What would Jordyn do?
That is the question my best friend and I ask ourselves whenever we are feeling overwhelmed. The Jordyn that we are referring to is 20-year-old entrepreneur, Jordyn Gaines. Jordyn hails from Homewood, IL and owns a specialty cake shop called Jordy Cakes Boutique in the neighboring suburb of Country Club Hills. Jordyn began baking at 16 years old from her parent’s kitchen. In four short years, Jordyn has managed to create a fully functioning business and creates her masterpieces in her boutique bakery’s state-of-the-art kitchen with the help of two part-time employees. Jordyn started baking while looking for an outlet to escape bullying in high school. “It was the worst four years of my life,” she recalls. When asked what advice she has for those dealing with bullying she encouraged others to “find another outlet, so you’re not consumed in it.” She credits her successes first to God, and then to her experiences with bullying. “If they did not bully me… did not, like, you know, have me looking in from the outside, I would not be doing this.”
Jordyn started her baking business by accident while baking a graduation cake for her older brother Julian’s graduation party. At the party, one of the guests asked Jordyn what she charged for cakes. Having never considered this before, Jordyn asked herself (in her words), “hmm, what could I charge for [cakes]?” She soon began baking cakes for $50 each and now charges around $200 per cake. Her demand is literally too high to accommodate even with the help of additional staff! Starting out, Jordyn would routinely bake around 3 cakes each weekend. She now bakes and decorates around 20 cakes per day and receives upwards of 100 requests per day! Hundreds (literally) of cakes later, Jordyn has created masterpieces for a number of celebrities, including Chaka Khan, Dwayne Wade, Common, and OJ Mayo. On any given day you can find her clients posting her cakes for events such as baby showers, graduations, birthdays, and weddings. Social media has been a great resource for Jordyn. Not only do her client post images of her beautiful cakes, but she has earned a following of over 16k people on Instagram© alone!
An important part of Jordyn’s life is her relationships with family and friends. Both positive and negative relationships with friends have inspired her to develop and perfect her skill and passion, and her entire family plays a role in the success of Jordy Cakes. According to Jordyn, “Nobody is going to care about your business like your family.” Her older brother Julian designed her logo and composed artwork for her boutique, her grandparents Thomas and Phyllis are investors and unofficial errand runners, her aunt Portia keeps everything on track and her “momager”, Pamela, does everything else – except for the baking. In Jordyn’s words, “I cannot pay her for all that she does.”
When Jordyn began to tithe and give money to the church, she realized how her business began to skyrocket. She owes all of her past, current, and future successes to God and keeps her relationship with God as her No. 1 priority. She stresses that her talent in creating her cakes are nothing but a gift from God and wants everyone around her to realize how important it is to keep God first in your life.
So what is next for Miss Jordyn Gaines? She is looking to expand her bakery sometime next year, has a few exciting business deals in the works (we will keep you up to date as they progress), and plans to retire in 10 at the ripe old age of 30. In the meantime, however, #StayTuned; Women Exceeding will bring you exclusive access to Jordyn during the entire month of May!
