Melissa Ben-Ishay (born Melissa Bushell) is the CEO and co-founder of Baked by Melissa, a

cupcake A cupcake ( AmE, CanE), fairy cake ( BrE), or bun ( IrE) is a small cake designed to serve one person, which may be baked in a small thin paper or aluminum cup. As with larger cakes, frosting, icing and various other cake decorations such as ...

company headquartered in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, which specializes in small cupcakes.

Early life and education

Melissa Ben-Ishay was born in

Hillsdale, New Jersey Hillsdale is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in the northern portion of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, within the New York City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's po ...

. She attended

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

, in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...

from 2002 to 2006, receiving a Bachelor's of Science degree in Child and Family Studies.

Career

After graduating from college, Ben-Ishay worked at an advertising agency in New York City. In 2008, she was fired from her job as an assistant media planner at Deutsch, and was encouraged by her brother, Brian Bushell, to change careers and bake cupcakes for a living. The Baked by Melissa operations moved into the basement of Cafe Bari in late 2008, selling cupcakes at the holiday markets at Union Square and

Bryant Park Bryant Park is a , privately managed public park in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. It is located between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue) and between 40th Street (Manhattan), 40th and 42 ...

. In March 2009, Ben-Ishay, her brother, and three other co-founders opened a Baked by Melissa pop-up window in the

SoHo SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

neighborhood of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. At the beginning, Ben-Ishay served as President and Chief Product Officer, with Bushell as CEO of Baked by Melissa until 2015. In 2019, Ben-Ishay was named CEO. Baked by Melissa opened its first walk-in store in 2010 in Union Square. It has 14 retail locations in the New York City metropolitan area and ships cupcakes to other localities in the United States.

Books

In 2017, Ben-Ishay released a cookbook titled ''Cakes by Melissa: Life Is What You Bake It'', published by William Morrow Cookbooks. The book features 120+ recipes for Ben-Ishay's favorite cakes, icings, and fillings.

Personal life

Melissa is married to Adi Ben-Ishay, who also works for Baked by Melissa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ben-Ishay, Melissa Living people American chief executives of food industry companies American cookbook writers American bakers American women food writers American women chief executives Syracuse University College of Arts and Sciences alumni Year of birth missing (living people)