Ellen, a digital native from childhood knew that social media was essential for building his company. But it took a lot of practice — and courage — to make himself known. 

“In the beginning, my social media wasn’t great … not great photos, they were very blurry. However, as I progressed I realized how important it was to have super-clean photos.

Ellen saw Instagram “really pushing video content” on Instagram and decided to take the camera off himself. He shared snippets from his childhood as a young baker. 

“I was definitely shy in the beginning because it was just awkward for me … but the more you do it, it’s like, oh well and honestly no one cares if your hair’s a little frizzy today,” he shared.

You will be more approachable if you are honest. People are interested in getting to know the people behind the brands and, if they like you, will want to invest money with them.”

Ellen stated that he didn’t initially take social media posting seriously.

I was simply posting to have fun. Eventually, [through] word of mouth … people kept asking ‘Can I order a cake?'”

Ellen baked whenever possible to build his clientele and following.

“It doesn’t even have to be a huge cake … just make something small because you don’t know who’s going to be there. You’ll be asked who made the cake and who will eat it.

His Instagram account had over 50,000 followers and he was earning between $5,000-$9,000 per month.

I realized that this was a serious venture.

Ellen began to consider baking as a possible career after he noticed his side hustle grow in high school. However, not all people were supportive.

My dad was a baker. It has a connotation to me. [with baking]He said things like “Oh, you don’t make much money” or “You must do a lot more work.”

But Ellen had bigger plans for himself.

“I realized I did not have to be limited in my thinking. There’s so much you could do in the field … think about every lane you could go into.”

“I looked at other bakers who created their business — they have product lines, which I had no idea that that’s something you can even do.”

Ellen was also faced with this dilemma, along with his peers.

“Probably around junior year, when everyone’s like searching for colleges … I was debating [about]Go to culinary school. [But]He said, “I realized that it wasn’t right for me.”

It was too expensive and I felt it wasn’t worthwhile. And you can’t really teach how to do art in a sense, it’s really just practice — and the more you practice, the easier it’s going to get.”

Ellen realized that he wasn’t just a high school baker.

“[I’m an]First, be an entrepreneur and then become a baker. You can become a baker by working for another person.

While social media might have been completely free to be used as marketing tools, Ellen required capital funding to launch his business.

“In the beginning I was selling cookies that I shipped out … I asked my parents for $500 to buy boxes and other materials.”

He said that it was the last and most important time he asked his parents to fund his business.