We were lucky to catch up with Kayla Looby recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kayla , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?
Here’s a little backstory before my business name changed. In my immediate family, everyone’s name starts with K. I decided to implement that into my business name hence Kayla’s Kupcakes. At the time, I only provided cupcake and cookie services to local customers in the NYC area.
I always said my fourth year in business would be a game-changer, and it was. 2021, made four years. It was time for a change and a business facelift. My business advisors encouraged me to change my name because Kayla’s Kupcakes was trademarked.
I thought long and hard about double K names—Kups before Kakes, Kaked Up Kayla, and many others. The name finally came together “Kaked Up By Kayla.” So I cake up my customers, while they also cake me up by supporting my dreams.
Kayla , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Junior year of college was so stressful for me in 2016. Taking 21 credits and being a science major was hard work! Then, one day, I saw a Tasty video on making churros and decided to try it. I fell in love with the process of treat-making. Churros turned into cookies, and cookies turned into cakes.
I create custom cakes and treats to fit any occasion. I’m also a teacher at heart, so I provide class services for bakers and non-bakers who want to advance their skills.
Sometimes many people believe baking is over-saturated, but there’s only one me, which makes me stand out. Being confident in who you are as an individual will outshine anything.
2020 was hard on all of us, and being able to create self-employment and perceiver is one of my biggest goals yet! This road isn’t easy but so rewarding. Every day gives me a reason to push harder, and my passion shows through my work.
I’m so grateful to be blessed with this unique gift to make someone feel special on their special occasion. Growing up and still to this day, my family takes every holiday, including birthdays, very SERIOUSLY! So I want to make people feel how special my family makes me feel.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I strived to be a perfect baker. But being hard on myself led to frustration, and it would sometimes project onto my work. I always thought the saying practice makes perfect was true. It’s not. Practice improves!
Once I gave myself room to understand I can only control, but so much, baking became twenty times easier.
How did you build your audience on social media?
The best way I learned to grow on social media is by showing my audience I believe in myself. How you view yourself will project onto how others view you as well.
During the summer of 2020, I would always post a time-lapse video process of me making cakes from start to finish. But then, I noticed many people interested in cake construction.
I took a leap of faith and posted things confidently, allowing many of my creations to go viral. So my advice to any business owner is, please don’t ever stop posting! Your village will find you eventually.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.honeybook.com/widget/kaked_upby_kayla_189249/cf_id/60eb42a2b68bb7125901e855
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/kakedupbykayla?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@kakedupbykayla?_t=8WUKBdKIgrT&_r=1