Meet Lisa Olin of Cake Monkey Bakery in Mid City

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Olin.

Lisa, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
After 20 years of working in the entertainment industry, I was looking to make a change. I am an avid sweets lover and would drive anywhere to get a delicious baked treat. One day in 2007, while walking my dog Tug, I called him “babycakes” and the light bulb literally went off in my head – mini layer cakes! There were plenty of cupcake shops but I didn’t see anyone doing individually sized cakes. I thought, this is it, this is what I’m going to do…create a bakery that doesn’t yet exist in LA, specializing in mini layer cakes and upscale versions of favorite childhood snack treats. I grew up eating Pop Tarts, Ding Dongs, Ho Hos, Snowballs, etc. but I thought, how great it would be to also offer treats inspired by these childhood snacks, only with a modern and sophisticated twist using the finest, all natural ingredients. The next step was coming up with a name where again, my dog Tug, was the inspiration. I was going over a list of names for the bakery with my husband over dinner and I called Tug over to the table and called him Monkey. Then it just clicked, Cake Monkey! My husband agreed and that was that!

Being that I wasn’t actually a baker, I needed to find a pastry chef who could help bring my ideas to life. I placed an ad on Craigslist and one of the requirements was “Must Love Cake.” I couldn’t have been more thrilled to see Elizabeth Belkind’s name pop up in my email in response to the ad. Elizabeth had been a well-known pastry chef in LA, having worked at the former Grace Restaurant and getting her start with Nancy Silverton at Campanile. As it turned out, Elizabeth loved cake too and we hit it off. After initially consulting on the recipes, Elizabeth became my partner at Cake Monkey.

We started in my home kitchen making treats for local charity events, to help spread the word. That strategy paid off because Crystal Meers at Daily Candy heard about us and featured us in their daily newsletter. Daily Candy was extremely influential at the time and being featured on their site literally kickstarted our business. Though the initial goal was to open a storefront, we needed to move out of my home kitchen and find an official place to bake. We lucked out and found a small 760 sq ft. commercial kitchen space in Burbank, fully equipped. We took it and quickly started getting wholesale requests for our Cakewiches and El Rollos (Ding Dongs and Ho hos). We hadn’t thought about wholesaling before but we decided to go where the demand was. After doing everything ourselves in the beginning, we eventually started hiring a few bakers and someone to help us with deliveries. We also are indebted to our friends and family who were always there to lend a “free” hand and help us bake and make deliveries. It definitely takes a village!

We were extremely fortunate to get great press coverage in Bon Appetit, LA Times, Food & Wine and LA Weekly, among others. Our wholesale business continued to grow and we expanded into breakfast pastries to meet the needs, as well as continue to take custom retail orders that we would hand deliver or ship. We started doing wedding cakes and dessert bars for special events, as well. Still, our dream was to have a retail storefront.

After 4 yours, we outgrew our little kitchen and purchased a 6,000 sq. ft. commercial kitchen nearby. It was a bit big for our needs but the goal was to grow into it…and boy, have we ever! It was scary at first but after the first year in the new space, we started to fill it up! We got new wholesale accounts and started selling gift boxes on consumer websites such as Williams Sonoma, Gilt Group and Goldbely.

In 2015, we finally found a great retail location for our first storefront and all the pieces fell in place. We were able to get a SBA loan to help make it happen and in November 2015, we had our grand opening! We couldn’t be happier with our store and since it opened, it has helped raise customer awareness for our company, both locally and nationwide.

All of this growth wouldn’t have been possible without our amazing employees, who work so hard and diligently to help us give a great experience to our customers.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
At times it was a smooth road but there were definitely growing pains along the way. In the beginning, we couldn’t afford to hire more than 1 or 2 people and we were working 6 – 7 days a week, 10 – 12 hours a day. When you own a business, the buck stops with you so not only are you running the show everyday, you also become the handyman, dishwasher, delivery person (starting at 3am), packer and handle any other crazy things that come up in the course of a day.

Owning the building is also a challenge, since there is no landlord to call when things go wrong! Having to deal with building issues such as roof leaks, plumbing issues, equipment breakdowns, etc. can be draining and take my focus away from being creative and growing the company.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Cake Monkey Bakery – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Cake Monkey specializes in mini layer cakes and modern renditions of favorite childhood snack treats, such as Ding Dongs, Ho hos, Pop Tarts, Snowballs, Oreos, Oatmeal Cream Pies and more.

We are proud that we have been able to consistently provide the highest quality baked good to our customers and that the demand for them keeps growing. After 8 years in business, we continue to get accolades from food publications and bloggers such as Best Pie in LA and #1 Cookie in LA and now are receiving national attention after being featured on Unique Sweets on the Cooking Channel and the upcoming Paul Hollywood City Bakes.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We would like to open more storefronts in Southern California and after receiving great feedback on our gluten free treats, we are currently working on a line of pre-packaged gluten free cookies for distribution on a greater scale.

Contact Info:

• Address: 7807 Beverly Blvd.
  Los Angeles, CA 90036
• Website: www.cakemonkey.com
• Phone: 323.932.1142 (storefront) 818.508.9579 (wholesale and nationwide shipping)
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @cakemonkeybakery
• Facebook: @cakemonkeybakery
• Twitter: @cakemonkeyla