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Meet Megan Murray of Blinged Baker in East Valley

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Megan Murray.

Megan, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My whole life, I’ve been surrounded by entrepreneurs. I grew up in a family business. My grandmother had a bakery in the Valley for nearly 4 decades before my parents licensed from her and started up their own bakery (Lisa’s Rum Cake). It was so exciting and inspiring to see a business start from an idea and blossom into the success that it is today!

I’m the middle child out of three girls. Our dad was a mechanical engineer for 26 years and our mom worked in her mother’s bakery since she was 13 as head of baking. My older sister teaches 2nd grade, my little sister is a business major and is head of production/marketing at our parents’ bakery, while I am the artistic one; I love anything sparkly! I joke that my favorite color is glitter (but, actually, it is). I got a degree in Theatre (Acting) from Arizona State University. I’m a Broadway-belting, musical theater actress. The role I’m most known for playing is Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray (I’ve been in 115 performances of 4 different productions here in AZ and, most recently, in Lancaster, PA. I even got called back for the Broadway show twice!). At the bakery, I get to use my artistic vision in all the photography, videography, making graphics, managing our social media, etc. And this is where my epiphany for Blinged Baker came from.

My parents have a great variety of delicious flavors and the cakes are beautiful, but I wanted a way to make the cakes stand out. I got the idea to make cake stands in 2013—just for my product photos—but as soon as I made the first one, I had people start making requests! In May of 2015, I decided to make my hobby my business. Actually, the name came to me one night and I loved it so much, I decided it would be perfect for my business! And that is how Blinged Baker became official.

My favorite family memories growing up are of all the fun we had in the kitchen! We were a large Italian family and for every party (or just-cuz-it’s-Saturday), we would bake my Nana’s famous Italian Fig Cookies, fresh apple pies or some other treat. From baking a few hundred too-many cinnamon rolls over Christmas break with our Mimi, making from-scratch biscuits for breakfast in the morning with Grandma, or making dozens of Pizzelle the night before Christmas Eve with my sisters, we always had a memorable experience full of love and laughter. And even more amazing than the goodies we made was the way my grandmothers would set a table. They would use upturned bowls and vases as cake stands and displays; it was genuinely an art that has inspired many aspects of my life. Over the years–working in the family bakery–I got into making cake stands so as to have a fun, sparkly way to display the beautiful cakes my family made on a daily basis.

I grew up loving Disney–the parks, the movies, all of it. It’s probably why I love glitter so much… Glitter is such a simple thing that makes me so happy! Seeing something sparkly reminds me daily that there is magic in the world. I want to share that magic with everyone else… because “Life’s too short to not sparkle!”

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it hasn’t always been easy. I don’t think any brand-new business can expect to be an instant success. Initially, when I first opened my shop, I had a survival job, which was very time consuming and draining. I knew it was time for me to leave just a few short months after opening my online store. I’ve always known I wanted to be my own boss; I’d rather put my energy into MY dreams rather than someone else’s. So, at my wonderful, supportive husband’s suggestion, I decided to take that leap of faith; to quit and put my-all into my business.

There have been some pretty intimidating challenges along the way. First, I was starting at zero, so I had to get my name out there, build my brand, get products made, gain a following, etc. Initially, I only had cake stands and cookie cutter ornaments, which are a seasonal item, so I needed to come up with every-day items that could sell all year long.

Second, I needed original ideas for products. One of my biggest struggles is inventing new products or using new techniques so that MY products are different from everyone else’s. I strive to be unique. I don’t want to regurgitate something everyone else was doing. I take great care in designing and handcrafting everything so that they’re perfect and one-of-a-kind.

While I may get inspiration from any and everywhere, I will never duplicate something. So I guess my biggest personal challenge is being inventive and staying ahead of the curve. I very much aspire to be a trendsetter, rather than an imitator.

Please tell us about Blinged Baker.
I specialize in handcrafted glittery Cake Stands, Cake Toppers, Treat Toppers, Cookie Cutter Ornaments, and other baking-themed decorations to add sparkle to your celebrations. Everything of mine has glitter or Swarovski crystals on—everything must sparkle!

When I first started out, I was just selling cake stands. My proudest invention is the Candy Jar Cake Stand: unscrew and remove the lid, fill the jar with whatever seasonal candy, baubles, or thingamabobs you’d like, replace the lid and viólà! A customized cake stand perfect for any celebration, holiday or party!

Last summer I officially started selling Cake & Treat Toppers and that is where I’m currently putting most of my energy. All of my designs are Blinged Baker originals and I’ve gotten a lot of wonderful feedback on them! I try to come up with designs that no one else is making or putting my spin on a popular theme. I also sell my Toppers at the bakery; my mom offers them to customers—they love having a completely custom design for their cakes! I’m lucky that even though I am a new business, I have my family helping me get my name out there.

I strive to make fun and beautiful designs. If I wouldn’t buy it for myself, I won’t sell it to other people. And this is true for all the products listed in my shop: know that I fell in love with it so much that I had to share it with everyone else!

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Oh, geez… just one? I have a million! I so many wonderful memories in the kitchen with my grandmothers and my sisters. I loved baking with our Nana! Nana taught us how to perfectly make her Italian Fig Cookies. If I close my eyes, I can still see her smiling while her hands pinch the dough closed around the fig filling, telling us every so often to “roll that a little more” or “cut those pieces a bit smaller”. She let us be in charge of the frosting and sprinkles (and never scolded us when we snuck a taste of the filling). I miss her so much, but I’m so glad we still have her recipes to make. We use her Sicilian Pizzelle cookie recipe to make our cannoli shells at the bakery! While she’s no longer with us, her memory is alive and well. I think she’d be proud of us.

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