I do wish that I started my creative career a little earlier. However, the work experience that I’d gained beforehand has been invaluable. I think a lot of creatives want to pursue a career doing what they love, but don’t understand how most of it is business.

I am a self-taught cake artist and content creator best known for my entertaining videos and my realistic, sculpted cakes of giant food, beloved characters, and everyday objects. I love to work with brands and themes from entertainment, pop culture, games, food… It might seem random, but all my work has an element of fun or surprise.

My business is focused on content creation and social media. I create cakes and videos to inject some fun into your day, and also to help brands creatively market their products and celebrate their milestones.

I love being able to use cake as a way to engage with people and bring ideas to life.  Recently, I decided to do my cake version of TikTok’s Frozen Ramen Challenge trend that sent the internet for a loop.  Many people thought I really believed that ramen could freeze in sunny Southern California, and then were puzzled to see the “noodles” actually standing on their own. And then they were shocked to see that it was cake.  The emotional roller coaster and the surprises within the video were really fun to create.

I’ve also had the pleasure to partner Marvel Studios to create one of their characters out of cake for a movie premiere. When Wusthof Knives wanted a fun way to celebrate International Knife Day, I made them a hyperrealistic cake of their classic knife and cutting board (which I cut into using their knives). For Christmas, I made a realistic stocking cake and hung it off my fireplace for family photos. And making larger-than-life food is one of my favorite things to do: Think dino nuggets, pretty salmon roe sushi, and Good Humour popsicles at 10 to 50 times scale.

A joke during a Friendsgiving dinner about becoming a cake YouTuber ended up with me going home with a set of borrowed studio lights.

A week later, Cocobelly Cakes was launched as a way to share my work publicly.
– My first videos were uploaded to YouTube and Instagram to the fanfare of only my friends and family.
– I started making connections with other bakers on social media because I knew no one in the industry.
– I received unsolicited advice from other creators about my videos because they could tell that I had no idea what I was doing.

Aside from the general pieces of advice of posting consistently, niching down, and having a strong hook for videos, this is what I would have loved to know from the start:

1. It’s about the show. After struggling to reach 500 followers, a larger creator highlighted my account with the caption: “An example of how talent does not equal engagement.” I was mortified. She told me to remember that it’s all a show, and that really changed how I approached my content.

Not many people will care to see all the painstaking steps it takes me to create a cake. Instead, I focus on the humor and joy I can bring through cake making as the value I bring to my audience. Maybe you want to educate people about what you’re really good at or you’d like to build a community about what you’re passionate about. Just remember to focus on the value that you bring to the people you want to reach.

Also, people have short attention spans. My kids preview my videos before I post them and they’re really good at telling me what to cut.

2. Be knowledgeable of different revenue streams. Content creators can make money from video views, brand collaborations, UGC content, ads, affiliate marketing, and seemingly just for existing sometimes. But be aware that on social platforms, it takes many millions of views on a regular basis to earn a decent amount of money. And social platforms can choose to change, or even cancel, their payment model at any time. Because of this, savvy creators diversify how they make their money. Social media then also becomes their marketing platform to acquire more brand deals and to drive their audience to things they own such as their blog, YouTube channel, or products (courses, cookbooks, art, etc)

3. What do you want to be known for? Once you figure it out, remember that whenever you create content. You don’t need to go chasing every trend. Stay authentic to you.

4. You don’t need fancy equipment to get started. I still do everything on my iPhone: record, edit, and post. Make sure you’re recording on the highest quality your phone storage can handle. Mine is set to 4k and 30fps. You don’t need perfection, but make sure your lens is clean.

A lot of content creators struggle with pricing, and this industry is notoriously opaque about it. Rates can vary so much by brand, project, agency, your audience, your demographic, how well you negotiate, etc. There are resources such as Clara for Creators and fypm.vip that are striving to bring transparency to this.

But, honestly, so much of what I’ve learned is from other creators and through our experiences. Build a network of good, supportive people in the industry that you can go to for advice, to vent to, to remind you of your worth, and to celebrate with.  And never stop learning!