{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Retail Is Your Business - retailtech and retail innovation","title":"Melissa Ben-Ishay of Baked by Melissa - Mad Scientist of Retail","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":4573,"description":"It's true -- she’s real. There really is a Melissa at Baked by Melissa, the popular and unique New York born bakery  known for its seemingly endless varieties of tiny cupcakes— with 14 retail locations and a burgeoning ecommerce business that now outpaces the brick and mortar.  She’s a mom, a company president, and a self-described mad scientist——and rarely do you see the leader of a successful brand, much less one that has weathered the bursting of a trend bubble, who remains so in love with their business and continually creates new and exciting recipes, product concepts, and inventive marketing and partnership strategies. Melissa Ben-Ishay  shares her journey and insights with hosts Chris Hansen (IgnitionOne) and Rebecca Fitts. In this episode: How Baked by Melissa has grown and adapted from a small retail store at the tail end of the recession of 2008 to a company that has grown its reputation in retail as well as growing its e-commerce presence  Baked by Melissa’s origin as an e-commerce company operating out of Melissa’s apartment after she was fired from her marketing job, where you could PayPal Melissa and she would bake and deliver cupcakes around New York City How Melissa solved a problem she faced picking up cupcakes on her way home from work every day and turned it into an instantly recognizable brand identity, with 70% of customers having discovered Baked by Melissa through word of mouth What the future looks like for Baked by Melissa, and why they are putting a focus on e-commerce and pop-ups in the coming year The challenges of selling a product that has a relatively short shelf life span, and what the company is doing to reduce the amount of time the product spends exposed to air so customers receive their cupcakes as fresh as possible Melissa shares some upcoming cupcakes for summer 2019 How Melissa has found a balance between taking suggestions from customers and fans about what they want to see as future flavors and staying true to her own...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/63TT6lojSf-ZW00FVp5WO2M-qx6cyr4YhnX1ihZ4pp8/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9kMDBm/ZjM3MGYxZDE3Nzcw/YzA0Mzk4ZjNhOTlh/ODA0NS5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}