#CreatorStories showcases the honest personal experiences of digital creators who monetize their knowledge of a skill and sell it on Selar. We share these stories every week to inspire you to create and sell a product out of your wealth of knowledge and be a part of the digital creator economy.

This week, we turn the lights on Obi Uzoma Judith, popularly known as Uzzy Cakes and Bakes online.  

Let’s get to know her, shall we?

Can we meet Uzzy Cakes?

Hi, I’m Obi Uzoma Judith and I manage Uzzycakesandbakes enterprise. We are a cake and pastry brand situated in Lagos State, Nigeria. We offer various products from red velvet, chocolate, vanilla, fruit cake, brown cake, strawberry cake, carrot cake……to pastries such as meat pies, sausages, hotdog rolls, and shawarma…..and services where we empower individuals who are interested in learning how to make cakes and pastries. Our goal is to satisfy the taste buds of our clients with our luscious products. The brand is currently four years and has been in operation since 2018. It’s been an amazing journey so far although it’s not been rosy.

What was your career journey like before becoming a baker?

I started out with an 8 to 5 job where I worked as a customer service representative for about a year then I changed jobs. I became a technical assistant to the managing director of an investment bank and I worked with the company for six months before I resigned. While I was doing that, I had my cake business on the side, but it wasn’t serious at the time. When I resigned, I didn’t have a clear picture in my head. So, I had to go to my drawing board and map out a strategy that would work. We kicked off with what we had at the time. The beautiful thing was that because we were already working on the side, we had people who were interested in learning how to make cakes and pastries. So we started off with training one student after I resigned from my last job. Now, we have trained about a  thousand individuals both online and offline who have become independent and now generate income for themselves.

How did you get started with baking?

Growing up, I would always bake with my mom in the kitchen. We would always try out different recipes and we would make cakes for every celebration; Christmas, birthdays, etc. My mum would always call my attention when it was time for any birthday celebration “Uzoma come let’s make a cake” and I will be the one to mix the batter while she instructs me on what next to do.

We kept doing that and during the ASUU strike in 2013, which was a six months strike, I told her I wanted to take a professional course on cake making since I had six months to myself. I took my first professional class in cake making in 2013 and during my youth service year, I had to take another course in cake making and decoration and also pastries. I would say that was when the journey started out fully.

After the first cake training, I had to go back to school and I didn’t have the time to make cakes for people in school. I studied Geology and Physics and most times we were out for field trips and other activities. There was basically no time to practice cake making in school or earn from it, so I had to focus on my studies. After obtaining my BSc. from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and serving my country, I decided to go into cake and pastry making, and here we are.

Do you have any digital products on sale? 

Yes, we have lots of courses on sale on Selar. You can visit our page, Uzzycakesnbakes on Instagram, click on the link in our bio to purchase any course of your choice.

What made you decide to create a digital product? 

Firstly, we started creating online courses because we had different people from different parts of the world reach out to us to teach them how to bake. There was a particular student based in Canada who reached out to us during the lockdown to take one of our online courses. At the time, we had created a couple of online courses and were hosting training sessions on WhatsApp.

When she reached out to me, I decided that this was a great time to create more courses and launch. I did that and we had the training on telegram. It was a beautiful one because I made my money while I was at home and she also learned as much as she could from the online classes. So it was a win-win for both parties.

So you can say getting lots of messages from people who wanted to learn the art of baking forced me to figure out ways to cater to everyone without being burnt out. 

How did you discover you can make more money through the creator economy as a baker?

Prior to when I started creating courses, I purchased courses from people, studied how they sold their courses and the platforms used and I also saw their testimonials after selling their courses and this prompted me to get started.

I also have friends who encouraged me to launch courses. According to them, I was leaving money on the table and it was time for me to make money while sleeping. They also mentioned that apart from selling cakes and other products physically, there were other ways of making money. So I gave that a thought. I didn’t think so much about it before I launched. There was a time we did a three days sale and it was mind-blowing. The funds we got within the three days were probably something we would have made in a week but we got that in three days. The return on investments/profit was what prompted and encouraged me to launch more courses. 

What was your first digital product?

The first digital product was a class on how to make luscious chin chin. 

When did you earn your first money from digital products?

I think it was in 2019. it wasn’t as serious as it is now. We just had very few people and we hadn’t grown the brand to the extent it is now. It was difficult to sell the product then. One thing I’ve learned is that you need to earn people’s trust and build a community before people can buy from you. We didn’t sell much in 2019. I think it was a whipped cream class we created then and sold to a few people and we lost the videos we created at the time due to storage space. So, we had to shoot another set of videos for the same product.

What’s the average amount you make from selling digital products?

I will make reference to the sales we had. From the sales, we made over five hundred thousand in three days.  It was beautiful and it was our first major sales which was for three days. I am sure that if we had left it for a week, we would have probably made over a million naira.

What is your sales strategy that other digital creators can employ for their digital products?

One thing I did was invest in sponsored ads on Facebook and Instagram. Prior to the launch of the sales, we ran ads to be in people’s faces and we showed up daily to create awareness about this product. I think it’s called disruptive marketing. For a product sale to be successful, you need to show up every day to talk about this product you are going to launch in a few weeks or months’ time. That way, you stay top of mind. So the importance of running ads cannot be overemphasized.

Would you say you leveraged the power of community to make sales as a digital creator?

Yes, I did.

How do you combine being a digital creator and running your business as a baker?

One thing I spent time learning and implementing earlier this year is structuring my business. Business structuring is one very important aspect that we’re still working on because we are not 100 percent there yet. With the right structure in place, I have time for creating courses. I am currently in a different room doing this interview with you while my staff are working in the bakery. I just had to put structure in place so that if I’m away working on one aspect of the business, the other aspects are not lacking or suffering.

What has your years of experience in baking and digital creation taught you?

I am sure we are all familiar with this proverb but I’ll say it again, “do not put all your eggs in one basket.” Before now, I have been big on physical training because I want to see and teach people one-on-one and also talk to them while training. All the while I was just focused on the physical aspect of the business. But when I took the bold step to go beyond what I was used to and moved to digital products, the result was mindblowing. So I would say that I learned not to restrict myself to a particular aspect of the business.

Aside from showing us what being a badass baker and digital creator looks like, what else do you do? 

I used to be a makeup artist. But one had to go for the other to thrive. I might venture into tech, but that’s still a thought process.

What advice would you give to digital creators in Africa who are inspired by you?

One advice I would give to digital creators is to keep creating those courses, don’t stop, and don’t let anyone tell you that your product(s) cannot sell. You can sell any product provided you know who you are selling to. Just create those courses and make your money.

Also if you are just starting off any business or enterprise, stay consistent, keep improving your skills, and please don’t give up. It’s not going to be easy, but just keep at it and you will see that the sky is just your starting point and you’ll definitely excel.

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Every great journey begins with one step. Take that bold step today.