Insight: How Olivia Hill Turned Her Love for Baking into a Successful Nationwide Business as featured in Grazia and The Sunday Times

I used to work in Marketing, specifically with influencers and social media. I always baked as a hobby and as the years went on it became a dream that one day that would be my job. I loved working with influencers and got to do some really cool campaigns but the idea of working for myself and being a baker never really went away.

When Covid hit the UK it wasn't long until I was put on furlough as so many were. I am not great at doing nothing, especially when it seemed like I had infinite time on my hands and couldn't go anywhere/do anything! I had been slowly building up my baking over the years, mainly just for friends but the odd cake for a customer, and decided that now was the time to give it a real shot! It was a huge journey that led me to Bakes by Olivia and it took me a while to find my style and groove in the baking world. I love cake and I love to make people happy so that's what it is all about for me and that is where the idea was born.

My cakes are predominantly lambeth style cakes but I have recently branched out into doing shaggy cakes amongst other slightly different designs. Usually I am led with what the customer wants but secretly my favourite customers are the ones who give me free reign to do exactly what I want. I am a huge fan of using lots of colour in my cakes and also just making them really fun. Unless it is a big wedding cake I usually design the piped details of the cake as I go along as it allows me a lot more freedom, but for wedding cakes I tend to do myself a little sketch so I can visualise it more.

I often get asked where I see myself and my business in a few years time and my dream would be to have my own little bakery. I see it as a fun and inviting space where you can come with your laptop and eat cake or just pop by for some after school goodies. I would love the space to be able to double up as a bit of a venue that people could hire out for baby showers/hen parties that have cakes provided for them and maybe even some workshops. Who knows I have lots of ideas whirring around in my brain constantly - it's nuts in there!

 

I am naturally quite an early riser which I quite like as especially in winter the sunrise can be insanely beautiful. I do a rough weekly plan at the start of each week so I know what orders I have going out on what days so I will check this first thing to remind myself of what I have to do in the day - I like to highlight each order as I do it because I just love the feeling of a completed list! Whilst in the kitchen I swap between podcasts, radio and Netflix as background noise but you can often find me belting out Queen songs as I bake. Most days now are split into baking in the morning and then decorating in the afternoon. I used to be really bad at stopping and taking a lunch break as I am one of those people that just likes to get everything done but I have started taking myself for a little half an hour walk in the middle of the day with a coffee to get some fresh air and relax my mind. In the evenings I am either going for dinner with friends, I am a huge foodie, or relaxing at home with my boyfriend watching a film!

Don't let the fear and the what ifs get the better of you, if you love baking and want to create a career out of it then it will be the best thing you ever do. Don't get me wrong it is not all plain sailing and I have plenty of downs to go with the ups but I think if you genuinely love what you do then none of that matters. Being a business owner is all a learning curve and there will be moments where you think why on earth have I done this, but that feeling never stays and the ups always outweigh the downs.