Bundaberg teenager Keiarna Seymour starts her own cupcake business

An entrepreneurial 15-year-old Bundy girl has started her own cupcake business: Here’s how she juggles sport, school and baking.

Keiarna Seymour is just 15, but it hasn’t held her back when it comes to starting a business in Bundaberg.

It was baking for her little brother that led Keiarna to stumble on baking as a business.

“It’s actually a funny story,” she said.

“I made cupcakes for my three-year-old brother to take to daycare.

“They were so pretty, blue, pink and white and because they had pink on them my brother didn’t want to take them to daycare.

“I had put so much work into them to perfect them and mum didn’t want me to be upset so she had messaged some friends and asked if they wanted to buy some cupcakes off me. We had been eating cupcakes all week and didn’t want them to go to waste.”

To Keiarna’s surprise, the cupcakes sold like, well, hot cakes.

“They all sold and the feedback I got was amazing,” she said.

“Everyone had told me I need to start a business and sell them.

“Then mum had posted my cupcake photos on this cake Baking group on Facebook to ask for feedback as my family thought they were amazing but wasn’t sure if they were being biased and I received about 80 comments from bakers saying how much talent I have and I definitely could start a business with those skills so young. So I decided to give it a go.”

While it was baking for a younger sibling that inspired the business, Keiarna said it was the older generations in her family that also inspired her.

“I also have a lot of successful business owners in my family from my mum, papa and uncle and they are all very hard workers so I always wanted to run my own business,” she said.

“I love baking and have baked with my mum since I was four years old.

“We would bake something most weekends until I got to the stage I didn’t need mums help anymore so started to do all the baking myself.

“I have always enjoyed making, eating, decorating cupcakes and cakes and trying new recipes. I have three siblings so cupcakes were always a favourite in our house.”

Keiarna said the business took off quickly.

“It all happened very quickly, I made cupcakes for my brother at the start of July,” she said.

“Sold my first four packs of six cupcakes to friends of the family that week and it just took off from there.

“I have had amazing support from the Bundaberg community. On setting up my business page on Facebook I had 250 followers in two days, I have orders scattered right up to November, had a few businesses message to congratulate me and mentioned next event they will be buying some cupcakes.

“I have also been asked to make cookies for a local business, so we are trialling some recipes for those. We won’t release anything new until we get the recipe just right.”

Keiarna said her business started quickly after she sold packs of cupcakes to her family and friends.

Keiarna said it was something she found highly rewarding.

“I love decorating and making each order look special,” she said.

“I also love getting custom orders, or people sending in photos of what they would like as it gives me a chance to research and practice something new. I love seeing people’s faces when they see the cupcakes for the first time.”

And those ordering cupcakes need not stick to simple old cake and icing - there are a number of flavours on offer.

Vanilla bean with buttercream icing, chocolate, white gold or Caramilk mud cupcakes with A French inspired ermine buttercream are all on the menu.

“And I have just brought out a new range called “Loaded Cupcakes” which will be any of my mud cupcakes in a variety of flavours loaded with chocolates on top,” Keiarna said.

Toppings range from Mars, Caramilk, Oreo, Snickers, cherry mud, choc hazelnut and more as she goes along.

The Shalom College student said she manages to find the time to bake while still being proactive at school and in sport.

“I’m in Year 9 at Shalom and I’m also heavily involved in netball, I play netball in club, umpire, I’m an assistant coach and play representative netball,” she said.

“This makes it very hard to get a part-time job around school. So I think being able to do this business at home around all my other commitments will be a lot easier.”

Keiarna said it’s helpful to have family support, too.

“I just need to be organised and mum is helping me with running the business and keeping a track of orders coming in and when I need to bake or need to decorate,” she said.

“Some weeks with schooling depending what is on I may not be able to take any orders that week but it’s about planning in advance and not taking on too many orders each week.

“My parents are always such a great support.”

Keiarna said her parents are teaching her about running a business, how to record incoming and outgoing costs, pricing and helping to fund the project which she intends to pay back with her profits.

“Mum has done up all my marketing materials, researched suppliers and does my ordering,” she said.

“She also is a great help in the kitchen if I need her and sends me lots of videos/photos to practice some new skills. Dad is my biggest fan and also a great taste tester.”

Keiarna said she had many dreams for the future.

“I am also planning on bringing out themed cupcake packs for special occasions such as Father’s Day, Christmas, Easter etc. Father’s Day packs will be available for preorder from next week,” she said.

“After this my plan is to start making number/letter cakes for birthdays and decorating with chocolates, flowers, macarons etc and then hopefully move into other cakes in the future.

“I’m so grateful that people are giving me a chance, we know my recipes taste amazing it’s just about perfecting my decorating skills now.”

Keiarna said sweet-toothed locals could keep an eye on her Facebook page for spare cupcakes from orders with six packs of cupcakes for sale.

Keiarna’s mum Renee said the family was grateful for support from the community.

“We are so grateful from all the support our daughter has received,” she said.

“ Keiarna continues to surprise us with how quickly she learns and each time she does a new batch of cupcakes her piping skills improve every time.

“She is self-taught from watching YouTube and finds inspiration on Instagram.

“Her cupcakes not only look pretty they taste amazing. Keiarna is so passionate about what she does and it’s so nice she can share what she loves with so many people.”