Meet Lex Evan of LEXINGTON BAKES

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lex Evan.

Hi Lex, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My childhood was filled with creativity, curiosity, and exploration. As a result, I always had a different answer when asked what I wanted to be as a grown-up. The only thing I knew for sure was that I loved to create. So I chose to study graphic design in college. I graduated in 2009 from Montclair State University in New Jersey with a B.F.A. in graphic design with honors and the top award for excellence in design for print.

Since then, I have spent 15 years working as a brand designer and strategist in New York with some of the world’s most impactful beauty, health, and wellness brands, including Johnson & Johnson, Neutrogena, Aveeno, and Clean&Clear.

My steady and fulfilling career in design allowed me to explore my curiosity for creating outside of work. I spent a year learning how to code and another studying fragrance. I took up baking for a few years and learned to make all my favorites, from macarons and eclairs to pies, cakes, and brownies. Eventually, some of my passion projects turned into businesses.

In 2019 my passion for equality led me to create Alt Pronouns, a Human Identity Brand empowering the Queer community. Through Alt Pronouns, I designed Radically Queer™ Gender Free LGBTQ+ Pride Apparel that champions Queer identity and sparks conversations to advance equality and acceptance. Two years into that, I expanded the project to launch Queerist, an LGBTQ+ community platform and publication amplifying Queer voices and stories.

However, I broke my spine two months into starting Alt Pronouns. I went through 8 months of excruciating pain trying to heal with non-surgical options but ultimately required surgery. After my initial recovery, I jumped on an opportunity with my day job to move to Los Angeles in February 2020. We all know what happened in March with Covid. Unfortunately, these obstacles proved to be too much on me mentally, emotionally, and physically. While I was incredibly proud and excited to be building both Alt Pronouns and Queerist, I made the tough decision to bring them both to an end in the Fall of 2021 and focus on my well-being.

All of this brings us to what I’m doing now.

In November 2021, after I had decided I never wanted to start another business, I focused on returning to what made me happy. I started baking again. As soon as I posted a photo of my brownies, my Instagram community flooded my DMs with requests for me to ship my brownies across the country.

I assured them this was not another business attempt but a hobby I loved. I hesitated to start another business, knowing how much time and money I had sacrificed in my past endeavors. And after calculating what it would cost to bring my natural and clean brownies to life, I did not think people would pay $10 a brownie.

To my surprise, through some IG polls, they did! So I threw up a google form with my Venmo link, and within five days, I had $5,000 in pre-sales to ship 500 brownies across the country by Christmas.

In six weeks, I established a legal business, found a commercial kitchen, ordered ingredients and equipment, and got to work. I successfully made and delivered 500 Fleur De Sel Brownies by Christmas, with rave reviews of “the best brownie ever.”

Using my brand design and strategy experience, I designed and built a Shopify website in a few weeks and officially launched LEXINGTON BAKES in January 2022, along with a second product. Our Choc Chip N°5 Cookie sold out in the first month.

By March 2022, only three months into starting, we secured our first retail partnership with Foxtrot Market. We launched in June and sold out at all 21 of their stores across Chicago, Dallas, & D.C. in the first week.

Fast forward to today, our Fleur de Sel Brownie and Choc Chip N°5 Cookie have been upgraded to 99% organic ingredients and are available at all Erewhon locations in L.A.

For a short while, you can also find LEXINGTON BAKES every Sunday at Melrose Place Farmer’s Market with our entire lineup of luxury brownies, cookies, and blondies.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
There will always be obstacles and challenges in anything you start, but sometimes these obstacles can be a sign that you are doing something different and worthwhile.

Scaling our operation has been the biggest challenge. The way we make our treats is unique and cannot be easily replicated. Which is a good thing for us and helps explain why our treats are better, but creates a lot of stress in thinking about the future and how we might grow the business with integrity.

As you know, we’re big fans of LEXINGTON BAKES. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
LEXINGTON BAKES (LXB) makes eco-conscious luxury baked goods with natural and ethical clean ingredients and a guiding principle of Radical Ingredient Transparency™.

Our mission is to clean up dessert so you never have to wonder, “what’s in this?”

LEXINGTON BAKES is a celebration of curiosity and conscious consideration for what we put into our bodies and into the earth. We serve Consciously Baked Luxury Treats with natural, sustainable, ethically and transparently sourced ingredients that our bodies recognize as nourishing and fulfilling.

Our elevated classic American treats deliver iconic flavor and nostalgic warmth for an epic moment of unexpected delight. Our dessert will never leave you feeling empty or cheated with anything artificial. Because good dessert is honest and leaves you with a sweet feeling of knowing everyone involved, from those harvesting to those celebrating, are treated fairly.

You can find our luxury brownies, cookies, and blondies in LA at Erewhon, across the country at Foxtrot Market and Pop Up Grocer, and on our website at LEXINGTONBAKES.com.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Follow your curiosity and passions to find what you love to do. Do it for yourself first and make sure you love doing it, because once you turn it into a business, you’re going to need that passion to get you through all the tough times.

When you do something you love, make sure you show the world. You never know when that passion becomes the thing people want most.

When you find the intersection of making something you love and something people are eager to buy, that is when you’re ready to start a business.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://lexingtonbakes.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/lexingtonbakes
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexingtonbakes
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lexingtonbakes
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexingtonbakes
• Other: https://tiktok.com/@lexingtonbakes 

Image Credits
LEXINGTON BAKES