Meet Avery Albright: Owner/CEO, Baked by Ave

We had the good fortune of connecting with Avery Albright and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Avery, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
Undoubtedly, the most important factor behind the success of Baked by Ave, and any venture in life, is consistency…and passion. One of the major contributors to the growth of my business has been social media, and with that, consistency is imperative. In the beginning, I received a few orders purely as a result of word of mouth within my job at the time. I posted these on my small Instagram page of about 200 followers, while simultaneously researching social media algorithms and what makes the most successful creators appealing to consumers. From there, whether it was an actual order or just a fun idea, I made sure to post every single day on both Instagram and my small TikTok account. I precisely curated each post down to the lighting and the song choice in order to reach the audience that I was targeting. Every day, I would be at the store picking up ingredients for new creations that I had in mind. This was not only good for the growth of my audience, but also served as practice in my craft. This continued for months before a pivotal moment came when one TikTok video of my classic marbled “cakesicles” went viral, garnering over 1.3 million views and thousands of comments asking where they could be bought. After that, I received an overwhelming amount of actual orders locally, which I continued to record and post, and that has led me to over 100,000 followers now on TikTok and almost 10,000 on Instagram in less than a year. I was already passionate about baking, but then fell in love with the process of creating the content for viewers, so it’s truly a win-win and an experience I enjoy every day.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
When I imagined Baked by Ave, the dream was never to simply sell custom cakes or desserts. I have always loved the process of baking itself, but I revolved my business around an experience. When writing out my business plan, I envisioned what types of events I saw my product. From then, I decided exactly what types of desserts and designs that would fit that concept. Not only are the flavors and presentation of the utmost importance, but I want the entire process from ordering, to the time the customer takes a bite, to feel luxurious and effortless. To me, it is more than a quick business transaction that ends when they get the cake. I genuinely care and will go the extra mile to ensure complete satisfaction from beginning to end because my customers are friends to me. This has led to customers returning to me for every special occasion. I am excited to expand this experience beyond Atlanta, as I will soon be shipping custom “cakesicles,” which are cake pops in the shape of a popsicle, nationwide. I hope to expand the brand worldwide someday and maybe have a shop in London, where I lived for a year and fell in love with the city. It definitely has not been easy getting to this point, but it has been fun! We have only been in business for a little over a year and I have learned so much in such a short period of time. It is true that when you are immensely passionate about something, it doesn’t feel like work. There have been many challenges and hard days, but I truly believe that every step of the process has its purpose and I immerse myself in it. On difficult days, I think about being the CEO of a worldwide company and that never fails to keep me going.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love when my friends from out of town visit Atlanta because it’s such an exciting city. If someone has never been here before, I like to show them some of the more “touristy” spots to start. It’s always fun to revisit places we grew up going to like the World of Coca-Cola and the Georgia Aquarium. Next, we would go straight to Ponce City Market. The vibes are immaculate and the food is delicious. One of my favorite things to do on any weekend is to go on the roof to Skyline Park. 9 Mile Station is one of my favorite places in the city to eat, drink, take pictures and enjoy the views. On a nice day, I would definitely take them to Piedmont Park and the Beltline for some good drinks and people watching. Dinner at The Garden Room would be essential. Not only are the atmosphere, food and drinks aesthetically pleasing, but taste incredible, too. I would definitely take them shopping in Buckhead and go to The Battery and then adventure to another one of my favorite restaurants for dinner like Grana or Cafe Intermezzo in Midtown. It’s a bit outside of the city in Alpharetta, but Avalon is another one of my favorite places for day or night time festivities. They have a ton of great stores, restaurants, rooftop bars, a movie theater and oftentimes live music or events! One of my best friends, Kathryn, put it perfectly recently by saying that our favorite thing to do is to drink cute cocktails on rooftops, so that’s mostly what the trip would consist of and luckily here, there are tons of places to do that. Atlanta is always growing, so it’s cool that when people visit, we can often try places that are also new to me!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The amount of support and encouragement I have received specifically from my Mom, Dad, my brother Evan and boyfriend, Jordan, is indescribable. My parents, both being entrepreneurs themselves, have been essential in my growth. There have been countless weekends where my Mom selflessly jumped in to help me with orders, expecting nothing in return. She is my biggest fan, forever lifts me up and shares my excitement for the success of my social media platforms. My dad has been pivotal in my learning of branding, publicity and organization. I am so lucky to know that I can count on him for literally any need or concern, and he always does it with a smile on his face. My younger brother, Evan has played such an important role in my growth from the start. When Baked by Ave was fairly new, he would drive all around the city (and beyond) with me for “moral support,” I would tell him, and to ensure that my deliveries were successful. To this day, he always asks if I need any help in his free time. My boyfriend, Jordan, is always there to keep me level headed. He knows exactly what to say no matter the type of situation while constantly and positively encouraging me. Each of them have individually played such an integral part in my success and, for that, I am so grateful.

Instagram: @bakedbyave

Twitter: @bakedbyave

Facebook: @bakedbyave

Other: TikTok: @bakedbyave