we had to make a showpiece 4×4, 90% gingerbread, 70% edible, and 2ft tall at one point of the display. It is an experience with people I will never forget. It allowed me to showcase my talents (talents I didn’t even know I had) alongside my partner who is a gingerbread master!

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

I would love to share one of my favorite marketing stories! When I thought of the idea, I had no idea how I was going to pull it off, but I knew it was an amazing idea. It was just a matter of executing it. I was on my way to start my vacation but Bombshell Bakes is always on my mind. It was early February and I am a huge sports fan. We had college basketball aka March Madness coming up so I wanted to do a marketing strategy spin on March Madness. My customers are always raving about what their favorite cookie is and which one is the best, so it was time for them to battle it out. I came up with Cookie Madness. I put my top 8 best selling flavors in the tournament bracket style. Competing I had Cookies & Cream, Snickerdoodle, Strawberry, Fruity Pebbles, Strawberry Cheesecake, Cinnamon Roll, Chocolate Chip, and Oatmeal Raisin. We had the Elite 8, Final 4, and Championship. Cookies moved on to the next round if they had the most amount in sales for that given time period. Elite 8 ran for a week. Final 4 ran for a week and a half and then the championship ran for a week. Customers were engaged the entire month of March checking on sales, filling out brackets, and even taking a cookie quiz to see which cookie fits them best. It was one of the best marketing strategies and customers had so much fun with it!

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

I think the best source of new clients would have to come through word of mouth. I get a lot of customers from other people spreading the word about Bombshell. Whether they have tasted my cheesecake in a local restaurant, or a friend ordered something for a party, people are always saying someone referred them. I think that is one of the best ways to get customers. As business owners sometimes we struggle for reviews or we have to actively ask customers to leave reviews, with word of mouth it’s like a live review that encourages others to try Bombshell.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bombshellbakesllc.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bombshellbakes18/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bombshellbakes18
• Other: https://bombshellbakesllc.com/blog/

Image Credits
JarDan Ealum Haley Hayden